Simple and Sweet- Cheeni-Ka-Paratha.

The earliest memories I have of my grandma are of feeding my toddler brother a smushed up roti with ghee-boora (powdered sugar with clarified butter).  She, on a low woven seat we called peedha; and he, toddling about around her with a ball in his hand. All through the summer holidays that's what he and I ate. Naani was the best when it came to indulging picky eaters like us. She didn't insist we eat our veggies, was always ready to make a meal especially for us, and if both options failed; handed us a huge bowl of ghee-boora. 

Back in Delhi, my mom opted for a no-mess route incorporating the boora, ghee and roti together to make us a Cheeni ka Paratha. When we were very little, she'd roll it up, and hand it to us so we could  eat while we played. My dad occasionally threw a fit, threatening us with cavities and toothless grins, but mommy always found a way to ignore his rants.  As I grew older, my ma and I were often at loggerheads. With daddy gone for work or at school most of my growing up years, this Paratha was what resolved most of our (my) skirmishes....

A breakfast to remember- Carrot and Orange juice

Our juicer got a new lease of life this weekend...and I had nothing to do with it. It was A's insistence. He remembers it off and on. Actually, he's the one that bought our machine a decade ago. Sadly, it hasn't been used as many times as the years it has lived in our house though. I knew that's what would happen to it when he brought it home one day from Macy's, excited as a kid, ostensibly for a very pregnant me.... I've lived through the juicer experience with my mom. Back then, it was a brand called Inalsa- might sound familiar to those of you growing up in India in the 80's. A brand new company at that time, exclusively sold and serviced through door-to-door sales, and came with a box-ful of attachments. 

Too expensive- my mom said.

I can take care of that- said daddy.

I don't need all that stuff in the box. Who needs a juicer when we have a juice-shop around the corner.

He's a filthy fellow. And his glasses are dirty.  (My dad really was a germ phobic....)

I still don't need it- too many little things to put together and clean up afterwards.

I will do the setting up, and cleaning. You get get the fruits washed and ready for juicing. I am there for everything else. (A typical Main Hoon na...clause, that works well putting an end to inane arguments...)

Sujjige - Sooji-Ka-Halwa (but Not)...

Sooji-ka-Halwa had got to be the most common dessert that I knew of, growing up. My mom made it the drop of the hat, for any occasion (or not), celebration or an unexpected guest that stayed on for dinner.  And the only way I knew of making it is as I have told you about here. But it was always served as an end of the meal sweet-taste. Then I got married, and my MIL made a version of cream of wheat porridge, using Sooji , for breakfast. It always reminded me of baby food, which is why I made a lot of that for Baby P when she was a toddler.  I could never really eat it myself though.

One time,  my sister-in-law, who has developed quite a taste for our version of Sooji-ka-Halwa, mentioned that in Goa, they make a similar dish but using milk and egg mixture for moisture rather than water. That sounded interesting, but fairly out of reach because of the egg. I often wondered if I could just use milk instead of water for my version of Halwa.....as usual, never tried. Recently, I came across a recipe for Sujjige, a Kannada recipe that reminded me of my SIL's Goan dish, but without the eggs. It also reminded me of my MIL's semolina-milk breakfast, minus the baby-food consistency! So yesterday, for the day of Ashtami, instead of my regular Sooji-ka-halwa, I tried out the Sujjige recipe...followed the recipe to a T this time...[except for the cashews and raisins....baby P doesn't like any texture in her sticky sweet :-(  ]. Follow the link, and see the beautiful recipe and pictures at Radhika's site... In essence, the difference is using a mix of water and milk instead of water alone for cooking the Sooji.

Humble Beginnings: Khichdi

In a country as diverse as India, where language, religion, clothes, celebrations....anything you name,  changes within a few miles, the humble Khichdi holds fort as one unifying force. Gujrat may like its khichdi with Kadhi, and the Southern states may call it Pongal, it still remains a rice and lentil comfort food across India. In Eastern India, it represents traditional Pooja food. At many Kali Baris in Calcutta and at the Jagannath temple in Orissa, we've been handed this out as Prasad after a Pooja. Around the locations that I'm familiar with- Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi- it is a simple dish strictly meant for family times, never ever made for guests or visitors. According to Wikipedia, Khichdi, believed to have originated in South Asia, went global with the British who concoct their own version with fish and eggs and call it Kedegree! And recently, I came across the mention of an Arabic dish called Mujahadra that is nothing but ....our Khichdi. 

Corn muffins: Weekend Brunch

I had never had a savory-ish muffin ever in my life. Then came A's friend- who went to a culinary school in New York while her husband was sent far away on a consulting assignment. Not only did she go to this school, but she actually got interested enough to stay on for a whole 9 months and graduate.  So when she came to visit us loaded with a tray-ful of goodies she'd baked herself, my jaw literally dropped to the floor. Not only did she bring melt-in-the-mouth cakes and muffins, but also awesome chocolate creations and a few of the savory corn and jalapeño muffins, that she said were leftover from their morning breakfast.  The first thought that went through my mind when I tasted her creations- her husband's never going to accept any more consulting offers ever again :-))

One More ode to Milk: Harira

Never realized how much pain the poor guy was in. I thought I'd been treating him well....he'd never complained. But then he never says much (anything) rather. Three months (four plus one day actually, but who's counting) into his mom's visit at ours, and all of A's desires (of the foodie kind....hold those other thoughts :-))) seem to be rearing up their mighty heads like a giant, multi-headed monster.  Or crawling out the crevices like those never-dying cockroaches. Pick whatever sounds more scary to you...not that I care, not really.... 

It started subtly enough. He saw Parathas for breakfast instead of sugar free dry tea rusks; I saw red flags on his cholesterol count at the next doctor's visit.  Then came elaborate mid-morning and mid-evening snacks. While he decided to pay heed to the "sugar is good for health" mantra; and started wolfing down ladoos and gaundh ki chakki (more on that soon- I promise) after every meal;  I was  calculating calorie per serving ratio and trying to stomp visions of insulin shots. Then came his first demand...for Nishasta. Not only did he ask for it, he even told his mom to teach ME how to make it....That did it... the whole decade plus of training to rein him in unravelled that very instant. All of my "we've got to eat healthier" got quickly drowned into by the "you earn to live" and "how can traditional be not-healthy" philosophy. Right now,  I should rein in whatever is popping in MY mind before it gets printed in indelible ink for posterity to come.....

A cuppa chai.....

Nothing's as comforting; or as nostalgia-evoking; as a cup of Chai....

My parents began their mornings; and ended their work day; with some alone time together.  Just the two of themselves, and their cups. My mom's without sugar; my dad's with honey. They planned all things important at this time- their monthly budget, holidays, celebrations, our future and theirs. As I grew older, I learned to leave them alone with their thoughts in the mornings. With their Chai in the evenings, we talked about our day at school and my dad's day at the court. My mom listened to all three of us, and said very little. 

Sooji ka Uttapam- veggie no-egg frittata

When I think signature dishes, the ones that instantly come to my mind are my MIL's recipes. Probably because these were the ones that I encountered as 'new' in my adult life, and got to associate with especially her.  One of the first of these that I tasted from her was a Holi special (but we'll leave that for later). The other one is her favorite snack recipe. I've known her to make this up at any of those times when you're feeling hungry for no apparent reason, and meal time is hours away.  She's also been known to substitute this for an early dinner sometimes.  As for me,  I can eat her 'Sooji-ka Uttapam' anytime, anywhere and in humongous quantities - that's how good it is.  Despite my liking for this, I hadn't really tried to make this my own. This was something that was predominantly "mummy' domain- I demonstrated by appreciation by eating it, but leave the actual making of it to her. Although to be truthful, I've tried it a couple of times...and then left it for the experts like her!

Khasta Kachori: and our Diwali memoirs!

The other day, a friend and I got talking about traditions - especially surrounding our festival season. We reminised about all the preperations that went into Diwali celebrations back home; and then about all the short cuts we take trying to celebrate this huge day after work; in the US.  Kind of sad, but true.

I loved Diwali back home. I can still relate to the excitement that preceeded the days between Dussehra and Diwali. School life came to a virtual standstill; as we were too excited to be learning anything. So instead, we had a week of talent shows, fancy dress competitions, traditional wear days, and arts day where we created numerous rangolis, kandils (paper lanterns) and diyas for our home. Mom got busy with superloads of laundry that included everything from drapes to bed covers. She was a good

Tried and conquered! Besan ka Dhokla

It isn't easy for me to tell you this. Actually, the confession downright hurts. The recipe that you are going to read about here; is as basic as it gets. However, it has taken me years to get it to work. The fact of the matter is that I am not very kitchen savvy (here is your cue to humor me and insist that I am.....)! What I am, is tenacious. Sometimes I can make things work - like the dhokla below- and then I get to show you a pretty picture and gloat about it through your words. Often times, things don't go as expected, and I just hush  the matter up and you go on thinking that I'm a genius at work.Which I totally am. I insist you to go on believing that and reaffirming it to me. But let's come back to this later. First the dhokla story.

Weekend Chronicles- with Bread Pakora

Quite an eventful week it turned out to be. 

First came the earth-shaking excitement of a 5.9 magnitude earthquake in the middle of the work week. Nobody could figure out what was responsible for our jiggling PowerPoint, shaking building and electricity blink during our weekly meeting. Of the various explanations put forth, the first one was that a plane had crashed into our building; afraid of a WTC repeat, most people prepared to jump out the windows (thank goodness everyone in the group is scared of heights- even if it is just the 4th floor).  Then we moved on to an equally outrageous subway explosion (the lines do run under our building) and a relatively sensible truck-crash with our building's loading dock (that happens to sit right below the conference room). The truck story also assumed explosive proportions by speculating that it might be a gas-tank truck: the one which brings huge cylinders of oxygen, nitogen and other medical gases to us. It was a breathless-with-fear South American colleague that mentioned an earthquake. The excitement that followed was astronomical!  The rest of the meeting, we brainstormed whether we sat on  dynamic earth plates, if End of the World Prediction included August 2011 and   whether to evacuate or not!!

Brunch with Bread and Vegetable Rolls

Growing up, I looked forward to weekends not only because the school was closed, but also because our day started with skipping beakfast (that is, the regular milk and cereal) in favor of a special Sunday brunch. Plus, we could eat together in front of the TV- watching epics like Ramayan or Mahabharat, not to forget Star Trek, Superman, Mickey Mouse and Tom & Jerry. All together, we're talking at least 2h of unrestricted TV and food time every Sunday morning. I especially remember the years that Ramayan and Mahabharat were being aired. My mom would actually bring her cooking supplies- everything except the stove that is- into the TV room. And dad and I would help her with the prep work while watching our program. So she rolled the flour while we filled the pastries for samosa or stuffed pooris, or dad and I made cutlets while she prepped the herbs for chutney. Then she ran back to the kitchen and cooked everything up in the 15 min. commercial break, and we'd eat together when the episode resumed to air. Even after TV ceased its hold over us in our teenage age years, we kept up with the Sunday brunch tradition.

Encore! Tadka Idli.

 The weather has certainly cleared up quite a bit. Grass looks a lot perkier, and little shoots of daffodils are breaking ground in my flower beds. Looking at the bright sunshine and temperatures in mid 50s, we thought  last weekend that we'd go to a park and initiate the picnic season. Before we could settle on a  menu, our plans got washed away; literally. Heavy rains Thursday night into Friday left all the surrounding creeks and rivulets overflowing, with flash flood warnings. All our favorite picnic places turned into mini swamps. Rather than lose the opportunity to get together, our friend R suggested we come to her place.

Friends or Foes: Paratha or Thepla??

I've been invisible from the blogging scene again for a while. The experimenting, cooking, feeding the family and entertaining was as usual. Just did not take pictures to post. And a food-blog isn't appetizing enough unless accompanied by visuals, I think. So, I apologize and I'll make up for it....some day, and hopefully soon enough. I'm going to start backwards for now- most recent first. July 4th weekend.

A bunch of friends proposed a beach vacation. The location was decided and we rented some condos right on the water. Menu for breakfast included cereals, bagels and cream-cheese, pancakes and theplas. What in the world is a thepla; I asked the rest of the crowd.

Venturing into the unknown- Cheese and Dill bread

I've always been a fan of artisan breads. The shapes, the distinct textures and flavors excite me. Not that we had much exposure to them back in India. Now, I make it a point to try out every new bread that I can lay find in the stores. And before I knew it, I got obsessed with wanting to try making them.For my first attempt, I picked on a fresh dill and cheese bread. Don't ask me why... As I've mentioned umpteen times in this blog, I am not much of a baker. So this project began with a lot of 'what ifs..." and "how tos..". Apart from the baking aspect, dill was a new herb for me as well. I just wasn't sure about it- but many of my friends were all praise for this highly fragrant herb and I dived headlong into baking this flavorful bread.

'Bun'alicious!

I love Facebook. It was here that I found my childhood friends and rekindled long-forgotten memories. We got back to calling each other those elementary school nicknames; laughed at our teachers again and extolled virtues of the school we hated in a not-so-recent past. And then, I hate FB. It was here I found my childhood friends and discovered that they were not those only the pranksters I knew. They all had lives and talents and expertise that I only dream of - jetsetting, media savvy, artistic bunch was what I found along with the goofiness that I’d been expecting. So I have no idea why I was surprised to find out that some of those old friends were also accomplished cooks at home. Their updates about food they cook made me turn green (but I’m definitely not the envious kind, I assure you). And then, when the pictures appeared, I turned greener. For not only were these aforementioned friends great cooks (or chefs, if you please), but they’re all great photographers. And what are all those exotic sounding foods and breads that they make? 

In one of my revved up “green” moment, I’d decided to bake the bread that a FB friend had on her page. I gathered all the ingredients…but then never had the courage to try her recipe. You see, I’m not very confident or adventurous around the little space in my house we call the kitchen. Whenever I saw her post another bread recipe, a little voice inside my head reminded me of the little packets of yeast sitting in my pantry. And I gave both the voice and my friend’s FB updates a cold shoulder. And then, I recently came across this recipe that was way too tempting to ignore. I had all the ingredients, so it was all a matter of picking up the courage and diving in. That was my project, this last weekend! I’ve pretty much followed the recipe to a T, except for the yeast proofing part. Also, I was too impatient to wait for the flour to rise the second time! The buns did come out excellent nevertheless, and I got over my FB greens without much stress :-).
 

Stuffed Veggie buns
 

For the dough:

All purpose flour 1 cup

Whole wheat flour ½ cup

Parsley 1 small bunch, chopped

Baking powder 1tsp

Salt 1tbsp

Sugar 1 tbsp

Warm water ½ cup

Active dry Yeast 1tsp

Milk as needed

For the filling

Frozen Mixed veggies ½ cup thawed

Boiled potato 1

Salt, pepper to taste

Amchoor powder ½ tsp

Cumin seeds ½ tsp

Oil for tempering

1. Add the sugar and yeast to warm water and keep aside for 15 min.
2. In the meanwhile, sift the flours together and add the salt, baking powder and chopped up parsley to this. I also preheated the oven to WARM at this time.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour the yeast-mix to it. Bring it all together slowly and make soft, pliable dough. Add warm milk as needed. Grease an oven-proof bowl and put the dough in this, cover with an oiled plastic wrap, and keep inside the oven for an hour. You can turn off the oven and just let the dough rest in the warmth.
4. Prepare the filling meanwhile. I tempered the cumin seeds in a bit of oil, added my veggies, potato and spices to coat. Then allow the filling to cool.
5. After 1h, the dough had doubled up and was very soft with holes on the outside. Punch down the dough, quickly divide into 6 balls. Flatten one ball with your hands, put the filling in the center and close the edges tightly. Flatten the filled ball again slightly. Repeat with all the six balls of dough.
6. Keep all the filled buns on a greased oven-proof plate, about 2 inches apart. You can sprinkle them with poppy or sesame seeds now, but I didn’t have any
7. Allow them to rise again in a warm oven for 1h- this is where I was impatient and only waited 20 min.
8. Brush the tops with a little milk and butter. Bake them at 350F, until golden brown.

My two cents: The buns came out as well as the original post promised; but I do wish I'd allowed them to rise a bit more. Wonder what they'd have tasted like then.... I am sending this to YeastSpotting- the weekly cooking with yeast event, and to Lets Do Brunch..

A Piece of Pie

Nothing gives as much pleasure as the times when an impromptu brainstorming session culminates in excellent results. In this case, the result was a one of those "throw things together" kind of a dish that I have managed to perfect over time. But there is a story behind it. At work, everyday, I get together with a couple of colleagues to eat lunch. Sometimes they get adventurous, and ask to taste my rotis and/or sabzi that I pack from home. One day the conversation led me to confess that I am a non-baker. I had never baked in India, and haven't really experimented with the oven here. That led us to a heated discussion on how easy baking was compared to rolling out rotis!

Fasting Feasting

My thought for today is- why does fasting make you think of food? I am really not kidding, I challenge you to prove otherwise! Probably that is why the fasting holidays in any religion end with scrumptious feasts! The nine days of Sharad Navratris, saluting the strength, power and the femininity of the Supreme, are celebrated with a flurry of fasting, poojas and all-night dandiyas. The Navratras also herald the beginning of the annual Hindu festive season. The fasting during these days means that you can only eat one meal a day, and you can't eat "Anaaj", which loosely translated includes all grains, dals and legumes so staple to an Indian diet. That brings us back to comment on feasting - when I decided to fast these Navrartras, I had all intentions of truly fasting, with only a once-a-day fruit diet. On the very first day, I had my stomach growling with hunger at 11am, and I was hallucinating about the yummy food my mom made during this time. I could smell, and even taste, the sabudaana vadaas, makhane-ki- kheer, kuttu ke pakore, sabudaana kheer, aloo tikki and what not.

A Timeless Ritual

Today, I am sad, and happy. I'm happy to see my daughter back in school, and sad as I realize that she's grown up a whole year today! As schools re-open and kids go back to school, I'm reminded of two sayings that I read recently. First, that if it wasn't for schools to take children away, moms would be inmates of an asylum! Second, Labor day is a wonderful holiday because it is the end of summer vacation- it would have been called Independence Day, if we did not already have one! Both, so true. But then, I'm thinking like a mom.

Breakfast Biscuits with Blueberry Sauce.

So, I finally convinced my other half to agree on some DIY home projects in the coming months. And the first one I wanted was to paint our eyesore of a sun room. Ever since we moved into this house, the 1950s wood paneled, chocolate brown door sun room irritated me. It was too dark and gloomy despite full- sized windows on each wall. But my husband is a chronic procrastinator, and not at all handy with home repairs. As for me, I am a really good supervisor, and stick to this role with all my heart....So we jiggled the thought back and forth and ended up doing nothing. Until now, that is.

This saturday, we geared up and made a list of supplies and actually bought stuff we needed to begin painting. The plan was to get up early sunday morning and not waste any morning hours. And plans in our household are meant to be taken with a pinch of salt...or sugar, if you prefer! Sunday morning dawned with massive appetites, that wouldn't agree to the staple breakfast of milk and cereal with cookies. And so I bribed all the family into picking up tape and brushes, prime the sun room while I conjure up a "sunday breakfast". Don't be fooled by what I promised. I was in no mood to cook an elaborate breakfast spread for them. I was just going to toss some things together and come up with something edible. The first thing I saw in my fridge was a fistful of blueberries, picked out of the bushes in our backyard. They were smallish, and not very sweet- guess we didn't wait for them to ripen enough before picking them. Not good to eat, but good enough for a sauce! Hmm...and waffles or pancakes..or..voila- I'd try to make some biscuits instead. Pat on my back; good thinking D! And this is what I did.  

Blueberry sauce: Cook the blueberries in water over low flame for 10-15 min. When soft enough, mash the berries or blend in a blender. If you dont like the skin, pass through a strainer (I didn't), and return to the flame. Add some sugar and a dash of lemon juice.

Biscuits: All purpose flour 1 cup Butter 2tbsp Sugar 1/2 tsp Salt 1 pinch Baking soda 2 pinch Milk 1/4 cup Preheat oven to 375. Mix all the dry ingredients together, and crumble in butter. Add milk slowly while stirring to get a thick sticky batter- should be thicker than the pouring consistency. Drop spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Flatten with the back of a spoon and bake 7-8 min, or until golden brown. Sprinkle some powdered sugar when still a bit warm. Turned out that the biscuits were devoured even before i could click a picture!

So next time folks. And for purposes of full disclosure, the biscuits were flaky on the outside, and soft inside. Yummmm! Blueberry sauce will need some tweaking, me thinks- don't know for sure what kind though. So, either try making it at your own risk, or make do with the bottled kind instead!