When it is Avocado season, I go mad using avocados in every possible recipe. My dear husband is flabbergasted because the only recipe per him, that does justice to an avocado is Guacamole. Inevitably there is always a batch in the fridge for him, but I need more creative uses for the lovely stone fruit.
Round and round we go, but we always come back to where we started. After world cuisine and exotic eats became hot topics, we are all running back to our roots now. Local produce and regional dishes are gaining prominence over everything ‘phoren’. Cooking with local ingredients is the new sustainability mantra, because, God forbid! we rake up the carbon miles. While some may attribute it to being a fad, I for one am thankful to be getting closer home. Nothing can be more comforting and soul satisfying than a home cooked meal of dal, rice and some stir fried veggies. A papad on the side, some pickle to liven things up and you have all round bliss handed to you on a plate. Cubbon Pavilion goes one step further and brings you Sattva – a plethora of vegetarian, no onion, no garlic recipes in a wholesome Thali focusing on foods abundant in Prana (the universal life force).
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”.
Bisi Bele Bath – the Kanndigas answer to dal kichidi, but with so much more pizzaz! As a Bangalorean, you can’t escape this dish – every Udupi restaurant or darshni worth its salt, will inevitably list it on its menu. There is nothing more satisfying or comforting that digging into a plate of steaming hot (bisi) lentil rice (bele bath). The accompanying chips, mixture or boondi just adds to the heavenly experience. And to top it all off is Ghee…the mother of all flavour enhancers and my personal favourite fatty item 🙂
I love myself a good salad. Most leafy salads are great as an addition to a main course, but if I need to eat only that for lunch or dinner, it better be a filling one. It’s easy to bulk up salads with rice or pasta but my latest obsession has been the light and fluffy couscous. This North African staple of steamed semolina has now found a permanent spot in my pantry for those healthy but ravenous days.
Guacamole (gwaka – mo – lee) is part of Mexican cuisine that originated with the Aztecs. It essentially means a sauce (mole) made with ahucatyl (avocado). Its popularity spiked with American football games and now it’s a household dip of choice in America! India is just warming up to the idea of guacamole as Mexican cuisine gains popularity. When I was a little kid, my dad used to mash up avocados with sugar and we used to enjoy them chilled. We called it Butter Fruit Ice Cream 🙂 So I am already a big fan! I love guacamole but it is really difficult to make. The difficulty arises not in the process but in the sourcing of ripe avocados. There have been more than a dozen times that I have come home happy with avocados and then been a grouch when I cut into them and realized they are unripe or a brown slimy mess! And seriously there are no failsafe options to figure this out. Every time I cut into an unripe avocado, I …
No, I haven’t turned vegetarian or vegan (Not anytime soon at least)! Two reviews of vegetarian restaurants in a month, does raise its suspicions – but I assure you this was purely coincidental. A completely enraptured with bacon-and-all-things-that-crawl friend, suggested we head to Carrots for a weekday lunch. I had to wrap my head around two things a. Did he have a sinister plan in his head and b. was the name of the restaurant really Carrots?! The answer to both was a resounding yes! The name board of the restaurant is a ‘blink and you miss it’ size – so use the 80ft road bus depot/ Legends of Rock as a landmark, if you don’t want to drive around in circles. I entered the restaurant and was greeted by cane furniture, some art on the walls and bamboo plants on every table. A specialty store (rack) selling vegan and organic goodies was strategically located next to the blackboard menu with the day’s specials. The evil friend arrived and I set about trying to dissect …
When you hear of a restaurant serving delicious vegetarian meals without the use of onion or garlic you are bound to be intrigued. When someone tells you that the restaurant is located in the upmarket Sadashivnagar area and serves ‘designer’ vegetarian fare – it piques your interest some more. And finally when you read that the restaurant not only serves vegetarian fare, but that all of it is Sattvic as well – the deal is sealed! The concept of Sattvic food is not new to me – all temples in India serve it as Prasad (food blessed by the Gods). The reason I used to frequent the Hanuman temple near my house, as a kid, was because of the yummy Prasad. (Food has always been my focus!) Sattvic food is referred to as a ‘yoga diet’ – something that leads to clarity and equanimity of mind, while also being beneficial to the body. So the diet is rich in fresh and unprocessed food. These tenets of Sattvic cooking are reflected in Sattvam, where they develop …
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