Month: August 2012

Okonomiyaki or "As you like" – Japanese Pizza

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Featured in Foodgawker.com on 20th Nov 2012 Featured in Tasteologie.notcot.org on 20th Nov 12 Featured in BitchinKitchen’s Twitter feed on 28th Nov 12 I must confess, I had never heard of this thing till my trip to Stuttgart this summer. I know Stuttgart and Japan are miles apart, but the story starts there. The co-resident’s friends, let’s call then D and E decided to make Okonomiyaki for dinner. Now E had travelled to Japan for her summer break and fell in love with this dish. The dish being a savory omlette/ frittata/ pizza made out of flour, eggs, cabbage, veggies and pork and topped off with mayo, sweet sauce, fish flakes and seaweed. It’s so popular in Japan that there are more than 30,000 specialized Okonomiyaki restaurants. The restaurant provides you with ready okomomiyaki batter and you add in whatever your heart desires and proceed to grill it on the grill pan in front of you. Then you decorate it with the condiments of your choice and proceed to polish off your Japanese pizza! Unfortunately …

A Bloggers Meet and Four Seasons Wine Tasting

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What is a good way to spend a Sunday? Couple of friends sharing a good meal over some great wine by the poolside on a cheery afternoon – pretty much hits the spot! So that’s what I did, this Sunday. I was invited to a Bloggers Meet at the Royal Orchid which was hosted by Four Seasons Wine. The invite promised a live cooking demo, wine tasting and food pairing and a chance to catch up with fellow bloggers. What’s not to like? The day started off with running into some friendly (boisterous) fellow bloggers and exchanging stories by the beautiful aquamarine pool on the roof top of the hotel. In breezed the ambassador of Four Seasons wine in India – Ex-Miss India Earth Shamita Singha. Not just a pretty face we realized, when she waxed eloquently about the different types of wine. Four Seasons Wines (part of UB Group) is produced at India’s largest winery at Baramati in Pune. They produce a whole variety of wines, but we restricted ourselves to tasting three this …

Quick Hummus for Easy Entertaining…

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Featured in Tastespotting.com on 26th Sep 12 While the quickest Hummus would be a store bought variety, it’s not essentially the tastiest. At the other end of the spectrum is the completely home made Hummus which is super yuumy but so time consuming (with the overnight soaking of the chickpea and then boiling blah blah blah), that it takes the joy out of entertaining. Ok, I’m exaggerating, but I’ve never been a fan of being a slave to the kitchen. Give me quick, easy and tasty any day! So I’ve found a happy median with this recipe. I use canned chickpea and tahini paste and blend the rest of the ingredients in! It’s super simple and tastes 100% better than the store bought one. And I also have the satisfaction that I churned it out myself. (At least MOST of it)! J Quick and Easy Hummus Prep time: 15 mins Makes: 2 cups What you need: 1 can/ 450g Chickpeas in liquid (drained weight 200g) 1/3 cup Water/ Liquid (from the can) 2 Tbsp Tahini …

PanchPhoran Dal (Five Spice Lentils) – Comfort food at it’s Best!

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I know I’ve said many times that making regular dal and rice bores me. That dosen’t mean I don’t make it. No week is complete without Dal being made atleast twice. It’s what we grew up on and it’s what I crave when I come back from a long trip to unfamiliar places. Eating dal and rice with a veggie on the side and a smattering of pickle is nothing short of a homecoming! The fact that it’s such a commoner on the dinner table and gets made so often, I’ve actually never written down a recipe for dal. So this was my first attempt at documenting the precise quantities. I kept a little sheet of paper next to me and kept jotting down what I threw into the pan. Now I finally have a dal recipe that I can pass to the co-resident and ask him to attempt it when am too bored to move a muscle J We use mustard seeds and curry leaves to temper the dal. However, this one uses a …

Ultimate Chocolate Banana Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

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Oh Man! There’s so much chocolate in this recipe and its soo moist and googey and yummy. I kid you not! It’s now my TOP chocolate cake. Ok, I know it says banana in the title, but don’t let that scare you away. All the banana does is make it unbelievably moist (just like a fantastic patisserie bought cake) and add a faint banana sweetness. I realized that banana in a chocolate cake is not such an odd combo. I ordered a slice of royal banana chocolate cake at the California Pizza Kitchen and was totally transported to heaven. So I looked high and low for a similar recipe and finally found a Joy of Baking one that looked and sounded delicious. The recipe is super rich and makes a huge cake for 12 people. This means not only do I have a fail safe recipe, but one that tastes un-freaking-believable, and feeds a lot of people at the same time…I am really in cake bliss! I balanced the sweetness of the cake with a …