Annapurni- Goddess of Nourishment

In India, we strongly believe that food should not be wasted because it is a blessing from our Goddess- 'Annapurni' where Anna means food and grains. Purna means full, complete and perfect.

In some homes, Goddess Annapurni (identified by the ladle in both hands, ready to feed) is worshiped during the festivals.

The idol of Annapurni is placed in a silver container with silver coins and uncooked rice. Offering of flowers, fruits and sweets is made to the idol, lamp and incense sticks are lighted. Prayers are offered before serving food to the guests.

The Restaurant Review - Govinda

When I call up my aunt announcing my visit to her, she complains that her maid has gone to her village for her holiday and since she has no helper at home, she would like to take me out for lunch.

No issues.

We drive down the Altamount road, pass through Pedder road, drive behind  Bharatiys Vidya Bhaavan and enter a tiny lane  just next to Mehta House  is the restaurant called Govinda

First impression

The first thing that impressed me was the fast food stall outside the restaurant that had Samosas, Pani Puri, sweets and vegetarian cakes and pastries,  a perfect place to have an evening snack. Inside the restaurant, there were the pictures of Lord Krishna Leela on every wall, it was small restaurant with dull lighting and most of the tables were occupied by lunch diners, some of them sharing one dish between the two persons.

We sat down next to the window which overlooked HareRamaHareKrishna temple which had a beautiful  intricately carved architecture. 

The food

The menu-card had large list of dishes, all vegetarian and mainly fusion food. It promised delightful experience that would harmonize body, mind and soul. Since we were just three of us, ordering too much variety was out of question. We ordered 2 plates of Chole batoorey, vegetarian Pizza and stir fried vegetable Dosa

The verdict

The food was awesome, and the quantity was good but the waiter did not warn us about the quantity and one plate of Cholebatoore was left untouched. Service was good and spontaneous. We didn't have to wait for too long.

Chlole Bature had serving bucket for serving chana, and I was so impressed that I am planning to buy this bucket for my collection of utensils.

Yummicious Pizza, I was really floored by melt-in-the-mouth Pizza which had exotic vegetables with olives and parsley as toppings. 

The stir fried vegetables of chopped carrots, onions, cabbage and sprouts with a crisp dosa covering gave the feeling of eating spring rolls, only the Sambar and the chutney was deceiving, but then I wouldn't touch that.

The bill

At Rs350 per head for heavy lunch, I found this restaurant quite reasonable.

There were no finger bowls at the end of the meals, which is quite disappointing.

I would surely love to come back again and also would recommend it to my vegetarian friends.

Kitchen Art Frames

A perfect gift for a friend who spends too much time in the kitchen 

First Bite of the Day

How many times have we heard people advising us to eat the first meal of the day like a king? How many of us know one king personally? I would love to share a meal with a King if I had a chance, but know none in India. I am sure he must be eating same Vada Sambar, Puri Bhajji or perhaps Parathas for breakfast. In that case I say “No, thank you!”

I would rather eat toast and have a glass of fresh fruit juice.

For toast I would need bread, but who needs to bake bread if they are freely available at bread boutiques? On the second thought I think I could try...

I like the Baguette,

Image source: http://wholesomemommy.com/french-baguette/

When in Spain, this French Baguette was must-shop item on our shopping list. The supermarket near our house used to sell these freshly baked and I would finish half of it while waiting at parking lot. Crusty on the top and chewy within, this long thin loaf was a delight.

Have you tried Sourdough bread?

Image source: http://www.truestarhealth.com/Notes/1940007.html

This is another favorite choice of breads on the days when I am too lazy to make chappatis. This has a distinctly tangy and complex flavor and can be used in the most innovative way. Slice it and top it with vegetables and cheese or simple have it with stew or soups, a perfect meal by itself.

Now-a-days I normally prefer Multi-Grain bread.

Image Source: http://www.featurepics.com/online/Multi-Grain-Bread-958025.aspx

Prefer this multi-grain bread because it is most nutritionally complex of all. It has less refined flour and more of other grains like oats, rye, millet and yellow corn. Moreover, it is easily available at the supermarket near my house.

So if my guest plan to spend the night at my house, multi-grain toast is what she gets as the first bite of the day.

Like this morning, I had some straw mushrooms in the fridge and I decided to cook it to make a topping for the toast. In a pan, stir fried garlic, straw mushroom, spring onions, tomatoes, green chilies and coriander leaves.

Transfer the cooked veggies on the bread

 Grate the cheese over the veggies

 and Bake it for 5 minutes.

My guests was all smiles from ear to ear, who wouldn't be?

Baked Dish- Macaroni and Vegetables

Just bought a packet of macaroni and have been longing to cook for somebody, which friend to invite? Has to be some-one who enjoys my food and is not too critical, not that I am shy of critiques, but I like to cook at my own pace and if somebody is watching and expecting me to create a competitive dish, I am sure to disappoint. Some of my friends (and family too) know that I cannot cook the same dish twice, even if I followed the recipe to the point, word by word  (but hey, what are friends for,) if they can forgive me for a bad dish and enjoy the dish that I have made especially for them, I am most willing to experiment. After all, the main ingredients that we use in every cooking is always  love and interest, so understand that if I love you and I am really interested in impressing you , I am sure to cook a tasty meal for you..go figure….

Pastas of any kind if mixed with vegetables can make a complete meal, and it’s is used all around the world. There were records of pasta in Italy 500 years before Marco Polo returned from China.

Pasta is science and an art. Everybody had their own style of cooking the pasta to suit their palate. You can call it by different name; it’s just to identify it by its shape. Visit Europe and you discover spaghetti, gnocchi, tagliatellea, ravioli, vincisgrassi, strascinati, fancy names with sexy curves of pasta, each with an identity of its own.  Travel to Asia, and you have noodles of all shapes with an amazing history of its own. Americans not only cook bad pasta but they also use wrong sauce with noodle. Many are confused as to which sauce could match with which type of pasta.

Have you sometimes floundered as to when to add salt? How much to boil? Sometimes it’s too soggy, sometimes too raw and sometimes an embarrassment. Such knowledge cannot be achieved by reading encyclopedia of pastas, all we need is to wear our apron and discover it our self. With experience we learn and with every recipe we discover how to improve it the next time.

Ah well, all I care is that I need to eat the pasta that will suit my palate. So this week I dared to make pasta again and it behaved. I know it did because I saw my guests go for second helping…….

Step 1

Collect all the ingredients:

1 cup macaroni

1 tbsp olive oil

2 pods garlic (grated)

3 green chilies (cut slant wise)

200 grams Mushrooms (chopped)

1 medium carrot (thinly diced)

100 grams corn

1 medium Capsicum (diced)

10-12 leaves Spinach

20 grams baby tomatoes

20grams olives

20 grams white cheese

1 tbsp butter

1 cup chopped spring onions

1 tbsp white flour

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Step 2

1.     Boil the pasta adding salt and oil,

2.     Add in 1 cup of cold water.

3.      Keep it aside

Step 3

1.     In a pan, stir fry garlic and green chilies in olive oil

2.     Add mushroom and mix,

3.     Add carrots, corn, capsicum

4.     Strain the macaronis  and add to the pan, stir it lightly

5.     And add spinach and salt. Mix it well.

6.     Transfer it to a baking dish.

7.     Garnish with baby tomatoes, olives and white cheese.

Step 4

1.     Stir fry spring onions in butter.

2.     Add white flour and roast a little.

3.     Add milk.

4.     Add cheese.

5.     Stir till white sauce is creamy.

6.     Pour it in the baking dish on the top of pasta and vegetables.

Step 5

Bake it for 45 minutes at 180 degrees.

Serve it with garlic bread and a glass of orange juice.

Vegetables Sizzler in Black Pepper Sauce

One thing good about sizzlers is that the food is steaming hot till the last spoon. Second thing is the novelty of the sizzling plate that comes shooshing on your table like a steam engine parking on your space, the smoke from the plate blinding you, the colorful combination of different assorted vegetables and that slurpy sauce make it even more exotic. More-over it’s a complete meal by itself and one plateful should suffice for nutrients required to go all day.

No wonder, sizzler can be made of the combination of your choice and there is no rule as such that it has to be made in a particular way. You can neatly arrange all the ingredients side by side or you can place them piled up one by one, the main taste is in the sauce that you pour over it and there are various types of sauces that you could experiment with to give your dish different flavors each time.

Ingredients that I used

1 cup rice

For sauce

1 tsp olive oil

2 pods garlic (grated)

2 medium spring onions (chopped)

2 green chilies (cut slant-wise)

1 vegetable cube

2-3 basil leaves

1 tbsp chopped celery

1 tbsp pepper sauce

1 tsp corn flour

For stir fry vegetables

1 tbsp olive oil

200 grams mushrooms (diced)

1 medium carrot (diced slant-wise)

1 medium capsicum (diced)

3-4 Paksoi leaves (chopped)

1 tsp crushed black pepper

Salt to taste

During arrangement

5-6 Cabbage leaves

1 tsp vinegar

Now ready to cook:

Step 1

Steam 1 cup of rice adding salt and oil.

 Step 2

Keep the plate for heating for 20 minutes.

 Step 3

Make sauce

1.     Stir fry garlic in I tsp of olive oil,

2.     Add spring onions, green chilies, add 1 cup of water, vegetable cube, basil leaves, celery leaves, black pepper sauce,

3.     Let it cook for ten minutes,

4.     Add 1 tsp corn flour in ½ cup water,

5.     Stir till the sauce gets thick,

6.     Keep it aside

Step 4

Stir fry vegetables

1.     Stir fry garlic in 1 tbsp of olive oil,

2.     Add mushrooms and carrot,

3.     Mix and add capsicum, green chilies, Paksoi leave,

4.     Sprinkle crushed black pepper and salt on it.

Step 5

Arranging the sizzling plate

1.     Transfer the hot sizzler plate on a wooden base,(from step 2)

2.     Arrange cabbage leaflets on the plate,

3.     Add the layer of white steam rice,(from step 1)

4.     Add the layer of stir fried vegetables  (from step 4)

5.     Pour the sauce on the top (from step 3)

Step 6

Dissolve 1 tsp of vinegar in 1 tsp of water and pour on it for sizzling effect.