Panfusine

Summer time is Salad time.. and I''m not a fan of putting salads together, or maybe I like the way it sounds being called a 'Salsa' (invokes savory spicy visions) I made this over a year ago, and it qualifies enough to be called semi home made, canned corn & beans, with fresh avocado mashed in. spiced with finely minced green chilies, shallots, cilantro & lime.

Inspiration comes from the most unexpected of sources, it's up to the individual to use and interpret the signal and filter it from the surrounding noise. Call it signal processing or an interpretation of the Bhagvad Geeta or simply neural transmission and the brain processing the sounds it hears and making sense of it. you know its a winner of an idea if something constructive comes of it. Yesterday, it was a random babble session with my 6 year old, she came up to me insisting that we had to make some coconut popcorn -  when I asked her who told her that she invoked a character from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. It seemed such a cute conversation that I shared it simultaneously on Facebook. I was rather clueless about what she wanted, since her palate is extremely restricted, Rice and Pasta to be precise. And sure enough, my friends rallied with possible interpretations. Knowing how much my kid does NOT care for anything sweet that I make (told you she keeps me groun...

This is officially 'Modak' week in India (the week in question actually stretches out for 10 day's but who's counting?) The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi marks the birthday of Lord Ganesha, that happy, cheerful elephant-headed god of good luck and fortune. Its such an entrenched part of the Indian culture (especially in western and South India) that it may be hard to believe that this magnitude of celebration and devotion goes back only to the last century. What was once a single day festival celebrated in the privacy of individual homes was redefined as a public display of devotion and community as a way of allowing freedom fighters to mingle freely without arousing the suspicion of the British officials. I had blogged about the main 'prasad' (offering ) two years ago, with recipes included and I don't plan to repeat those in this post. but one of the three recipes there underwent a serious Panfusine change. The last part about the tiny amm...

It never ceases to surprise me how the simplest of recipes I try on a whim get the maximum attention from my Instagram account   Panfusine Facebook page. I don't think I've ever seriously given a thought to blogging about Idlies, but  I did share the interesting trials when I  played around with using silicone Ice cube molds for steaming them . The response was fabulous, and I had 'desi' mothers from all around the world writing to tell me how their kids suddenly thought the previously 'boring & staid' idlies were 'cool' again.  My 6 year old is in that phase when the silliest of things sets her off into peals of laughter. what started out as a discussion about carrots and the various colors they come in, she suddenly switched over to her favorite breakfast idlies and started giggling about how funny  idlies would be if I made them in the colors of the rainbow, starting with red. Her boy scout of an elder brother started  a lecture on ho...

I can't seem to ever be sure why baking always seems to involve a certain level of complexity. Maybe its my inherent South Indian background where baking is almost unheard of, -- for starters, the first time I ever set eyes on an 'oven' was when I was 7 years old, and even then, it was one of those gadgets whose main purpose was to store pots and pans. Daily cooking was always on the stove top and the level of heat applied was always measure in terms of high, medium or 'simmer'. Three settings and the particular burner (the 'Big' or 'small' ) used was all that determined the technique for countless delicious meal sessions that Amma dished out day in & day out. Temperature control was unheard of!

As seems to be the norm these days, I was up last night uploading photographs of Latkes for my Hanukkah post, taking care to transfer some from my camera as needed and then, BAM!, Lady Lethargy struck accompanied by her little sloth of a sidekick, Polly Procrastination. And yet again,  I resigned myself to another session of writer's block when nothing ever seems to flow out of my fingertips to even call respectably call itself a head-note, leave alone a blog post. And then it happened.. A routine run of errands and a  change of Radio stations, (My kids love to listen to the Christmas music when riding along and I cherish the opportunity to turn back to my staple NPR broadcasts whenever I can this season) and there I was headed to the grocery store and listening to Leonard Lopate interview Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen on Hanukkah dishes. T'was an extra twist of fortune that I was round the corner from the parking lot at Wegman's Grocery . I dialed in to the sho...

Its been quite a while since I even opened up the blog, While I returned from my summer vacation 2 weeks back, turns out my mojo & motivation was happily following Newtons 1st law! Well, better late than never I say! Trying to minimize white rice from the daily diet is harder than one thinks. For one, the pearly whites are so accessible and the devious temptation in the form of shorter cooking times is often hard to resist. But its well worth the effort to make a hearty protein rich dish like this quinoa and Beluga lentil salad. Yes it does take some time (~15 minutes) to cook the lentils and quinoa separately, but those minutes are well spent prepping the vegetables that are tossed in almost equal volume. You need: 2 cup cooked Quinoa (I used a blend of tri colored quinoa) 2 cup cooked whole Beluga lentils (or whole plain Masoor dal) 1 diced Zucchini (I ran it through a spiralizer and made them into a spagetti 1/2 cup finely diced red onion 1 large tomato finely chopped ...

You know you're a crazy food obsessed blogger when you run out to pick produce one day before you have to clear out the kitchen fridge, just because there is a challenge out there for your best ideas for a savory dish with baked corn. Yep, I'm talking about the challenge from Freedom Tree, A purveyor of fine Home Accents based out of Mumbai, along with the Indian Food Bloggers Meet that is happening later this week in Bangalore . The day before I left for Mumbai, the Indian Food blogger's meet threw open this contest  and it became the perfect menu idea for the day,.. except that I completely blanked out on flavor profiles and what to make. My first instinct was to make a savory flan like custard with the corn 'juice', but somehow practicality took over and I allowed my 8 year old son  to dictate the flavors to me. Mac n' Cheese with Roasted Corn You need: 3 ears of fresh corn, with the husk and silk removed 3 cups cooked elbow macaroni (boiled in ...

Potatoes.. how can ANYONE not fall in love with them in Infancy? On second thoughts. if there is an answer to that, the subjective self centered part of me does not want to hear it!    Raghavan Iyer , A culinary idol of mine, recently mentioned that he was going to work on a book with Potatoes as the main ingredient, and this definitely kicked me out of my inherent laziness with working with these marble sized spuds (i.e, Peeling them after boiling) that had spent more than 2 weeks in my kitchen's Lazy Susan. Summer is here, and so are the garlic scapes. I found these curly, wispy yet wiry beauties at my local Hillsboro farm . Garlic bulbs can be put aside for the winter, this is the time to relish the crisp garlicky flavor of these beauties. Simply dice and saute them lightly to bring out their flavor. You need: 2 lb fingerling potatoes (I used a medley of Reds, Goldens & purple Peruvians)  boiled and peeled 3 tablespoons olive or sesame oil 1 teaspoon cumi...

I'm thoroughly reveling in the season. The calming aspect of tending to my little vegetable patch, which has been colonized by grass, and more important, seeds from my plants last year, dozens of little tomato saplings sprouting in natural disarray, Tiny carrots and red radishes that I'm so tempted to yank out and chew on, but refrain, and a whole patch of fennel &  Delfino cilantro with their delicate leaves. I cant get over the fact that they made it out through the harsh winter. At times, I feel that the right side of  my brain has finally opened up, awakened by flavors & aroma of the culinary kind. I had twosweet potatoes sitting on the counter, and suddenly felt an urge to blend in the colors of spring.. Pink stems from Swiss chard and delicate green chives. As I combined these 3 ingredients into a bowl, my fingers fluttered over the rows of spice blends in my kitchen cabinet. Harissa? a tad too garlicky, Berbere? too much cardamom, Tawa fry ma...

 Many a time, Simple is best, after last month's exotic Flaounes , it was a pleasant change to  have a quick & easy recipe from Aparna  Balasubramanian . And yet, I managed to put off baking until today. I really need to snap out of my lethargy, & hopefully the laundry list of pointers I've acquired from the BlogHer Food conference  will help me do that. As far as breads go, it does not get much simpler than these elegant Petit Pain au lait ( Milk Bread) The original versions are sweet with a generous sprinkling of pearl sugar, but the majority ruling at home (a.k.a my eight year old miniature 'Anton Ego') shot that idea down, instead preferring a savory version. I had to do some serious improvising with the original recipe that Aparna provided, but the end result was well worth it. Improvisation # 1 was obviously swapping out the sweet version for the savory. The second was that I had only skim milk at home, so I boosted the amount of butter in ...

One definite advantage of not being a W.A.S.P (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) and claiming origins from a former third world country is that you get to celebrate almost  everything twice. Two names, Two Birthdays (one on the official date you were born, the one that you register at school with, the other, your star birthday, which is calculated according to the Hindu Calendar ), and festivities of cultures from the mother land & adopted home. Who says life can't be a string of events to celebrate? And so, today was New Years, the religious one. As with many of the different communities in India, New Years is celebrated in April, which was the case with the Western world until some pompous  Roman figurehead decided that the New Year should begin in the middle of the freezing winter. (and gave us April Fool's day as a rather lame substitute). This day is venerated as Bihu in Assam, Baisakhi in Punjab, Poila Baisakh / nabobarsho in Bengal, Vishu  in Kerala and Varsha...