Year: 2012

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 …

Savoury Breakfast Muffins to wake you up!

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It’s nice to have a good savory muffin in one’s repertoire. (Not that I would ever tire of cupcakes!). But some mornings need a nice wake-me-up-punch and if I load myself with sugary delights, I know I’m going to crash by midday! So this one’s a lovely cheddar and spinach muffin with the red chilli adding the right amount of spice. It feels really healthy because its got veggies and milk and just 3 gms of butter per muffin! (Almost felt like a subway advert there – less than 6 gms of fat!). It’s also really easy to make – just combine the wet and dry ingredients and bake! I would suggest eating these warm (not hot) so that you can still feel the gooey cheese. I like to throw on some Tabasco on top, because I’m crazy! Good Morning darlings… I’m sure going to have one! Spinach and Cheddar Breakfast Muffins Prep time: 15 mins Baking time: 30 mins Makes: 10-12 muffins What you need: 1 small Onion, finely chopped 3 cloves of Garlic …

Third times a Charm… Happy Birthday Food for Swaps!

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Food for Swaps turned three on 24th of July. I had just gotten back from holiday and had massive withdrawal symptoms! That coupled with a lost wallet and pending work load of 20 days had me walking a tightrope! So you can see how the idea of putting pen down to paper (or rather finger to keyboard) was far from my mind. Actually it was like this invisible boulder on my shoulder (i’m rhyming!) that I chose to ignore for 3 days. But I can’t any longer – my little blog has become such a comfortable part of my daily routine that turning three just seemed like the inevitable. And I owe it to my blog to say “HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOOD FOR SWAPS”! Thanks for making my days more enjoyable and my meal times more creative and my pictures more lustworthy ! And I thank you guys for hanging around and taking this food journey with me! Like they say “Third times a Charm” and “Three’s a crowd” and a jolly good one we have …

Singapore Black Pepper Prawns

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Singapore’s most famous dish is undoubtedly the Chili Crab and the Black Pepper Prawns. When you walk down Clark Quay or Boat Quay you will find innumerable restaurants and street café’s serving up these super fiery dishes. The Chili crab is generally made with huge Sri Lankan crabs. If you put both your palms together, the crab will probably be larger than that! I’ve spent quite a bit of money on many many nights in Singapore digging into these critters! Another one of my favorites is the Black Pepper Prawns – buttery, peppery, hot awesomeness! They generally use Tiger Prawns for this with the tails (and sometimes the head on.) You yank the head off and start slurping down the sauce and the prawn meat, then finish by digging out whatever else in left in the tail. At the end of the night you have steam coming out of your ears and are sticking your tongue out and downing litres of beer but you can’t stop smiling, because it was so awesome! So here’s my …

Mango Lassi and Opportunism

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Mango season is almost getting over and I am downing mangoes by the dozens! There’s a frantic need for me to consume as much as I can before I walk out one day and realize the mangoes are gone (for this year at least!). Now Frooti (it’s the largest selling mango drink in India) will have you believe that you can have fresh mango juice throughout the year… but we all know anything that’s stretched to make it live out of season is, well… bullshit. Opportunism is defined as the practice of taking advantage of circumstances with little regard for consequences. So my need to hoard in season, is justified I think! However, this drive to consume more mangoes than I possibly should, has some very visible repercussions – a couple of extra kilos! (Luckily a flowy summer top will hide most of the abnormalities :P). I digress as usual, but the point of this whole post was to tell you eat as many mangoes as you can before it’s too late! Now the Mango …

Article on Food Bloggers in Bangalore mentions Food for Swaps!

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http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/view/4274-bengalurus-food-blog-trail Bengaluru’s food blog trail Mediterranean cuisine did you say? Or do you want a quick recipe on mango based dessert this summer? A peek into some of Bengaluru based food bloggers. By Maitreyi Ananth <!– if !@article.summary.blank? %> <a style="color:#555555;text-decoration:none;"id="summary_popup_id" href="#" onclick="show_popup('summary_popup', 'summary_popup_id', 'Register Please', 'Please register as a user or login to see article summaries.’, 300);return false;”>summary <end–> 20 Jun 2012, Citizen Matters bookmark email print Food blogging is growing in India, and a lot of food enthusiasts are sharing their wonderful recipes online. Each of them have their unique stories, experiences, and of course, their food recipes. Here are three food bloggers who live in Bengaluru doing what they love doing, and a peek at their journeys. Blog beginnings Archana Doshi, on her food blog , calls herself a “chef, blogger, author, food writer” and more. She is a software engineer by profession but when she became a mother, she had to leave her career behind. At this time she decided to blog about parenting, and a little later, she began blogging …

Bruschetta a la Italia – Red, White and Green

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This appetizer is so packed with flavor and color and taste, that it’s always a hit at a party. It doesn’t even need any cooking! So if you want to impress with minimal effort and maximum style – this is the one for you. I call it ‘a la Italia’ because once I assembled it, I realized that it had Red, White and Green. I was giggling away to myself very bemused, that an Italian dish must encompass the colors of the Italian flag – hence the christening. Bruschetta (bru-sket-ta) is a very popular starter to an Italian meal. Though many people assume that bruschetta is bread topped with tomato and Basil and olive oil (that’s a popular topping), it is actually just roasted/ toasted bread rubbed with garlic and some olive oil. You can top this up with interesting combinations and have a fun start to a meal. I always have Pesto and Sun Dried tomatoes at home, so this combo was a no breezer for me. I also picked up some lovely bocconcini …