Panfusine

 I'm actually breaking into song as I write this up. Albeit in my head, Frank Sinatra is crooning his timeless classic.. My Way.. Jan 1st 2012, Siri Pulipaka , the author of cookingwithsiri.com was just winding up her own daily blog ( of everyday events) and was encouraging others to experiment with similar projects. On a pure whim, I got myself a blogger page, with nary a thought about how I was to complete 366 dishes. It was never my intention to add recipes for classic day to day fare, just links  if a particular dish was made using a recipe from other sites. But, just as a new mother forgets everything about the intensity of her labor pain after seeing her infants face, I cannot recall anything hard or negative about this annual project. In fact, the support I received from everyone of you simply increased my motivation to kick back any lethargy and support every dish I could with recipes. The effort has paid off in terms of a repository of recipes that I...

One of the quirkiest statements I've heard my dad make (& he had his fair share of quirky but true observations about life that never failed to elicit a chuckle or two) was that when he was old and had lost his teeth, he hoped that his fondness for murrukku (a crunchy deep fried savory South Indian snack) was satiated enough  that he wouldn't have to ask anyone to grind up the murrukku in a coffee grinder  to feed him. Its odd that my recipe for this week could be interpreted as exactly that by those who are familiar with the dish in its original form and its deconstruction.

Call it childish, but the sensation of squirming with excitement as only a 6 year old is, in someways one of the best states to be in occasionally. The feeling of 'OH MY GOD, this can't be happening to me, (but it is)'.. I went though one such 'aha' moment a fortnight ago, thanks to Cooking Channels Recipe Contest for their 'The Perfect 3' show. The category was 'Indian', the show focuses on three 'perfect dishes in each category made by three of the celebrity chefs from the Food Network/ Cooking channel family and the fourth, a winning original entry from amateur home cooks (such as yours truly), vetted & tested by the professionals at Food Network at their Kitchens. (The same stoves on which Iron Chef Bobby Flay tests his throw down recipes with his assistants Miriam & Stephanie). The Hallowed Food Network Kitchens! The taping sessions were a model of perfect efficiency. The associate pro...

Phew... getting caught up in the excitement of the world cup was really something & the echoes of a hard fought & well deserved win for the boys in blue still reverberate up & down ones spine....anyways, passion is passion in any form & I had to get myself to post this long overdue recipe before the taste buds lost the thrill of sampling this experiment that has undoubtedly worked its way to my list of 'must make on a regular basis' recipes. As is my practice, I usually test out a recipe (with my twist on it of course) whenever I review a book, because to me books on food constitute a  valuable literature survey that I sometimes draw inspirations from. My personal belief as far as creating recipes has not altered one bit from my academic approach to science. There are hypothesis that one may chose to validate from scratch or a touch of applied experimentation from known tried and tested existing work. Either way, in all fairness credit should be given to th...