Panfusine

Depending upon cultures, its interesting to see how people react to the advent of summer. In India, It was to confine yourself indoors for the fear of getting a dark tan, stepping out with an umbrella to shield oneself from the intense sun and a host of 'cooling' foods such as Yogurt rice, and chilled fruits. The very idea of grilling anything out in the blazing sun would send a shudder down the spine. Grilling over coals was confined to cooler months and the rainy season when vendors would stroll the streets with carts full of corn to be roasted in a 'Sigri' (a Coal oven made of sheet metal). In sharp contrast, With the advent of Memorial Day in the US of A, there's a scramble to get the  grills and  barbecues readied for cooking foods the way our   cave men ancestors used to. Meat, Meat & more Meat, with a tiny footnote for grilling veggie burgers and marinaded vegetables.  Well, if you can't beat 'em, Join 'em! While that rallying ...

(Image Credit: Anu Rao) Where do I begin? How do I begin? I had been waiting to attend the BlogHer Network 's Food Conference for almost a year, booked  my tickets and hotel over 3 months ahead. (I was hoping to trim down to a svelte shape as well, but that didn't happen). And before I knew it, I was on a flight BACK from Austin, TX, giddy with the memories and thanking my stars for meeting so many food blogger and making new friends.  The work: I was one of the select group of volunteers who had signed up to live blog for some of the informative discussion panels that are at the heart of the intellectual aspect of BlogHer conferences. This posse was 'rounded' up and organized by the bubbly & vivacious Tonya Sanders who is known in blogging circles as The Chatty Momma .   I was one of those fortunate ones who got to live blog for three sessions and the topics assigned to me, all I can say is that I couldn't have picked better sessions on my own...

  I've often been asked why I chose  into food blogging with a niche idea of redesigning and tweaking Indian dishes instead of plunging full fledged into classic recipes that I had grown up with. I had serendipitous stumble upon the best possible answer I'll probably ever get, thanks to Chef Marcus Samuelsson's new memoir 'Yes Chef'. There was one paragraph that practically leaped out of the book searing itself into my mind : "  Who lied? Who started the lie that France had the greatest food in the world? That question ran through my head every time I bit into something new and that changed my notions of what “good food” is. Then that question was replaced by a second: Who’s going to make the people realize that food dismissed as “ethnic” by the fine-dining world could be produced at the same level as their sacred bouillabaisses and veloutes" - Marcus Samuelsson, Yes, Chef! I could not ask for a better validation beyond this paragraph. In time, I...

One of the things I love about the 'We Knead to Bake' Project is that Aparna Balasubramanian , the brains behind this endeavor , lets the group have a free hand in experimenting with variations on the monthly theme (either that or, she's given up on me!). This month's bread is a New York Classic, the Bialy . For those who're wondering what in the world this is.. Its simply a roll with poppy seeds & caramelized onions in the center, the kinds that invariably leaves you with a strong onion breath. Yes, the kind of breakfast one normally avoids before stepping out for an important meeting or interview! But be aware, one bite into the chewy warm bread will leave you addicted for life. For  about 3 years in graduate school, A Bialy with cream cheese and a cup of coffee from a vending cart on 1st Avenue in New York City was my staple breakfast. It remains a nostalgic comfort food to this day. The name Bialy comes from Bialystocker Kuchen whi...

If there is ONE Indian bread I'm terrible at making its the Naan. Been working at it for years now, but invariably I'm left with a concoction that either looks like a dough sculpture of an Amoeba , crossed with a texture resembling a piece of Kevlar (umm... not that I've actually sunk my teeth into one!..). It was time to look for a suitable alternative and be content to savor naan from the occasional restaurant visits. For starters, I gave up trying to make it into a naan. Instead set my sights upon a chunky satisfying Foccaccia like  bread that I could cut into generous wedges and serve up with a hearty bowl of Indian style red beans known as Rajma (for the recipe, just click the link!) The flavor for the bread comes from Fennel, Nigella and bishops weed (commonly known as Ajwain in Hindi), tempered in sizzling hot oil and added to the flour. the chewiness of the bread is accentuated by the use of Bread flour. Tadka Bread: (Makes two 9 inch rounds) ...

Crepes.. Those delicate lacy handkerchief thin wisps of cooked batter, slathered with delicious Nutella, the kind of stuff that seems to be possible to savor & enjoy  in restaurants , food trucks and any other food establishments, EXCEPT the home! To be honest, I've never attempted making a French crepe, or entertained the possibility of even trying. For one thing, my neurotic avoidance of using eggs and second, the general aura of the whole crepe making process.    The egg phobia thankfully, seems to be getting relegated to the past, with credit going to OXO for getting me to try some of their egg related tools. The recipes are slotted for future posts. I've been a fan of OXO tools ever since my dad bought me a pair of OXO knives while settling me in Grad school at NYU (sometime in the last century). over the years, I've added a vast  array of OXO tools to my collection and have never been disappointed with ANY of my purchases. SO when OXO sent out a se...

 Think of fruit and one expects to nosh on a healthy crunchy / succulent orb with an ethereal aroma, NOT something you have to dissect like a caveman sawing through a mammoth carcass.  Well with the jack fruit it is exactly that. It starts with the sheer physical weight &  size of the fruit which can range from anywhere from 20 - 80 lbs and measures up to 50 inches in length. The Stalk that attaches the fruit to the tree trunk (yep it grows on the main trunk, since the branches would probably break under the weight!) needs to be sawed to detach the fruit.. (kinda make one nostalgic for picking an apple off a tree, doesn't it!). And this is the easy part.  Well, here's a tutorial for the successful extraction of the divine arils that make you work for the reward of savoring the inimitable flavor. Thanks to the presence of an Ether compound that confers the jack fruit its characteristic flavor & aroma (which is funky & takes a little getting u...