Thursday 31 July 2014

Coffee Tasting Session With Coffee Master Vibhor Mishra At Star Bucks

 

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It was almost about 2 weeks after the launch of their 50th store in Chennai, that Star Bucks which is considered the most celebrated coffee brand in the world, had invited a few food bloggers & media  for a Coffee Tasting Session with India’s first Starbucks Coffee Master, Vibhor Mishra, at Phoenix Market City, Velachery.The Starbucks India is a 50-50 partner with Tata Beverages which is Tata & Sons company.

I had to make my way through a crowded Starbucks to reach a neatly laid out table at the far end of the cafe, for the coffee tasting session. The crowd looked excited and enthusiastic about being in Starbucks and made me realise that the Starbucks fever is catching up in Chennai.

Monday 28 July 2014

Baked Savoury Gujiya With Corn Stuffing| भुट्टे के दानों की बेक्ड गुजिया


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Hi All!!
My city is turning hot and humid and my days are most busy with parents around, son’s upcoming exams and regular chores at home and amidst all this chaos I’m gearing up for the first ever IFBMeet at Bangalore. I’m both nervous and excited. There’s excitement to meet the faces behind the well known food blogs and to stay together with a few blogger friends but there’s equal amount of nervousness which I really can’t understand why, I would call it as the fear for the unknown..
The few of the sponsors of the IFBmeet have encouraged bloggers to participate in contests, challenging to cook and create recipes  based on a core ingredient. Freedom Tree has thrown a challenge to the participants of IFBMeet to bake a savoury dish  which has fresh corn as one of the main ingredient. They are giving out a bake ware hamper to a winner. Browsing through their site I realised, there’s so much I would like to pickup as I’m always on a look out for props..

Sunday 27 July 2014

Holy Mocktail or Betel Leaf - Indian Holy Basil- Tukmaria seeds-Coconut Water Mocktail | पान के पत्त्ते–तुलसी- नारियल पानी और सब्जा का शरबत | Drinks Recipe

 

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Hi all!!

Today I’m posting a very simple to make drink which has the Indian flavours and benefits coming from the native ingredients Betel leaf/paan and Indian Holy Basil/tulsi . To add a more soothing and cooling touch to the drink, there’s coconut water and tukmaria seeds/subza or Indian Holy Basil seeds as well.

Friday 25 July 2014

A Two in One Dessert:Vanilla Panna Cotta With Plums-Chilly Sorbet

 

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Hi All!!

Looks like day and night I’m Plumming, Lol!! Yes, I’m  thinking only of Plums these days. This would be my fifth consecutive post on Plums and this one’s a combination of two desserts with a chocolate jalebi/nest made in an interesting way. I admitted in my previous post of Five Spice Flavoured Cottage Cheese Balls Stuffed With Plums & Chinese Plum Sauce, that I’m getting inclined towards making a  dessert, but I never knew that my craving would land me making two desserts.

Thursday 24 July 2014

Five Spice Flavoured Cottage Cheese Balls Stuffed With Plums and Chinese Plum Sauce | Step Wise | Food Presentation Ideas-2

 

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Hi all!!

I can’t believe at myself, I’m posting like I’m running a marathon. This is my fourth post in the last four days which  also happens to be my fourth consecutive post on plums and it is yet again a savoury preparation in which  I’ve used plums in two ways; stuffed and prepared a sauce. I’m trying hard to avoid the sugar but I might land up posting something sweet..temptations are bad!! As you must have guessed this post is again for Kitchen Aid Contest for IFBMeet, where I’m trying to win a Kitchen Aid Chopper.

Wednesday 23 July 2014

Plums & Peri Peri Chillies Salsa | Quick To Make Dip

 

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Hi all!!

I’m in love with the salsa of all kinds. Love their piquant flavour. I keep concocting various versions as they are easy and quick to make dips which could be used for snacking. Also, they are low in calorie, light to eat and one of the better ways of using fruits. I had posted a  Raw Mango Salsa earlier in the month, which I had made several times during the mango season, as my son loves it. It was an easy way to make him eat mangoes which he otherwise eats rarely.

Tuesday 22 July 2014

Virgin Plum Mojito | Mocktail Recipe | Summer Drink

 

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Hi All!

Today I’m sharing yet another simple recipe which is a perfect summer drink to beat the heat. Though I have called it a summer drink, personally I could have it any time. It is so refreshing and the flavours are fresh and natural. It’s a Mojito made using the stoned fruits in season-the plums.

Mojito (pronounced Mohito) essentially is a Cuban highball, enjoyed during the summers. A highball is a mixed drink which has less volume of alcohol content and more volume of a non alcoholic mixer. An original Mojito is made of five ingredients; mint, lemon, sugar (sugarcane juice), rum and soda water. The virgin version of the Mojito has become very popular in India and leading  food joints serve and sell Mojito, also the Mojito mix is readily available in retail outlets, making it more easy to make but nothing beats a freshly made Mojito using fresh ingredients.

Monday 21 July 2014

अलुबुखारचे सार | Maharashtrian Style Plum & Coconut Saar/Soup | Vegan | Gluten Free | Dairy Free

 

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Hi All!

The fruit market is still flooded with stoned fruits like peaches, cherries and plums, giving me ample opportunity to cook with them. Living in the hot and humid zone of the country, my attempt is always at cooking simple dishes with my personal touch. If one checks on the recipes from my archives, would realise that most of them are fuss free and quick to make.

I mostly love eating my cherries or use them for garnishes but with the plums and peaches, I love to cook. Unlike North India, here, the plums we get are not the sweet kind and while creating recipes using the plums, I have to balance the sourness wisely with the sugar and spice, else they are too sour to eat.

As I have mentioned in my Smoked Cottage Cheese and Peas Curry my excitement about going for the IFBmeet in Bangalore and when I got to know recently that Kitchen Aid has thrown a cooking contest only for the participants of the IFBmeet, where we get a chance to win a Kitchen Aid Chopper, I was super excited. Who would not like to win a Kitchen Aid product, I sure do, fingers crossed!!

Friday 18 July 2014

Sabudana vada in a new avatar- low oil and cheese stuffed version | कम तेल में बना,भरा हुआ साबुदाना वडा | Gluten Free | StepWise

 

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Hi!

Being the foodie that I’m, I love collecting kitchen utensils, appliances and tools and one such utensil that I’m very fond of in my kitchen, is my non stick paniyaram pan. I love it to the core, as by using this I’m able to make low oil kofta, fritters and many snacks which are fried otherwise.

Recently I read a recipe using a paniyaram pan in a  food group on face book, that I follow religiously. The group is very inspiring as I learn something new everyday. The members there are so creative and encouraging. They love to share their food creations and are ready to teach and learn from each other. This recipe that I’ve created is inspired by a recipe posted in the food group.

Wednesday 16 July 2014

Mixed Sprouts Salad in Cabbage Cups | Food Presentation Ideas | Gluten Free | Dairy Free

 

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Hi all!!

This is my first post on food presentation ideas and I’m hoping to post many more. I strongly believe we first eat with our eyes. A food that is not overly cooked, has fresh colours and served in clean and neat dishes always looks more appealing. I’m always looking out for ideas to present food whenever I visit restaurants or watch food shows. I always get bowled over by the food presentation shown on various food channels. When I watch Master Chef Australia, I observe how much stress is given on the food presentation. The chefs take out time to design the look of their food on the paper before serving it. Food presentation is an art and it does need a thought process to do it rightly.

Monday 14 July 2014

Smoked Cottage Cheese & Peas Curry Flavoured With Unroasted Garam Masala | बिन भुने गरम मसाले वाले मटर पनीर | My perception of the first IFBMeet


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Hi all!!
Living in my current city I’ve come to know a few bloggers very closely at personal level and there are many bloggers whom I have met in person and there are a lot many bloggers with whom I’ve connected virtually, who are from India and across the globe. But a chance to meet many at the same time, I guess any blogger would jump to grab such an opportunity. To meet the faces behind the creative world of food blogging under one roof would definitely be a dream come true.

I came to know about the first of it’s kind, an all India food bloggers meet about two months back when Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen had called to up to check out if I could be of any help in getting some one I know, to be a part of the  the event. She told me that four bloggers, Arunadati, Revathi, Nandita and herself, had come up with idea of having a bloggers meet and have been putting in all the efforts to organise the event. I was all excited to be a part of that and I told S to keep himself in the city to be with the kid while I was away attending the meet.

Tuesday 8 July 2014

Raw Mango Salsa | Winner of Only Event Of June

 

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Hi All!!

The monsoon has arrived and it’s time to say bye bye to the king of fruits in India- The Mango. I’m glad that I enjoyed eating the fruit through the summer and tasted many varieties. Ate it raw, pulped it, pickled it, brined it, made instant onion mango pickle, cooked chitranna, made lentils with raw mango (touvve), made tokku, also made  a spicy red chutney (maavinkaayi chutney) and the green chutney frequented the kitchen regularly. Other than these, made sweet things like juices, shakes, murramba, trifle, ice-cream, pana cotta and with this post  on salsa I made it back to the spicy flavour using this wonderful fruit.

Tuesday 1 July 2014

Persian Bread Komaj | We Knead To Bake #18 | Stepwise

 

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Hi All!

This bread is a part of We Knead To Bake challenge thrown every month by Aparna. Though I baked this bread more than a week back but amidst son’s assessments I could not get enough time to write the detailed post.

Komaj is a sweet and savoury Persian bread with a filling of chopped dates and served with tea. The bread is spiced with turmeric and cumin and it’s the turmeric that gives the yellow colour to the bread. I was looking forward to see how turmeric, cumin and dates work together.

Announcing the last event of the series 'ONLY' GLUTEN FREE COOKING

Hi All!!

Looks like yesterday that I started the 'ONLY' Series of event and now with this event announcement, the series will successfully complete 4yrs and this one also happens to be the last one of the series. Yes, you read it right I've decided to discontinue the series for the time being. Life at a personal front has bigger priorities and the event will have to take a back seat for now.

For the last 'ONLY' event I've chosen a very important theme that's 'ONLY' GLUTEN FREE COOKING. I realized the importance of this topic when my maternal aunt was diagnosed with gluten intolerance at the age of 62. All her life she could eat Gluten and at 62 faced severe health problems like joint pain, low hemoglobin, indigestion which were later on diagnosed as symptoms towards Gluten intolerance. She had to change her food habits drastically the most important being avoiding eating wheat products as wheat was her staple food till then. So, it can happen to any one at any stage of life and hence this topic is very important to be looked into..

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