Panfusine

Chanced upon the movie Mississippi Masala on Cable & started watching it out of sheer boredom... Denzel Washington was a definite eye candy redeeming feature, but what tugged at me was the scene where the Tape recorder starts playing that all time RK classic 'Mera Jootha hai Japani' it kind of seemed to add sense to my fledgling food endeavor,      ( Yeh dishes  hai Japani, mere styling englistani, naamein hai French aur Roosi, phir bhi food  hai Hindustani ), Ahh, the hallucinations that occur when you have no clue how to spend a snowed in afternoon!! About Galumpkis , this is a traditional East European dish made with cabbage. Leaves are wilted in salted water, stuffed (or should I say rolled ) with rice, meat (usually pork) and seasonings & baked or steamed till the flavors have blended. This is  a staple dish in a lot of Slavic countries like Croatia. Swiss Chard makes for a fabulous substitute for spinach in all...

Whether its a football game or a bollywood masala flick, an essential part of the experience is having the right finger foods to go with it. My idea of relaxing on a friday night is whipping up something other than the traditional  Indian fare & the favorites are usually something Mediterranean or Mexican.. The bad thing about nacho's the difficulty in controlling portions.. the smallest baking tray accomodates 1/2 a huge bag of chip & with the toppings... forget it. When combined with a childhood habit of 'not wasting food' you're pretty much doomed as far as watching your caloric intake for the next week!  Baking individual portions in muffin pans makes for a visually pleasing hors  d'oeuvres, while retaining all the elements of the incomparable umami.& the interesting part... no deep fried chips!. For those of you in India where the listed ingredients may not be available in the standard form, I've provided substitutes that do not...

In India, along with the pongal season arrives a slew of rhizomes in the market that are associated with this festival. Fresh Ginger & turmeric are found everywhere, whole plants with the rhizomes still caked in fresh muddy earth. The aroma is incomparable. At home, invariably after the festivities were over there would be plenty of the fresh turmeric & ginger left over after some had been replanted in pots (Its quite another story that we needed to eventually buy more next year!)  for the next season, my dad would dice these finely, add finely minced green chilli, salt & a dash of lime to make this yummy relish/salad.. (it was a bit too spicy to load up by the ladleful, but mild & piquant enough to scarf down generously for an 'achar' (pickle/relish), so in later years I took to calling this a salsa). My mother in her characteristic southie tradition would add a tadka of mustard & a pinch of asafetida. This was one of my late father...

Before you wonder why I dragged a confirmed meat n potatoes name like Iron Chef Michael Symon into a classic beloved South Indian dish, take a look at this creation of his. http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/michael-symon/pan-roasted-lamb-loin-with-sweet-and-sour-relish-and-smoky-or-grilled-eggplant-puree-recipe/index.html NO.. NOT the Lamb, the grilled eggplant puree. It was fascinating to watch how the Iron chef transformed a common man's vegetable into something so elegant!, Got me thinking, Isn't that on the same lines of the humble gothsu that any southie grandma whipped up? & if you go to the basics, this is exactly what chef Symon did for his 'high end' lamb dish. In the days of cooking with firewood, the eggplant would be rubbed with oil & left to grill on the glowing embers after most of the the day's cooking was done. the charred skin would be discarded & the cooked flesh would be combined with tamarind extract,salt, asa...

If Yogurt rice occupies the # 1 spot in a South Indian's list of food faves, then 'Venn Pongal' is usually with in the top five list of comfort foods. Almost every South Indian reading this post has some story about a weekend brunch comprising of a large dollop of steaming hot & thick  porridge of rice & tasted moong dal, with a side of crisp Medu Vada with an almost unlimited supply of tangy piquant Coconut chutney to go with it. the added bonus was licking the plate clean!  I had been toying with the idea of bringing out a series of dishes using grits & Yellow corn meal for sometime, but the push to get going never came until Shaila Ballal Nigam posted her delish recipe for Cornmeal Dhokhla a week ago. I promise that I'll recreate that recipe & post it.... as soon as I finish up this batch of hominy grits that I have on hand! Back to Venn Pongal, as I said, Its a mix of well (even slightly overcooked) rice & moong dal ( which is th...

Christmas for me in terms of memories were localized to Nairobi, Kenya, where I spent a chunk of of my growing up years. Our neighbors were Goan & I can still mentally taste the Christmas platter of home made goodies that used to be sent up the week of the 25th. Cheese straws, fruitcake, Karanji's filled with coconut & sesame..these were the first things that came to mind & acting on my thoughts i decided to whip up a batch of shortbread cookies with the aim of incorporating the flavors of karanjis which are deep fried traditional festive desserts made with coconut, common to western India ( in addition, shortbread , is possibly one of the few cookie recipes that do not compulsorily call for eggs which I try to work around due to my inherent lethargy!) Shortbread is a cookie made primarily from flour, butter & sugar. Its  a classic Scottish dessert &  due to the expensive ingredients that went into it, it was reserved for special occasions su...

 Even as I type this note, a part of my brain wonders what I'm doing trying to write a restaurant review... So, rather than treat this with such an objective eye, Let me just rephrase this as a blog entry on an almost perfect brunch session with a friend, on a cold rainy December Morning.  Coming to think of it, sampling one entry on a menu does not even remotely qualify as a review, but Kudos to Jyoti Ananth, for her awesome selection of venue & menu..  Alice's Tea Cup has 3 locations in NYC, & we picked the one on E 64th St or Chapter 2 as they refer to it on the website.  There was a wait of about 30 minutes ( a sure fire way of determining the popularity of the restaurant) & they were prompt in calling us on our phone to let us know that our table was ready. The restaurant itself is housed in one of those cute quaint brownstones so characteristic of NYC. The furniture so adorable in their cobbled English country cottage style. The adj...