Luv Bites

Pumpkin Stuffed Ravioli

2012-01-02T05:13:00.001-08:00

Pumpkin Stuffed Ravioli, a photo by lavannya on Flickr.

I have had some of the best pumpkin stuffed Ravioli at Herbs and Spices by Manji t....Well its another thing that he used to make it once upon a time but does it no more :(... I suppose mushroom stuffed ravioli is more popular. Nevertheless...that too is very yummy.....

I have wanted to try make some myself from scratch someday and thought that if the carrot cake worked this too might :)...and it did sort of...
Well I had no recipe to refer to for this one.... so did my own thing.

I discovered the real use of the pasta making machine... rolling out each pasta took me forever with a rolling pin and though the end product did taste alright the pasta was not absolutely even in thickness and hence a little chewy here and there.

Recipe:

You need:

For the dough

3 eggs

1 cup flour / maida

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp milk

For the filling:

200 gms of yellow pumpkin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp rosemary

1 tsp basil

1 tbsp grated cheese.

For the Sauce:

1 small cube butter

1 tsp crushed garlic

1/2 tbsp flour/maida

1 cup milk

Salt to taste

1 tsp pepper

4-5 Fresh Basil leaves

1 tbsp chopped spinach

1 small cube butter

1 tbsp grated cheddar cheese

Method:

- Chop up the pumpkin and saute it in a pan with some butter, rosemary, basil , salt and pepper.

- Cover and cook till the pumpkin is soft and cooked. Add a little cheese to the mix for flavor and binding.

- Using the back of a fork break down the pumpkin to an even mash.

- Mix the Flour, eggs, salt and milk gradually together to make a firm dough.

- Roll out the dough and cut out equal squares of it.

- Place the pumpkin mixture in the centre of one square and sandwich another square on it to seal the packet of Ravioli. Finish the seal with a fork or with a pastry cutter.

- In a pot of boiling water with a pinch of salt, drop the Ravioli carefully.

- When the Ravioli rise to the top its cooked. Can be strained and removed.

- While the Ravioli is cooking prepare the white sauce in a pan by heating butter and blending in the flour for a couple of minutes on slow fire.

- add the milk, garlic, salt , pepper, basil leaves and spinach leaves and stir the sauce till it thickens is well blended.

- Once the sauce is cooked add the cooked Ravioli to the sauce. Finish with a little cheddar cheese (that's all I had at home) and Serve hot! :)

Carrot Cake

2012-01-02T04:49:00.001-08:00

Carrot Cake, a photo by lavannya on Flickr.

The New Year being around the corner and our travel plans dissolving thanks to a sad medical emergency; and my persisting need to make it special somehow inspite of the events; the fresh delhi carrots available all over the city and the nice cold winter.... had me inspired to bake once again...and that too a Carrot cake!

I have had some yummy Carrot cake at the German Bakery and it had me completely blown by its softness and yumminess....
Searching for a recipe online I found Naagu's blog... I followed her recipe all the way and made some minor exceptions based on likings and what was available :P. Apologies Naagu....
Nevetheless the cake turned out so yummy, soft... and there is no sign of it a day later ....

Naagu's responsible for me wanting to try baking once again.

Recipe:

You need:

1 cup flour / Maida

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup + 2 tbs veg oil

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar (I used all white sugar)

1/4 cup milk / buttermilk (I used milk)

1.5 cups grated delhi carrots

1/2 cup walnuts

Method:

- Grease and flour a baking tin of your choice. 8" dia ideally

- Sieve all the dry ingredients together: the maida, soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt

- Mix and beat the Oil, Eggs, Milk and Sugar together till light and fluffy

- Mix in gradually the dry flour powder mix.

- Mix in the grated carrots and walnuts.

- Pour the mixture in the baking tin and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 40 minutes. I baked it for around 65 minutes at 120 degrees as I have a very small oven.

Its good to be blogging about food after so long :)

Happy New Year to all of you!

Banana Walnut Cake

2008-08-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to bake and bake a good cake ever since Vivek gifted me the small oven.
I have made many attempts but most have been extremely dis satisfactory.
I love banana walnut cake. Its a unique mix of ingredients. Am not personally fond of bananas but somehow the fragrance of the banana and the crunchiness of the walnuts seem to go so well together.

So here goes... me baked a Banana walnut cake!

You need:

3/4th cup plain flour
1/4th cup wheat flour
1/4th cup sugar
4 tbs oil
1 mashed banana
1/4th cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup milk

Method:
- Mash the banana and mix in the vanilla essence and oil to get a well blended light mix.
- Sieve the flours and baking powder and mix into the wet mix.
- Mix in the milk to get a good consistency.
- Add the walnuts at the end and mix.
- Turn the cake mix into a prepared baking tray and bake at 210 degrees for 35 minutes.
- The cake is ready to eat!

Chocolate Cake - Arusuvai Chain

2008-03-09T20:35:00.000-07:00

Bharathy roped me into the Arusuvai friendship chain...and told me I'd recieve an ingredient soon... and I recieve a white packet from Kamini... and tasting it I instantly knew it was "Baking Powder"...
Only I didn't want to bake as it would consume so much E energy. (and I had many an options but strangely nothing seemed nice enough)
And then again.... I haven't baked a thing in so many years... I didn't even remember the proportions of butter, flour and eggs!

So as you would assume, it did take me a couple of bad bakes to get to this one...
It doesn't look the best, but its the a really tasty and soft Chocolate cake.
Well if I'd follow my mother's recipes correctly more often I'd not have any failures... :)

You need:
170 gms Butter (melted)
170 gms of Sugar
140 gms of flour
1 tsp of baking powder
2 tbs of cocoa powder
A few drops of Vanilla essence
3 eggs
1/2 cup of milk

Method:
- Grease and dust a baking mould
- Seive the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together.
- Mix in the melted butter and sugar and beat it till its white and fluffy (the trick is in how much and how long you can beat it)
- Mix in the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly
- Fold in the flour mixture gently and little by little and mix it well.
- Add in the vanilla essence and some milk to get a dropping consistency.
- Add the mixture into a mould and bake it in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Chocolate cake is ready!

More Pickles

2008-02-25T19:32:00.000-08:00

Making pickles has been an art. Not everyone has a flair for it, they say
and its not so easy to make them. I suppose its got to do with the fact that you
don't make pickles often, and therefore its all about having your hand set
at it. That's also the reason why grandmothers are a master at it and
mothers are just turning good :)

In any case, I yearn these pickles sometimes. Their colors are so vibrant!
Once again, I decided to try some more, but different pickles that I've
remembered enjoying at Gujarat.

Ada Muli/ Tumeric, Ginger and Mango Ginger's pickle

This is a ultra simple pickle that one will find in the beginning of spring in
most houses in Gujarat. The art is that each root is cut really thin.
(Gujaratis have an obsession with making things very fine)
Its made from 3 roots. Fresh and young ginger, young turmeric and young
"manga hingi" - its a root that tastes like mango but looks like ginger. Has
a very subtle mangoish fragrance.

You need:
100 gms of manga hingi (mango ginger root)
100 gms of young turmeric
100 gms of young ginger
6 lemons
1 cup of salt

Method:
- Wash, peel and slice all the roots.
- Extract the juice of the lemons and cut the leftover skins into quarters.
- Fill a jar with the juliennes of the roots and the lemon, add the salt and the
lemon juice.
- Close the bottle tightly and let it stand for 1 day. Its ready to eat the
next day.
- I like to add the lemon skins because they turn really yummy after
getting soaked a few days in the lime water. You could add lime slices
too.

Punjabi pickle

This pickle my friend, Indu's, mother used to make... and I remember how I used to love it! She actually used to ask me not to eat like a vegetable! But the fact is, it is indeed like a vegetable to accompany rotis and parathas. Well Aunty made it much better... I have yet to get the hang of it. But what I ended up making is quite close.

You need:
2 cups of Vegetables
Cauliflower florets
Carrots
Turnip
Peas
1 tbs split mustard seeds
4 tbs oil
4 tbs vinegar
1 tbs chilli powder
1/2 tbs turmeric powder
1 cup jaggery
2 tbs salt
1 tbs ginger and garlic paste

Method:
-Soak the vegetables in hot water for 15 minutes.
-Heat oil in a pan
-Add the garlic ginger paste and fry for 1 minute
-Add the mustard seeds, the chilli powder and turmeric powder and mix it

well in the hot oil
-Mix in the jaggery and let it dissolve
-Drain out the water from the vegetables as well as possible and let the mixture cook for 5 minutes in the oil.
-Add the vinegar and check the salt
-Store in a air tight jar

Raiwala Marcha (Mustard Chillies)

This pickle goes excellently with theplas and debhras.... well with any
meal in fact.

You need:
100 gms of big chillies
1 tbs of split mustard seeds/ mustard powder
1 tbs of salt
1/4 tsp asafetida
1 tbs of oil

Method:
- Clean and slit all the chillies. Divide the slits into 2 if the chilli is very
long.
- Remove any extra seeds to keep its spice level down
- Mix with the chillies the mustard, salt, asafetida and oil.
- Rub the chillies nicely so that the salt and mustard covers each one well.
- The "Marcha" are ready to eat in about half an hour!

Instant Golkeri

You need:
125 gms of mangoes
150 gms of jaggery
1/2 tbs of fenugreek seeds
1/2 tbs of methi seeds
4 large dry kashimiri chillies
1 tbs of shambhar masala
or
1 tsp mustard powder
2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp tumeric powder
2 tsp salt

Method:

Heat oil
-Add the red dried chillies broken into half, fenugreek and coriander seeds
and saute for 1 minute.
-Add the asafetida
-Saute the mango pieces such that they are covered with the other
ingredients well
-Mix in the Jaggery and let it dissolve slowly on slow fire.
-Add the shambhar masala or alternatively, mustard powder, chilli powder
and tumeric powder and mix well.
-Take the mixture off the fire as soon as the jaggery dissolves

Dahiwale Aloo

2007-12-19T19:51:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

250 gms baby potatoes

1 onion chopped

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp onion seeds

½ tsp fennel seeds

1 pinch asafetida

2 cloves

1 bay leaf

1 piece of cinnamon

½ tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp coriander cumin powder

1 tsp dry mango powder

1 cup beaten curds

1 dry red chilli

1 tbs chopped coriander leaves

1 tbs oil/ghee

Method:

_ Boil and peel the baby potatoes

_ Heat the oil or ghee in a pan and add the mustard, onion, cumin and fennel seeds to it along with the asafetida. Fry for a minute until the seeds begin to crackle.

_ Add the cloves, cinnamon and the bay leaf and the dry red chilli.

_ Add the onions and sauté them till they are golden brown

_ Add the baby potatoes and mix them well.

_ Now add in the turmeric powder, red chilli powder and coriander cumin powder.

_ Mix well and add in some water to cook the masalas

_ Mix in the beaten curds and the dry mango powder.

_ Let the curry boil for 2 minutes on slow fire.

_ Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves on top.

_ And serve hot!

Orange Basundi

2007-12-16T04:59:00.000-08:00

The season of Oranges is here and its my favorite favorite food...

What can be better than to explore sweets with this sweet and sour fruit! So here goes my sunday afternoon venture. None of it was leftover, glad I clicked a picture of it before ... :)

Ingredients:

1 litre milk

½ cup sugar

½ tsp of Cardamom powder

Few strands of saffron

Chopped nuts

2 oranges

½ tsp juice of lemon or orange

Method:

_ Boil the milk and let it simmer on slow fire until it comes down to half its quantity.

_ Add sugar to it and let it thicken.

_ Add the saffron and the cardamom powder.

_ Chill it

_ Peel the oranges and remove the skins to leave only the pulp.

_ Add the orange and the lemon juice/ orange juice to the chilled basundi

_ Sprinkle chopped almonds and pistachios on top.

_ Serve Chilled!

PICKLES

2007-11-18T04:57:00.001-08:00

PICKLES
Originally uploaded by lavannya

Fed up of getting readymade pickles that somehow miss the flavor that comes from home made pickles, I decided to make my own. Atleast try my hand at the art of making pickles...
I tried these three... The green pepper one totally Rocks!
Clockwise from Top:
1. Fresh Green Chilli Pickle
2. Green peppers and Lime
3. Mango, chick pea and garlic pickle

1. Fresh Green Chilli Pickle:

You need:
1 cup large bhavnagri chillies
2 tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/8 tsp Asafetida
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp Lemon juice

Method:
- Cut the chillies into 1 cm thick rounds
- Heat oil in a pan
- Add the cumin and the fenugreek seeds to it. Stir and add in the asafetida.
- Add the chillies and saute them for 2 minutes and remove from heat.
- Add the salt, sugar and the lime juice and mix well.
- It can be stored for 2-3 days

2. Green peppers and Lime

You need:
250 gms green peppers
6 small limes
1 piece of fresh ginger (you could add more)
Green chillies slit into halves
1 cup of Salt

Method:
- Wash and dry the green peppers. Let them lose all the water.
- In a glass jar, fill all the green peppers, pieces of ginger and the green chillies.
- Squeeze in all the lime and add a cup of salt. You could add more salt if needed. The more the salt the longer the pickle will live.
- Chop all the squeezed limes into fours and add them to the jar.
- Leave the jar aside for 5 days. Keep shaking the jar once a day. The salt shall turn into water and the Lime will soften.
- This pickle tastes heavenly with Curd rice!!

3. Mango, chick pea and garlic pickle

You need:
2 raw mangoes
1 peeled bulb of garlic
1 tbsp of fenugreek seeds
1 cup chick peas
3 tbsp of Oil
3 tbsp of Sambar masala (will write recipe for this separately)

Method:
- Soak the chick peas overnight. Dry them out on a flat surface so that they lose all the water content.
- Soak the fenugreek seeds overnight and put them out to dry in the sun.
- Similarly chop mango pieces and soak them in salted water overnight. Dry them out properly on a flat surface.
- Heat the oil and let it cool.
- Mix in the mango pieces, garlic, fenugreek seeds, chick peas and the sambhar masala.
- Store in an airtight glass container and let it sit for 5 days.
- A hot crunchy pickle is ready to eat!

Jalebi

2007-10-20T23:18:00.001-07:00

Dashera... and it reminds me of the late nights of Garba/navratri, the sweat, the dressing, the music, the energy... going back after the 9th night only after 7 am...having danced all night... and spent time at restaurant's cafeteria the remaining time...

Away from home, the Jalebis and Fafda memories lurk...
Today I decided to make my own Instant Jalebis

You need:
1 cup Maida / flour
1 tsp Besan or gram flour
1 tbs melted ghee
1/2 tsp fresh or dry yeast melted in warm water
few drops of yellow food colour (optional)
3/4 cup of water for mixing
1 tsp of sugar
Ghee for frying

For syrup:
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of water
few strands of saffron
1/2 lemon's juice

Method:
For the syrup:
- Heat the sugar, water, saffron and the lemon juice to get a thick syrup.

For the Jalebis:

- Mix in the all the dry ingredients for the Jalebi and mix in water to see to it that there are no lumps left and the batter is of dropping consistency.
- leave the batter aside only for 10 minutes.
- Heat ghee in a pan
- Fill the batter in a piping cloth or a thick plastic bag with a hole cut at one end
- pipe in concentric jalebis in the heated ghee and fry till golden brown on both sides.
- Dip it in the sugar syrup and remove immediately.
- Jalebis are ready to eat!

Gujarati Theplas

2007-08-12T19:04:00.000-07:00

I've been making Theplas (Kara Chappatis) or Spiced Bread... for quite some many years...and honestly I've never eaten such superb ones before....
I had to try them myself to know what a difference it can make.
These ones just disappear in your mouth.
If you leave the dough in the refrigerator overnight, the Theplas turn out even softer!

I know most of you have the recipe according to the word Document I shared with you ... but this method is a sure winner!

You Need: (for 15 - 16 pieces)

2 cups of wheat flour
2 tbs of oil
1 tsp of chili powder
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
Salt to taste
2 tbs of curd
1 glass of water
Oil for cooking

Method:

- Make a good "Chaas" out of the curd and water. It can be quite watery. Blend it well. Chaas is diluted curd similar to buttermilk. You can use buttermilk optionally. (preferably not flavored)
- Dry mix the Flour, chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt, 1/5 tbs of oil. Mix it to have everything blended in well.
- Add in the "chaas" to bind the dough to a nice soft consistency.
- Use your hands and knead it really well. Add a few drops of oil around the dough and knead. As a standard after the dough's mixed really well oil it (with a few drops of oil) and knead it ateast 3 times.
- Make 1 inch size portions of the dough and roll out about 6" rounds out of it.
- Roast one side on slow fire first, and once partially done, cook the other side on the slow fire.
- Oil the cooked side with 1/2 tsp of oil (lesser if you desire) and turn it over. Increase the heat.
- Oil the other side too and cook it on that side too.
-the Thepla shouldn't burn or get black spots.
-Eat them hot or the next morning with tea, you'll know the difference!

Dum Chicken Biryani

2007-05-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

Everybody always wants to eat good Biryani... (me too ;P)
but God bless if the Biryani turns out perfectly!

My earlier biryanis were either pulavs or squishy...
Either the masala went wrong or something else did... "pout"

But this time...a blind following of a dum biryani cooking process I saw on Discovery Travel and Living, with replacement of Mutton with Chicken and the dum process by the oven... (actually I cooked it in two parts and the one on the stove burnt at the bottom... that was the most awesome tasting part... we scraped the bottom to eat it all)
and I think I made the almost perfect Biryani!!!!

(those are chopped mangoes in the background. The biryani was followed by Mango Milkshake with mango pieces and icecream :))

You Need:

1 ½ cups of Basmati or long grained rice
½ kilo chicken pieces
2 chopped tomatoes
2 large onions sliced
1 tablespoon pieces of cashew nuts (optional)
Oil for frying
2-3 tbs of ghee
3-4 whole cloves
1” cinnamon stick
2-3 cardamoms
1 cup coriander leaves
1 tbs mint leaves
2 green chillies slit
2 tsp ground garlic and ginger paste
½ a lemon’s juice
2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp pepper powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp cumin- coriander powder
2 cups curd
1 cup warm milk
A few strands of saffron
Salt to taste

Method:
- Clean the chicken pieces and marinate it.
- To marinate, add to 1 cup of curd the chilli powder, tumeric powder, pepper powder, green chillies, garlic and ginger paste, cumin-coriander powder, lemon juice, cloves, cinnamon, cardamoms, coriander and mint leaves and 2 tsps of salt. Mix well and rub in onto the chicken properly.
- Leave the chicken aside for an hour.
- Fry the sliced onions in oil till golden brown. Drain the oil and keep aside.
- Boil a pot of water and once the water begins to boil add in the rice and a teaspoon of salt and let it cook till half done.
- Drain and keep the rice aside.
- Add the saffron strands to the warm milk and keep aside.
- Now in a separate pan heat 2 tablespoons of oil and 1 tablespoon of ghee. Add in the tomato and cashew nuts to it. Cook for 1 minute
- Add in the marinated chicken with all the marinade and cook it for 5 minutes turning the chicken around the in the pan.
- Once the chicken is half done, remove from fire.
- Grease a baking dish with some ghee, and layer the chicken on the bottom.
- Beat the remaining curd and pour over the chicken. (just a large drop on each piece)
- Spread generously the fried onions on top.
- Layer the rice well (at least 2 inches on the chicken)
- Sprinkle the milk with saffron on top of the rice and the browned onions and some coriander leaves.
- Bake in oven covered with aluminum foil at 200 degree centigrade for 40 minutes or alternatively in a thick utensil sitting on a thick pan, on slow fire covered for 40 minutes.
- Chicken Biryani is ready to eat!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

2007-05-03T00:16:00.000-07:00

Indu and I used to bake this cake many years back in our "vella" times at her house :)... She and her mom are such experts at baking... I had to participate..

Years later now when I've got me an oven.... I decided to give it a try again! :)

You Need:

200 gms flour
170 gms sugar (powdered)
170 gms butter
50 gms sugar
2 Eggs
A few drops of Vanilla essence
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder
1 tbs milk
1 Can of sliced pineapple
1 tbs of walnuts chopped or crushed

Method:

- Cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Sift the Flour and the baking powder and keep aside.
- Once the butter and sugar is light and fluffy mix in one egg at a time.
- Now add a few drops of vanilla essence.
- Mix well and fold in gradually the flour and baking powder mixture.
- if the consistency is too thick add a little milk at a time to make it thinner.
- Add in the cinnamon powder and the walnuts.
- Grease a baking dish and sprinkle some sugar crystals on the bottom.
- Arrange the pineapple slices on the botttom to cover it as well as possible.
- Pour the batter on top and bake in oven at 200 C for 40 minutes.
- Turn the cake upside down once cool and Pineapple Upside down is ready to eat!

EGG FRIED RICE

2006-12-23T19:07:00.000-08:00

EGG FRIED RICE
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

Egg Fried Rice

Ingredients:
500gm of cooked rice
1 cup of chopped mushrooms
½ cup chopped shallots or spring onions
½ cup finely chopped red onion
½ cup finely chopped red capsicum
½ cup sliced cabbage
2 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp chopped ginger (optional)
1 tbs oyster sauce
4 tsp soya sauce
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp black pepper powder
Oil for cooking
Salt to taste

Method:
- Soak and cook the rice so that each strand is separate. If you have leftover rice it is even better.
- Mix in 2 tsp of soya sauce, salt, 1 tsp of pepper and the chopped spring onions in the two eggs. Do not beat the egg too much; just mix it in so that it still has the strands.
- Heat a pan and slowly cook the egg to get a scramble.
- Meanwhile heat another wok/pan and add 2 tbs of oil to it. Add the chopped onions and garlic to it and also ginger if you like. Add a tsp of sugar at this point.
- Cook on high heat.
- Add to this the capsicum and the mushroom.
- Add in the remaining soya sauce and oyster sauce, the chilli flakes and salt and pepper to balance taste if necessary.
- Once the mushroom is done add the scrambled eggs to the mix and let it heat a little more.
- Add in the rice and mix well so that the vegetables and egg are well mixed into the rice.
- Add the cabbage in the end and cook for another minute or so and the Egg Fried Rice is ready to eat!

Sudha Chaats

2006-12-20T19:47:00.000-08:00

sudha-chaats
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

We often write about restaurants, but fail to recognize these small outlets in a city that have been in business for years together keeping a their food flavor constant. I wont say its the most hygenic looking but then hot food is surely not a problem!

Sudha Chaats is one such place in the area of Shantinagar in Bangalore. Its on the right side of the Berlie Street, just a couple of shops from the mouth of the Street.

He's been in business for some 25 years now, started as a small lorry and now has a small shop of his own.
The people who were eating away his bhajjis, samosas and kachoris swear by his food. One fellow going away at his paper full of various bhajjis layered with chutneys and chopped onions, his mouth full said "He's the best in Bangalore". That put an instant smile on my face!

I was fortunate to have my camera along with me, and yes I enjoyed the hot hot samoras and capsicum bhajjis terribly lot.

Had to share it with you all, in case YOU do not have an allergy to street food, this is one place you MUST try!

SET DOSE / BANANA DOSE

2006-12-19T19:30:00.000-08:00

SET DOSE / BANANA DOSE
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

Banana Dose/ Set Dose

I am so glad I stumbled upon Seema's recipe for Banana Dose... I was so craving these semi sweet spongy dose but had no clue how to make them. Well astlast I did :)

Ingredients:
2 cups of rice grains
2 tsp of methi seeds
2 ripe bananas
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking

Method:
- Soak the rice and the methi seeds together in water for about 8 hours.
- Grind them with the ripe bananas to a nice paste.
- Keep the paste in an oven (not heated) or a microwave, covered, overnight to ferment.
- Heat a non-stick pan. Pour a little batter on it and just roll it around like a pancake. Keep it thick coz that’s how it’s supposed to be, soft and spongy.
- Have it hot with chutney or sagoo!

C O C O N U T L A D D O O S / P I N K I E S

2006-09-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

C O C O N U T L A D O O S
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

Coconut Ladoos/Pinkies

As children we used to wait for our grandmother's sister whom we called Mota Masi to come to Baroda (home). And the only thing we used to ask her to get along with her were the PINKIES...
She used to add a pink food colour to her coconut ladoos and these ladoos were always a great mystery to us.
We used to gobble them up like noone's business. Choclates didnt disappear as quickly.

What brought me to me making them?
Well too many housewarmings and weddings in South India and one can start selling coconuts. I just had too many of em lying around.
I asked my maid to grate them and viola! we had coconut ladoos minus the pink colour. :)

Do try them ....please do....this is the most heavenly sweet you've ever eaten. And I had no idea it was so simple until I tried the experiment myself.

Ingredients:
2 coconuts grated
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 pinch of cardamom powder
A few strands of saffron

Method:
- Heat the sugar and the water mixture together until the syrup is of a sticky consistency.
- Add the cardamom powder and the saffron to the syrup while heating it and stirring continuously.
- Cool the syrup for a couple of minutes and add the coconut to it.
- Mix well.
- Keep the mixture to cool aside. Or refrigerate it for half and hour.
- Take water in your palms and make balls of the mixture.
- Coconut ladoos are ready!

Mah Ki Daal

2006-09-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

mah-ki-dal
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

Mah Ki Daal

Ingredients:
1 cup of whole urad
2 tbsp of rajma
1 tbsp chana dal
1 green chilli chopped
1 small onion sliced
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp roasted cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala
½ tsp cardamom powder
3-4 tsp of oil
1 tbsp cream (optional)
2 pinches of asafetida
Salt to taste

Method:
- Soak the dals overnight or at least for 10 hours.
- Cook them under pressure until the dals are really soft and mushy.
- In a pan heat 2 tsp of oil and add the cumin seeds and asafetida.
- As the seeds begin to crackle add in the green chilli and the onions.
- Sauté the onions until they brown and add in the dals with enough water to keep the consistency thick.
- Add salt, turmeric powder, 1 tsp chilli powder, coriander powder and roasted cumin powder.
-Boil this dal for at least ½ hour. Keep adding water and mixing at intervals to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Add the garam masala and the cardamom powder to the dal and mix well.

- Make a tempering of 1 tsp of oil, 1 tsp of cumin seeds, 1 dry red chilli, 1 pinch of asafetida. When the cumin seeds have crackled add 1 tsp of chilli powder and take it off the fire. Add immediately to the dal.
- Serve the Mah Ki Dal hot with rice!

5 ELEMENTS

2006-07-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

In another attempt to satiate hunger quickly and try out a new place... I visited this restaurant I've been passing by for the past 2 years but havent attempted entering. I still dont know why!

This is a quaint little place on the Nandi Durga road after the Airtel office.

The decor was very interesting, a little crude with bamboos and sleeper wood floors, stones and benches.
They have many types of seating arrangements. You could sit outside under the bamboos and have a rush meal, or sit inside the cozy air conditioned space with exotic lighting and all, or sit upstairs on the roof looking down upon the road and have a ball of a time!

I must say that I was quite surprised that noone had recommended this place so far coz the food was really good. Yes the portions were quite small, but everything was delicious. Absolutely delicious.

The Ambience: very creatively done. My eyes as a designer, were continuously roaming, looking at the strange details.

The Service: The owner served us throughout so I dont think we felt the dirth of it. But I can tell you that because the

place has many types of seating and in all places, its difficult for the waiters to concentrate on everybody.
To know that the restaurant was quite busy on a weekday and that too in the afternoon.

The Food: It was really delicious
Yonous recommended that we try his Prawn Temptations, his Spagetti Salad and a Steak (which they are plenty popular for)
The Prawns (it was a really small serving) but finished really fast in our plate.
The Spagetti salad was very different from what I expected but very nice. That too finished rather quickly.
And the Chicken Steak... it was called the Three Pepper Chicken Steak... very tasty and very well cooked steak. Not stringy or chewy... extremely easy to cut and eat.
I also tried the Cucumber cooler, which I didnt really like because it was rather sweet. That's one thing that didnt please me much.
For Dessert we tried the Choclate cake, and I was rather pleased. Simple choclate cake drowsed in lots of choclate sauce, very home made and simple yet extremely tasty.

They dont serve alcohol...but honestly I didnt miss it.

The Prices: Not very high or not very low.
The Prawns were Rs.80, and the Salad similar. The steak was for Rs 180 if I remember right. For 2 of us it was a bill of a round figure of Rs.400. Not very high or very low.

How to get there: You have to go around the Palace grounds and take the Nandidurga Road towards St.John's Church Road. The road turns a C, and at the C curve is this yellow compound wall done crudely with a guard sitting at the door.

That's 5 Elements.

Happy Eating,
Lavannya

Dal Dhokli

2006-07-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

Someone started a thread on Comfort Food on the www.ryze.com's Sigfood network...
and I answered that thread saying Khichadi would be my best comfort food...

Now that I've been sick for the past few days I've really realized what my Comfort food is...
Food that is slurpy, thick, hot and one that reminds me of home and MOM...

Dal Dhokli seemed to come to my appetite automatically (especially when that's something missing when sick), its else that with all the body ache and fever... cooking it was another thing...

But when I did have it... It felt like heaven...

I remember my Mother and her Grand mother in law (that's my great grand mother, grand mother's mother) used to cook this dish, sit down on the floor, put the utensil that they cooked the Dal Dhokli in on hot coals and eat while it was still piping hot.

I remember we being taught to eat it in a thali with a large spoon kept under the thali on one end to not have the food spilling all over the thali.

Its a strange food for those who aren't used to eating dal and roti in the same dish...
But do try it...
Its like fresh pasta in a pulse based sauce ;)

Here's the recipe:

You need:
1/2 cup toovar dal
1 tomato chopped
10-12 peanuts (optional)
2 green chillies chopped
1 tbs tamarind juice or 2 pieces of kokum (if you have)
1 tbs fresh coriander
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp tumeric powder
1 heaped tsp cumin-coriander powder
2 tbs jaggery
Salt to taste
100 gms Guvar or Gaurekai chopped (optional)

for the tempering:
2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp menthi seeds/fenugreek seeds
1 dry red chilli/ 2 round dry chillies
10 curry leaves
A pinch of asafetida

For the Dhokli:
1 cup wheat flour
1/4 tsp tumeric powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp oil
1 tsp salt
and Water for binding

Method:
- Make a medium stiff dough by mixing all the dry ingredients for the Dhokli and bind using water little by little.
- Pressure cook the toovar dal and the peanuts together in a pressure cooker until the dal is soft.
- Mash the dal together (not the peanuts) when cooked and add all the remaining ingredients to it and bring to a boil.
- Make the tempering by heating oil, and add mustard seeds to it. As they begin to splinter add the red chilli, curry leaves and the asafetida. Add it to the dal immediately.
- Boil the dal for 2 more minutes.
- You can add the beans shown in the picture also to the dal so that it turns into a one dish meal. We call it Guvaar! or Gaurekai in Kannada.
- Chop the beans into 1 cm pieces and boil in water with a little salt. Drain and add to the dal when it is boiling.
- Roll out very thin Rotis of the prepared dough.
- Cut it into 2 inch strips and each strip into 3/4 diamond shaped pieces. If you want, you can make pieces directly using your hand.
- Add a piece by piece in the boiling dal. (the flame should be on high and the dal bubbling away)
- Dont add all of them together or else they'll form a lump you'll hate to eat.
- Pieces from about 2.5 rotis will suffice.
- Boil them in the dal on high flame for 2-3 minutes after you've finished dropping all of them in one by one.
- If required add more water in the dal.
- This is one dish you MUST eat piping HOT... a tsp of ghee on top will make it even more delectable.
- If it turns cold, it will start to become a lump. Add water and boil once again and its ready to eat once again

TIP: to turn really nice and thin Rotis (any type of roti) smear them with Rice flour instead of Wheat flour on both sides. See how your roti spins on the platform.

Bisi Bele Huli Anna

2006-06-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

Bisi Bele Huli Anna

A speciality of Karnataka. A one dish meal easy to cook, very filling, and nutritious. It needs to be a little semi solid and that's the best way to eat it. Each time I've made it, its been a hit. My hubby yearns for it... each time I cook this he eats really well.
This sunday when we photographers were at the Malleshwaram vegetable market I discovered the "Avvarakkai" and bought instantly some. Without these seeds this dish seems a little partial.

Its great when eaten piping hot with some boondi raita and poppadams. Bisi means Fiery Hot in Kannada and Baath is anything that's made with many ingredients in a semi solid manner.
Bisi Bele Huli Anna means literally Hot Dal(pulses) Tamarind Rice

You need:
Tovar dal 1 cup
Rice 1.5 cups
Water 6 cups
1 Carrot diced or cut lenghtwise
1/2 a capsicum cut lengthwise
1 tomato cut into 6 or 8 cubes
1 large onion sliced
2 tbsp Avarakkai seeds
1 tbsp peanuts
1/2 cup diced french beans
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp sambhar powder
2 dry red chillies
10-15 curry leaves
A pinch of asafetida
1 tbsp ghee
Salt to taste

Method:
- Pressure cook the tuvar dal in the pressure cooker with 2 cups of water. A couple of whistles are sufficient.
- In a pan heat the oil and add the mustard seeds and the asafetida and wait for them to crackle.
- Add the dry chillies, and curry leaves and stir for a minute.
- Add in the sliced onions and saute them till they turn pink.
- Add in the capsicums and saute them for 1 more minute.
- Add all the dry masalas to the mixture and cook for 1 more minute.
- Add all the ingredients of the pan into the pressure cooked dal.
- Add to the dal all the other chopped vegetables and the avarakkai and the peanuts.
- Mix in the washed rice, salt and ghee.
- Add the remaining water and cook for 2 whistles, cool the cooker, mix in all the ingredients, add more water if desired and cook on slow fire for 2 more minutes.
- Enjoy Bisi Bele Huli Anna, Bisi bisi...

Zac's Young Cafe

2006-06-11T22:17:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Well I wanted to try out this place for a long time... heard plenty about it but didnt end up getting there until one day Madhu Menon suggested that I have lunch with him at ZAC's Young Cafe.

Its a place for Arabian food... and I desperately wanted to try this so heard of Falafel... and their Biryanis and Salads.

Well I had to go there again as the first time was a bad experience and I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt....

So well..how was the experience the second time... ?? Really good.

We ordered Marjan ( buttermilk for the arabians) and Mint Lemon Juice for drinks

Then ordered something similar to Humus which was made out of Brinjals... and had it with Kubus (the Arabian Bread)
The Chicken curry was excellent... very indian perhaps but we were hungry...
And then we had no place left for anything else besides the Bakhlawah ...
I dont like sweets actually but if its well made I can eat it. This is one such dessert... sweet pastry actually with nuts.

The Ambience: The place is no big show off place, a small seating arrangement in the basement of the building, with very little effort to make it look arabian. I love the seats along the wall, they are like benches. The place allows you to be yourself.

The Service: Again nothing extraordinary about that also. Two young fellows, the owner and his sons and one old "chacha" help serve all the customers. They speak in Hindi, Kannada and English.

The Food: It was very interesting food, as its a cuisine not easily available in bangalore, and i would say of good quality. I would rate it 8/10 for the quality of food (on the basis of my second experience)

The Prices: The cost per head turned out to be around Rs.110-120 per head with drinks and non-veg

How to get there: It is at the Coles Road and Mosque Road junction, opposite Cafe Coffee Day outlet, along the Shanti Sagar and Nandini restaurants, in the basement is the seating and on the top is the take away counter.

Lavannya

Methi Na Muthia

2006-06-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

Methi Muthias

Ingredients:

1 cup of methi/fenugreek leaves
2 tbsp of semolina
2 tbsp of besan
2 tbsp of bajra powder (if available reduce 2 tbsp of wheat flour)
4 tbsp of wheat flour
1 tsp chilli ginger paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp cumin coriander powder
A pinch of asafetida
4 tsp of sugar
salt to taste
Oil for deep frying (optional)

Method:
- Mix all the ingredients (except the oil) and use a little water to make a semi solid dough.
- Take a little dough in your palm and make an oblong shape with it using your palm
- Heat oil in a pan and when hot put the muthiyas into the oil
- Fry them till golden in colour on slow fire.
Alternatively you can steam the muthiyas in a steamer for 10 minutes and eat them as is.

Ridgegourd Veggie

2006-05-24T23:09:00.000-07:00

Okay the long standing Ridgegourds in my refrigerator came out yersterday afternoon, and I cooked up this Tarla Dalal recipe. Mom makes it often, but not my grandmother and hence I've eaten it only after reading Tarla Dalal's recipe.

Indira's, Nupur's, Shanthi, Lakshmi and Saffron Hut have posted their own versions of the variations that can be made with this vegetable

Turiya Mag ni Dal

Ingredients:
250 gm ridge gourd peeled and diced
1 cup yellow gram or moong dal soaked for at least 1 hour or a good 4 hours
1 tsp cumin seeds
A pinch of asafetida
1 tsp green chilli – ginger paste
½ tsp tumeric powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp oil
3-4 cups of water
Salt to taste
For Garnish:
Fresh chopped coriander
Grated coconut

Method:
- Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds.
- As soon as they begin to crackle add in the asafetida
- Add the Ridgegourd and the soaked moong dal and stir for a minute.
- Add 3-4 cups of water, the green chilli ginger paste, turmeric powder, sugar and salt and simmer for at least 10 minutes until the ridge gourd and the moong dal is well cooked and there is very little water left.
- Add the lemon juice in the end and serve hot.
- Garnish it with fresh chopped coriander and grated fresh coconut.

Dal Palak

2006-05-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

Dal Palak

Ingredients:
1 cup masoor dal
1 cup chopped palak or spinach leaves
2 small tomatoes or 1 large chopped small
1 large or 2 small onions chopped fine
2 green chillies chopped finely
2 cloves of garlic
A small piece of ginger
½ tsp tumeric powder
2 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp cumin coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
A pinch of asafetida
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 dry red chillies (optional)
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
1 tbsp fresh coriander for garnish

Method:
- Pressure cook the masoor dal in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes or for 3-4 whistles
- Make a rough paste of the garlic, green chilli and the ginger.
- Heat oil in a pan, add the jeera seeds and wait for them to change colour and add in the asafetida and the dry red chillies.
- Add in the onions and the chilli, ginger and garlic paste and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add in the tomatoes and let the mixture cook for 2 more minutes.
- Add in the dry masalas at this stage and cook until the mixture leaves oil.
- Add the spinach leaves and cook them for 2 more minutes.
- Once the spinach leaves are slightly cooked add in the cooked masoor dal.
- Cook the dal for 2 more minutes, sprinkle with fresh coriander and serve hot with triangle parathas.
- If desired you can do a tadka at the end or just before serving.
- For tadka you need 1 tbsp oil, cumin seeds, a pinch of asafetida and ½ tsp chilli powder.

Stuffed Potatoes and Brinjals

2006-05-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

Stuffed Potatoes and Brinjals

Ingredients:
6-7 small brinjals
6-7 small potatoes
2 cups fresh coriander
1 cup fresh grated coconut (optional)
1 tbsp roasted peanut powder
2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp tumeric powder
2 tsp cumin coriander powder
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt (or salt to taste)
1 tbsp Oil
2 cups of water
A pinch of asafetida
1 tsp ginger garlic paste (optional)

Method:
- Clean the brinjals by taking off their leaves around the body and leaving the stem intact.
- Peel the potatoes off their skin.
- Cut two slits on top through 3/4th of the body of the brinjals and the potatoes and keep them aside.
- Make a stuffing by mixing the fresh coriander, the dry masalas, the peanut powder, garlic ginger paste, salt, sugar and the grated coconut.
- Stuff a little stuffing into each potato and brinjal.
- Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add asafetida once the oil is hot. Place the stuffed potatoes and the brinjals into the pressure cooker pan. If there is any excess stuffing remaining add it that to the pressure cooker too.
- Add 2 cups of water to the pressure cooker and cook the vegetables for 2 whistles.
- Cool the pressure cooker, open and let the vegetable simmer on fire for about 2 minutes.
- Serve hot with phuklas.

Phirni

2006-05-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

Phirni

Ingredients:
1 cup rice soaked for 4 hours
1 litre milk
1 tbsp almonds soaked in hot water
1 tbsp pistachios soaked in hot water
6-8 tbsp sugar
Few strands of saffron
1 tsp cardamom powder
A few rose petals for garnish
1 sheet Silver for garnish

Method:
_ Grind in a mixer the soaked rice with half a cup of milk. It should be of a semi fine consistency.
_ Peel off the skin of the almonds and pistachios and chop them or slice them.
_ Heat the milk and add the sugar and the cardamom powder to it.
_ Once the milk is heated, add the ground rice to it gradually, stirring continuously.
_ Keep stirring the mixture keeping the fire on slow (it's a little tiring process but worth it) as you don't want the rice to turn into lumps and anything to burn. Burnt milk tastes the worst.
_ Add the saffron strands to it and keep on stirring, until you get a thick consistency like that of a pudding.
_ Once the milk is soaked and the rice is cooked well (taste a little to make sure) add in half of the almonds and the pistachios to the phirni.
_ Let it cool and then divide the phirni into bowls or preferably into earthen vessels like the picture. The earth lends a lovely flavor to the phirni.
_ Garnish and decorate with the Silver, remaining nuts and rose petals.
_ Refrigerate and cool for atleast 4 hours before serving. The longer the phirni sits in the earthen vessel the better it tastes.

Mushti Pole

2006-05-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

After posting Ashwini's recipe for Mushti Pole, I tried it for breakfast yesterday
Thank you Ashwini so much!

This is how I made it....

Ingredients :
1 tbsp chana dal
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tbsp tuvar dal
1 tbsp moong dal
1 tbsp boiled rice
1 tbsp poha or puffed rice
3 red dried chillies
1 tbsp fresh coriander
Oil for cooking
Salt to taste

I soaked all the dals and the rice except for the poha or puffed rice overnight. Next day morning I blended in the mixer all the dals with some salt to taste and 3 red dry chillies (i just didnt have green chillies at home).
Mixed in some water, fresh coriander and let the dough stand for 2 hours.

Later I laid out dose of it... :) and this is how mine looked

Thanks again Ashwini...

Lavannya

Stuffed Capsicums

2006-05-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

Stuffed Capsicums

Ingredients:
3-4 small capsicums or 2 large ones
2 heaped tbs besan or gram flour
2 heaped tbs chopped coriander
1 large onion grated
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin coriander powder
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tbs Oil for cooking

Method:
_ Cut the capsicums into half through their stems and remove the seeds and the stem part. If you find really small capsicums you may not halve them at all, just remove the stem and clean the inside and stuff them.
_ Prepare stuffing with the remaining items besides the Oil and mix properly. The water from the grated onions will be enough to bind the gram flour with the masalas.
_ Stuff a little of the stuffing into each capsicum to cover evenly.
_ In a non stick frying pan heat the oil and place the capsicums on their bottoms in the pan. Cover the pan, keep the flame on low and cook for 4-5 minutes.
_ Gently turn the capsicums over and cook the other side too for 4-5 minutes keeping the lid on and on slow flame.
_ Remove the lid, turn the capsicums over and let them cook for 1 more minute on high flame.
_ And the stuffed capsicums are ready.
_ You can make tomato gravy and add these to it, or just eat them as they are with chapattis.

Mixed Dal

2006-04-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

Mixed Dal

You need:
1.5 tbs Tuvar dal
1.5 tbs urad dal
1.5 tbs masoor dal
1.5 tbs moong dal
1.5 tbs chana dal
1 medium onion chopped
4-5 garlic cloves chopped
2 green chillies chopped
1 small onion chopped fine or grated
1 tsp cumin seeds
a pinch of Asafetida
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin coriander powder
Salt to taste
1 tbs oil for cooking
1 tbs chopped green coriander

Method:
- Mix all the dals and wash properly.
- Pressure cook the dals with 4 cups of water until soft. 4 whistles are
sufficient.
- Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and Asafetida to it.
- As the cumin seeds begin changing colour add the onions, garlic and
chopped chilli.
- Fry the mixture until the onions turn pink.
- Add the tomato and fry for a 1 minute.
- Add the tumeric, chilli and cumin coriander powder to the pan and mix
thoroughly.
- Add the cooked dal to this mixture and mix well. This dal is supposed
to be thick, hence dont add too much water.
- Add salt to taste and some green chopped coriander for colour.
- Cook the dal on slow flame for 2 more minutes.
- Serve hot with parathas or rice.

Happy Eating,
Lavannya

Ragda Patties

2006-04-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

Ragda Patties

Ingredients:
1 cup dry green or yellow peas soaked overnight
4-5 green chilles chopped finely
2 slices of bread
3-4 large potatoes
1 tsb coriander leaves chopped
1 tsp tumeric powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp chilli powder
A pinch of asafetida
Oil for cooking
Salt to taste

To serve:
Green chutney
Sweet Khajur Imli chutney
Chopped onions
Chopped green coriander leaves

Method:
- Wash and pressure cook the peas along with the potatoes (that’s how I save on time) till peas are soft. Takes about 4-5 whistles
- Peel the potatoes and mash them. Quickly dip the bread slices in water, squeeze out the excess water and add them to the potato mash.
- Add 1 tsp of chopped chilli to the mashed mixture, some chopped coriander and salt to taste.
- Mash the mixture and mix it well.
- Make flat patties out of the potato mixture of about 3” dia and shallow fry them in a non-stick pan.
- For the ragda: In a separate pan heat a tsb of oil and add mustard seeds. When they begin to crackle add the remaining green chillies and asafetida and add all the peas to the pan
- Mash a few peas as you stir.
- Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt to the Ragda.
- Cook on low flame for about 4-5 minutes.
- To serve: Place to patties in a shallow bowl, and pour the ragda on top to cover completely. Spread a little green chutney and a little sweet chutney and top it with chopped onions and coriander and serve hot.

Sorry that i am not posting a picture of it here... it just disappeared too quickly to be able to click pictures of the recipe :)

Happy Eating,
Lavannya

Restaurant review- Eleven/Ten

2006-03-02T21:42:00.000-08:00

layout
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

Hi everyone,

Eleven / Ten is a new restaurant opening on the 11th of March on New BEL road, in the North of Bangalore serving Continental dishes that mostly is going to be Gourmet food.

Besides the fact that I've designed and done up the place, I am mostly recommending the food that I tasted yesterday.
Food pictures of what was served to us is available here http://www.flickr.com/photos/lavannya/

The Ambience: Well that's something I'd like you to tell me how it is.

low-seating
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

The Service: Is something I still cannot comment on as the place isn't running as yet... but I am quite sure its going to be great, knowing how particular Prakash - the manager is about it. We have discussed it in detail!

The Food: I was invited for a trial run at the food and as much as I wanted to be blown away I had to be highly criticizing of the food. But here's is my honest review.

We ate a lot!!! Terribly lot, coz Wren - the owner, wanted us to taste almost everything and give him feedback on the same.

potatonleek-soup
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

We started with the
Minestrone Soup and the Potato and Leek soup - This is the first time i've tasted minestrone in a proper way and the Potato and Leek soup was fantastic. I could've licked the bowl! It was served with some nice hot garlic bread and loaves.

fish-fingers
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

We then had the starters Fish Fingers and Grilled Vegetables Timble : The fish fingers disappeared so quickly! The fish was tender and marinated in a mint sauce, deep fried with a crusty crumb coating, served with a salad and a mayonnaise based sauce. It was obvious we loved it!

grillvegetables
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

The Grilled Vegetable Timble was extraoridary too. I've had grilled vegetables on a skewer often, but this tasted excellent. The paneer or cottage cheese used was so soft and tender that it melted in the mouth and yet on the platter it was intact and at its best. Grilled to perfection and again served with a big serving of salad and a barbecue sauce (the sauce was excellent too)

fattoosh-salad
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

Then came the Salads. We had the Lebanese salad called Fattoosh and a Tuna and olive salad. Both were good, while I preferred the Fattoosh to the tuna salad. There's a big salad bar at Eleven Ten and I am truly looking forward to it.

grilled-fish
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

The Main course had Grilled Fish and Moroccan Lamb with Cous Cous : sounds delicious already!
The Grilled fish was tender and so lovely, very simply done and very nicely presented.

morrocan-lamb
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

The moroccan lamb went away so quickly into tummies that I couldnt even start clicking pictures of it! It was so close to the original stuff, with the apricots and nuts on top, and the cous cous on the side. Yummy!

spagetti
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

And yeah how can I forget the Spagetti Arrabiatta, it was just right! I wouldnt change a thing about it.
Guessing that we were so full and yet we couldnt resist any of the food itself says a lot about the quality of the stuff.

choc-mousse
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

The dessert ended with a Choclate Mousse - which I dont have words for,

mangocheesecake
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

a mango cheesecake

tiramisu
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

and a large slice of Tiramisu - the kind of which I havent tasted in a long time.

wall-n-ceiling
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

I am so happy for my client and for myself ;) that this food is so classy and that he's going do surely very well. The project was a joy for me and to see the food doing so well is a greater joy for me.

The Prices: They are going to be serving a platter of genuine Hot Dogs (english style) and sandwiches of many kinds, served with salad, onion rings & french fries; going to be priced at Rs.55-60 a platter.
Fish platter with two slices of fish around Rs.120 a plate and Vegetarian pastas at around Rs.100-120 a plate.

How to get there: It’s on the New BEL Road. If you know the Ramiah Hospital or Dollars colony, go down the road towards the Ring Road and this place is after the Mayura Restaurant, on the Left hand side, first floor, just above a large liquor store called "Total Spirits".

To approach New BEL road, take a left on the Mekhri Circle if you are appproaching from M.G.Road, and take a right as soon as you reach the Sadashivnagar police station traffic crossing. Go down the road, there's Ramiah Hospital on your left and further down about less than a kilometer is Eleven/Ten.

Happy Eating,

Lavannya

coconut-rice

2006-02-26T04:34:00.000-08:00

coconut-rice
Originally uploaded by lavannya.

Coconut Rice

Ingredients:
2 cups rice
4 cups coconut milk (I use the readymade pack)
1 cup cubed carrots and green peas
1 large onion sliced
4-5 cloves of garlic peeled (whole)
1 tbs cashew nuts
1 bay leaf
4-5 cloves
4-5 peppercorns
2 cardamoms
½ inch piece cinnamon
1 pinch asafetida
1 tbs ghee
1 tbs oil
Salt to taste

Method:
- Wash and soak the rice for about 15 minutes.
- Heat the ghee and the oil in a vessel and add the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, peppercorns and bay leaf to it.
- Add the cashew and wait for them to turn brown in color on one side.
- Now sprinkle a pinch of asafetida and add in the sliced onions and the garlic.
- Saute the onions until they turn pink and soft and add in the vegetables.
- Saute the vegetables for 2 minutes and add the rice grains and sauté for 2 more minutes.
- Add the coconut milk and salt and pressure cook for about 2 whistles or 7 minutes.
- Cool the pressure cooker and separate grains using a fork. Serve hot.

Nylon Khaman Dhokla

2006-02-20T21:58:00.000-08:00

Nylon Khaman Dhokla

Ingredients:
1 cup Besan or gram flour
1 ½ tbs fine semolina (rava)
3 tsp sugar
2 tbs oil
1 cup warm water
½ tsp citric acid (or juice of 1 lemon)
A pinch of baking soda
Salt to taste

For the tempering:
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
A pinch of asafetida
2 green slit chillies
1 tsp oil
1 tbs water
1 tsp sugar

For the garnish:
Some chopped coriander
Grated coconut

Method:
- Heat water in a large vessel in which you can steam the dhokla.
- Meanwhile mix the gram flour, semolina, sugar, citric acid and salt well.
- In a cup of hot water add 1 tbs of oil and whisk it like you would for a salad dressing with an egg beater or a whisk.
- Add this water and oil mixture to the dry mix and beat it well until the batter is nice and smooth. (exactly what you’d do for a cake batter)
- Now add a pinch of baking soda to the mix and a few drops of water just over the soda.
- Beat the mixture once again and you’ll see it rise and become whiter.
- Spread the mixture onto a prepared/oiled plate or thali and steam it for 10 minutes.
 Cool the dhoklas and cut them into diamond shapes of about 3 cm x 3 cm.
 Prepare the tempering by heating oil in a small pan, and adding the mustard seeds and cumin seeds to it. As soon as the seeds begin to crackle add the asafetida and the slit green chillies.
- Take the pan off the fire and add a water to the tempering and sugar.
- Pour this tempering over the ready dhoklas.
- Garnish with fresh coriander and grated coconut and its ready to eat!

Tip: For those who are not prevalent with steaming, take a large vessel and a plate that’s small enough to fit within the vessel without getting stuck. You will need a lid to cover the larger vessel completely. You could use a pressure cooker also, and all you need is a small steel plate to fit into the pressure cooker without getting stuck. Fill the larger vessel only 1/4th with water and place a tall steel glass filled with water, or a pressure cooker ring in your larger vessel. Place the steel plate full of the dhokla batter on it. Cover the with a lid and cook for the required time.

Kadai Paneer

2006-01-16T05:40:00.000-08:00

Kadai Paneer

Ingredients:
250 gm paneer sliced
1 large capsicum diced
1 large tomato diced and inner pulp removed
1 packet readymade tomato puree or 250 gm tomato puree
1 tbs coriander for garnish
1 tbs oil for cooking
1 tsp sugar (optional)
Salt to taste

For the paste:
1 medium sized onion
1 tsp garlic ginger paste
3-4 red dry chillies
1 tbs coriander seeds
1 tbs cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
4 cloves
1/2" stick of cinnamon
2 cardamoms
5-6 peppercorns

Method:
- Roast the dry chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamoms, cloves and pepper corns in a pan until the seeds start to change their color.
- Chop the onions and make a paste with the dry roasted mixture, onions and the garlic ginger paste in a mixer.
- Cut thin slices of paneer and saute' them on a hot non stick pan until reddish brown on both sides.
- Saute' the Capsicum and tomato dices similarly for a shorter time and keep aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and add the onion mixture to it. Add turmeric powder and saute' the mixture until oil leaves its sides.
- Add the tomato puree, salt and sugar and mix well. Let the gravy cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add the paneer, capsicum and tomatoes to it and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Sprinkle with coriander and serve hot with parathas.

Meen Moily

2006-01-11T07:24:00.000-08:00

Meen Moily

Ingredients:
250 gms of pomfret or any single bone fish full or sliced
1 large onion sliced
2-3 green chillies sliced
1 tsp chopped or julienne ginger
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tomato chopped
10-12 curry leaves
1 tbs fresh coriander for garnish (optional)
2 cups of coconut milk or 200 gms of coconut milk (readymade carton - works for me!!!)
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbs cooking oil
Salt to taste

Method:
_ Marinate the fish in a juice of half a lemon, a tsp of turmeric powder and a pinch of salt and let it sit for 1/2 an hour. If you are using a full fish make slits on top so that the gravy soaks in.

_ Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. As soon as they begin to splinter add the curry leaves, sliced onions, green chillies, garlic, ginger, a tsp of turmeric powder and salt.

_ Add a cup of diluted coconut milk and cook on high heat until the onions turn translucent.

_ Put the fire on slow and add the fish slices or the whole fish. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

_ Keeping the fire on slow add the thick coconut milk and let it cook for another 2 minutes.

_ Add chopped tomatoes on top and sprinkle coriander for garnish.
_ Serve hot with Neer Dose, Appams or Rice

Dhaan Shaak

2005-09-02T06:29:00.000-07:00

Its been quite a cooking experience the past few weeks...
this is a meal i planned for my friends a few sundays back...

Dhaan Shaak - a parsi dish of dal and rice

and Kundapura Koli Saaru - all Indu's idea...and the recipe from www.ndtvcook.com

and some chapatis

khavanu

The Parsees perfer Dhaan Shaak with nice mutton pieces but I'm used to eating it as a completely vegetarian meal.
The recipe of Dhaan Shaak goes this way:

Ingredients:
½ teacup of toovar dal
½ tbs of moong dal
½ tbs of masoor dal
1 tbs urad dal
1 potato
1 brinjal
1 small bunch of methi
1 small bunch of palak
2 tomatoes
A few spring onions
1 piece bottle gourd
1 piece of yellow pumpkin
1 lemon
4 tbs ghee
1 chopped onion
Salt
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp pepper powder
2 tsp cumin-coriander powder
2 tsp Garlic ginger paste
1 tbs chopped coriander

For the rice:
1 teacup rice
2 onions sliced
2 sticks cinnamon
2 cardamoms
2 cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tej patta
1 tbs jaggery or sugar
Salt to taste
1 tbs ghee

For the kachumbar/Salad:
1 chopped onion
1 chopped tomato
2 chopped green chillies
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp sugar.
And salt
1 tsp chopped coriander

Method:
- Chop all pumpkin, potatoes, brinjal, 1 tomato, spring onions, methi and palak and soak in water.
- Mix all the dals, wash and keep aside.
- In a pressure cooker cook all the dals and the above mentioned chopped vegetables for about 10 minutes.
- Remove from fire, cool and blend in a mixture or with a blender.
- Now put the dal on fire and heat on slow flame. Add water if desired. But the dal should be slightly thick.

- Now to prepare the masala heat 2 tbs of oil or ghee in a pan and add the chopped onions and stir for a while.
- Add the garlic ginger paste and stir for half a minute.
- Add 1 chopped tomato to it and all the mentioned masalas.
- Add this mixture to the dal mixture, salt and stir.

- Now to prepare the rice heat ghee and a little oil in a pressure cooker pan. Saute the sliced onions until dark brown, strain and remove them on the side.

- Now add the cumin seeds and the cinnamon, cardamoms, the cloves and the tej patta.

- Add the jaggery. Keep stirring until the jaggery melts. As soon as the jaggery melts add the rice to it and mix well on slow flame.

- Add the salt and 2 teacups of water and pressure cook the rice for 5 minutes.

- For the kachumbar mix all the mentioned ingredients and cool in the refrigerator.

- Serve the dal, along with the rice, sprinkle the fried onions over the rice, and the kachumbar/ salad on the side. Make some roasted papads to go along. Trust me you'll enjoy it!

Corn Curry

2005-08-26T19:57:00.000-07:00

Mom is an "Expert" cook! Not just because she is my mom, but because she can cook any thing and cook with expertise. She held cooking classes some years back and taught all women of the small town "Khambhat" how to make a good Choclate Cake, Corn Curry and Gulab Jamuns!!!

The other day I tried her corn curry recipe, and it turned out awesome!

Corn Curry

Ingredients:

6 large corn cobs
1 coconut grated
3 cloves
2 sticks cinnamon
1 lemon
2 tbs ghee
Salt to taste

For the paste:
3 tbs chopped green coriander
3 green chillies (i put 1)
1 piece ginger
6 cloves (small) garlic
2 tbs poppy seeds soaked in hot water for 15 min

Method:
- Divide each corn cob into two or three pieces and boil them. Leave them aside.
- Add 3 teacups of water to the grated coconut and leave it for 1 hr. Alternatively use coconut milk readymade.
- Press through a liquidizer and remove the milk using a thin muslin cloth for a sieve.
- Heat 2 tbs of ghee in a pan, add the cloves and the cinnamon. Now add the prepared paste and fry it for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the coconut milk, slow down the fire and mix the coconut milk continuously otherwise the water will separate.
- Add the corn cobs and salt to taste.
- Boil the curry for 5 minutes. Add the juice of 1 lemon after removing from fire. (optional)

Garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot with parathas.

Its a real joy to suck on the cobs with the juices of the curry in them.
Tip: let the curry sit for an hour or so and then eat it. The older the curry is the better the cobs taste, as they soak in the curry!

Happy Eating!!!!

Corn Capsicum Curry

2005-08-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

I made this yesterday

I had in the refrigerator
1 boiled corn cob (really great cobs those were, from the Namdhari's shop)
1/2 capsicum
1 carrot
1 tbs of green peas
garlic ginger paste (ready)

so i

Chopped 1 onion small
Chopped 1 tomato small
Chopped the carrots long
Peeled off all the corn from the cob
Diced my Capsicum small

And
made Corn Capsicum Curry with Jeera Rice!

Method:

- Boil carrots and peas separately
- Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, 2 cloves and 1 piece of
cinnamon to it.
- Add the onions and cook until they're pink and add 1 tsp of garlic
ginger paste.
- Now add the carrots and the peas to the curry along with 1/2 tsp of
turmeric powder, 1 tsp of red chilli powder,
1 tsp of garam masala, 1 tsp of pepper powder, 1/2 tsp sugar and salt to
taste.
- The sugar takes away the acidic taste of tomatoes.
- Once the gravy begins to leave oil, add the corn and the capsicum in
the end.
- Add half a cup of water and cook for 2 minutes.
- Serve hot with jeera rice or plain rice or parathas!

My husband relished it!

Chicken Biryani - Andhra Style

2005-08-13T06:43:00.000-07:00

I was always scared of cooking Biryani..somehow it tastes and looks so elaborate that I've feared I wont get it right. Someone once told me that if you watch someone else cook it, you can learn it really quick.

I was invited to a friend's place for a Mutton Biryani treat. He cooked the regular Red biryani...and that clicked ideas for the Andhra Style biryani in my head. I decided to try it on my hubby...
And he says it turned out perfectly!

So here goes the recipe

You need:
Chicken pieces 4 large
Biryani rice 2 measures
1 large onion sliced
1 small tomato chopped
1 tbs mint leaves
1 tbs coriander leaves
4 cloves
1 piece of cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1 large elaichi
2 tsp garlic-ginger paste
A couple of all the great south indian whole garam masalas ( i dont even know their names)
2 tbs of ghee
5-6 Cashew nuts (optional)
1 tbs of cooking oil
1 glass of buttermilk/curd
Salt to taste

Method:

- While you're chopping and cleaning soak the Chicken pieces in the buttermilk with a pinch of garlic-ginger paste for marination. Curd or any form of it softens the chicken very well.

- Heat ghee and oil in a pressure cooker.

- Add all the whole garam masala, then add the cashew nuts, and roast on slow fire until they begin changing colour.

- Add the green chillies and the sliced onions and cook till pink in colour.

- Now add the ginger-garlic paste and roast it for 1 min.

- Add large pieces of tomato, chopped coriander and mint leaves at this point and stir in for 1 more minute. (sorry i missed this part earlier)

- Add some of the marinate mixed with a cup of water and the chicken to the pressure cooker.

- Do not add salt now. Pressure cook the chicken for 5 minutes.

- Cool the pressure cooker and open, to add the rice grains.

- Mix in 1 more cup of water. ( do know your rice well. some basmati rice cooks quickly with the least amount of water)Add salt to taste, shut the pressure cooker again and wait for 2 whistles.

- Cool the cooker and the Biryani is ready.

- Make some lovely raita with diced cucumber, onions, tomatoes, coriander leaves, nicely blended curd, salt, cumin powder, a pinch of red chilli powder and a 1/2 tsp of sugar. It really goes well with the Biryani

Happy Eating...

Ek Top Na Dal Bhaat

2005-07-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

Ek Top Na Dal Bhaat - A pot of Rice and Dal.
This dish a wonderful variation of the North Indian Khichadi. It tastes wonderful with chilled coconut milk flavoured with green chillies, coriander, salt and sugar... and loads of hot ghee...try it out.

You need: small peeled potatoes 6
Small onions skin removed but the stem intact 6
1 cup of dal
1 cup of rice
1 cup of coriander
½ cup of coconut grated
2 tbs coriander cumin powder
2 tsp of turmeric powder
2 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
Hing (optional)
Salt to taste

Method:
 Make a stuffing of coriander, coconut, cumin-coriander powder, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp sugar and salt.
 Fill all the onions and potatoes with the stuffing and keep aside
 In a pressure cooker heat the oil and add the cumin seeds. Add hing as per taste.
 Now add the soaked dal and add ½ tsp chilli powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp sugar and salt.
 Add a ½ cup of water and cook for 1 min only.
 Now arrange in all the stuffed vegetables on the dal. If you don’t want your onions overcooked arrange only the potatoes.
 Sprinkle some extra stuffing Masala on top.
 Now mix aside in the soaked rice, ½ tsp of turmeric powder, ½ tsp of chilli powder and salt.
 Add the rice on top. Try to arrange such that the layers don’t mix. Once more add the remaining stuffing Masala on top.
 Add (on the side so that the masala doesn’t get washed off) 1 ½ cup of water into the cooker and let is whistle for 10 minutes.
 Ek Top Na Dal Bhaat ready. Either serve it with kadhi or komal.

Thepla - my first recipe

2005-07-03T05:51:00.000-07:00

Thepla - a chappati with a difference - very typical of the Gujarati cuisine

You need: 1 cup wheat flour
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin-coriander powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbs oil
Salt to taste
Water for binding

Method:
i. Mix all the ingredients except for the water.
ii. Once you’ve mixed all ingredients well, add water little by little and bind the dough until it is tough enough.
iii. Roll it into 6” diameter circles.
iv. Roast them on a pan on one side on slow flame. Turn over the side and roast it on a high flame. Then add a teaspoon of oil and cook the thepla on both sides putting pressure on it with the spatula.

Birth of a new Blog

2005-07-03T05:06:00.000-07:00

Hi all foodies,

I've been long thinking of blogging all these various recipes i have in store with me...
some created on my own, and others from my mom's recipe book...
Would love to share them all with so many...
in the need to do so i started a food group on yahoo...chillies and chutney

But today looking at the huge list of people who food blog on Shyam's food blog. ...which is also something i only discovered today.... ( i must be terrible at blogging :( ) i realize there's whole world out there who love food and write about it everday! The only one i knew so far was Ammani's Chai Pani... The internet is a big big wide world!

I cant take lovely pictures of foods right now...as i still dont own a digital camera...but i would love to share all the recipes...

Indu always said that if Lavannya ever started a restaurant or eatery (which still remains my dream) she'd call it Luvbites... so here's Luv Bites!