The days of eating like a pig and eating pretty much everything i wanted were slowly and cruelly coming to an end. Everyday i looked at my waistline and cringed, while my training shoes lay in a heap in the corner guiltily ignored. Tomorrow is another day, became my motto.

So on the last day that dawned in Bangalore, i forced Solo and Carol to come out with me for a continental dinner because i so desperately needed to eat cheese and pasta with loads of butter before time ran out! 

Actually i had been forcing them to do that pretty much from the day i arrived but they couldn't make time since they have an adorable nine month old son at home, Dylan who needs constant attention and Solo works long hours.However, i wasn't one for giving up. I pestered them every single day until they finally had to relent. They needed a break too for crissakes....I'm scrappy that way...yes, i am!

 my brother - solo, the turk

 love and light

So we went to this place called Benitos that Carol suggested which is just about five minutes from their home so that she could quickly drive back if needed. 

That's what i liked about Bangalore. There are so many places to go and so many places to eat without venturing too far. Your neighborhood has everything. I miss that in Darj but i guess that's how cities are and i haven't lived in one for a long, long time.

Needless to say, we ate like pigs!

 i could see many africans in blore and koreans, iranians etc - the more the merrier!

 solo explains his feelings about a good steak and caro listens 

creamy chicken and leek soup

mango smoothie

chicken stroganoff

beef steak with hot pepper gravy

farmhouse pie

penne in alfredo sauce - not that great but that's alright... i can always eat my own cooking some other time :) modesty...say what now?

the place

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trippin on taste

the few shots of food that i found time to click with bini's new canon point and shoot which she bought exclusively for the trip because gatty took the camera with him to burma and missed me by a day when he got back :( hence, shooting food was not primary on my list of things to do this time.

until someone called me this morning about my food classes and i suddenly remembered that i did have a blog about food, no matter how lifeless it is at present.i also remembered that i did have some food pictures from the trip - old habits die hard, good camera or no. i also happen to have difficulty sleeping tonight so i thought what better way to keep myself entertained than give you guys a glimpse of the ... partay in our mouths!

a polished plate of spinach canneloni 

only at Magic Italy, which wouldn't have been so magical if it wasn't for the beautiful (yes, beautiful) Ricardo...but then my girlfriends would know more about that. 

remember i was in mommy mode so i just concentrated on the 'beautiful' food and behaved myself! :)

spaghetti pesto at h20 at agonda beach

what is it with me and italian food?

pan asian sauces

mini falafels at abc farms,pune

it's strange coming from a darj girl 

but i'm not a big fan of momos...it applies to both eating and cooking them

however, i still had to make some for my friend's friends in pune

which surprisingly i ate a lot because they turned out to be delish...:)

truth be told, i think it was because of my different and experimental (read totally awesome) stuffing !

golden fries - a lil bit o junk never hurteth anyone

piri piri chicken

masala prawns 
which i am told, did not hit the spot for my friend who ordered it.

top hats at malaka spice - very healthy. period.

the remnant insides of some frothy drink

a sauce with sauce - whoever said, an ounce of sauce covers a multitude of sins, is probably right ?

no unfinished business this

some gleaming mushroom dish which i cannot remember the name of - the after effects of too many mojitos!

choco chip muffin...airport snack

a nameless kiwi crush drink 
which looks harmless but is potentially potent - the sole reason why i can't give it a name!

  

my morning cuppa jo

potato satay

a very sweet chocolate drink at a wayward cafe in gokarna

a cottage cheese and tomato stuffed parota at mango tree.

the german couple beside me politely asked me about what i was eating 
because to them it looked gorgeous...(really ?)

i just had to ask them to dig in and take a bite...my way of letting them know that, ' it ain't that great!'

i think they went for the cashew curry like concoction after that

well, some things just have to be pointed out, albeit choice of means. :P

there is something incredibly wonderful about drinking in the afternoon with girlfriends - a bottle of valonne chenin blanc in this case - over fashion magazines, gossip and soul searching, in that order !

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selling the selroti

I know the great festival of the Nepali people came and went, i know delicious meals were cooked in every household including mine, i know the tunes of deusi/bhailo still lingers for some of us... and i also know that i have been neglecting this page :(

My only excuse is that i've been busy, not glorifying it but just plain, dull, mundane busy with work. So busy that i couldn't even send this recipe which i'm posting today to V when she needed it. I know i'm forgiven (because my girlfriends have massive hearts, specially her!)...nevertheless, this one is for Vaishali/ Falguni.

Selroti is an important fermented rice food of the Nepalis consumed traditionally during marriages, festivals and other special occasions in Nepal, the Darjeeling Hills, Sikkim and everywhere else in the world where you might find Nepalis.

the batter

My grandmother used to insist on using traditional tools while preparing selroti. The okhli and mushli to pound soaked rice, a nanglo to dry the soaked rice, a suiro, which is a pointed bamboo stick to turn the selroti upside down, lift and drain oil to take out the fried rings of selroti.

The tawa, a cast iron frying pan was a must ( as used below)and a thumsey, a wicker made basket to store fresh selrotis.

frying the sel roti swirls in golden glory

My mother still tries to keep the selroti preparation in our family as traditional as possible, besides the grinding part. Of course, we use the blender and i say a silent prayer to the science gods for that wonderful invention...

the suiro from my grandmom's days

Is it just me or do other people also want to know the origin of this delicious bread in the Nepali community? I love stories specially when it revolves around food so after putting in my best to find out,the only conjectures that i could come up with after many queries and online research is that the name could be derived from saela, a Nepali word given to any food item that is lifted by a suiro.Hence, saela roti becomes selroti. 

Also, Seli is a local variety of rice grown in the foothills of Nepal so the product prepared from this particular variety of rice could have been called selroti.

Although the nomenclature given to that beloved concoction is still a mystery, am i glad that it's NOT Fox Bread of all the   interpretations in the world! I almost cried when i heard that the first time :(

crispy selrotis served with sukha aludum

My Grandmother's Recipe

Come Tihar or a wedding or any festivity, she was the go to person for everyone we knew for the best selrotis in town.People flocked to her house to have it made.

Ingredients:

The estimate i have given is for a kilo of rice which would roughly give you 40-50 pieces of selroti. 

Rice

100 gm ghiu / clarified butter

garam masala ( cardamom, cloves, cinnamon etc)

500ml milk ( depends on how thick you want your batter)

2 unripe banana

Heavy Cream to soften the dough

250gm wheat flour

200gm granulated sugar

Oil to fry

Method

Clean, wash and soak rice in cold water overnight.

Drain excess water and spread to dry for 1 hour.

Grind soaked rice into a coarse powder - (this is how we do it at home which ensures the texture of the final selroti is not smooth but rough.To get this texture,you must also make sure that your gas flame is not too high and is kept to a medium flaresre).Some people prefer the surface to be smooth, so for that result, you must grind the rice to a fine paste.

Mash and add unripe banana, spices, ghiu, heavy cream, sugar, wheat flour and knead the mixture to a soft dough.

NOW add the milk slowly to batter the mixture into a thick and luscious paste.

Leave the batter to ferment for at least two hours or more in a cold climate.

Heat oil in a cast iron pan and deposit the batter as rings into the oil and fry until golden. Make sure that your flame is not too high.

Seloti can be eaten warm, hot or cool with aludum, simi ko achar and chiya.

this photograph was taken by my dear friend, Pranavesh, at his girlfriend's house...and i begged him to part with it...scrappy, ain't i? :)

A little late in the day but HAPPY TIHAR everyone!

x

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Farm Fresh

Spent a weekend at our farm when my brother was visiting last month and i made an impromptu ravioli with potatoes, bacon and baby spinach from the kitchen garden.Served it with a classic burnt butter sauce.

Needless to say, it was lip smacking good. and yes, i don't know modesty...what is that? :)

I made my own pasta sheets. You can find the recipe anywhere on the internet.

 Filling:
2 tspn olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped

2 potatoes mashed

finely chopped bacon bits
¾ cup finely grated fresh cheese
2 tspn finely grated lemon rind
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
freshly ground salt and black peppercorns, to taste

To serve:
20g butter

soy granules

sprinkling of baby spinach

Method:

Roll your pasta dough out and cut round sheets off it with a cookie cutter or in this case with a steel bowl/ batuka! 

Mix the filling together and place a spoonful each on the cut round sheets. 

Moisten the edges of the the remaining round sheets and place them on the mounds, firmly pressing the edges as you go.

Cook ravioli for 3-4 minutes in boiling water until just tender. Drain with a slotted spoon and place into warmed serving bowls.

Quickly heat the butter swirling the butter for about 1 minute only over a medium high heat until very foamy and a slightly golden nutty color (do not burn), add the spinach and soy granules, stir and quickly remove from heat.

Drizzle over the ravioli and serve.

You can grate more cheese over it if you want.

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Stickiest Lemon Cake Ever!

....with lots of syrup:)

Don't you just want to smash your face into that?!

My favorite critic and taster!

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Lemon Drizzle  Cake

125g unsalted butter

175g caster sugar

2 large eggs

zest of 1 lemon

175g self raising flour
pinch of salt

4 tablespoons milk

1 cake tin buttered or lined

For the syrup:

juice of 1 and a half lemons

100g icing sugar

To Make The Cake:

Preheat your oven to 180 C/ gas mark 4.

Cream together butter and sugar and add eggs and lemon zest, beating them in well.

Gently fold in the flour and the salt, mixing thoroughly and then add the milk.

 Spoon the batter into your prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

For the syrup:

Put the lemon juice and icing sugar into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves.

As soon as cake is out of oven, puncture all over with a fork or tooth pick (in my case) and pour the syrup.

Leave cake to cool completely before removing from the cake tin.

Serve or eat with weak Darjeeling tea…

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Hardcore Foodie Workshop

The Hardcore Foodie workshop last week was a bit of a challenge to me since i had to draft out a purely vegan menu for the participants. Which meant tweaking recipes, cutting corners, adjusting ingredients yet still making the dishes taste just as good. I can't say it wasn't fun and i can't say i did not meet that challenge :)

Glimpses from the Class

lucy's so engrossed in the recipes

some tips and tricks being imparted !!

making mango pulp for the dessert

deep fry

life always gives us lemons but no one's complaining

tasting time is the best time

lucy takes recipe reading to another level

cathy's job hazards

charlotte with the dessert mix

great food on the table

ta dah - the dairy free, gluten free, semolina and mango bake!!


FIND THE RECIPE HERE

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And while we waited for the food to be served

wine was flowing

tattoo art was in the making by our very own deejayshe

wifi benefits

joy and jest

private moments

 and enough time for some weird shots

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and then the french algerian belly dancer gave us some shimmy tips

and we sashayed to her tunes for a while until food was served

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Glimpses of some of the guests who were invited to relish what we cooked

 Gatty, Jamie, Matt and Sharad

Susannah, Mike, Cath

and the rest of us

Another Hardcore Foodie class, another great day spent with good friends...

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