My popular Zesty Salads workshop travels to Chennai in November. Details given in the poster. Please contact +919791088189 for more details. Limited seats only and pre-registration is required.
Please share the word with family & friends who might be interested!
Link to Facebook events and registration: https://www.facebook.com/events/762051450478333/
After this healthy Ragi-Ginger cookie, I've been wanting to try out a savoury version using my favourite herb, rosemary. Rosemary features in one of my all time favourite cookies, the Rosemary Shortbread, but that's very heavy on butter. This is my attempt to feature rosemary in a healthier cookie. I've used black pepper and lemon zest to give a flavour boost. Desiccated coconut along with rice flour gives these a nice light texture. These are perfect for those who are trying to avoid sugar, or as holiday gifts for people who don't have a sweet tooth, or simply because you are fed up of too much sugar in the holiday season. Try this healthy cookie and let me know how you find it!
Recipe for Savoury Rosemary Coconut Cookies Makes 24 Time taken - Under 30 minutes
Ingredients 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1/4 cup ragi flour 1/4 cup rice flour 2 tbsp milk powder 1/4 cup dessicated coconut 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary 1 tsp ground black pepper Zest of one lemon 3/4 tsp baking powder 3/4 tsp salt 3 tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces 3-4 tbsp cold milk 1 tbsp crystal sugar Method
Preheat the oven at 180° C.
Keep a baking tray ready, lined with silicone mat or a greased tin foil or parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients except butter and milk, until well combined.
Add the butter pieces and with finger tips rub the mixture together until it feels like bread crumbs
Add milk 1 tbsp at a time and knead gently till it comes together like a dough.
Divide into 24 equal balls, rolling each between lightly greased palms.
Lightly press into a disc and place on the lined baking tray, leaving some space between each disc so that there's place for cookie to expand.
Sprinkle a few crystals of sugar on top of each cookie. This is optional. You could stick a rosemary leaflet on each cookie instead.
Bake for 12 mins or until the tops turn lightly golden. Remove on a wire rack and cool. The cookies will crisp up on cooling. Save in airtight container.
You can substitute rosemary with fresh or dried thyme for a different flavour.
Eggplant is one vegetable that you can either hate or love but never ignore. For all my childhood, I was an eggplant hater, may be even allergic to some varieties. Nothing life threatening, just this crazy itching in my mouth when I ate some types of eggplant. Then for years I was a fence sitter. Okay, "this is made for lunch so I will eat the tiniest bit, just to keep you happy" kinda fence sitter. And then I discovered cooking this versatile vegetable and while I wont call myself an eggplant lover, I am now a fan. Baingan Bharta, Vangi baath, Baba Gannoush, stuffed eggplant, gosh I have quite a list of favourite recipes with this vegetable. This recipe is an easier variation of the stuffed eggplant. You still have to roast the spices and grind them, but no painstaking stuffing involved. This is the smarter way to enjoy the tastes of a stuffed eggplant. This dry curry goes well with rotis and great with rice and sambar. I have used the large round eggplant for this recipe, which is the kind I prefer because it has fewer seeds and cooks faster. But it should work well with any kind of eggplant. Make sure the pieces are uniformly chopped so they cook evenly. This coarsely ground spice powder is the secret to glamming up any boring vegetable or any vegetable you don't know what to do with.
Recipe for Spicy Eggplant Curry Serves 4
Ingredients 2 tbsp oil pinch of asafoetida 1/4 tsp mustard seeds 1 large globe eggplant cut into wedges or thick batons, soaked in water 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp salt 1 tsp amchoor powder or 1 tsp tamarind paste Ingredients to grind for the spice mix: 3 large dried red chillies 2 tbsp chana dal 2 tbsp coriander seeds 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds 1 tbsp fennel seeds 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tbsp udad dal 1 sprig curry leaves 1 bay leaf
Directions
In a large wok / kadai, dry roast all the spices together, until the chana dal and udad dal turn golden brown. Remove, cool and grind to a coarse powder. In the same wok, heat 2 tbsp oil. Add the asafoetida and then drain and squeeze out all the water from the eggplant pieces and add them to the oil. Add salt and turmeric and stir the eggplant till well coated. Lower the flame, add a little water at a time, around 1/4th cup, cover and cook the eggplant till nearly done. Don't cook to a mush. Add the coarse spice powder, amchoor and coat the nearly cooked eggplant with the spices by stirring well. Cover for another 5 minutes with a sprinkle of water if required and let the eggplants cook completely while soaking up the flavours of the spices. The coarsely powdered dals give the vegetable a nice crunchy texture. Serve hot with rotis or with dal & rice. Note: If you don't find a big eggplant, use 8-12 smaller sized eggplants for this, cutting each into wedges. This spice mix works for other vegetables like bottle gourd, snake gourd, capsicum, potato, sweet potato etc. Follow the same method of sauteeing the vegetable until nearly done, adding the spice mix, stirring to coat well and then cover and cook for 5 mins till vegetable is fully cooked and infused with spice flavours.
“The excellence of a gift lies in its appropriateness rather than in its value.” ― Charles Dudley Warner
While I don't have much of a clue on what everybody likes, I think I have a fair idea on what's a good gift for a food-lover. Most of my finds are online, for everyone's convenience of course. This post is not sponsored by any stores / brands, just a collection of things I've found beautiful and useful. Gorgeous Cake Stand
Source: Zansaar.com
Whether you like baking or whether you like buying cute cupcakes, this two tiered Price Kensington vintage looking cake stand is the perfect way to display cupcakes, muffins or cake slices. It's fun to serve sandwiches or even dried fruits to visitors on this stand. Anyone who loves to bake is going to be super thrilled to get this as a gift. INR 1295. Check out some of the small kitchen appliances, such as milk frother, hand mixers etc. on this website, Severin brand from Germany, brilliant designs at reasonable prices, you're sure to find a gift in your budget. Where: zansaar.com Utilitarian- Chic Mason Jars
Source: Urbandazzle.com
If there's one thing in my kitchen that I guard fiercely from breakage, it's my set of 12 mason jars in which I store spices, lentils etc. It's the classiest kitchen storage ever. It's also turning very fashionable to serve drinks in these bottles with a straw tucked in. Whether it's for storing preserves, pickles or anything else you fancy, these are a much welcome addition to any kitchen. A perfect gift for a kitchen proud person. At INR1480 for six 500 ml bottles, it's pretty reasonable too! Where: urbandazzle.com
Luxury Tea Hampers I find a lot of people who are serious tea connoisseurs. They wouldn't take a sip of a tea whose origins / flush / estate they don't have knowledge of. If you have friends like these, there is a potential to wow/ woo them with specialty tea hampers. The online gourmet foods site, Gourmet Company has a tea crate containing 3 kinds of gourmet teas, honey, cookies and more. At INR 3500, I do find it a bit steep, but you can check the website and make your own hampers too. Godrej Nature's Basket also has a tea hamper that contains an assortment of gourmet teas, honey, biscuits and snacks at INR 2997. A lot of other gourmet foodstores like Foodhall, Nature's Basket have put together interesting hampers. You could choose from them depending on the cuisine your friends like. Where: Gourmetco.in | Godrej Nature's Basket
Oil Mister for the healthy cook
Source: Fabfurnish.com
If you are looking for a gift for a health food freak, take a look at this oil dispenser. You can fill in any oil of your choice and spray on the pan before cooking / baking for greasing the pan with minimal oil. At INR 417, it is a healthy deal. Where: Fabfurnish.com Curvy Whiskey Decanter
Source: urbandazzle.com
Have a friend who loves her/his scotch? This elegant looking decanter is just what you are looking for. The Italian brand Luigi Bormioli Spirits Decander with a capacity of 700ml (INR 990) is sure to make that expensive single malt look even better. My personal favourite on this site which I intend to gift myself are these very vintage oilers.
The good fellows at Indian Wine List have put together an exclusive box of 3 wines - an Italian bubbly from Veneto, a small production of Rose from Piedmont (Italy) specially made for the Indian market and a rich, smooth Syrah from Languedoc-Roussilion, France. All this for just INR 4199 for delivery in Mumbai & INR 4700 for delivery in Bangalore & Delhi, I must say it is an irresistible offer. There are only 20 boxes up for grabs, so needless to say, you gotta hurry!
This elegant mahogany breakfast tray is the perfect way to start a lazy morning. It's a long lasting gift and the receiver will remember you fondly each time he has his morning tea and newspaper served on this tray. That it's someone else's responsibility to fill up that tray each morning, is a concern, but that shouldn't worry you. This is one gift that will be truly appreciated. At INR 2499, it's real VFM. Where: Urbanladder.com
Cooking Lessons
For those who love to cook, check out the websites of cooking classes, cooking studios in your city, and see if you can gift them a cooking class or an experience. Or you could allow your friend to choose a class of their choice, which is prepaid for. Classes are usually priced INR 1500 upwards. Where: Studio Fifteen, Mumbai | APB Cook Studio, Mumbai | Something's Cooking, Bangalore
Homemade Gourmet Gifts What do you give someone who has everything? Put together a handmade hamper. Your special spice mix, a selection of dried herbs from your garden, a bottle of homemade pesto, home baked biscottis, homemade vanilla extract, liquors or preserves, a little bottle of each makes a pretty package and shows the time and effort you have gone through to put together something special. Something that comes close to homemade are these FoodTribe Binge Boxes. Put together your own Food Tribe box for INR 299/399/499.
So, what's your favourite kind of gift to receive? Spotted any interesting food related gift online? Do share!
I'm a Bombay girl, born, brought up and spent all my years in that city. In fact, my maternal family has been in Bombay for three generations before me, so our attachment to that cuty is deep rooted. I've been out of my home city for some 4 years now and while I surely don't miss the burgeoning crowds, the crazy way my heart would stay in my mouth until I boarded that local train and got inside the compartment or the fear of a bike running over my feet the second I stepped out of my building, I do miss the other things about the city. The beautiful open air markets is surely one of them. And the other is the food. Vile Parle, where I spent my last 4 years in Bombay was a veritable Mecca of street food and it's generally amazing how that city has something for everybody. Now, Maharashtrian cuisine, is quite different from the Bombay street food. It is divided into several regions such as coastal, Kolhapuri, Puneri etc. While i'm not the best person to be talking about all the regional variations, I can tell you what my top favourites are - there's Kanda Pohe (Onion Poha) which with chai is the best breakfast I can think of. There's Misal Pav which is that perfect 4 pm snack, where you get a small deep dish filled with spicy peas with a little gravy, that's perfectly mopped up by a piece of bread (pav). Also, the Maharashtrian style of making rotis, or Tel PoLi as it is called, is simply a most amazingly soft, muslin handkerchief like Indian bread, made of whole wheat flour. I was quite thrilled to hear about a Maharashtrian home style restaurant opening near my place and I'm happy to report that their 'poLi' hits the spot. You could eat 3 of them and still feel there's space for more. All that said, the ultimate delicious thing in Marathi cuisine for me, is this simple cucumber salad called 'Khamang Kakdi'. I tried this for the first time in the Marathi restaurant 'Diva Maharashtracha' in Mahim (Bombay) and fell head over heels in love with its taste & texture. While cucumber is a fairly palatable veggie as it is, in it's raw form, adding some condiments, some herbs and some spices to this, gives it a whole new personality. It goes as the perfect side dish to your regular roti and subzi. Try it and you'll not settle for any other random cucumber salad. I'm sure there are various ways to make this and many recipes, but this is how I make it.
Recipe for Khamang Kakdi (Maharashrian / Indian cucumber salad)
Serves 4
Time taken - Under 15 mins
Ingredients
2 large cucumbers, peeled and diced
1 tbsp freshly scraped coconut
2 tsp peanut oil or any other cooking oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
2 green chillies, finely sliced
pinch of asafoetida powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp chopped coriander
juice of 1/2 lemon or 2 tbsp yogurt (optional)
1/4 cup roasted peanuts, coarsely pound
Directions
In a big bowl, place the diced cucumber and coconut.
Heat the oil in a small pan. Temper the mustard and cumin seeds, curry leaves, chillies and add the asafoetida towards the end, just after you switch off the flame. Transfer this tempering over the cucumbers.
Add the salt, coriander and toss well, adding the lemon or yogurt if using.
Serve immediately or refrigerate, adding the peanuts and tossing well just before serving, so that they remain crunchy.
Serve with poLi/roti and vegetable curry or eat as it is as a snack time salad.
I cannot be a self respecting food blogger and not post a pumpkin recipe for that time of the year when pumpkins are omnipresent on the internet. Actually, I didn't even realise this when I made this stew for dinner. Indians don't need a time of the year to use pumpkin. It is cooked round the year in several dishes - curries, sambars, a kootu with dals and lots more. In fact, pumpkin is such an everyday thing, that most Indian families love to hate it (familiarity breeds contempt and so on) and cannot understand what the hype & hoopla over pumpkin is all about, during this time of the year in other countries. Using pumpkin in desserts like cakes, cookies, muffins, pies etc. is not a very Indian thing, because none of the above dishes are primarily of Indian origin. There is of course a delicious Pumpkin Halwa (fudge) served in wedding feasts and other such auspicious occasions.
This stew is a healthy way to eat pumpkin and a perfect one pot dish for a chilly evening. Very little chopping and the fact that it simmers itself into a dish without much of supervision, makes it an easy post-work dinner too. This recipe serves two but you could easily double the quantities for a larger families. It's not something I'd call a glamourous dish, but something that's surely hearty, comforting and super healthy.
Lentils, Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Stew Serves 2 Ingredients 1/3rd cup dry whole masoor dal, soaked in warm water for 2 hours 1 tbsp olive oil 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 cup diced yellow pumpkin ~200 grams 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and sliced, 1 cm thick slices 1 tsp dried thyme 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tbsp tomato paste* or 3 tbsp tomato puree 1 tsp ground cumin or ground fennel 1 tsp of ground black pepper 1/4 tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp of hungarian paprika or 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder Directions In a medium sized saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and saute for few seconds (do not brown), add the diced pumpkin and sweet potato slices. Saute on high flame for 30 seconds. Reduce the flame. Drain the soaked (rehydrated) whole masoor and add to the pan. Stir for a minute or so. Add all the spices & herbs, stir well for few seconds, add 3 cups of boiling water to this and bring to a simmer. Cover and let this simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils are soft but holding their shape. Towards the end, add the tomato paste dissolved in 2 tbsp of hot water, to the stew, bring to a simmer and then remove into a bowl to serve. Serve hot with a slice of crusty bread or crackers or as it is.
Bear with me. More kiddie recipes coming your way. It's holiday time and I'm trying to combine my love for cooking, my son's gourmet palate and his endless two week long vacation to do something productive. I keep buying a kilo of apples each time, with intentions of making an apple pie. As the days progress, with my decreasing pie-making resolve, the apples start going into salads, with peanut butter for my snack or just hang around in the fruit basket until they die a slow death. Today, son and me, came up with this idea. So what if we don't make pie, we can make pie like pancakes. And that's how this came about. He helped chop the apples, measure out the ingredients and we made these together to the endless patter of "mummy, I will FLIP the pancakes. I love flipping."
It was so delicious and we nearly had a fork fight towards the end for the last bit. This makes a perfect holiday breakfast or an after school snack. Just keep the apples prepped and the batter prepared before they're back from school and two minutes is all it takes. I've made this a tad healthier by replacing part of the refined flour by whole wheat flour. Orange zest is entirely optional, but I believe it adds a lot of flavour to the mix. Use a fine grater to grate the skin of the orange, but not until you reach the white bitter part.
Apple Pie Pancakes Makes 4 6" pancakes Ingredients 1/2 cup refined flour 1/4 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 2 tbsp sugar 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder 1 pinch salt 1 cup milk 2 tsp white vinegar 2 large apples 1 tsp butter + some more to cook pancakes 1 tbsp sugar 1/2 tsp orange zest (optional) 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
Directions In a bowl, mix the flours, baking powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon powder with a whisk. Make a well, add the milk and vinegar. Gently mix together with a fork. Let this batter rest for 10 minutes. Scrub the apples under running water. Core the apples and dice them into small pieces with skin. Heat 1 tsp butter in non stick pan. Add the diced apples, sugar, cinnamon powder, orange zest and toss them under low flame for 5 minutes or so, until apples are slightly soft and nicely golden. Wipe the non stick skillet dry and place on medium heat, grease with some butter and pour a ladle full of batter. Don't spread it thin. Dot some butter around the pancake. When you see bubbles around the edges, it is time to flip over. Each side takes around 2 mins to cook and get golden, this depends on the thickness of your pancakes though. Once done, remove on a plate and top with a layer of prepared apples. Fold over or serve as it is. Best eaten hot.
The Zesty Salads class of 5th October was much fun (pictures). The registrations for the class of 19th October are closed now. There's a weekday class on 23rd October morning with a few seats open. Please follow the Saffron Trail Facebook page for all updates on upcoming classes and share this with your friends in Whitefield & rest of Bangalore who may be interested.
The two week holidays are back and it's that time of the year when I struggle to find ways to interest my pre-schooler boy outside of the iPad or DVDs. Last afternoon, it was baking time. I pulled out the Muffins Bible from the bookshelf, read out the recipe for Blueberry muffins to the son, made him wear his spiderman apron, spread newspapers on the kitchen table and we were all set to bake together. He promptly recruited my househelp as the sous chef's sous chef, i mean, his sous chef. We measured out the dry ingredients, and the boy threatened to stir it with so much enthusiasm that I thought there would be more flour outside the bowl than inside it. When it was time to crack the eggs, he wanted to do it all by himself, breaking each of them like coconuts on the tines of the fork. My househelp's heart was in her mouth, in the fear that how much clean up we'd have to do if he broke the eggs on the floor. Thankfully, it wasn't that much of a disaster. We managed to fill up the muffin cups and when I turned around to put it in the preheated oven, guess what I see? When my attention had turned elsewhere for a nanosecond, he had cranked up oven temperature to 250C, changed the oven setting to 'grill' - one crazy sous chef indeed. After some rectifications, the muffin tin finally went inside and then he sat almost burning his nose by touching it to the oven glass, to wait for them to be ready.
Finally when it was out, he didn't mind his tongue getting burnt but he had to taste them immediately. This morning, I asked him if he could recall how we made the muffins, this is what he drew. This made me a happy mom :)
Lemon & Blueberry Muffins Makes 15 medium sized muffins
Ingredients 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 cup all purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup oil or 1/2 cup oil + 1/4 cup melted butter 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 eggs 1 cup milk (at room temperature) Zest of two lemons Juice of 2 lemons 1 cup blueberries* (frozen or fresh) Directions Preheat the oven at 190°C. In a large bowl, mix the flours, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and mix well with a fork or a whisk. Whisk the oil / butter, vanilla extract, eggs and milk in another bowl. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice, give it a quick whisk and add this to the big bowl of dry ingredients. Gently fold in the blueberries. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper liners or grease them well with butter. Divide the batter between the 12 muffin holes. If there's any extra, make in the next batch, or bake a baby cake with left over batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops are golden brown. Shopping Guide I used frozen blueberries that goes by the brand Delishh, found in the freezer section of Auchan Supermarket (Gopalan Mall), KR Puram. Rs.215 for 200 grams, they were of reasonably good size and freshness. This freeezer section also stocked frozen raspberries and blackberries. My Doodle recipe is a part of Easy Doodle Recipe contest at BlogAdda.com in association with TastyKhana.com
There's news to share with you. Because here's where it all started. Over 7 years ago. Cooking, writing about it, sharing recipes and the love for food. Teaching how to cook would seem like a natural progression after soaking myself in cooking and baking for over a decade and yet somehow it's taken me this long to finally take the plunge into this joyous role of being a food teacher. I started with a few sessions for the women and kids in my residence complex and driven by their encouragement and suggestions, I've finally started Saffron Trail Kitchen.
Last month, we had a most fulfilling session on Baking Basics with a crowd of most enthusiastic and fun girls. The baked goodies were tasted over cups of tea and coffee. And my first batch of students have been bombarding me with pics of their baked stuff on Whatsapp, that they've tried at home and it brings me so much joy. The next class I've scheduled is on Salads. My friend, Nandini says, this class is right up my alley and I can't help but grin. Moving to Bangalore, growing some little herbs and greens on my terrace garden has been the inspiration for many a salad. Friends who've tasted my salads (pardon me if this sounds like gloating) have always had a good word to say about them. It's all about the combination of fresh ingredients, paired with dressings and some glamourous components and you have a wow-inducing salad.
My salad class, called 'Zesty Salads' makes its debut this Saturday. I want to show you that salads are anything but boring, can make a whole meal and can be put together using absolutely any ingredients you have on hand. My recipe notes are typed out, ingredients' shopping list written down and orders placed. The rocket and the different kinds of lettuce are waiting to be plucked on the morning of the class, so that they are at their freshest best.
This is a beautiful and exciting world I'm stepping into, where I can share my love for cooking, my knowledge of food and nutrition with those who share my passion. This blog which started off as a personal food diary slowly reached out to a food loving audience, over the years garnered a large readership, finally in its 8th year of existence, connects directly with the people who love to cook, face to face. I'm planning to do repeat sessions of the salads class, because of the demand and it's sort of the need of the hour, to eat healthy, eat fresh and keep it exciting. The classes will be held at Whitefield, Bangalore. If you are interested in learning to make the most amazing salads, do mail me at saffrontrail AT gmail DOT com - so I can schedule the further classes. I do have a few other classes in mind, but so unlike me to let all the cats out of the bag at once, right? Also mail me with your suggestions on what you'd like to learn from me, given that you know my style of cooking & baking, I'd be thrilled to hear from you.
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