My second attempt at coconut laddus

Just as good as my earlier attempt..just that I didn't think of taking a picture that time around! ;)

My first attempt at baking! :)

followed the recipe completely..wasn't a disaster..tasted like cake..didn't look like one of Nigella Lawson's cakes though! will get there..slowly and surely! :D

Man vs. Food

Saw this show called 'Man vs. Food' on Discovery Travel and Living. Its got this host that eats for fun, not because he's hungry or anything..or perhaps for good TRPs..who knows? But anyway, today's episode had him devouring a 12 egg omlette and hashbrowns and chilli to go with it-not a pretty sight at all..infact eating contests of any kind freak me out a bit ;D

Chefs galore!

Haven't updated this space in a while and what better to break the ice than to catalogue one of the greatest chefs on this planet:

http://www.nigella.com/default.aspx

love her cooking! ;)

hate to reference this next link..for all his temper, he's a great chef!


http://www.gordonramsay.com/

Zesty Cabbage Salad with Garlic and Lemon.

The following recipe is on my list of things to try. I tried to make cabbage salad yesterday but it turned out to be bitter, so I am on the lookout for recipes to make non-bitter cabbage salad. The following is one of my finds. The original link is here: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/zesty-cabbage-salad-garlic-lemon.html

Zesty Cabbage Salad with Garlic and Lemon
posted by Annie B. Bond Aug 29, 2001 10:26 am
filed under: Food & Recipes, Soups & Salads
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Adapted from Little Foods of the Mediterranean, by Clifford A. Wright (Harvard Common Press, 2003).
Sweet, slightly crunchy, with zesty flavor from lemon, and healthful benefits from garlic and olive oil–this salad will help to strengthen and nourish us for spring!
Cabbage is a lovely addition to the early-spring menu: it’s inexpensive, keeps beautifully, and is one of those great cancer-fighting cruciferous vegetables. When you fix it like this, it’s also a taste sensation.
If you’ve avoided cabbage because it can be bitter, here’s the Syrian secret for making it sweet! And just wait ‘til you see how simple this salad is to make.
INGREDIENTS
1 small head Savoy cabbage (about 1 pound), damaged outer leaves removed, cored, and shredded1/4 cup sea salt, or more to taste6 garlic cloves, very finely chopped2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil3/4 teaspoon dried mint
1. Toss the shredded cabbage in a large bowl with the salt and let sit for 1 hour. (This will reduce the bitter taste resulting from the glucosinolates in the cabbage, which are broken down once the leaves are cut.)
2. Thoroughly wash the salt from the cabbage by dunking it in water. Taste a piece of the raw cabbage to make sure the salt is washed off. Let drain in a colander.
3. Return to the cleaned bowl. Toss well with the garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and mint. Check the seasonings, although it should not need any more salt, and serve at room temperature within the hour.
Serves 4 to 6.

Recipe for Jalebi

Chef: Niru Gupta
Ingredients: 1/2 cup maida 1/4 cup dahi (yogurt) preferably sour ghee for deep frying a strong polythene bag for piping out the jalebis 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 1/2 cups water

Method: Mix flour and dahi, to form a paste of dropping consistency, adding water if necessary. Cover and leave to ferment for 6-7 hours. Dissolve sugar in the water, over low heat, then cook over high heat till slightly thick---one thread consistency. Keep aside, warm, till you fry the jalebis. Heat the ghee and fill the bag with the batter. Twist the opening to seal the bag. Snip a corner to make a small hole. Hold the bag over the hot ghee and pipe out swirls (like whirlpools), straight into it. Lower the heat to medium and turn the jalebis over and fry till a light brown on both sides. Lift out of the ghee and put into the syrup, leave thus for a minute or so, and lift out again and serve.

(Ref: http://cooks.ndtv.com/showonlyrecipe.asp?cond=find&id=240&category=Desserts)

The Day I met Sanjeev Kapoor

The Day: 25th January, 2008. Venue:Saarang 2008, IIT Madras

Sanjeev Kapoor of 'Khana Khazana' fame gave a lecture on 'Things you must eat before you die', a list of his most favorite things to eat from the Indian subcontinent. The list in no particular order is as follows:

1. Modak
2. Appam and Stew
3. Banaras ki Thandai
4. Thalipeeth and Thecha (similar to bajri ki roti)
5. Dal Pakwan (a Sindhi preparation)
6. Kaale Gajar ki Kanji (from Punjab)
7. Kahwa and White Darjeeling Tea (Kahwa-Kashmiri Tea)
8. Kada Prashad (Prasad served in gurudwaras)
9. Bhel
10. Gushtaba (Kashmiri meat dish)
11. Ker Sangri (Rajasthani snack)
12. Kakori Kabab from Lucknow
13. Shikampuri Kabab
14. Mande-wedding dessert served in Konkan, popular in Belgaum
15. Karimeen
16. Meerut ki Rewri
17. Hyderabadi Biryani and Mirchi Salan
18. Mishti Doi
19. Mutton Kohlapuri
20. Nalli Nihari (a type of mutton curry)
21. Notun Gurer Rosogulla (made with new jaggery-notun gurer)
22. Paan
23. Paunk (from Surat eaten during Uttarayan)
24. Kolambi Bhat
25. Makki ki roti aur sarson ka saag
26. Sattu from Bihar
27. Solkadi (kokum and fresh coconut milk)
28. Undhiyo
29. Vada Pao
30. Pav Bhaji
31. Beef Pepper Fry
32. Ada Pradaman (dried rice cake cooked with coconut milk and jaggery)

He graciously signed my notebook at the end of the lecture (since the best things in life happen when you don't have a camera or an autograph book handy, I had to make do with my regular college notebook for Sanjeev's autograph!)

Following his lecture was a cookery competition where we were given some fruits, veggies, milk, biscuits and other assorted ingredients and we had to whip up something nice for the judges. No cooking was allowed. My teammate, Piyush and I came in second in the competition in the 'savory' category for our starters of Monaco and cheese accompanied by onion, tomato and coriander yoghurt dip. ;)

Our "recipe" for Monaco and cheese starters and yoghurt dip ;)

1. Monaco biscuits
2. sliced cucumber, tomato
3. grated cheese
4. finely cut onions, salt, pepper and chaat masala mixed with finely whipped yoghurt for the dip
5. sev, mint and coriander for topping

create sandwiches of the desired combinations of veggies and cheese, topped with more biscuits and yoghurt dip for added flavor. crunchy and quick snacks are ready in no time ;) goes well with just about everything ;)

I also witnessed one of the quickest disappearances of food I've ever seen. The judge, a food critic was making her way around each table, and no sooner had she taken a bite to sample the preparation, than the rest of the contestants and volunteers for the event who had already made a crowd around the judge polished off the rest of the preparation. It took just under 5 seconds for our starters to disappear off the plate after the judge had made her ratings ;)

All in all a fun day. Looking forward to more tomorrow. :)

Till then..