tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11188494097835019752012-02-29T18:01:22.637+05:30Food Slicesome food, some pics and a lot of words... to make cooking interestingLa @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.comBlogger681100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-30881296454474642032012-02-27T09:53:00.001+05:302012-02-27T12:25:55.480+05:30Eggless Fresh Mint Ice Cream (Philadelphia style)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TGvZmR0AhwU/T0ojreQvshI/AAAAAAAAAys/Tzj7e0DR4U8/s1600/mint+ice+cream.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TGvZmR0AhwU/T0ojreQvshI/AAAAAAAAAys/Tzj7e0DR4U8/s1600/mint+ice+cream.JPG"></a></div>When looking up recipes for mint ice cream i gained enlightenment (or just information?) about naming of ice creams. And like <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html" target="_blank">i said before</a>, when i learn something new i am compelled to tell you about it. Now if you 've tried making ice cream at home from scratch, you know that you can either make them with or without eggs. Ice creams made with eggs are cooked into a custard base and are supposedly richer and creamier than their egg less counterparts. Now did you know that the richer style of ice cream with eggs is called French style ice cream and the egg less version is called American or Philadelphia style ice cream? There, that's my revelation for today that i 've been bursting to tell you. When i write it down, it doesn't sound that great. I guess my surprise was that Americans are credited for creating a low fat ice cream and the French for the high fat ones but people of the two counties don't seem to bear testimony for that. Or maybe the quantity of ice cream consumed makes all the difference. Or my sample size is too small. I will leave it to you to decide.<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MKKL-7Kn_yY/T0okn6qSfUI/AAAAAAAAAy8/VU410BLaxHs/s1600/mint+icecream1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MKKL-7Kn_yY/T0okn6qSfUI/AAAAAAAAAy8/VU410BLaxHs/s1600/mint+icecream1.jpg"></a><br></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2012/02/eggless-fresh-mint-ice-cream.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-3088129645447464203?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-38189525758073963752012-02-22T00:39:00.000+05:302012-02-22T00:39:02.218+05:30Multi colour pasta in alfredo sauce<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nuYNMoKr9wU/T0Pafm-FduI/AAAAAAAAAx8/cuAmNl7i3UI/s1600/IMG_3455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="479" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nuYNMoKr9wU/T0Pafm-FduI/AAAAAAAAAx8/cuAmNl7i3UI/s640/IMG_3455.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I stopped making <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/12/red-and-green-peppers-pizza.html" target="_blank">pizza at home</a> for almost a month now. Not because i was bored, but because the man in the house thought i was making pizza too healthy and the flavour was supposedly turning Indian instead of Italian. (In his defence, for my latest attempt i had replaced half the all purpose flour for <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/easy-pizza-dough.html" target="_blank">the pizza base</a> with whole wheat flour and added an extra teaspoon of ragi flour. I loved the crust that day.) Now shouldn't he have been thanking me for taking care of his cholesterol. Instead he said "Look, why don't we just eat out whenever we feel the craving for pizza". Needless to say i was shocked and mad. Because, he is the <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/08/chicken-burger-with-minced-chicken.html" target="_blank">health nut in our relationship</a>, but turns out he wants his pizza in the most unhealthy way. Most friends i have talked to preferred pizza making at home so they could control the amount of cheese they put into it. My man prefers (or used to prefer) home-made pizza for the exact same reason, only he wants more cheese than a double cheese pizza at Pizza Hut. What do i do? Simply switch to my other Italian favourite - Pasta.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2012/02/multi-colour-pasta-in-alfredo-sauce.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-3818952575807396375?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-18875134360135075282012-02-20T14:48:00.000+05:302012-02-20T14:48:47.144+05:30Mashed plantain fry (aratikaya fry)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IRlSXG4i2QQ/TztRWw7idaI/AAAAAAAAAxE/Ll5djz771hQ/s1600/IMG_3483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IRlSXG4i2QQ/TztRWw7idaI/AAAAAAAAAxE/Ll5djz771hQ/s1600/IMG_3483.JPG"></a></div>I remember even when i was very little that i have been interested in new foods. Not as much the cooking as the eating part. And it helped that mom was a fantastic cook willing to experiment. She even had a recipe book where she had jotted down recipes that caught her fancy and there were all sorts of things from curries to snacks to desserts including jams, jellies and sauces. It used to be a good time-pass to go through that book and dream about all sorts of foods. I distinctly remember one such Sunday afternoon when i was twelve or thirteen. I was browsing through the recipes and found one recipe for 'potato latkes' that sounded easy enough to me and volunteered to cook it for the rest of my family. I did make those cutlet type snacks that evening but had undercooked the potatoes. The outside was turning from dark brown to almost sooty black but the potatoes refused to become soft. I was so disappointed. I don't think i ever offered to make a new dish again until many many years later.<br></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2012/02/mashed-plantain-fry-aratikaya-fry.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-1887513436013507528?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-237027282923501292012-02-08T15:51:00.003+05:302012-02-23T15:57:46.378+05:30Eggless Potato Chip Cookies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lnltrjKeEnI/TypljIWPIxI/AAAAAAAAAwM/AgyNxB-iVY8/s1600/potato+chip+cookies2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lnltrjKeEnI/TypljIWPIxI/AAAAAAAAAwM/AgyNxB-iVY8/s1600/potato+chip+cookies2.JPG"></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Last week i crashed my computer and then proceeded to do the same to my husband's laptop, all because i was searching for a curry recipe to make lunch that afternoon. One minute i was looking at curries using spinach as gravy and the next minute there were dozens of small boxes filling up the screen asking me to say OK to whatever they were doing. I promptly shut my computer down, wishing that whatever was wrong would go away when i restart. (Isn't that how computers are supposed to work?) I then borrowed the husband's work laptop and continued my search there. A small part of my brain was telling me that one particular blog might have been the culprit, still i shushed the little talk in my head and opened the same virus spitting blog. Immediately little yellow boxes were invading the screen. When i sensed what i had done, i promptly handed over the laptop to my husband and told him to fix it. And when he finished reinstalling everything on his computer, i slowly persuaded him to do the same to mine and to save all my food pictures. He was kind enough to do the re-installing on my computer too. But now that i know he can fix it, i don't have to listen to the little warnings from my brain while browsing anymore, do i?</span></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2012/02/eggless-potato-chip-cookies.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-23702728292350129?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-58638646225618956162012-01-30T12:12:00.000+05:302012-01-30T12:12:33.836+05:30Fund Drive for Vaidehi Ashram of Destitute Girls, Hyderabad<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rbnyvAUr8vU/TyY2PagpxjI/AAAAAAAAAv0/PDfCywGy448/s1600/a2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rbnyvAUr8vU/TyY2PagpxjI/AAAAAAAAAv0/PDfCywGy448/s1600/a2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Siri of <a href="http://www.cookingwithsiri.com/2012/01/visit-to-vaidehi-ashram-and-call-for.html" target="_blank">Cooking with Siri </a>is organising a fund drive for Vaidehi Ashram which is a home for destitute girls based in Hyderabad, India. The fund drive is from 26 January 2012 to 25 February 2012.To encourage people to donate to this wonderful cause, she has rallied together more food bloggers to sponsor raffle prizes. You can donate any amount with a minimum of $10 or Rupees 500. Each <b>$10 donation</b> will give you <b>one raffle ticket</b> towards a raffle prize of your choice. <span style="color: black;">For Example, a donation of $20 will fetch you 2 raffle tickets which can be used to choose on any of the </span><a href="http://www.cookingwithsiri.com/2012/01/list-of-raffle-prizes-for-fund-drive.html" target="_blank">raffle prizes</a>. You can use all your raffle tickets on one prize <i>(in turn increasing the chances in the lucky draw</i>) or on different prizes. Some prizes will only be shipped within India or US or UK and a few of them can be shipped worldwide. So choose a prize based on whether it can be delivered to you. You can see the list of prizes and the codes <a href="http://www.cookingwithsiri.com/2012/01/fund-drive-for-vaidehi-ashram-of.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jRfWJjOy5B8/TyY2QLyrSAI/AAAAAAAAAv4/o0t2S9Twpk0/s1600/a3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jRfWJjOy5B8/TyY2QLyrSAI/AAAAAAAAAv4/o0t2S9Twpk0/s1600/a3.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Once the donation process is completed, please forward your payment confirmation message to <b style="color: black;">info(dot)siri(at)gmail.com</b><span style="color: black;">, clearly specifying which <a href="http://www.cookingwithsiri.com/2012/01/list-of-raffle-prizes-for-fund-drive.html" target="_blank">raffle prize(s)</a></span><span style="color: black;"> you are interested in. Within 24 hours, your name and contributed amount will be added to the '</span><b style="color: black;">Fund Drive Supporters List</b><span style="color: black;">' at the very end of <a href="http://www.cookingwithsiri.com/2012/01/fund-drive-for-vaidehi-ashram-of.html" target="_blank">Siri's blog post here</a>. </span>If you want to stay<i> anonymous</i>, please let Siri know in advance. For any correspondence/questions/queries, please send an email to info.siri@gmail.com.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zPVmEcOAQtA/TyY2Q2_OvaI/AAAAAAAAAwA/YqqKpt_YbOo/s1600/a1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zPVmEcOAQtA/TyY2Q2_OvaI/AAAAAAAAAwA/YqqKpt_YbOo/s1600/a1.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">When i heard about the fund drive, I wanted to contribute a raffle prize so much, but i was too late as the fund drive had already begun. Now all i can do is urge you to support in this good cause and help Siri collect as much as possible for those dear girls. $1764 have been contributed till now. All photos are by Siri.<br /><object height="250" width="250"><param name="movie" value="http://widget.chipin.com/widget/id/84c6a4f19b6657c2"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://widget.chipin.com/widget/id/84c6a4f19b6657c2" flashVars="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" wmode="transparent" width="250" height="250"></embed></object></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-5863864622561895616?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-39364330306098265782012-01-25T10:49:00.000+05:302012-01-25T10:49:43.942+05:30Indian Gooseberries (Usirikaya) - Revisiting Childhood<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cRCtp0nR2t4/Tx6EBn15AHI/AAAAAAAAAvs/PTFr_nvPP38/s1600/IMG_3377.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cRCtp0nR2t4/Tx6EBn15AHI/AAAAAAAAAvs/PTFr_nvPP38/s1600/IMG_3377.JPG" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">The fruit in the above picture is called a gooseberry (not to be confused with <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/12/amla-murabba-gooseberries-in-sugar.html" target="_blank">this gooseberry </a>which is mainly used for pickles) and has a unique sour tang to it. The sourness, if i have to describe it to someone who has never eaten it, is somewhat close to that of a raw mango. These were sold in heaps on mobile carts outside my school and were eaten raw with a sprinkle of salt and red chili powder. And i have had my share as a kid. During school days, there was also a tree right next to the building where we lived and there were at least 10 kids around my age (plus or minus two years) living in that area. The whole gang of kids could always be found playing in the vicinity of the gooseberry tree. A vigorous shake of the tree would result in a rain of these green berries and the kids would rush to pick as many as we could hold in out tiny hands. The branches of the tree are quite fragile, i know now because i had a fractured right hand while playing around/ climbing the tree </span><span style="font-size: small;">when i was five</span><span style="font-size: small;">. It wasn't all bad, all i remember about that accident now is that i got to skip a whole set of exams in my first grade class because my writing hand was hurt and got to munch a whole lot of gooseberries too ;-)</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KSgqqTqxg-I/Tx6Csc7q3bI/AAAAAAAAAvk/-FxwVOM16Ow/s1600/gooseberries_bw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KSgqqTqxg-I/Tx6Csc7q3bI/AAAAAAAAAvk/-FxwVOM16Ow/s1600/gooseberries_bw.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">All this revisiting the childhood is now happening because when my parents visited me a couple of weeks ago, they brought these gooseberries along. I hadn't eaten one in almost fifteen years. Turns out a tree miraculously appeared in their backyard and it bore first fruits this year. And how i could i not get a share of these childhood favourites. The black and white photo goes to Susan's <a href="http://thewellseasonedcook.blogspot.com/2011/07/black-and-white-wednesday-new-culinary.html" target="_blank">Black and White Wednesday event</a> at <a href="http://thewellseasonedcook.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Well Seasoned Cook</a>. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">So did you have a taste of these gooseberries?</span></span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-3936433030609826578?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-47552430821168215842012-01-21T20:30:00.000+05:302012-01-21T20:30:43.700+05:30Button Mushroom Fry (Dry Curry)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DfWmRMZY-vQ/TxrGCYn5vyI/AAAAAAAAAu8/jyDcdiONaPE/s1600/mushroom+fry.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DfWmRMZY-vQ/TxrGCYn5vyI/AAAAAAAAAu8/jyDcdiONaPE/s1600/mushroom+fry.JPG"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">A few years ago i used to take up a pen and paper only when i was unhappy, writing was almost therapeutic. But these days, i don't touch the blog when i am not in a good mood. I don't do philosophical musings anymore because i am not sure how people will react. We go online to spread happiness and good cheer, to share in the joy and not to hear other people's troubles. And so when i lack inspiration to write cheerfully, i have been giving up trying to write entirely. Today i decided it was high time you see something else on my homepage than week old wishes for a festival that has long been celebrated and even the festive cooking leftovers have long disappeared from the fridge. So i come back to you with something i have cooked last year, i mean last month, i mean it was just a couple of weeks ago. I chose this dish to share today because i loved the photography while cooking this as much as i loved the end result in food.</span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2012/01/button-mushroom-fry-dry-curry.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-4755243082116821584?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-78339335010081895402012-01-14T16:46:00.000+05:302012-01-14T16:46:31.084+05:30Sankranti Subhakankshalu/ Happy Pongal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lYELCSBWZ2g/TxFYtO90l_I/AAAAAAAAAuE/LXWl5_7it10/s1600/IMG_3439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lYELCSBWZ2g/TxFYtO90l_I/AAAAAAAAAuE/LXWl5_7it10/s640/IMG_3439.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous Sankranti. Here's a visual treat with a collection of festival pictures. Have a great time, everyone.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ukvCgkNF_JM/TxFYv_D9vyI/AAAAAAAAAuM/08R50acF3Hg/s1600/sankranti_muggu.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="420" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ukvCgkNF_JM/TxFYv_D9vyI/AAAAAAAAAuM/08R50acF3Hg/s640/sankranti_muggu.jpg" width="640"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"> My mother-in-law and i took a little more than an hour yesterday evening to make this Sankranti muggu (design made with rice flour) in front of our house. The muggu is then decorated with turmeric, vermilion, some regi pallu, tomatoes or dosakaya (lemon cucumber?) and coins. The right side design was done entirely by me. I used to do these designs with mom when i was much younger, but have lost touch when i left my home town and state and country for higher education and then job. It was great to find out i could still do this. Though i have to admit that i practised thrice on paper before starting with the rice flour on the floor. It starts with 25 dots, continuing with 23, 21 so on up to 1 by reducing one dot on each side. The dots are then joined to make the design. The muggu made with lines as seen on the left is the more traditional one for Sankranti.</div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2012/01/sankranti-subhakankshalu-happy-pongal.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-7833933501008189540?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-22023020843924306892012-01-09T09:16:00.001+05:302012-01-24T15:15:07.926+05:30Cauliflower Tomato Rice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sAiEfemXrTQ/TwlyhK7NoKI/AAAAAAAAAtU/oNChnB-kl8o/s1600/IMG_2976.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sAiEfemXrTQ/TwlyhK7NoKI/AAAAAAAAAtU/oNChnB-kl8o/s640/IMG_2976.JPG" width="640"></a></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Its been so hot in Hyderabad the last few days with the day temperatures hovering around 33 degrees centigrade. Hyderabadi winter was supposed to cool, cold even and if not until February, at least until the middle of January. Sure, its ideal weather for <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2012/01/homemade-eggless-strawberry-ice-cream.html" target="_blank">my home made ice cream</a> to be gobbled up, but please believe me i was not praying for hot weather just to enjoy my ice cream. And now because i am wondering if the weather Gods are changing the temperatures to suit my cooking, I am going for a spicy hot Cauliflower rice.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I love rice. A good fried once remarked that it was my favourite not just among food items, but my most favourite thing in the world. So much did i love it, that he was considering gifting me a big bag of rice as a birthday gift. No, i ended up with a cake that year, but it wasn't out of consideration if you must know. </span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2012/01/cauliflower-tomato-rice.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-2202302084392430689?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-33012342148095804932012-01-04T12:15:00.002+05:302012-02-02T22:37:37.129+05:30Homemade Eggless Strawberry Ice cream (No Cooking)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q4aFVYbKoo0/TwL-z0J4RpI/AAAAAAAAAsk/jlkRoKtalJs/s1600/stbry0.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q4aFVYbKoo0/TwL-z0J4RpI/AAAAAAAAAsk/jlkRoKtalJs/s640/stbry0.JPG" width="640"></a></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">My love for sweets not withstanding, i didn't think i could get addicted to ice cream. Not until i made one at home with fresh strawberries in the peak of their season. </span><span style="font-size: small;">And i discovered whole new limits to the quantity of ice cream that can be consumed in one sitting. My limits at least. At recent trips to the farmer's market i could see street side vendors selling packs of strawberries at rates much less than in super markets. And when i found that the cost of a pack was coming down with every visit over the last two months, i found myself buying increasing quantities of these red beauties. I ate some as dessert, just the fruits, but wasn't satisfied. And froze some because the rate at which fresh strawberries were coming into the house was more than the rate at which they were being consumed. (By the way they freeze extremely well, i take a peek at the ones in the freezer once in a while and they look temptingly fresh). So as the year was coming to a close, i decided i was going to welcome the new year with a big bowl of ice cream, an irresistible one.</span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2012/01/homemade-eggless-strawberry-ice-cream.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-3301234214809580493?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-33729260571741977072011-12-29T11:01:00.000+05:302012-02-21T11:28:14.294+05:30Red and Green Peppers Pizza<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1lpQ9nkXOtk/TvtHKLkDDMI/AAAAAAAAAro/_fA_oHxw5mg/s1600/IMG_3361_crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="496" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1lpQ9nkXOtk/TvtHKLkDDMI/AAAAAAAAAro/_fA_oHxw5mg/s640/IMG_3361_crop.jpg" width="640"></a><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">For the first time since i started blogging, i got inspired to cook for a blogging event. The event is "Lets cook for Christmas - Red and Green". I didn't even read the blog rules that apply for participation, i simply wanted to cook something using red and green ingredients and with a finished product that looks red and green. I was so very happy when the pizza came out of the oven the day after Christmas, and not just because during the previous week i had baked my first inedible pizza (I really don't want to talk about that disaster. It happened because i decided i didn't have to knead the dough, at all! Yeah, after baking about two dozen pizzas, i baked one that went straight to the trash can). This one though was miles ahead of the last one, the thin crust with whole wheat flour included was not only healthier, it was delicious too. And staying with sauteed bell peppers, without overloading with all sorts of toppings, brought out those delicate sweet flavours absolutely perfectly. When the soft mozzarella was bubbling away without burning during the last two minutes of baking, the house smelled amazing too. One of the best pizzas i have eaten in a long time.</span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/12/red-and-green-peppers-pizza.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-3372926057174197707?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-36890869574293607402011-12-26T00:31:00.000+05:302011-12-26T00:31:40.043+05:30Bottle gourd kofta curry (Sorakaya Kofta kura)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aT_Z61dWjpY/TvYBbxHPUWI/AAAAAAAAAq4/K6vFgmPYkpE/s1600/IMG_2316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aT_Z61dWjpY/TvYBbxHPUWI/AAAAAAAAAq4/K6vFgmPYkpE/s640/IMG_2316.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Maybe I am getting lazier, or maybe i am taking mom for granted, or both. Why else, as one who stays at home all day, everyday, would i ask mom to type in the recipe and send it to me by email, when i was right next to her when she made this for me on <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/09/this-flower-is-chocolate-cake-black-and.html" target="_blank">my last trip there</a>. I have surely become lazier. And taking advantage of the fact that moms are always trying to be there for their daughters, even when the said daughter has quit her job after a mere five years in the corporate world. And then when the said mom is having a one week leave from her day job (one that she has kept at for almost thirty years), she is asked to kindly type in the recipe because her daughter is too lazy. OK, i hope you get the point that i am very guilty right now. But can i be forgiven, please? I am not saying i deserve it, I am simply asking you to be magnanimous. Its the season for that too, right? Pretty please?</span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/12/bottle-gourd-kofta-curry-sorakaya-kofta.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-3689086957429360740?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-27107699795915318462011-12-20T22:12:00.002+05:302011-12-24T16:06:27.128+05:30Coconut milk pudding with vermicelli (Kobbari palu payasam)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Fo6VWs4Bl_o/TvBenoe9N_I/AAAAAAAAApA/bJwQHbryAr8/s1600/IMG_3247.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Fo6VWs4Bl_o/TvBenoe9N_I/AAAAAAAAApA/bJwQHbryAr8/s640/IMG_3247.JPG" width="640"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">An incredible thing happened last week. My mother-in-law had an evening snack. Now before you start wondering if i might be a little crazy, you need to listen to me some more. She never has an evening snack. In her own words "even if you give me gold, i will not eat anything between lunch and dinner". And this rule she has been diligently following for as many years as she can remember, probably more than a decade. When i give her samples of my cakes, cookies or other speciality foods i make, she will eat them as part of her main meal, lunch or dinner, reducing the rice portion. She usually has one cup of tea in the afternoon (substituted by milk </span><span style="font-size: small;">earlier this year </span><span style="font-size: small;">because the doctor advised her to eat more when recovering from a serious illness). Even at that stage she staunchly refused to eat anything between lunch and dinner. Then last week, coconut milk pudding happened. Every time i cook something new, i get my feedback from her. And I couldn't stop smiling when she told me how she broke her rule of no evening snacks, how the aroma lured her to taste one spoon, how she came back for a second spoon within minutes because she was now distracted with how good it tasted, how she finally relented and served herself a cupful, and how my father-in-law followed suit. It was incredible, people!</span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/12/coconut-milk-pudding-with-vermicelli.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-2710769979591531846?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-48025191682881789122011-12-16T16:56:00.001+05:302011-12-16T16:57:02.323+05:30Simple Tomato Chutney<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cyuIfgb7cMQ/Tusm4-HUu2I/AAAAAAAAAoQ/DMd00UZbJa0/s1600/IMG_2418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cyuIfgb7cMQ/Tusm4-HUu2I/AAAAAAAAAoQ/DMd00UZbJa0/s640/IMG_2418.JPG" width="640"></a></div>If you are regular reader, you might think that i have talked enough about <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/09/peanut-coconut-chutney-verusenagapappu.html" target="_blank">my love for chutneys</a>, but then you probably still don't know me too well. As i recently found out what the husband discovered about me - that i tell a story with such gushing enthusiasm, then get a little disappointed when i notice that i am not getting the expected reaction, it usually turns out i have told him that same story at least twice already. Either my brain's getting old before i even turn thirty, or i have a childlike enthusiasm,despite advancing years, where i can talk without worrying about my audience's reactions. You decide if that's good or bad. I mean for me. Of course its not the best of things to happen to an interested audience, so i shall try to keep my memory good. Otherwise you will remind me, no?<br></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/12/simple-tomato-chutney.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-4802519168288178912?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-59492734889865955032011-12-14T20:05:00.004+05:302012-02-22T10:08:18.539+05:30Amla Murabba - Gooseberries in sugar syrup<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K7M_LYv4oDU/TuicqMCLLBI/AAAAAAAAAnY/86w9cwoPsDk/s1600/IMG_3211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K7M_LYv4oDU/TuicqMCLLBI/AAAAAAAAAnY/86w9cwoPsDk/s640/IMG_3211.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have always been one to identify my situation with songs, one who loved to express her current state of mind with a song; singing aloud when i was by myself because the poetry of the songs sounded so apt and beautiful, even if not originally mine. And when i had company, understanding friends would put up with my bad singing, i could never sing a song in its original tune. And as much as i profess to like songs, i can't really appreciate music. Its the lyrics that get me. When i was first introduced to old Hindi movie songs by my Rajasthani friend (who had a great voice and sang beautifully) i couldn't have enough of them. I would make her sing for me and ask the meaning of difficult words and I so loved the lyrics of those songs, that i can now sing along a lot of those old songs. And all this ranting is because i happened to listen to one such song a little while ago - main zindagi ka sath nibhata chala gaya. I was just starting a new blog post and wondering what to write about, paused to check my email when i found a friend sent me a link to this song on the Internet.</span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/12/amla-murabba-gooseberries-in-sugar.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-5949273488986595503?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-91087892087688528012011-12-07T11:19:00.000+05:302011-12-07T11:19:47.591+05:30Pressure cooker in action<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8eiQSujpnLQ/Tt7x0fCnDUI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/19cgY9rpWEc/s1600/BW+pressure+cooker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8eiQSujpnLQ/Tt7x0fCnDUI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/19cgY9rpWEc/s640/BW+pressure+cooker.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">This was a picture i clicked in my mom's kitchen, a couple of months ago. The colour photo has very little difference from its black and white counterpart. Its just the wall that has colour, a reddish brown granite. The pressure cooker and the frying pan themselves are made of white aluminium and black plastic. (<a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/09/moms-simple-fish-fry.html" target="_blank">This was cooking </a>in that frying pan on that day). As far as i know, mom has been using these utensils for everyday cooking for more than two decades. They don't make them like that anymore is what i hear these days with both mom and mother-in-law still using kitchen utensils and appliances from when they got married and first started cooking. Now-a-days, the husband and i expect our kitchen utensils to last about two years and appliances to last some five years. Half of my frying pans have already lost their handles</span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">, and its just about two years since purchase. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I have missed <a href="http://thewellseasonedcook.blogspot.com/2011/07/black-and-white-wednesday-new-culinary.html" target="_blank">Black and White Wednesdays </a>the last few weeks and i am happy to be back.</span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-9108789208768852801?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-87555699610677118202011-12-03T19:30:00.003+05:302012-01-24T15:15:07.928+05:30Cauliflower Pickle - Andhra Style<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i61sTVdYL3o/TtoiUNRPNZI/AAAAAAAAAmY/Yc6r2orZYfE/s1600/IMG_3156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i61sTVdYL3o/TtoiUNRPNZI/AAAAAAAAAmY/Yc6r2orZYfE/s640/IMG_3156.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I was sipping delicious sweet water with a straw from a fresh tender coconut a little while ago while staring into the sunset from a window at my home. And the idea of a tropical beach holiday described in some book or television or somewhere on the Internet flashed into my head. This was the not first time i had coconut water straight from a tender green coconut, nor was this the first time i admired a sunset at home (having even tried to capture it with my camera several times, precariously balancing the camera outside the third floor window), but it was the first time it struck me as something romantic. That a lot of things in everyday life seem interesting only when they are described in beautiful words by a stranger. That our perspective of everyday events can determine our happiness, not the events themselves. And i am surprisingly happy today, maybe just happy to be surprised at what my mind can throw at me to ponder. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Hello everybody and seasons greetings to you all.</span> <br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ziIpvcPjmqA/TtoktGKA-6I/AAAAAAAAAmo/huKNaefLCkw/s1600/IMG_3141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ziIpvcPjmqA/TtoktGKA-6I/AAAAAAAAAmo/huKNaefLCkw/s640/IMG_3141.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span></div></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/12/cauliflower-pickle-andhra-style.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-8755569961067711820?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-48988940002707953202011-10-18T12:48:00.003+05:302011-10-18T12:49:34.097+05:30Beerakaya Senagapappu Kura/ Ridgegourd Curry with Bengal Gram<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ukxkn0-B7WQ/Tp0lg4Dp3tI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/3BGV6E5iybk/s1600/IMG_2123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ukxkn0-B7WQ/Tp0lg4Dp3tI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/3BGV6E5iybk/s640/IMG_2123.JPG" width="640"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">Anybody like ridge gourd? I mean like, love ridge gourd. Jump and squeal when you hear that's the curry for the day. OK, maybe not jump and squeal but really love it. I for one had never been in that category. For as long as i can remember when mom was cooking our meals, i wouldn't turn to look under the plate that was was covering ridge gourd curry. I knew it was easy to cook, i knew it had great many nutrients and was light on the stomach (making it a perfect curry for convalescents). Those were just not enough reason for me to eat this green vegetable. I mean when made into a curry. Of course i would devour the chutney made with ridge gourd. That's because i am very partial to chutneys, but you already know that. So what convinced me to eat ridge gourd in curry form finally. Well, i have not one but two reasons. </span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/10/beerakaya-senagapappu-kura-ridgegourd.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-4898894000270795320?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-87403201082184152122011-10-13T21:10:00.006+05:302011-10-14T12:15:11.088+05:30Home-made Rasgulla/ Roshogolla<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GbWUulpfrXU/TpU03M4OthI/AAAAAAAAAco/1b7iXwrMwhc/s1600/IMG_2479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GbWUulpfrXU/TpU03M4OthI/AAAAAAAAAco/1b7iXwrMwhc/s640/IMG_2479.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I told you about my huge sweet tooth in <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/10/honey-baked-figs-with-cinnamon-and.html">my last recipe post</a>. But i wasn't always this fond of sweets, and definitely not when i was a kid, so i pondered about it some more. I think my love for all things sweet came from my stay in the eastern state of West Bengal for four years, two years for study and two years in my first job. Until my stay in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharagpur,_West_Bengal">Kharagpur</a>, i was this good, traditional South Indian girl who always finished her meal with rice mixed in plain yogurt, with maybe a pickle or chutney on the side. And in Kharagpur i discovered mishti doi (yogurt prepared in an earthen pot with melted sugar mixed into the milk) and i was converted. So much that during my first semester holidays back home, i refused to eat plain yogurt with rice anymore and insisted on adding sugar to it in a small cup to enjoy as a dessert. Till date that is how i enjoy eating yogurt, with some sugar or honey sprinkled on top. And only because i don't have a Bengali sweet shop around the corner to sell me some mishti doi.</span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/10/home-made-rasgulla-roshogolla.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-8740320108218415212?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-82834014843647910632011-10-12T08:08:00.002+05:302011-10-12T09:40:02.412+05:30Carrots prepped for juicer - Black and White Wednesday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SYBB8IyxqBg/TpPf2pVPlEI/AAAAAAAAAcE/YJ9IaRYLGzI/s1600/Bww+carrots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SYBB8IyxqBg/TpPf2pVPlEI/AAAAAAAAAcE/YJ9IaRYLGzI/s640/Bww+carrots.jpg" width="640"></a><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I liked this picture from the minute i first downloaded it from my camera. It was clicked in natural light in the morning close to my kitchen door. The light and dark sides are clearly visible and i loved the delicious shade of orange on the carrots, which you will now have to imagine as i chose this for <a href="http://thewellseasonedcook.blogspot.com/2011/07/black-and-white-wednesday-new-culinary.html">Black and White Wednesday</a>. It looked artistic, even if that thought was only mine. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I had washed the carrots, scraped the skin, sliced off the heads and tails, and sliced them in half vertically so they could pass through the juicer without too much coaxing. They were all prepped and ready to go into the juicer when the food blogger in me woke up and said, don't you want to photograph this? That's how this photo got its place here.</span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/10/carrots-prepped-for-juicer-black-and.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-8283401484364791063?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-31467266240345912462011-10-09T06:09:00.003+05:302012-02-22T10:06:04.325+05:30Honey Baked Figs with Cinnamon and Almonds<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oP9EtRk6lS0/To7wZmaPDpI/AAAAAAAAAbw/R34IIVqGy8w/s1600/IMG_2189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oP9EtRk6lS0/To7wZmaPDpI/AAAAAAAAAbw/R34IIVqGy8w/s640/IMG_2189.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: small;">I didn't realise how big a sweet tooth i have until quite recently, i guess until i started blogging and started talking to you </span><span style="font-size: small;">so much</span><span style="font-size: small;">. Truth is i do have a huge sweet tooth. While I love my <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/search/label/Chocolate">chocolate desserts</a> very much, i am not picky at all. I don't think i would ever refuse any kind of sweet you want to offer me. Unless i am on a self imposed sweets ban that is, like i was for two months in 2008 when i found out i had gained too many kilos in too few preceding months. (so many in fact that unsuspecting colleagues with whom i only made polite conversation were telling me i look fat!) And as far as i recall, it was a while ago, that restriction was only that i should not buy any more sweets for myself. Which means i gladly ate a piece of cake at work, one that was brought to celebrate my boss' 50th birthday - it would have been rude not to, right? After all the man rarely spoke in office and had just confessed that he had spent more than half his life in that same company. One had to raise a toast (i mean eat cake) to this man's commitment i say, whether you were on a self-imposed sweets ban or not.</span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/10/honey-baked-figs-with-cinnamon-and.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-3146726624034591246?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-35286663174680686802011-10-07T15:06:00.001+05:302011-10-07T15:08:46.957+05:30Grilled Red Snapper Fillet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2TAlzvaL0Ek/To3OrUn7oVI/AAAAAAAAAbE/L2_dohJdl2M/s1600/IMG_1849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2TAlzvaL0Ek/To3OrUn7oVI/AAAAAAAAAbE/L2_dohJdl2M/s640/IMG_1849.JPG" width="640"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">This dish was from a little while ago, late august if you must know. I immediately wrote up the ingredients in a draft blog post, because i was cooking many new things around that time and lest i gave you the wrong recipe a couple of days later. But for many reasons, i did not go back to it the expected couple of days later. </span><br><span style="font-size: small;">I hesitated in posting this because the pictures were not what called to you. The fish tasted delicious, no problem there. We cleaned up the whole thing in less than 10 minutes, with the picky husband accepting the larger share. But i wasn't sure anyone would be tempted by the pics i had clicked. Actually i was sure many would decide my blog didn't merit another visit. I didn't want to risk that. But then i also did not want to leave it in drafts forever, such a delicious thing had to see light, </span><span style="font-size: small;">especially if it has been patiently waiting for me for this long. So i came up with a compromise, </span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/10/grilled-red-snapper-fillet.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-3528666317468068680?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-24976229780968302312011-10-05T10:16:00.000+05:302011-10-05T10:16:27.757+05:30Pomegranates on Tree - Black and White Wednesday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: left;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EZEsT9EJEnk/Tosnv9-f87I/AAAAAAAAAbA/GFsYGDLa2y4/s1600/bw3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EZEsT9EJEnk/Tosnv9-f87I/AAAAAAAAAbA/GFsYGDLa2y4/s640/bw3.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am back for another <a href="http://thewellseasonedcook.blogspot.com/2011/07/black-and-white-wednesday-new-culinary.html">black and white Wednesday</a>. This is another photo from <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/09/cooking-in-indian-village-two.html">grandma's village</a>. I realized recently that it is an old habit of mine to carry my 'point and shoot' digital camera around ever since i bought my first digital camera about seven years ago. And the village folks are generally amused when they see a young woman walking around the village with a camera in her hand, clicking at everything she sees. It so happened that six years ago when i visited this village i clicked some photos of a mother hen with about a dozen new-born chicks. They were really cute to look at. Apparently the lady who owned them still asks grandma about me and every single time they talk about how i went around those chicken for good photos. Don't know where i lost those old photos now. At least this time around, i have this blog to preserve these memories and to share with you.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The above picture has two little pomegranates on the tree. There is also a guava tree growing right next to the pomegranate tree and there is one little 'not yet ripe' guava amidst the large guava leaves. Can you spot it?</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Happy Dussehra friends :-) </span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-2497622978096830231?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-86354008708480628052011-10-03T11:16:00.002+05:302012-02-10T15:23:43.836+05:30Plantain Skins Chutney/ Aratikaya Thokku Pachadi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LqNtN4ch3vw/ToWbRWd-74I/AAAAAAAAAao/K8nvFTRdcv4/s1600/IMG_2235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LqNtN4ch3vw/ToWbRWd-74I/AAAAAAAAAao/K8nvFTRdcv4/s640/IMG_2235.JPG" width="640"></a></div>Did you say "what?!" and read it again? I almost did a double take when mom mentioned what she was making for lunch three weeks ago. <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/green-plantain-curry-aratikaya-kura.html">Green plantain curry</a> and a chutney with the plantain skins. Really, they are edible? Turns out not only are plantain skins edible, they are also quite tasty when combined with yogurt, tomato and some curry leaves. To think of all the times i threw away plantain skins. Not long after i got my first taste of this plantain skins chutney at lunch that day, i was eager for second and third helpings. Much to my mom's amusement, i had hardly touched the actually plantain curry (hello, i can make that curry myself too, why waste my appetite on that age-old curry when i have this delicious new chutney in sight). And i have already told you about my <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/09/peanut-coconut-chutney-verusenagapappu.html">addiction to chutneys</a>. So i took to this new chutney as fish to water. While i cannot guarantee that you will be as excited as i am with this new chutney, i can at least assure you that if you like yogurt based chutneys or raitas you will like this one. You have nothing to lose (you were going to throw those skins away anyway, right?) and everything to gain by giving this at least one try.<br></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/10/plantain-skins-chutney-aratikaya-thokku.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-8635400870848062805?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-2979894188064569132011-09-23T14:49:00.002+05:302011-09-24T11:42:23.967+05:30Peanut coconut chutney/ verusenagapappu kobbari pachadi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ju5ElpzxRds/TnwmWFwKYRI/AAAAAAAAAYc/3IYQi0DvJ-A/s1600/IMG_2072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ju5ElpzxRds/TnwmWFwKYRI/AAAAAAAAAYc/3IYQi0DvJ-A/s640/IMG_2072.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">My favourite part of a south Indian breakfast is the chutney that accompanies it. While these chutneys are meant more as dips for the idlis and dosas, i eat them the other way round. I heap on double servings of chutney before i go for another serving of the actual breakfast course. And i love them so much that i bring them to the lunch table to enjoy with my rice and ignore the curries until the chutneys are gone. And i like them plain, like the picture you see above, without getting it cluttered by the zillion ingredients of tempering.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">While i love all kinds of spicy chutneys, i especially love the white ones. The peanut chutney, coconut chutney, roasted Bengal gram chutney, and this one - peanut coconut chutney. Once its made, every visit to the kitchen will see me sneaking small spoonfuls. Its not just a delicious side dish to south Indian breakfasts, but goes perfectly with the deep fried evening snacks and if like me you can't get enough of it, pairs perfectly with rice too.</span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/09/peanut-coconut-chutney-verusenagapappu.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-297989418806456913?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-83462690802667793992011-09-21T09:40:00.002+05:302011-09-21T12:17:03.881+05:30Cooking in an Indian village two generations ago<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">I have told you that i recently went to <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/09/this-flower-is-chocolate-cake-black-and.html">visit my parents</a> in Vijayawada. My grandma lives in a small village nearby, so i usually also go visit her whenever i go to Vijayawada. Also because she loves me to bits and asks me when i am coming to visit her again only a week after my latest visit. My aunt's family also live in that village and my aunt usually does the cooking part now that grandma has become quite old. Coming to the picture of discussion today, this was how the rice was cooked that day, that was eaten with fish and chicken curries. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cSZPrLGKdog/TnjCvs8VU-I/AAAAAAAAAYU/oyu5WK4hpgc/s1600/BWW+rice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cSZPrLGKdog/TnjCvs8VU-I/AAAAAAAAAYU/oyu5WK4hpgc/s640/BWW+rice.jpg" width="640"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">This is similar to the basic three stone cook stove mentioned <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cook_stove">here</a> (My friends tell me i have an addiction for wikipedia, possibly caused by an obsession for perfection). Bricks are set up on three sides to balance a cooking pot and firewood or dried cow-dung cakes are used as fuel and pushed in from the open side. Food is cooked on the open flame and controlled by the amount of firewood placed under the pot. This was how my grandma always cooked, she had two such cook stoves side by side and managed to cook delicious meals on them during our childhood summers spent in that village. I guess this type of cooking is almost non-existent today, even in villages, because everyone now cooks with LPG or natural gas or electricity.<br></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/09/cooking-in-indian-village-two.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-8346269080266779399?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-64576881092787227282011-09-19T18:29:00.000+05:302011-09-19T18:29:28.996+05:30Mom's Simple Fish Fry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lDEJzz7ducA/Tncrbhh3WoI/AAAAAAAAAXw/rbkwXqWRHJo/s1600/IMG_2267.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lDEJzz7ducA/Tncrbhh3WoI/AAAAAAAAAXw/rbkwXqWRHJo/s640/IMG_2267.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">My mom makes the best fish fry. OK, i know that sounds like such a generic statement. Let me personalise it and say that only mom makes the kind of fish fry i love. Even i can't cook a fish curry that i can eat. My dad loves fish among all the non-vegetarian options and somehow that did not pass on to me, unlike the sweet tooth and the general foodie thing. While fish curry (chepala pulusu) is the Andhra favourite, i cannot eat it with any hint of enthusiasm. Even when my grandma lovingly prepares it for me. </span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/09/moms-simple-fish-fry.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-6457688109278722728?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-8183742613900676492011-09-17T12:24:00.002+05:302011-09-17T12:32:18.319+05:30Wholewheat Oats Raisin Cookies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zZj-3pJJxVk/TnQ_ahZx4zI/AAAAAAAAAXY/kcb4oxhyTGU/s1600/IMG_2225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zZj-3pJJxVk/TnQ_ahZx4zI/AAAAAAAAAXY/kcb4oxhyTGU/s640/IMG_2225.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I can't say which i love better, baking cakes or baking cookies. Cookies are easier to bake, more difficult to get wrong and store for longer. So they are great for gifting. Cakes need a little more attention to pull them off correctly and so would have taken second place, except that i now have the cutest cake mould and i want to try out more varieties of cakes. This battle within me continues, while the winner may ultimately announce itself on the blog based on the number of blog posts dedicated to cookies and cakes. Today makes them even. </span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/09/wholewheat-oats-raisin-cookies.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-818374261390067649?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-78187727072185916332011-09-14T09:00:00.022+05:302011-09-17T12:28:32.032+05:30This Flower is a Chocolate Cake - Black and White Wednesday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I can't believe its Wednesday again, already! Time for another black and white Wednesday and i have not done a single recipe post since the last one. What can i say, i have been busy and time flew. To give you some context - My dad retired from his job last month after having completed almost thirty five years of service. He had a single employer all his life, the state government. Those were the days when private employers weren't big in India and a young man was deemed eligible for marriage only if he had a government job. And so he kept at it for the better part of his life, where colleagues became family friends.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border: medium none; clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tZnQ0Gpr6EM/Tm-Fts34H4I/AAAAAAAAAXU/0UoiAWNdI2c/s1600/BWW+flower+cake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" rba="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tZnQ0Gpr6EM/Tm-Fts34H4I/AAAAAAAAAXU/0UoiAWNdI2c/s640/BWW+flower+cake.jpg" width="640" /></a>And when he was throwing these friends a farewell party at the end of last month, i couldn't be with him on his big day because i was going to spend it with my in-laws celebrating the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. I can't even type this without feeling extremely guilty about it. My way of making amends (to myself, mostly) was to visit my parents a week later, and bake my dad some sweet goodies. My dad has a sweet tooth (a huge one) and loves everything sweet. So, i baked him this <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/chocolate-cake-with-cocoa.html">chocolate cake</a>, another <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/orange-chocolate-chunk-cake.html">orange chocolate chunk cake</a>, a bunch of <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/08/eggless-peanut-butter-cookies.html">peanut butter cookies </a>(that were promptly shared with some of his now ex-colleagues) and a larger bunch of <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/09/wholewheat-oats-raisin-cookies.html">wholewheat oats cookies </a>(the recipe will come soon).</span></div><div class="separator" style="border: medium none; clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The recipe for this chocolate cake is the same as the one i have posted in <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/chocolate-cake-with-cocoa.html">June </a>and have referred to in many posts since then, it has become a family favourite. What's new about today's post is that i got myself a new silicone cake pan recently that is the shape of a flower and i have baked all my cakes in it since then, i had to share with you. Today i am traveling back to Hyderabad and once i settle down, hopefully the recipe posts will start coming soon. Oh yes, i have been clicking photos of mom's dishes in the kitchen the last few days - you will have to wait a little more to see them. </span></div><div class="separator" style="border: medium none; clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="border: medium none; clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">This photo goes to Susan's <a href="http://thewellseasonedcook.blogspot.com/2011/07/black-and-white-wednesday-new-culinary.html">Black and White Wednesday </a>event. An event i now look forward to.</span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-7818772707218591633?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-22378033455644355562011-09-07T15:52:00.000+05:302011-09-07T15:52:13.102+05:30My burger takes many sides - Black and White Wednesday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">We had this chicken burger for dinner one night before i started blogging. This was one of the first photos i clicked after having taken a fancy to photographing foods. I was also previously not too keen on presenting foods well, i would just throw whatever i cooked on a plate and hand it over to my husband. Then during one of our usual chit-chat sessions, my mother-in-law told me how much her son liked well presented food. This was news to me, and i was appalled at the way i was serving him lunches and dinners with zero thought to presentation for a whole year. So this photo was from that time when i started giving presentation a little thought and wanted to click a photo to remember my humble beginnings.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W9bSHMY0JxU/Tmc8Or3TNGI/AAAAAAAAAXM/UrfG5wuzO-g/s640/BWW+burger.jpg" width="640" /></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The burger is made of grilled chicken breast fillet (<a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/soy-chicken-wrap-with-grilled-bell.html">cooked similar to this)</a> and the sides are grilled pink onion slices, fresh tomato slices, small scoops of avocado, fried fresh green chilies, pickled jalapeno slices, and grilled green bell peppers. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Since i don't have the process pictures for this dish, this never made it to the blog till today. And today this gets to see light because of Susan's <a href="http://thewellseasonedcook.blogspot.com/2011/07/black-and-white-wednesday-new-culinary.html">Black and White Wednesday</a> event.</span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-2237803345564435556?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-92068487094935834752011-09-02T22:04:00.003+05:302012-02-22T10:03:19.012+05:30Watermelon Granita<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZYcpBnsJXyc/TmDBoihOg9I/AAAAAAAAAWw/DyfsGedGMRk/s1600/IMG_1994.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZYcpBnsJXyc/TmDBoihOg9I/AAAAAAAAAWw/DyfsGedGMRk/s640/IMG_1994.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I was eating a lot of chocolate ice-cream during the last few months this year and it all started because Baskin-Robbins was offering one box free with every box you bought at the supermarkets. And we loved their Bavarian Chocolate flavour - silky smooth, had a few crunchy bits in between and real dark chocolate flavour. I could lick the box clean if no one was looking, or even if someone is looking (depends on who is), that's how much i liked it. And then once those people knew i was addicted, they took back the special offer. You can guess i was not too happy, and to register my protest i stopped buying them. But did the cravings for something ice cold and sweet stop? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3FIekP3GwE0/TmDCQwMNTSI/AAAAAAAAAW0/JBgGQT695Cs/s1600/IMG_1947.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3FIekP3GwE0/TmDCQwMNTSI/AAAAAAAAAW0/JBgGQT695Cs/s400/IMG_1947.JPG" width="400"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/09/watermelon-granita.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-9206848709493583475?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-54077470543585017962011-08-30T22:24:00.000+05:302011-08-30T22:24:00.196+05:30Coriander/ Cilantro/ Kothimeera chutney<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y_Pg4z74hFQ/Tl0SkXujaPI/AAAAAAAAAWc/yFV3imjfYSA/s1600/IMG_1934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y_Pg4z74hFQ/Tl0SkXujaPI/AAAAAAAAAWc/yFV3imjfYSA/s640/IMG_1934.JPG" width="640"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">The festival season has started in India but i am not yet in the mood for festive dishes. I want to try new dishes, alright. But i find that i have bookmarked too many recently and can't decide which ones to try first. Or maybe its just that i am still gloating over the success of my last venture. The <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/08/eggless-peanut-butter-cookies.html">peanut butter cookies</a> became such a hit, more so than the <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/wholewheat-chocolate-chip-cookies.html">chocolate chip cookies</a>, that i am still jumping in joy every time i remember it. How could something so simple please so many people so much? My neighbours and their little girl liked it, my father-in-law who usually doesn't like anything crunchy liked them so much that there weren't any left for my mother-in-law to taste. And last Sunday my cousin and her friends kept eating one after another when they only started out with a small piece for taste test so they could politely tell me they liked it. I can't remember being happier about cooking/baking anything else, the only exception is probably <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/orange-chocolate-chunk-cake.html">this cake</a> . So now i am eager to make something that beats those cookies. Suggestions anyone? Nothing too difficult though, OK?</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ynm4lde8Exk/Tl0TkxdOgZI/AAAAAAAAAWg/onmgBwVDIZA/s1600/IMG_1926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ynm4lde8Exk/Tl0TkxdOgZI/AAAAAAAAAWg/onmgBwVDIZA/s640/IMG_1926.JPG" width="640"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Meanwhile, because i still have to feed myself and the guy i live with, i can't really stop cooking until i find that next big thing. </span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/08/coriander-cilantro-kothimeera-chutney.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-5407747054358501796?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-60977068094952292932011-08-27T05:00:00.002+05:302011-09-15T16:58:18.387+05:30Starfruits and Pink Guavas and South Indian Temples<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sOx93BbbmeM/TlYffx4u8NI/AAAAAAAAAVc/-DuqMQIW-aM/s1600/IMG_1975.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sOx93BbbmeM/TlYffx4u8NI/AAAAAAAAAVc/-DuqMQIW-aM/s640/IMG_1975.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">On Janmashtami (also called Krishna Jayanthi or Krishnashtami) which was last Monday this year according to the lunar calendar, me, the husband and his parents went to a visit the temples at a nearby place called Chilkur. One is a temple of multiple Hindu Gods and is called the Swami Narayan Temple. This Hindu temple is present in many countries abroad too and the largest Swami Narayan temple abroad is in London. I went to the London temple and it is exquisite with beautifully carved interiors and statues of Gods and Goddesses, and so peaceful. You should definitely visit if you have the chance.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FQNIFwwXKvo/Tlc6TRnur4I/AAAAAAAAAWE/eY5GlDKXuBY/s1600/IMG_1870.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FQNIFwwXKvo/Tlc6TRnur4I/AAAAAAAAAWE/eY5GlDKXuBY/s640/IMG_1870.JPG" width="480"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swami Narayan Temple at Chilkur</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a7n5IOH2xOQ/Tlc6WUIPHYI/AAAAAAAAAWI/QD5TtNL9q2I/s1600/IMG_1869.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a7n5IOH2xOQ/Tlc6WUIPHYI/AAAAAAAAAWI/QD5TtNL9q2I/s400/IMG_1869.JPG" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Vedic school (Gurukul) adjoining Swami Narayan Temple</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/08/starfruits-and-pink-guavas-and-south.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-6097706809495229293?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-34502790944480534762011-08-26T08:52:00.000+05:302011-08-26T08:52:05.141+05:30Eggless Peanut Butter Cookies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4dLRcmtHi0M/TlYnhJfiEmI/AAAAAAAAAVg/odEcY_PwBik/s1600/IMG_1909.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4dLRcmtHi0M/TlYnhJfiEmI/AAAAAAAAAVg/odEcY_PwBik/s640/IMG_1909.JPG" width="640"></a></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">There's a little girl who lives across the street from us and we can see each other when i come out into our balcony and she comes to their kitchen balcony. And every time she sees me, she gives me a cute smile and an excited wave while shouting 'tataaa'. Their family moved into the apartment opposite our house about a year ago, when the kid was about 6 months old and she grew up before my eyes. She now shows off her bangles and her dress and any other accessories pointing at herself and then pointing at me to make me look. Her mother tells me how much the kid loves bangles and wears them for the whole length of the arm if allowed.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bV6qYKIylYU/TlY9v_mYoRI/AAAAAAAAAVk/iCrzWmu6mOs/s1600/IMG_1983.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bV6qYKIylYU/TlY9v_mYoRI/AAAAAAAAAVk/iCrzWmu6mOs/s400/IMG_1983.JPG" width="400"></a></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/08/eggless-peanut-butter-cookies.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-3450279094448053476?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-54106132913845006522011-08-23T21:46:00.039+05:302011-08-26T09:19:02.382+05:30Chicken Burger with minced chicken<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XF3wgAoK4NQ/TlO910Yf4bI/AAAAAAAAAVA/-ZmY6JjN-yE/s1600/IMG_1895.JPG"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XF3wgAoK4NQ/TlO910Yf4bI/AAAAAAAAAVA/-ZmY6JjN-yE/s640/IMG_1895.JPG"></a></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have been a lover of junk food, for as long as I can remember. When instant noodles first came into the market, I had to pester my parents to buy me some. I loved the street side samosas and mirchi bajji in my hometown so much that when I came home from my college hostel during my engineering days, dad would oblige me by bringing these street snacks on his way home from office. And on such days, I would be allowed to have my fill of such deep fried ‘nothing good for you in it’ junk food to the extent of skipping home-made dinner. I haven’t changed.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/08/chicken-burger-with-minced-chicken.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-5410613291384500652?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-54192504830555101732011-08-20T16:03:00.001+05:302011-08-25T08:41:01.775+05:30Capsicum Fry/ Bell pepper curry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4s7lfNquN1w/Tk-ICpHBUqI/AAAAAAAAATk/mcYOq0ETfgw/s1600/IMG_1825.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4s7lfNquN1w/Tk-ICpHBUqI/AAAAAAAAATk/mcYOq0ETfgw/s640/IMG_1825.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Of late i find my mother and mother-in-law both experimenting with foods, trying out new combinations of vegetables for curries, that is almost surreal. They have no access to the Internet and my mother is a working woman who rarely watches TV (she most definitely believes it is the idiot box). And i find them dishing out delicious curries with never-heard-before combinations, and i am the one reading through dozens of food blogs. I was talking to my mother during the week and after some usual chit chat, she generally asks me what i made for lunch and if i have nothing to blabber about, i ask her the same. And she shocked me with a curry she made with chukka kura (sorry, but couldn't find the English name for this. It is a sour leafy vegetable and usually cooked with lentils similar to spinach) and sorakaya (bottle gourd). Has anyone ever heard of this combination before? I know I never did. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MEULZuq548E/Tk-IGbPD8AI/AAAAAAAAATo/NwsDPw196t8/s1600/IMG_1824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MEULZuq548E/Tk-IGbPD8AI/AAAAAAAAATo/NwsDPw196t8/s400/IMG_1824.JPG" width="400"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/08/capsicum-fry-bell-pepper-curry.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-5419250483055510173?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-26621264636383478862011-08-18T16:24:00.002+05:302011-08-25T08:42:05.648+05:30Indian Chicken curry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-06j7aTcVXrE/TkzjVB2bb2I/AAAAAAAAATI/1KFOZmaIyAc/s1600/IMG_1715.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-06j7aTcVXrE/TkzjVB2bb2I/AAAAAAAAATI/1KFOZmaIyAc/s640/IMG_1715.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">When I call this Indian chicken curry, i mean it as opposed to Caribbean or African or Thai etc, because we now know that there is curry in so many different parts of the world. I refrain from giving a region specific name within India, like calling it Andhra Chicken curry, because i am not cooking this from any recipe and would be reluctant to pass it off as an authentic local item just because i hail from there. This rather is the curry i spoke about <b><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/soy-chicken-wrap-with-grilled-bell.html">here</a></b>, the one i learnt from my husband and the only variety of chicken curry he seems to prefer.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ktgdd9owy8U/Tkzm7KNuWDI/AAAAAAAAATU/Tt_fewjUCfQ/s1600/IMG_1708.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ktgdd9owy8U/Tkzm7KNuWDI/AAAAAAAAATU/Tt_fewjUCfQ/s400/IMG_1708.JPG" width="400"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/08/indian-chicken-curry.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-2662126463638347886?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-12768427735170483212011-08-16T16:33:00.004+05:302011-09-29T10:00:38.921+05:30Varalakshmi Vratam - Ulli Garelu/ Vada<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c7_cB8I4Tjs/TkfZ582YcEI/AAAAAAAAARo/pfRyneiVGQ8/s1600/IMG_1798.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c7_cB8I4Tjs/TkfZ582YcEI/AAAAAAAAARo/pfRyneiVGQ8/s640/IMG_1798.JPG" width="640"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">In continuation with my previous post, this one is to share with you my recipe for vada. These are called garelu, minapa garelu or ulli garelu in Andhra Pradesh. It is a mandatory offering to the Goddess Lakshmi for Varalakshmi vratam and after the worship (puja) is over it is also offered to another married woman assumed to be the Goddess.</span><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-INC-kS8Urlo/TkpKT6F9U8I/AAAAAAAAASI/Zju8m1tTDJk/s1600/IMG_1799.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-INC-kS8Urlo/TkpKT6F9U8I/AAAAAAAAASI/Zju8m1tTDJk/s400/IMG_1799.JPG" width="400"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">Other than as an offering to Gods, it is also kind of a royal breakfast item. If you visit an Andhra household and you are served Garelu for breakfast, it means that you are being treated as King or even God. When the bride-groom first (and every subsequent time) visits his in-laws' house, he will be served Garelu along with lots of other foods of course. Garelu are a favourite in my family, both before and after marriage and i seemed to be the exception. It was only after i started making them myself that i started to appreciate the taste, texture and richness of this fritter type snack. Now i look forward to making them, for more opportunities to serve to my husband and in-laws, and to eat them too :)</span><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f9wK_0Oxoi0/TkpKaRwJeAI/AAAAAAAAASQ/gSItl0sk03A/s1600/IMG_1770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f9wK_0Oxoi0/TkpKaRwJeAI/AAAAAAAAASQ/gSItl0sk03A/s400/IMG_1770.JPG" width="400"></a></div><i><u><b><span style="font-size: small;"></span></b></u></i></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/08/varalakshmi-vratam-garelu-vada.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-1276842773517048321?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-88527273675801421822011-08-14T23:04:00.001+05:302011-08-25T08:41:01.777+05:30Varalakshmi Vratam - Semiya Payasam, Pulagam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uSV7HspPGos/TkfanriI8kI/AAAAAAAAARs/hPTenJy5GPY/s1600/IMG_1795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uSV7HspPGos/TkfanriI8kI/AAAAAAAAARs/hPTenJy5GPY/s640/IMG_1795.JPG" width="480"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">Varalakshmi vratam is considered an auspicious day for married Hindu women. It is observed on the second Friday in the month of Sravan of the Hindu calendar and Goddess Lakshmi (the Goddess of wealth and prosperity) is worshipped on this day. The details on how this festival is celebrated is written very well <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahalakshmi_Vrata">here</a>, so i won't re-write the whole thing again. I would only like to share with you how i have celebrated it in my home with my mother-in-law, what we cooked and recipes for some of those. It is considered auspicious to offer the Goddess five varieties of cooked delicacies and five varieties of fruits. We made Purnalu (Boorelu), Payasam, Garelu (Vada), <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/simple-tangy-lemon-rice.html">Pulihora (Lemon Rice)</a> and Pulagam. And the fruits were bananas, apples, grapes, pomegranates and sweet lime.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">My mother-in-law made Purnalu as i am yet to learn the process for it and i cooked the remaining four items. The recipe for lemon rice, i have already posted <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/simple-tangy-lemon-rice.html">here</a>. Only this time, there were lots of cashews in it. In this post i will tell you how i made payasam and pulagam. And you need to wait till my next post for the recipe for Garelu.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iYn_t7RsCmA/TkfrrvUyS7I/AAAAAAAAARw/myTQLMwvd5o/s1600/IMG_1794.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iYn_t7RsCmA/TkfrrvUyS7I/AAAAAAAAARw/myTQLMwvd5o/s400/IMG_1794.JPG" width="400"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/08/varalakshmi-vratam-semiya-payasam.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-8852727367580142182?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-52726588115817050572011-08-10T22:31:00.001+05:302012-01-21T20:33:46.784+05:30Mushroom Manchurian - Wet and Dry - step by step<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JfqXCwu6k-w/TkKvswGWhqI/AAAAAAAAARE/ZBT3YbcltPE/s1600/IMG_1736.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JfqXCwu6k-w/TkKvswGWhqI/AAAAAAAAARE/ZBT3YbcltPE/s640/IMG_1736.JPG" width="640"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">On the last day of our recent holiday, an hour before boarding the train, we went to a nearby restaurant to have some snacks and to get dinner packed for the overnight journey. Having had our fill of dosas and <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/fluffy-puri-poori-indian-puffed-fried.html">puris </a>over the previous three days, we ordered a plate of Mushroom Manchurian which was listed under 'Chinese snacks'. Indianised version of Chinese food is huge in almost all parts of India. From small mobile street stalls to fancy restaurants, there are many who serve "Chinese" food in India. But if you have ever been to China, you would know that it is something completely different. No is the answer, if you are asking me if i have ever been to China. But i talked to a good friend who did go, who was there for a few months for an IT project. And heard him complain about how there was nothing to eat in China. He never expected a problem when going there because he was eating "Chinese" in Kolkata (or you may know it as Calcutta) all the time. Eventually, he did adapt quite well and bragged about being able to eat peanuts with chopsticks. Apparently that's not the easiest thing to do.</span><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T71TKF_X6cQ/TkK0IonNmTI/AAAAAAAAARk/3qWM3k1t-Ts/s1600/IMG_1722.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T71TKF_X6cQ/TkK0IonNmTI/AAAAAAAAARk/3qWM3k1t-Ts/s400/IMG_1722.JPG" width="400"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/08/mushroom-manchurian-wet-and-dry-step-by.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-5272658811581705057?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-39455773898788699922011-08-05T18:02:00.001+05:302011-08-25T08:42:05.649+05:30Tandoori spiced chicken legs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0_ZMXQPoTMQ/Tjvd0Eb8fqI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/8jY0Jvex7Lg/s1600/IMG_1227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0_ZMXQPoTMQ/Tjvd0Eb8fqI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/8jY0Jvex7Lg/s640/IMG_1227.JPG" width="480"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">My go-to <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/chocolate-cake-with-cocoa.html">chocolate cake</a> is in the oven as i begin to write this. I needed to do some baking so i could coax myself back to cooking. Back from the short holiday, i have become a reluctant cook. Suddenly i want to be served hot food without having to cook it. Not that i had to start cooking as soon as we came back. I wasn't even asked to cook the day we returned. We went out for lunch and the husband generously bought me my favourite <i>biryani </i>even though it wasn't his favourite. Or maybe it was (t)his pampering that turned me into the reluctant cook. To see how much more pampering i could get away with! Didn't have to wait long to find out. I had to cook lunch yesterday and today but we have plans for Sunday. (We finally booked our tickets to watch the Harry Potter finale in 3D on the largest screen in Hyderabad. I can't wait!) So to get me through the rest of today and tomorrow, i am baking. Somehow baking has always felt like fun. Unlike cooking that can sometimes be a chore, especially when cooking the same curries for lunch repeatedly week after week. And it is not the repetition that i am complaining about, because i can bake the same chocolate cake every week and not get tired of it. Any thoughts on why that is?</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I was digressing. Anyway, about the whole reluctant cook thing, last night the husband surprisingly understood my predicament and said he would cook the tandoori chicken legs by himself for dinner, the chef didn't even want a helper. And i think for the first time in two years, i accepted the leave granted and sat in the living room watching the new season of <i>Masterchef Australia.</i></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lmw4JMXKC9E/Tjvd59DgATI/AAAAAAAAARA/Mgc2ywmL0X0/s1600/IMG_1573.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lmw4JMXKC9E/Tjvd59DgATI/AAAAAAAAARA/Mgc2ywmL0X0/s400/IMG_1573.JPG" width="400"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Since i didn't go into the kitchen, i don't have clicks of the husband's masterpiece from last night, though he repeatedly told me what delicious juicy chicken he had prepared. The pictures you see here are from a few weeks ago. And i was so hungry at that time, i could not bring myself to get an extra clean plate for the final pic. Excuse the laziness, please.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i><u><b><span style="font-size: small;"></span></b></u></i></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/08/tandoori-spiced-chicken-legs.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-3945577389878869992?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-35265602145207298032011-08-04T21:01:00.001+05:302011-10-11T10:21:26.246+05:30Simple Upma with Semolina/ Rava<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l6upPaXlSWc/TjqyGN6NYfI/AAAAAAAAAQc/uG8dbPSJbnw/s1600/IMG_1443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l6upPaXlSWc/TjqyGN6NYfI/AAAAAAAAAQc/uG8dbPSJbnw/s640/IMG_1443.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">We have been away on a short trip early this week. To visit the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirumala_Venkateswara_Temple"> <i>Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala</i></a>, Tirupati. The richest God in India for many decades until quite recently when the secret treasure of Lord <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padmanabhaswamy_Temple">Padmanabhaswamy </a></i>was unearthed. The train trip to another city meant no cooking for three whole days and eating lots of the South Indian breakfast items not just for breakfast but for lunch and dinner too. I love south Indian breakfast items. As much as i love rice, i can go without it for days if you feed me poori, dosa, upma, idly and variations of them and not necessarily in that order. </span><span style="font-size: small;">You would think three days of eating them would be enough for anybody. Oh no, not me. It left me longing for more. So much that i woke up this morning with a craving for a hot breakfast. And served in bed, preferably. OK, who am i kidding. That's not going to happen anytime soon.</span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/08/simple-upma-with-semolina-rava.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-3526560214520729803?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-59495670526236964782011-07-30T12:49:00.002+05:302011-08-25T14:46:06.129+05:30Crispy Fried Prawns<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KIVy5O4b9JE/TjOq01Bn8aI/AAAAAAAAAP8/pnYO6yHg9hA/s1600/IMG_1559.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KIVy5O4b9JE/TjOq01Bn8aI/AAAAAAAAAP8/pnYO6yHg9hA/s640/IMG_1559.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I usually try to record the happy and funny things that happen to me in this blog, and sometimes think for ages wondering what will make interesting reading, am i boring my occasional readers? And especially the odd reader who comes back. And in this quest, i read a lot of blogs. So many that my husband is amused at my addiction. And sometimes not so amused when i forget to cook lunch or dinner losing myself in a really interesting read. Two days ago, i somehow found my way into this <a href="http://twistingthetail.blogspot.com/">non-food blog</a> that wasn't telling you the happy things. It was about talking truths that people usually would not talk about, mostly because it is not considered polite conversation. I loved her writing so much, i ignored all else, my own blog included, and spent a whole 72 hours going through her archive and old blogs. I am glad there is a person like that who shares her experiences to the world, making it easier for people like me who will never open up as much.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HgAavqn3Cgs/TjOsBXT52NI/AAAAAAAAAQA/X_D16zpbplg/s1600/IMG_1300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HgAavqn3Cgs/TjOsBXT52NI/AAAAAAAAAQA/X_D16zpbplg/s400/IMG_1300.JPG" width="400"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/crispy-fried-prawns.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-5949567052623696478?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-2885812826812285622011-07-27T12:50:00.001+05:302011-08-25T14:49:20.529+05:30Easy Indian Potato Curry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XWLQdoomjVc/Ti-0gVZnEiI/AAAAAAAAAPA/_J0EBa3SljY/s1600/IMG_1211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XWLQdoomjVc/Ti-0gVZnEiI/AAAAAAAAAPA/_J0EBa3SljY/s640/IMG_1211.JPG" width="640"></a></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Potatoes are possibly the most ubiquitous food. I am yet to hear of any cuisine that never cook with potatoes. And with all that starch, a real comfort food too. There are possibly a million ways to cook potato and i may have tasted a few dozen. In the cities of west bengal in India, and i have lived two years each in two cities, potatoes are used in almost all their meals. During my student days in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharagpur,_West_Bengal"><span id="goog_2132435262"></span>city<span id="goog_2132435263"></span> with the longest railway platform</a>, our meals were cooked in the canteen of the student hall of residence, we had very little say over what was served to us. The only choice was eat or don't. (Wow, suddenly makes me realise how much luckier i am now to be able to cook and eat all this variety of meals!) Yes, we did have student body meetings and decide a weekly menu for the next month, but more often than not, the cook would make what he wanted. When confronted, he always had the same excuse - couldn't get the ingredients of the set menu within budget. So he added potatoes!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jn5N39DhH_U/Ti-3jQihMJI/AAAAAAAAAPE/HkgmU0g_ePQ/s1600/IMG_1210.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jn5N39DhH_U/Ti-3jQihMJI/AAAAAAAAAPE/HkgmU0g_ePQ/s640/IMG_1210.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/easy-indian-potato-curry.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-288581282681228562?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-8862272217445015052011-07-25T16:30:00.001+05:302011-08-25T08:41:01.780+05:30Bachali kura pappu/ Malabar Spinach curry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O6MpHRA2sO8/Ti1G9W10PGI/AAAAAAAAANY/WONAx0pkFms/s1600/IMG_1407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O6MpHRA2sO8/Ti1G9W10PGI/AAAAAAAAANY/WONAx0pkFms/s640/IMG_1407.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The weekend was hectic. I made mushroom pizza for Saturday lunch. Dad was in town on Saturday and i cooked him some dinner. I made him some plain Naan and served it with chicken curry. And later made myself some masala Naan that i had with the potato curry leftover from <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/fluffy-puri-poori-indian-puffed-fried.html">here</a>. And since i also wanted to give him something special to take home to mom, i baked <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/orange-chocolate-chunk-cake.html">this cake</a> again earlier in the day and packed it for him. On sunday, we went to a housewarming get-together and i got to eat my favourite Hyderabadi Biryani for lunch there. The recipes for the new stuff i cooked on the weekend will have to wait, because i have decided that i will first tell you more about what i cooked for lunch today.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jn3g1HeYMBE/Ti1K8OViaLI/AAAAAAAAANc/PGDd6avrZhM/s1600/IMG_1408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jn3g1HeYMBE/Ti1K8OViaLI/AAAAAAAAANc/PGDd6avrZhM/s400/IMG_1408.JPG" width="400"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/bachali-kura-pappu-malabar-spinach.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-886227221744501505?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-59419607517581751662011-07-22T19:18:00.001+05:302011-12-24T22:53:44.652+05:30Tendli Fry/ Dondakaya Fry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4lhw9U5J0sw/Til91Vi9FZI/AAAAAAAAANA/5X_2J1DsS5I/s1600/IMG_1563.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4lhw9U5J0sw/Til91Vi9FZI/AAAAAAAAANA/5X_2J1DsS5I/s640/IMG_1563.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I used to eat this a lot when i was young, still do, but never knew what it was called in English. It was only after i started shopping in these huge supermarkets in Hyderabad that i was enlightened with the English and Hindi names of the vegetables for which i only knew Telugu names till then. And for the purpose of this blog i even did some google searching and wikipedia reading. My finding was that what i fondly called dondakaya in Telugu is called Coccinia grandis (ah, sounds grand!) or Ivy gourd in English and Tendli in Hindi and a lot of other names in other languages which you can search yourself, if really interested. Also, its supposed to contain beta-carotene. And my lesson on this vegetable comes to an end.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-geVl7emywjk/Til-B4R9SEI/AAAAAAAAANE/0NPSiYg8C2c/s1600/IMG_1564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-geVl7emywjk/Til-B4R9SEI/AAAAAAAAANE/0NPSiYg8C2c/s640/IMG_1564.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Don't go away yet. I am now going to tell you how you can turn the tender green fruits (vegetable actually, despite what wikipedia calls it) of this exotic tropical vine plant into delicious food. And how very simple it is too. You just cut them into whatever shape you like, shallow fry them for a while in a little oil, season them and you are done. You can eat it straight away based on the amount of seasoning you add, or like us Indians, add a lot of salt and mix it with rice as a curry. If you would like a little more specific instructions, below is my recipe for dondakaya fry, i mean tendli fry, i mean {insert whatever you call it in your mother tongue}.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Osks0bx17A4/Til-GemzglI/AAAAAAAAANI/a5ygWR_sn4E/s1600/IMG_1565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Osks0bx17A4/Til-GemzglI/AAAAAAAAANI/a5ygWR_sn4E/s640/IMG_1565.JPG" width="640"></a></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/tendli-fry-dondakaya-fry.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-5941960751758175166?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-62583230796440584092011-07-21T13:12:00.003+05:302011-12-24T22:55:27.358+05:30Fluffy Puri/ Poori/ Indian puffed fried flatbread<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FUOCIKZpNwY/TifSEZ_ePsI/AAAAAAAAAM8/7z4YTD5LMsU/s1600/IMG_1585.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FUOCIKZpNwY/TifSEZ_ePsI/AAAAAAAAAM8/7z4YTD5LMsU/s640/IMG_1585.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Would you believe me if i told you that i have not cooked puris even once in almost two years of married life, until last night? And its not even that i am not fond of them. My mom loves to recount how i would sit next to her in the kitchen when she was making puris and ask to be served fluffy puffed puris straight from the frying fan. It was a favourite breakfast item growing up. And yet i was afraid to make them in my own kitchen for the fear of not getting them right. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aI_qJCwCjgM/TifR1umbuhI/AAAAAAAAAM0/I5rQhIGzdPY/s1600/IMG_1582.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aI_qJCwCjgM/TifR1umbuhI/AAAAAAAAAM0/I5rQhIGzdPY/s640/IMG_1582.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Last night, i found out all my fears were for nothing.I did make wonderfully puffed up puris and the process was not at all difficult. It is here that i should admit i read through a lot of food blogs in the last six months and read puri tips and tricks at different places, of course some contradicting each other as is bound to happen when there are so many people talking about it. So i will tell you the tips i have followed, also having talked to my mom and mother-in-law before making these. Oh, and it would be remiss if i didn't mention here that my mother-in-law makes the most wonderful puris i have ever eaten, every single one of them always puff up, they are all evenly golden brown and taste delicious. Every single time!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ALAsAxKh_DA/TifRyoIHKWI/AAAAAAAAAMw/XuKelIX8l_w/s1600/IMG_1579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ALAsAxKh_DA/TifRyoIHKWI/AAAAAAAAAMw/XuKelIX8l_w/s640/IMG_1579.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i><u><b><span style="font-size: small;">La's Tips</span></b></u></i></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Mix the dough and allow to rest for 30 minutes to one hour. This will make the dough softer and allow for softer puris. This process will NOT cause the puris to soak more oil.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></span></span></li></ul></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/fluffy-puri-poori-indian-puffed-fried.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-6258323079644058409?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-63649199310841491232011-07-20T11:08:00.002+05:302011-08-25T08:41:01.782+05:30Jackfruit seeds curry/ Panasa ginjala kura<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-atBwk0o7zCQ/TiZhj1ItzvI/AAAAAAAAAL0/PYEuTB52-uE/s1600/IMG_1544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-atBwk0o7zCQ/TiZhj1ItzvI/AAAAAAAAAL0/PYEuTB52-uE/s640/IMG_1544.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">We love jackfruit, finally a food that the husband and i both love. The ripe fruit in its golden yellow colour, and delicious smell beckons to me, every time i open the fridge. </span><span style="font-size: small;">We eat little else for snacking any time of the day when there is jackfruit at home. </span><span style="font-size: small;">And the jackfruit season is one time i feel lucky to be living in India (that's compared to the times when i can't get fresh rosemary or blueberries or leeks or fennel or basil or.. you get the point, things like that at reasonable prices) lucky to be able to buy a whole big fruit at the farmer's market, to be able to get the vendor to do the messy job of cutting it open and picking the juicy, fleshy, yellow, eatable bits out. All fresh, possibly organic and at totally affordable prices. You gotta love it.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FGyLfuMs8Fw/TiZjTYQUeBI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/Edmu5YdT3qk/s1600/IMG_1535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FGyLfuMs8Fw/TiZjTYQUeBI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/Edmu5YdT3qk/s400/IMG_1535.JPG" width="400"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/jackfruit-seeds-curry-panasa-ginjala.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-6364919931084149123?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-31894682811527959162011-07-15T20:24:00.002+05:302011-08-25T15:14:28.026+05:30Lemon and Herb Grilled Chicken Breasts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iWajAbMk70U/TiBLV5Vtj0I/AAAAAAAAALg/lVfecFzuWeg/s1600/IMG_1018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iWajAbMk70U/TiBLV5Vtj0I/AAAAAAAAALg/lVfecFzuWeg/s640/IMG_1018.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Chicken happens to be our favourite non vegetarian item. Lamb, fish, shrimp and squid are only occasional boredom busters. Most Indians i know (at least those living in India) only cook chicken into different curries to be eaten as a side dish with rice or rotis. Almost never as the main dish to be eaten with a side salad or vegetables. I was like that too until a year ago. </span><span style="font-size: small;">But because we like chicken so much, we are always looking for new ways to cook it. Our current favourite is the <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/soy-chicken-wrap-with-grilled-bell.html">soy grilled variety</a>, that's how most of the chicken breasts that gets into our fridge finally end up on the table these days.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">One day i was watching the food programme <i>Gourmet Central </i>on <i>ndtv goodtimes </i>channel where the chef <i>Vicky Ratnani</i> made a herb marinade. All i remembered about it later was that it was green, and had coriander, mint and lemon it. Then i made up my version in a week to experiment on chicken. And you get to see my recipe here. Oh, i forgot to tell you that i really enjoyed the chicken, although if i have to be honest, <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/soy-chicken-wrap-with-grilled-bell.html">soy grilled</a> might still be the favourite.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nKw1_rZ1WMU/TiBLzyPZhbI/AAAAAAAAALs/t4LnlbC1AM0/s1600/IMG_1016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nKw1_rZ1WMU/TiBLzyPZhbI/AAAAAAAAALs/t4LnlbC1AM0/s640/IMG_1016.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/lemon-and-herb-grilled-chicken.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-3189468281152795916?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-64265523722548060592011-07-14T20:53:00.004+05:302011-09-03T16:56:29.349+05:30Simple Tangy Lemon Rice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eMbYR_a_aXw/TlD9vRoMrmI/AAAAAAAAAUc/RK0jY7OwTk0/s1600/IMG_1790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eMbYR_a_aXw/TlD9vRoMrmI/AAAAAAAAAUc/RK0jY7OwTk0/s640/IMG_1790.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">A few years ago, when i was living in Melbourne, i hardly did any cooking. Most days i would eat both lunch and dinner out. Breakfast was the only thing i would definitely eat at home, not because i was conscious about getting a healthy start to the day, but because i would be hungry within ten minutes of waking up and was too lazy to get to work early enough to eat breakfast out. I was working in the office tower adjoining <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne_Central_Shopping_Centre">Melbourne Central</a> with its huge shopping area and numerous food outlets. You could have something new for lunch everyday and never get bored. And i was living within walking distance from my work place. So why would i even think about cooking? There was another senior work colleague P, and we were the only two people from India working in that project in Melbourne. Mr P had never been out of India before that, and had never had to cook for himself, and as a typical old-school type Indian husband - he had always had a woman cook for him. I think he did experiment with cooking in Melbourne, seeing as i was never going to cook or invite him to home-cooked meals. But what i am getting to is that, one day i did invite him (and another senior lady colleague who was there for a fortnight) to dinner on a work day. Not before several hints that they wanted to try out the cooking of this young girl they were working with.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3WMYNxy6Hxk/Th7wK21Hg_I/AAAAAAAAAKY/S2m-TAKubLo/s1600/IMG_1221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3WMYNxy6Hxk/Th7wK21Hg_I/AAAAAAAAAKY/S2m-TAKubLo/s400/IMG_1221.JPG" width="400"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/simple-tangy-lemon-rice.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-6426552372254806059?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-61678722395792436592011-07-12T14:00:00.005+05:302011-10-15T16:42:05.818+05:30Black Olive and Rosemary Focaccia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O0GfHQ_7t3s/ThsDtlEHAqI/AAAAAAAAAJI/UlnUgAQrp0M/s1600/IMG_1487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O0GfHQ_7t3s/ThsDtlEHAqI/AAAAAAAAAJI/UlnUgAQrp0M/s640/IMG_1487.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: small;">My initial yeast-bread making experiments were a disaster. I mean if you can’t eat a single bite from a loaf of bread and have to throw away whole loaves, you can call it little else. It was a real humbling experience – baking breads. For most of my life, I could succeed fairly well in anything I took up, while also making it appear effortless to on-lookers. Whether it was studies or sports or stove-top cooking too, to an extent. I had very rarely had criticism from others. So I wasn’t too pessimistic about trying yeast breads, i looked for the easiest recipe and went ahead. There was a banana cardamom loaf that was under-baked inside with a blackened bottom. There were multiple attempts at baking Indian dinner rolls (the pav of pav bhaji fame) which simply refused to rise vertically and would instead spread horizontally, and having puffed up outside the oven, would deflate once inside to become biscuits instead of bread. Oh, the experience scarred me. Pizzas were the saving grace, which brought me back to befriend yeast again. Oh and the beloved <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/orange-bread-for-breakfast.html">orange bread</a> i talked about in a previous post too.</span><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jX8wses9TZA/ThsGpSX7ihI/AAAAAAAAAJU/OrHlFkXgHK8/s1600/IMG_1494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jX8wses9TZA/ThsGpSX7ihI/AAAAAAAAAJU/OrHlFkXgHK8/s400/IMG_1494.JPG" width="400"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: small;">But I still had my eyes on Focaccia for a while now, having bought it from a supermarket a few months ago, one of the very few types of bread the picky eater in our house actually picked up. Most of the focaccia recipes called for a herb called Rosemary. And it needs to be fresh. Welcome to another ingredient that is hard to find in Hyderabad. To my delight, I came across a little bunch of fresh organic Rosemary in this supermarket called <i>Spar</i> in central Hyderabad. I almost squealed and jumped in delight. Then I left it sitting in the fridge for a week or more. When it was almost drying out, I finally decided Sunday night was a good enough time to make my first focaccia at home. </span><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/black-olive-and-rosemary-focaccia.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-6167872239579243659?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-35824005544241485112011-07-11T20:39:00.002+05:302011-08-24T18:05:50.945+05:30Awesome Cocoa Brownies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wez9Thhec0Y/ThrrQEpw-wI/AAAAAAAAAIM/1T3pxpoLgBM/s1600/IMG_1498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wez9Thhec0Y/ThrrQEpw-wI/AAAAAAAAAIM/1T3pxpoLgBM/s640/IMG_1498.JPG" width="640"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Brownies are a beloved favourite for all chocolate fanatics. Don't be mistaken that it took me this long to try out some brownies, having started off with a chocolate cake recipe. No, i tried one a few months ago, for which i can't remember the recipe source. What I can remember is that it was not worthy of talking to you about. It looked more like a dense cake that forgot to rise or become fluffy and had cracks all over the surface. The husband had one look at the finished product and pronounced it ready for the trash can. I blamed myself, not the recipe, for the failure and kept away till now. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">But wait, why i am telling you so much about the wrong brownie. This post is about the one I baked last night, the one that turned out awesome. You don't need 70% dark chocolate for this brownie, just cocoa powder and butter and sugar and eggs will produce this rich, fudgey, chocolaty brownie.</span></span><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YV7y-c2st4Y/Thrrk_k8jCI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/a6YqFoV7BoA/s1600/IMG_1509.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YV7y-c2st4Y/Thrrk_k8jCI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/a6YqFoV7BoA/s400/IMG_1509.JPG" width="400"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></span></span></div></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/awesome-cocoa-brownies.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-3582400554424148511?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-68044562502498622792011-07-09T18:16:00.006+05:302011-09-07T20:01:53.769+05:30Orange chocolate chunk cake/ Birthday Cake<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BE1os4u4WiI/ThhDxBbmE-I/AAAAAAAAAHs/tZMg52CcLro/s1600/DSC03418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="556" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BE1os4u4WiI/ThhDxBbmE-I/AAAAAAAAAHs/tZMg52CcLro/s640/DSC03418.JPG" width="640"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">My blog turned 1 month old on July 6th and i got invited to my nephew's birthday party who turned 8 on the same day. I couldn't have been happier to get this wonderful opportunity to bake a birthday cake! I wanted a cake that could hold its own without icing and was rich enough for a birthday kid. This was one cake where i wasn't going to substitute the usual low fat vegetable oil in place of butter. No, it was going to be rich, creamy butter all the way.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yaSskxq3cd0/ThhEC0xndUI/AAAAAAAAAHw/MBMCEh34mx4/s1600/DSC03426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yaSskxq3cd0/ThhEC0xndUI/AAAAAAAAAHw/MBMCEh34mx4/s400/DSC03426.JPG" width="377"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/orange-chocolate-chunk-cake.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-6804456250249862279?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-91799554196970643962011-07-04T04:04:00.003+05:302012-02-21T22:08:31.724+05:30Chocolate Peanut Spread<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dcpp3F2h4b0/ThBKvVEMz7I/AAAAAAAAAHo/TdnkcUYYkpM/s1600/IMG_1403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dcpp3F2h4b0/ThBKvVEMz7I/AAAAAAAAAHo/TdnkcUYYkpM/s640/IMG_1403.JPG" width="480"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ever since i first saw 'make your own nutella' on SmittenKitchen website a few months ago, it has stayed resolutely in the back of my mind. Maybe even displaced other more important things in that little brain space. For those in India who don't usually have bread for breakfast, Nutella is a sweet hazelnut spread with cocoa. I suspect millions have it as part of their breakfast everyday around the globe. It is now available in supermarkets in India but quite expensive as it is imported. I have a weakness for all things chocolate and have been eyeing Nutella for a while now - though i don't care much for Hazelnuts. Sometimes i involuntarily reach up to the Nutella bottle on the grocery aisle, turn it around in my hand and decide it is still too expensive. I won't lie, this has happened a few times now. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RxJtcI2wjyA/ThA3nD1UIFI/AAAAAAAAAG8/RxdsWeXQMyE/s1600/IMG_1373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RxJtcI2wjyA/ThA3nD1UIFI/AAAAAAAAAG8/RxdsWeXQMyE/s320/IMG_1373.JPG" width="320"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KN0-1r45RH0/ThA3sKvpKbI/AAAAAAAAAHA/Vmu2SNVD9sA/s1600/IMG_1379.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KN0-1r45RH0/ThA3sKvpKbI/AAAAAAAAAHA/Vmu2SNVD9sA/s320/IMG_1379.JPG" width="320"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Saturday night i found myself home alone, when the husband went off for a boys night out and two of my girlfriends couldnt make it to a get-together (OK i am partly to blame, i called them at the last minute). Still, it only meant that the time was ripe for making my own choco-nut-spread. And i went looking for the recipe online again. I have followed the ingredient list as is but changed the method quite a bit to suit my kitchen. And while we are on the subject, i think you can do without the extra 1/4 cup of sugar. One cup should suffice.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AmHguaarw1M/ThA35xMYZ9I/AAAAAAAAAHQ/oXzR5T1vYDo/s1600/IMG_1391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AmHguaarw1M/ThA35xMYZ9I/AAAAAAAAAHQ/oXzR5T1vYDo/s320/IMG_1391.JPG" width="320"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/chocolate-peanut-spread.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-9179955419697064396?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-23052011382037799812011-07-03T14:20:00.002+05:302011-11-09T12:39:41.655+05:30Spicy Puffed Rice Snack (Maramaralu)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-teyDh5eU2bs/ThAQT86bgiI/AAAAAAAAAGg/azMQ1ARGQ24/s1600/IMG_1144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-teyDh5eU2bs/ThAQT86bgiI/AAAAAAAAAGg/azMQ1ARGQ24/s640/IMG_1144.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Is it just me or do most people's list of <i>must have </i>three meals of the day consist of breakfast, lunch and dinner? The man i cook for, however, doesn't fall in this category. His list instead has lunch, evening snack and dinner in it. Just the way i can barely live without breakfast - and <i>must</i> have it within the first hour of waking up, he definitely needs his evening snack. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9kzgHOCzKUo/ThARAhxBozI/AAAAAAAAAGw/PeVJg6ak4rU/s1600/IMG_1142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9kzgHOCzKUo/ThARAhxBozI/AAAAAAAAAGw/PeVJg6ak4rU/s400/IMG_1142.JPG" width="400"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">While chicken/shrimp snacks are preferred, there are no strict rules in what is acceptable. When i am feeling really lazy, raw mango slices with a side of salt and red chili powder mix is graciously accepted. Ain't i lucky to have this man :-)</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">So when i am feeling generous, i make him (t)his favourite puffed rice snack. Don't tell him how easy this is to make. At least, not yet. Of course, when i am feeling really generous, or when he absolutely demands it, i make the little more time consuming <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/spicy-baked-chicken-wings.html">chicken wings</a> too.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">When you are hungry and want something tasty to eat this very instant, look no further than this light and healthy snack. And next time don't forget to get a big bag of puffed rice into that grocery list.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZoXKQ1keGrk/ThAQ9PkAeGI/AAAAAAAAAGs/61O8958YbqQ/s1600/IMG_1138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZoXKQ1keGrk/ThAQ9PkAeGI/AAAAAAAAAGs/61O8958YbqQ/s400/IMG_1138.JPG" width="400"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i><u><b></b></u></i></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/spicy-puffed-rice-snack-maramaralu.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-2305201138203779981?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-90513034451609589592011-07-01T17:37:00.001+05:302011-08-25T08:43:40.820+05:30Unripe almonds on tree<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Does that sound like an exotic recipe name? Well, I am actually talking about an almond tree i spotted the other day and couldn't stop clicking at. Now having downloaded the pics onto my computer only hours ago, i wanted to post them here right away. </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2LJuaTViVxI/Tg210rpoEXI/AAAAAAAAAGc/Xie5keimvd0/s1600/IMG_1286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2LJuaTViVxI/Tg210rpoEXI/AAAAAAAAAGc/Xie5keimvd0/s640/IMG_1286.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">Little kids were pelting stones at the tree to get the occasional ripe fruit to fall down. While i was looking at them, one of them came forward and offered to climb the tree and pluck the fruits right out with a higher percentage of success, and the other kids gladly agreed. That kid is on the tree in this below pic and already climbed quite high. Can you spot the kid on the tree in this pic? One foot is clearly visible and the rest of the person is camouflaged behind the large leaves of the tree. You can zoom in on the picture for a better view.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lo8Wa3LtmsU/Tg21g6Uwr-I/AAAAAAAAAGY/WnC2gkhao-4/s1600/IMG_1288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lo8Wa3LtmsU/Tg21g6Uwr-I/AAAAAAAAAGY/WnC2gkhao-4/s640/IMG_1288.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">And can you count how many green and purple almonds there are on this tree - within the below picture that is. </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AZ18N1e424A/Tg21EDOp7hI/AAAAAAAAAGU/_Z_GM_okeDc/s1600/IMG_1287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AZ18N1e424A/Tg21EDOp7hI/AAAAAAAAAGU/_Z_GM_okeDc/s640/IMG_1287.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">I spent a few minutes counting. My count was 29. Just for fun, let me know your count too - do you match me or beat me? Waiting to hear your comments.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Happy Weekend! :-)</span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-9051303445160958959?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-70687682725607379512011-07-01T07:07:00.004+05:302012-02-21T11:28:14.295+05:30Roasted Bell Pepper and Onion Pizza<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">It has become a bit of a ritual for us to have pizza for weekend lunch. You see, we still have Pizza cravings when Pizza Hut's 99 rupee three course meal is no longer valid after Friday night. Oh yes, we still eat Pizza not baked in my kitchen. I didn't mislead you into thinking that i cook everything i eat now, did i? Sorry, but a girl can only get so much inspiration from reading food blogs and watching food shows on TV. She's gotta go out and see the variations in the real thing, sometimes. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_1xdKvN4Nic/TgxVIR2OnyI/AAAAAAAAAGA/-Fyt3jsKlJw/s1600/IMG_1188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_1xdKvN4Nic/TgxVIR2OnyI/AAAAAAAAAGA/-Fyt3jsKlJw/s640/IMG_1188.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Let me apologize first for the poor quality pics of the finished Pizza. I was too hungry to click proper pics and as you can see from the above photo, i could not even wait to slice the entire pizza to start eating. There will be better pictures next time. I promise to show more restraint. So please just take my word that this definitely tastes better than it looks, will you?</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Well, I don't believe that there is a perfect pizza out there, just waiting to be discovered. I think this is one food where any amount of creativity can't hurt. We might each swear by a particular combination of toppings as our favourite but that wouldn't stop us from trying out the latest variety being zoomed into our computer screens by the endless deals being advertised. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XJWgfyp4tso/TgxVPihY2EI/AAAAAAAAAGM/DALZPfxkJ9g/s1600/IMG_1186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XJWgfyp4tso/TgxVPihY2EI/AAAAAAAAAGM/DALZPfxkJ9g/s640/IMG_1186.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/07/roasted-bell-pepper-and-onion-pizza.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-7068768272560737951?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-77409578378565555142011-06-30T15:44:00.004+05:302012-02-10T15:23:43.838+05:30Green Plantain Curry/ Aratikaya Kura<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uEAFAH0vckA/TgxGZl8LKII/AAAAAAAAAFg/ATNrSsYbJ_I/s1600/IMG_1180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uEAFAH0vckA/TgxGZl8LKII/AAAAAAAAAFg/ATNrSsYbJ_I/s640/IMG_1180.JPG" width="640"></a></div>When i started this blog earlier this month, i started clicking pictures of everything i cooked, hopeful that i can put them up here soon. Still it took me almost 3 weeks to give you this recipe. That's partly because i have been busy re-baking the things i had already posted, <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/chocolate-cake-with-cocoa.html">chocolate cakes</a> and <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/wholewheat-chocolate-chip-cookies.html">chocolate chip cookies</a>. My mom was in Hyderabad last week and who better people than parents to try your cooking experiments on, so i made a heap of chocolate chip cookies and one slab of chocolate cake to send them home with her. And now aunts, cousins, grandma, mom and dad - even if they are all the people obliged to like what i cook - have been telling me how wonderful my baked goods taste. And i am in heaven. This has given me renewed enthusiasm to take my blog forward, to keep a journal of what i have been cooking at the very least. </div></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M8jeFaKB76E/TgsV4G7oaPI/AAAAAAAAAFE/mbjVAoJQLSU/s1600/IMG_1167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" i$="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M8jeFaKB76E/TgsV4G7oaPI/AAAAAAAAAFE/mbjVAoJQLSU/s400/IMG_1167.JPG" width="400"></a></div><div style="border: medium none;"><br></div></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/green-plantain-curry-aratikaya-kura.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-7740957837856555514?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-19815587759484703252011-06-27T12:55:00.004+05:302011-10-19T10:57:17.941+05:30Spicy Baby Brinjal/Eggplant Fry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eERTeIGHhRM/Tggja8rSfmI/AAAAAAAAAEk/eCbBkdOfz_Q/s1600/IMG_1164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eERTeIGHhRM/Tggja8rSfmI/AAAAAAAAAEk/eCbBkdOfz_Q/s640/IMG_1164.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Brinjal (also known as Eggplant or Aubergine in different parts of the world) comes in many sizes, shapes and colours. The variety that suits this recipe best is the small, round and purple one. The most common use of brinjal in India is to make curries with tomato based gravy, or cashew based gravy or stuffed brinjals. I wasn't a big fan of brinjal and growing up, my mom always had to prepare a separate curry for me if she was cooking brinjal. Those were the days when i still got to demand special treatment. Now, when i have to do the cooking myself, i am willing to adapt. OK, you already figured that out.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f1FF4TClCNg/Tggj30M8HeI/AAAAAAAAAEo/DmdQ5FtQcSk/s1600/IMG_1153.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f1FF4TClCNg/Tggj30M8HeI/AAAAAAAAAEo/DmdQ5FtQcSk/s400/IMG_1153.JPG" width="400"></a></div></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/spicy-baby-brinjaleggplant-fry.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-1981558775948470325?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-60701472849252013472011-06-21T17:13:00.004+05:302011-08-25T08:42:05.651+05:30Chicken fajita with grilled bell peppers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I had lived outside India in the developed countries of the world for more than two years during those single and carefree days and probably cooked chicken 5 times or even less. And once married i found out that my husband cooked chicken 500 times or something - more often than any other food cooked during his bachelor years in America. This meant that he considered himself a better cook than me - definitely for cooking his favourite chicken curry - and insisted on teaching me. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S1R9967yM7c/TgBuW5fuhAI/AAAAAAAAAEg/VUHluqLJT44/s1600/IMG_1152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S1R9967yM7c/TgBuW5fuhAI/AAAAAAAAAEg/VUHluqLJT44/s640/IMG_1152.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The shy bride and ever humble student that i was, i meekly complied. What this means today is that i have totally unlearnt my way of cooking chicken curry (i faintly remember there used to be a yogurt based marinade) and have learned his way (with no diary based products in any cooking. But, of course we eat cheese. Who doesn't eat cheese!?). By the time i had mastered 'his chicken curry', - and was going to get all smug about it - he had come up with suggestions for experimenting with more chicken recipes - different kinds of marinades, and different cuts of chicken and the types of veggies that go well with chicken. This turned out to be one of those successful dinner ideas.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--SduA0uw2WE/TgBuOVspHwI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/wdpUH5XJM7M/s1600/IMG_1148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--SduA0uw2WE/TgBuOVspHwI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/wdpUH5XJM7M/s400/IMG_1148.JPG" width="400"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">As promised in my <a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/spicy-baked-chicken-wings.html">previous post</a>, here's another chicken dish that is now a regular in my home. We have it once a week or definitely once within a fortnight. Give it a try with your own variations and find out what works for you. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/soy-chicken-wrap-with-grilled-bell.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-6070147284925201347?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-6782490790938247052011-06-16T12:47:00.001+05:302011-08-25T08:43:40.821+05:30Mortar and Pestle and Measuring Cups<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RBLly5gSKlE/TfmrtiRds4I/AAAAAAAAAD8/-hK0GL7oFGs/s1600/IMG_1204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RBLly5gSKlE/TfmrtiRds4I/AAAAAAAAAD8/-hK0GL7oFGs/s640/IMG_1204.JPG" width="640"></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The last two days i have been busy cooking, shopping, eating out and talking, just couldn't make time for writing. And it almost made me crazy. Last night going to sleep i could only dream of what recipes to write about next. And i even woke up in the middle of the night wondering what 'layered' cake i should bake next and how i should go about the process. I am getting a little hyperactive, i think. Can i pretend to be sane and blame it on the century's largest lunar eclipse of last night? (changes in the moon can make people loony they say!) Now I have a trip to the farmers market planned in the next few hours and have lunch to serve and i really am freaking out here, am i not? You are right, i just need to calm down and prioritise. You make it sound easy but i really am the 'freaking out at the slightest opportunity' type who needs everything planned to perfection.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0rUS-7jOqRA/TfmrrkdsHjI/AAAAAAAAAD4/PaA8Q38RrWc/s1600/IMG_1203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0rUS-7jOqRA/TfmrrkdsHjI/AAAAAAAAAD4/PaA8Q38RrWc/s640/IMG_1203.JPG" width="640"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">OK now that i got all that ranting out of the way, i wanted to tell you about my new mortar and pestle that i got since my last post. One made of white marble stone and looks so cute sitting on my black kitchen countertop. We went to Shilparamam (take a look at the arts, crafts and cultural village of Hyderabad <a href="http://www.shilparamam.org/">here</a>) on this cool monsoon evening to have some piping hot traditional oil-fried snacks. Yum! Oh yes and got this mortar and pestle set at a small price of Rs 130.</span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/mortar-and-pestle-and-measuring-cups.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-678249079093824705?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-18765214948867093882011-06-14T15:53:00.006+05:302012-02-21T21:57:25.676+05:30Papaya and Beetroot Jam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MReD-oyf8eo/Tfcz5Z5-RHI/AAAAAAAAADw/3ORrfrttIZo/s1600/IMG_1191.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MReD-oyf8eo/Tfcz5Z5-RHI/AAAAAAAAADw/3ORrfrttIZo/s640/IMG_1191.JPG" width="640"></a><span style="font-size: small;">My father-in-law loves gardening. And his hard work with the papaya tree was bearing fruit - literally! Three weeks ago found us with so many papayas that we couldn't possibly eat them all straight as fruits. It was also mango season and papayas automatically got relegated to second place, despite being homegrown. So i needed an idea to consume the papayas. Only a few days earlier had mom sent me some home-made mixed fruit jam when i began my bread experiments. Ever since i had wanted to make my own jam. These papayas presented the perfect opportunity.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I called up mom and asked for the recipe and found that it was really really easy. And it was her idea to add a beetroot to give my home-made jam a natural yet appetising colour of store bought jams. The recipe is almost no recipe at all because you have so few ingredients and the process is so easy. The only downside is that since we are not adding any preservatives, it may not last as long as store-bought jams. But it has less sugar, so we can eat more of it :-)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PlYtiAfRyGw/Tfcz8-ePHpI/AAAAAAAAAD0/8eyD_k7QLUI/s1600/IMG_1194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PlYtiAfRyGw/Tfcz8-ePHpI/AAAAAAAAAD0/8eyD_k7QLUI/s400/IMG_1194.JPG" width="400"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i><u><b><span style="font-size: small;"></span></b></u></i></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/papaya-and-beetroot-jam.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-1876521494886709388?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-86139184235439609012011-06-11T17:52:00.006+05:302011-10-19T12:01:35.266+05:30Orange Bread for Breakfast<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dakKXTrit5E/TfNUKllTdkI/AAAAAAAAADE/SfgROs0WFVI/s1600/IMG_1076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dakKXTrit5E/TfNUKllTdkI/AAAAAAAAADE/SfgROs0WFVI/s640/IMG_1076.JPG" width="640"></a><span style="font-size: small;">This bread has a special place in my heart. It was the first yeast bread, after i started my bread baking experiments, that came out with a satisfactory result. It looked as good as a store bought loaf and tasted delicious! You can taste the orange when you bite into a slice. You can make a healthier version by substituting upto 100% of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. It will make a denser bread (i have tried that version too) but i like this bread with the less healthy white flour! </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">You don't even need two rises for the dough, as called for by most yeast bread recipes and still tastes this good. My taste tester who is not a fan of breads said - "Mmm, its good, flavourful" and finished a whole big slice. Have i sold this bread enough, already? Then lets get to the recipe, shall we.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CxTTgo5Teb0/TfNUYUDNaYI/AAAAAAAAADU/aeBcLR8A3NY/s1600/IMG_1078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CxTTgo5Teb0/TfNUYUDNaYI/AAAAAAAAADU/aeBcLR8A3NY/s400/IMG_1078.JPG" width="400"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><u><b></b></u></i></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/orange-bread-for-breakfast.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-8613918423543960901?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-86120950256820273702011-06-10T19:13:00.005+05:302011-10-19T12:25:56.183+05:30Wholewheat chocolate chip cookies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UaaDpGL5l1s/TfIchCqrmYI/AAAAAAAAADA/qaDgJvPk3kI/s1600/IMG_1135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UaaDpGL5l1s/TfIchCqrmYI/AAAAAAAAADA/qaDgJvPk3kI/s640/IMG_1135.JPG" width="640"></a><span style="font-size: small;">My first chocolate chip cookie was at a Subway. The dark chocolate variety, with little white chocolate chips peeking through a rich, chocolaty, chewy flat cookie. Almost irresistible for chocolate lovers. Its like a dare to the good minded people who go there to have their low fat sandwiches. Also, anybody ever notice there is always an ice-cream shop next to a Subway? As if the chocolate chip cookie wasn't temptation enough!</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Break</i> - had to munch on a chocolate chip cookie. All this writing making me hungry :-)</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">So every time we went to the Subway, i would opt for the cookies as part of the meal and deny my husband's favorite potato chips. Every time! Now such a proposition is not fair and <strike>cannot</strike> should not last long. But i had also become addicted to chocolate chip cookies. They are quite a comfort food. And so began my online search for chocolate chip cookies and, believe you me, there's no dearth of them online. I then took the minimum ingredients listed in most recipes and tweaked it into a healthier version - so the wholewheat flour in the ingredients. You see, i had every intention of eating the whole batch of cookies and hence a small attempt at not feeling guilty at the end of it!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nKqC9oFfbtI/TfIYdkYaUrI/AAAAAAAAAC0/6lMRNEAtJ_k/s1600/IMG_1135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iIwGSs6FVMc/TfIZCcVZwtI/AAAAAAAAAC8/tu2DoXnbBns/s1600/IMG_1134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iIwGSs6FVMc/TfIZCcVZwtI/AAAAAAAAAC8/tu2DoXnbBns/s400/IMG_1134.JPG" width="400"></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I had just about started my experiments in baking with cakes and breads at this time and what a huge surprise it was for me to find out that cookies were the simplest of all baked goods! Warm cookies are delicious. The only thing you probably have to get to make this recipe NOW is chocolate chips or chunks of chocolate. You can add some nuts into the dough if you want a chewier (is that a word?) cookie. I no more ask for the Subway cookie - i eagerly wait to get back home and have a couple of my home-made ones.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/wholewheat-chocolate-chip-cookies.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-8612095025682027370?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-82818830066202982322011-06-08T16:21:00.006+05:302011-08-25T08:27:51.613+05:30Spicy Baked Chicken Wings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">As a kid all the home-made chicken i ate was in curry form, mixed with rice - once a week on Sunday. Never chicken as a snack. Growing up, we weren't allowed to eat outside food. Anything i craved for, mom wood come up with a home-made version! Anything that couldn't be made at home in our small Indian city at that time wasn't really good for you anyway - that was how our requests were turned down for pizza, burgers, fried chicken and the likes. </span><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U1XseiplTQ0/Te9NLu3bw-I/AAAAAAAAACU/d3M9Q_C_MUk/s1600/IMG_1118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U1XseiplTQ0/Te9NLu3bw-I/AAAAAAAAACU/d3M9Q_C_MUk/s640/IMG_1118.JPG" width="640"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"> Would you believe that the first restaurant meal we had as a family, parents and kid sister, was after i got my first job and my family came to visit me in the new city i had relocated to. We went to this restaurant and had an expensive meal and i was so happy i brought them there. You 'd probably guess what mom's reaction was at the end of it. "I could have made that at home - better". Of course i wouldn't argue with that, she really was an excellent cook. She raised two kids on home food for 20 years and that's no easy task. </span><br><br></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">And then i married a man who loves chicken in all forms and cannot live without it for more than a day (being a traditional Hindu family, we become vegetarians on festival days). You can only eat the same chicken curry regularly for so long and you can only eat out so many times a week without hurting the pocket. So began our experiments in the kitchen for spicy chicken wings (and other kinds of chicken i will talk about in later posts). </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7mrSr4QPDaI/Te9NRQ62IbI/AAAAAAAAACc/dqpG4_Hx688/s1600/IMG_1120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7mrSr4QPDaI/Te9NRQ62IbI/AAAAAAAAACc/dqpG4_Hx688/s640/IMG_1120.JPG" width="640"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">You can fry the chicken wings in oil or bake them with equally good results. The taste comes from the sauce, which we have now perfected after many trials and errors. We like it on the spicy side and we bake the wings to reduce the amount of oil required. So here's our recipe for spicy baked chicken wings.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/spicy-baked-chicken-wings.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-8281883006620298232?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-1821656576837385932011-06-07T18:01:00.006+05:302011-10-19T12:59:40.454+05:30Easy Chocolate cake with cocoa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">I never even dreamed that baking a chocolate cake could be so easy until the time i actually did it. And then i had to kick myself that it took me so long. Really? why did nobody tell me before? You tried, huh? I just didn't hear it. I will surely try harder to keep my ears open next time. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EeQwaJuXBng/Te4WGheHbrI/AAAAAAAAABw/zoJ8qR08E1s/s1600/IMG_1037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EeQwaJuXBng/Te4WGheHbrI/AAAAAAAAABw/zoJ8qR08E1s/s640/IMG_1037.JPG" width="480"></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Bored one day of watching repeats of "Food Paradise" on TLC, I started reading through blogs and suddenly noticed all these people who were not cooks until they got married and how so many seemed to be baking cakes with ease. So i decided it was time for me to try it too. A decision i will never regret. And once this decision was made all the required ingredients magically made their appearance in the supermarket aisle. OK, you guessed it right, i just never noticed them before when they were right in front of my eyes. A case of you only see what you want to see. They say that once you buy a car or intend to buy a car, you start seeing the same model and colour everywhere! Right, right, I am going off the topic. In my defense, i am new to this - writing about a single topic.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gKFSgNhazX4/Te4WY8TzQ0I/AAAAAAAAAB4/FTzAKKlZ2H4/s1600/IMG_1036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gKFSgNhazX4/Te4WY8TzQ0I/AAAAAAAAAB4/FTzAKKlZ2H4/s400/IMG_1036.JPG" width="400"></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Let me start again, if you even remotely like chocolate you simple have to give this a try. You don't need frosting to make it taste good, you can serve it warm or cold and it will keep for a week in the refrigerator. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/chocolate-cake-with-cocoa.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-182165657683738593?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-39960528901755219982011-06-07T15:50:00.004+05:302012-02-21T11:28:14.296+05:30Easy Pizza dough<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let me begin my first recipe post with a recipe of easy homemade pizza, including the simple dough that can be made at home. No, Pizza Hut is not the only place where you can get great pizza (as was the thinking in our house before i tried this) and i want you also to find that out first hand. You might surprise yourself with the results, as the process is not at all difficult. You want my confession - I made my first pizza at home about 2 months ago and have made it 8 times since. You 've been warned ,it can be addictive when you find out how easy it is.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pizza dough recipe adapted slightly from <a href="http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/01/pizza-and-the-limits-of-diy/">smittenkitchen</a> website</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">1 1/2 cups flour</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">3/4 teaspoon salt</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">1/2 cup lukewarm water (may need up to 1 or 2 tablespoons more)</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">1 tablespoon olive oil - or use any vegetable oil</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">2 teaspoons sugar</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">My first step in pizza-dough making is to proof the yeast. Proofing the yeast means to make sure the yeast is alive and will make the dough rise and this requires adding yeast to lukewarm water for 5-10 minutes until the water becomes frothy/foamy. I usually heat the water in microwave for a few seconds until lukewarm. The water should be comfortable enough when you dip your finger in and not feel too hot. If the water is too hot, the yeast will die and your dough won't rise. It is better to err on the colder side. Also, add half a teaspoon of sugar to the yeast - it will speed up the yeast proofing.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2i8MDIkwMJs/Teztu5RT1yI/AAAAAAAAAAw/lfMvk_LxvQM/s1600/IMG_1097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2i8MDIkwMJs/Teztu5RT1yI/AAAAAAAAAAw/lfMvk_LxvQM/s400/IMG_1097.JPG" width="400"></a></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mix all the remaining ingredients in a bowl along with the yeast mixture into a ball. Knead the dough for about 8-10 minutes on a floured surface, sprinkling in a little additional flour if the dough is too sticky. Lightly oil a bowl (use the previous mixing bowl if it is relatively clean - i always do) and put the dough ball in. Turn it all sides until it is completely coated in oil. You will only need about a teaspoon of oil for this. The oil keeps the dough from drying up while it is left to rise, which is the next step. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place until the dough approximately doubles in volume. This might take between 1-2 hours. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v7z6SppvIxo/TeztzqhyMsI/AAAAAAAAAA0/zVuwnvIYgZg/s1600/IMG_1098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v7z6SppvIxo/TeztzqhyMsI/AAAAAAAAAA0/zVuwnvIYgZg/s400/IMG_1098.JPG" width="400"></a></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div><a href="http://foodslice.blogspot.com/2011/06/easy-pizza-dough.html#more">Read on >>>></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-3996052890175521998?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1118849409783501975.post-14631453895941116272011-06-06T21:59:00.004+05:302011-07-13T23:57:12.789+05:30Welcome to Food Slice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ju0idiJCVvM/Th3jSLdfP4I/AAAAAAAAAKQ/V-uSfCt5mTc/s1600/bb1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ju0idiJCVvM/Th3jSLdfP4I/AAAAAAAAAKQ/V-uSfCt5mTc/s640/bb1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Finally</span> i have entered the world of blogging today. And i have an overwhelming realization that it is not as easy as it looks - to just start posting. Of course it may just be my natural Gemini reluctance to put anything down in words, anything that can be held against me later. And i probably won't admit to have written anything you don't approve of. Who wrote it then, you ask? You can start believing in aliens or government conspiracies or hackers or whatever your thing is to make sense of the world.<br /><br />Well, i did make a decision to take the plunge and now there is no going back before going forward. So lets see where this journey takes us. And hopefully it will be fun - for you and for me. I intend to write about food and other things that catch my interest, adding in recipes of what i have cooked, the success and disaster stories, and some food pics in the process which will either make you want to make it right away or keep you away from it for life. Hopefully more of the former!<br /><br /><br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1118849409783501975-1463145389594111627?l=foodslice.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>La @ FoodSlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17794417304246630574noreply@blogger.com3