This salad makes my heart sing. You know when you start to assemble a jig-saw puzzle and finally all the pieces fit together? – Same feeling! The star of this salad is a lovely Danish Blue which when paired with Pomegranate, is a cracker of a combination. A lot of people can’t stomach Blue Cheese, but I just adore the pungent, salted butter and yeasty flavor.
On cold rainy days like these, my mother-in-law, (whom I prosaically call Aunty) would suggest a warming Mutton Curry for dinner. As a child, mutton was never on my wish list for special Sunday lunches. I found the meat chewy and stringy and never got accustomed to the strong flavor of an older sheep. Whenever my mother made mutton at home, there would be a general consensus that I would not be partaking of any. My mother herself never bothered to expand her repertoire of mutton dishes (save the Mutton Chops recipe and an occasionally Curry) because excluding herself and my grandmother, no one really cared for it. My vegetarian father was happy with his Buss Saaru (Greens and lentil curry) and I was happy with my chicken kabab and that was that.
I’m making a conscious effort to eat less meat these days. Which essentially means that I’m reading up a lot more on vegetarianism/ veganism and every other form of ‘ism’ that will help me see the light. It started I think two years ago, with Michael Pollen’s book – ‘The Omnivores Dilemma’. After experiencing the gamut of ways humans can eat and survive – from hunting-gathering to pure industrialized food, he arrives at a simple statement. “Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants”.
Growing up, the only chocolate that had any kind of elevated status in our lives was Cadburys DairyMilk. Apart from it being the most widely available chocolate in India, it also tasted pretty damn delicious. Some people will argue that it was way too sweet for their liking, but that’s what I was exposed to and I loved it. When Cadburys came out with the Fruit & Nut version, I was convinced that it was the best thing that could happen to chocolate.
Most weekday mornings are a harried affair of gulping down a glass of milk or yoghurt or pouring it over some store bought Muesli. On the rare occasions that the husband has been kind enough to chop up some fruit, I toss that in as well. I thought I genuinely didn’t know how my zen mornings turned into a race against time, until my sister pointed out that no one really got up and checked Facebook and Instagram… for an hour!
There are recipes that are easy and then there are recipes that are like WTF?! Clearly this 8 Minute Chocolate Cake falls under the second category. After scanning the recipe three times, I finally decided to give it a shot. I mean, the worst case scenario was half cooked cake batter and I was down with spooning that into a mug and calling it dessert. But, but, but …. It worked so well and was so effortlessly perfect that I had to dedicate a post to it.
Give me a recipe for Chingri Malaikari and I’m going to make it. The idea of pink prawns floating around in a fiery-sweet silky curry is too much for me to resist. This Bengali preparation is always on my order list whenever I go to Oh! Calcutta, Bhojohori Manna or Esplanade. I can’t really say which one is my favorite because each time I eat it, I am lost in the delicate flavours of this exquisite curry.
Strawberry season and not succumb to the luscious fruit? Not a chance. So as usual my fridge is stocked with box after box of strawberries this year. After umpteen strawberry shakes, smoothies, juices and eating the fruit dipped in chocolate (yes, that’s legit), I decided to incorporate it into a dessert. A Strawberry Tart seemed like the perfect way to enjoy the fruit without cooking it. (I’m all for jams and preserves with other fruit, but the strawberry is perfect as it is).
The FoodPorn Diaries 