I'm working on a post on top 5 restaurants for home-delivery in Whitefield, Bangalore. It is something we have struggled with for quite some time, to figure out where to order food from and not be stunned by the level of spice or nearly die of hunger from the waiting period involved. Sometimes when I have been too bored or tired to cook (yes, it happens to me too:P ) due to lack of any decent delivery options, I have pushed myself to make a simple dal-rice meal. So yes, it is important to have a few go-to home delivery options around! If you have a fail-proof recco, do leave a comment below :) If you are looking at ordering food during the holidays, do check out the Food Panda website or you can even download the app (for Android), and search by location. You can pay for the food online and it will even tell you what the average waiting period is.
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At home, during the amla season, they are usually bought in bulk and steeped in brine, for use throughout the year. Also, keeping them in brine, mellows their sourness, and makes them available throughout the year. These are also made into delicious pickles, which as a kid, we would eat a piece and then drink water, and then thrilled that the water tasted sweet when it was drunk after eating amla pickle.
The raita is made in Tambrahm homes, called Nellikai Thayir Pachidi, is a variant of Maanga Thayir Pachidi, where tender raw mangoes soaking in chilli-brine (called vadu maanga) are drained out, and a few of them ground in the mixer along with some fresh coconut and added to yogurt. Some dishes like these speak so much of 'home' because you will never find it in a restaurant. In this pachidi or raita, I have not used coconut, but you can grind the deseeded cooked or brine soaked amla with some coconut and use in the recipe. 100 gram of Indian gooseberry provides 4.3 gram of dietary fiber and nearly half the daily requirement of vitamin C. How apt that it makes its appearance in December in India, when people are susceptible to sniffles and flu during season change. Buy these natural immunity boosters when in season and use them in your daily diet.
Recipe for Amla Raita / Gooseberry in yogurt / Nellikkai Thayir Pachidi Serves 4 Ingredients 8-12 gooseberries (amla / nellikai) pinch of turmeric powder salt 400 ml yogurt 2 tsp cooking oil 1/2 tsp cumin seeds pinch of asafoetida 1/2 tsp red chilli powder 1 green chili 1 tsp sugar Directions In a small pressure cooker, place 1/2 cup water with pinch of turmeric powder and 1/2 tsp salt. Add the whole gooseberries (amla) to this. Pressure cook for two whistles, switch off flame and allow to cool. If you don't have pressure cooker, you can boil this until cooked, will take around 10 minutes+ Once the cooker is cool enough to handle, drain out gooseberries. Using a grater (coarse one is better), grate the cooked gooseberries, discarding the seed and pith in the center. In a bowl, whisk the yogurt with 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar. In a tadka ladle or a small pan, heat 2 tsp oil. Splutter the cumin seeds, add the asafoetida, green chilli and the red chili powder. Turn off heat immediately so red chilly powder does not burn. Transfer it to the yogurt and whisk until combined. Garnish with coriander or green chillies (optional) Serve with pulao or with roti and subzi. My menu was alu-gobhi-mutter, grated carrot salad, amla raita and phulkas :)
Fenugreek or methi is one of my favourite greens. In Bombay markets, we would find two varieties - one with the bigger leaves, somewhat milder and ones that were sold in tiny tight bunches, small leaves, more like shoots, and these were intensely flavoured. I don't seem to find the latter in Bangalore, so I make do with the big leaf variety. Methi greens are bursting with freshness in winter and the aroma wafting through the kitchen is so delicious and warming on a winter day. I have quite a few favourite recipes with methi - the first one being Thepla, a Gujarati roti which has quite a few spices and is good to eat on its own. The other is a Methi Muthia that is added to Undhiyo, another Guju winter specialty. I also like adding finely chopped methi leaves sauteed in ghee, along with other spices to dal. It tastes unique and delicious. Do find kitchen gardening tip on how to grow methi at the end of the post (and hey, also a coupon from ShopPirate). Gujus love their theplas, they have it for a snack with tea, or even the previous day's leftovers for breakfast. These also make the perfect travel food or for kiddie lunchbox. It's dry and doesn't make a mess, just roll one up and munch! This is an easy unleavened flatbread recipe with whatever fresh greens you can lay your hands on and trust me it is delicious.
Methi Thepla
Recipe for Methi Thepla Makes 10-12 Ingredients 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (atta) 1/4 cup besan (gram flour) 1 tbsp sesame seeds 1/4 tsp turmeric powder 2 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger 1/2 - 1 tsp red chilli powder 1/4 tsp ajwain seeds (omam in tamil, bishop's weed in english) 1/2 overripe banana, mashed (optional) 1 big bunch methi / fenugreek leaves (1-1.5 cups when cleaned and finely chopped) 1.5 tsp salt 1/2 cup mildly sour yogurt ( To make this recipe vegan, omit yogurt and use water) 2 tsp oil plus more oil to cook rotis Directions Prepare the methi leaves by cutting off the roots and tough stems. Soak the rest in a big bowl of water or in the sink, swish until all the soil falls off. Remove them out and repeat process 2-3 times. Drain well, and finely chop the leaves and tender stems. The chopped methi leaves should fill 1-2 cups. In a large bowl, or a parath, which is a traditional dough mixing wide dish, add all the ingredients, except the oil. A word about the methi leaves - they must be really finely chopped and since their flavour is the star of this recipe, the more the merrier. But if you are just getting used to their taste, then you can start with a lesser quantity. Using the yogurt and if required some more water, bind this to a reasonably tight dough, as the salt will release some water from the leaves, so you need to keep that in mind. Towards the end, add 2 tsp of oil and give it a final knead. Cover and keep aside for 20-30 minutes. Now, roll out time! Divide the dough into 10 or 12 portions. To make the theplas (or any other flatbread), you need to keep the following things ready.
A rolling base or a large wooden chopping board
A rolling pin
a small dish with wheat flour
a heavy based skillet or Tava
some vegetable oil in a cup with a spoon, used for cooking the thepla
a flat steel or wooden spatula to turn over the theplas
a hot box with a tea-towel or cotton cloth to hold the cooked theplas
Start heating the skillet before you roll out the first thepla, so it is sufficiently hot, when you are done rolling it. If you are a newbie cook, then I recommend you roll out half the theplas, and lay them out on a clean counter, cook them one by one, roll out the remaining and then proceed similarly. This is beacause you may not be able to multitask between rolling and cooking simultaneously.
Flatten one ball of dough, dip both sides in the dish containing flour. Pat out any excess flour.
Place it on the rolling base, using rolling pin, thin it out uniformly, to as thin a circle as you can, sprinkling some flour intermittently so that it does not stick to the base. You can watch my video on How to make phulka roti, to learn the rolling out process. The cooking process is not the same though.
Place this on the hot skillet. When small bubbles seem to appear, turn it around and apply 1/2 tsp of oil around this cooked side, spread it uniformly with a spoon. By this time, the second side would have got golden spots, so turn it over once again, and oil this side similarly. Turn over one last time, on this oiled side, so that the oil doesn't smell raw.
You can now press down the whole roti with the spatula so it is cooked through.
Typically, if you roll it out really thin, it should not take more than 45 seconds per side to cook. It all depends on the thickness of the roti, so ensure you first cook it dry, then oil it, then cook once again by pressing through both the sides.
Save these in a hot casserole box or serve immediately. These also taste great cold, rolled up and had with masala chai. Notes: You can make this vegan by omitting yogurt, and using only water to bind the dough. A squeeze of half a lemon will give it some extra flavour, when you omit the yogurt. I know of Gujarati families that add a spoonful of sugar while binding the dough, again to balance out the flavours and to neutralise the mild bitterness of methi, but this is entirely optional. The mashed ripe banana is used for this very effect, so if you use that, then don't use the sugar. Kitchen Garden Tip: Soak seeds in water for four hours, discard floating seeds (these won’t germinate) and sow the others, in a flat tray with good quality soil + compost, or in the ground. Snip as you see methi leaves coming up and you will get new leaves again. This can be done for 3-4 times.
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Mini Gujarati Thali
Stay tuned for other recipes from this Thali in my Gujarati recipe series.
When the 'KitchenAid turns Santa' mail landed in my mailbox couple of weeks ago, I was all excited to take part in this contest. Not only because the prize is a much coveted KitchenAid 4.8 L Tilt Head Stand Mixer, but I always love a good cooking challenge. A recipe using nutmeg, cinnamon or all spice is just so perfect for the Christmas season. Also, it was my redemption because I was too lazy to get into the small scale industry of making Christmas Cake for my family and friends, this year.
Prep for orange compote
This morning, I peeled off the orange skins, cut them up, cleaned up orange segments, threw them into a pot with sugar and then got on to sipping my coffee and reading the Sunday papers, while the compote cooked itself. In this matter of zesting, I MUST share this secret with you. If you don't have a citrus zester, don't worry. The dear husband got me one from Williams Sonoma store in NYC, unfortunately that one just doesn't work on our Indian lemons or the loose jacketed Nagpur oranges. So here's my epic tip for you. The Tupperware vegetable peeler does a fantastic job of peeling the thinnest slice off the peel, which you can stack up and cut into thin slivers. Trust me, when you've used this peeler, you'll be left wondering how you ever managed without it. Coming back to the holiday spiced thumbprint cookies, these are some of the easiest to make and yet so glamourous! The jam once baked gets a lovely stained glass look. You could even make it with 3 different coloured jams to get an assortment of colours. My recipe is an attempt to make it with lesser butter and substituting 2/3rds of the all purpose flour (maida) with healthier flours. But you can totally go ahead and make it with 100% all purpose flour- the results will only be better. If you are short of time, use any jam with high fruit content, instead of making compote from scratch. This compote is bursting with citrus flavours that come from the zest and pulp, resonating with deep notes of cinnamon and clove, giving it that xmassy touch.
Spiced orange compote
Link to entire Printable Recipe Recipe for Orange Compote Makes 1/2 Cup Preparation time: 10-15 minutes Cooking time (mostly inactive): 30 minutes Ingredients 2-3 tbsp orange zest 1/3 Cup sugar Segments of 3 oranges (pith, peel and seeds removed), cut into smaller pieces 4 cloves 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1-2 tsp water Directions Take all of the above in a heavy bottomed pan and simmer until thick and syrupy and the orange segments have completely broken down. Stir occasionally. This takes around 20 minutes and more if you have added more water to the mixture. Once done, fish out the 4 cloves and discard. Keep aside to cool. You can bottle this and use it for any other dessert. A dash of orange liquor will add a lot of flavour to this as well.
Orange compote filled in bag for easy piping
For thumbprint cookies, spoon the compote into a plastic bag or ziploc, sealing the top off with a rubberband or so. Keep aside.
Recipe for Spiced Thumbprint Cookies - A healthier version Makes 18-20 cookies Preparation Time- 15 minutes Waiting time- Minimum 1 hour Baking Time- 20 minutes Ingredients 1/4 cup soft butter (57 grams) 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 egg 1/2 tsp orange oil or use 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 cup foxtail millet flour 1/4 tsp Nutmeg powder ( I use Keya) 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder ( I use Keya) 1/2 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter) 1-2 tsp milk (optional, only if required) Directions Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream the butter until fluffy, for 1 minute or so. Add the sugar and cream again until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and orange oil (or vanilla extract) and whisk well until combined. In another bowl, mix the flours and spice powders with a whisk until combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine until it forms a smooth dough. Use up to 1-2 tsp milk if the mixture is dry, to aid in forming a smooth dough. Remove the dough into airtight container and chill for 1 hour or more.
Easy to make indents using a round spoon like this oil spoon
Preheat oven at 175°C and prepare a baking tray with parchment paper or silicone mat. Remove the dough from the fridge and pinch out walnut sized balls. Roll into a smooth ball and place on the prepared tray. Roll out the remaining dough similarly and place on the tray, leaving space between two cookie balls. With your thumb or a round spoon, make an indentation in the center of the cookie. Take the plastic cone filled with compote, snip a small diagonal piece in a corner and fill each indentation with some compote. You can also spoon a bit of compote into each cookie, but the snipped cone gives a neater effect.
Ready to bake
Bake these for 15-18 minutes until golden around the edges. Cool on a wire rack and serve when cooled. Store in airtight container. Foxtail millet flour, like any other flour gives a somewhat coarse texture to this cookie, so if you are not a fan of that, you can use 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup all purpose flour, or experiment with any other healthy flours instead. This recipe goes to the KitchenAid turns Santa Bloggers' Contest held across five countries. Get a special ‘Christmas Frosting Kit’ as gift with purchase of the iconic KitchenAid 4.8 L Tilt Head Stand Mixer from 1st-31st December 2014, and make delectable memories this Christmas. For more details, visit www.christmas.kitchenaidapac.com#KitchenAidTurnsSanta For PRINTABLE RECIPE, click here
Few of my readers from abroad wrote in to ask what foodie-gifts can they gift their family back in India-what's hot and what's not kinda information. Every holiday season I love to do a compilation, and most times I do end up compiling a list :) So here's my list on fun and useful gifts for a kitchen-proud person, or someone who loves to cook. I for sure, would be a happy camper to receive any of these. They are not really Christmas specific, but quite right for any occasion. These things are quite trendy in India right now, and if I were not on a clutter reducing spree, I'd buy every one of them (the ones I don't have already, that is).
Herb seeds - Kitchen gardening
Kitchen Gardening is quite the in-thing these days and everyone with a little sunny spot on a window sill wants to grow something. For people who love to cook, there’s nothing as useful as herbs growing in pots in the kitchen window sill. How wonderful to be able to stretch out, and pluck a few herbs to do a fresh garnish over food! Fresh herbs elevate the flavour of food hugely and as someone who uses them regularly, I can vouch for that! This set of herb seeds makes a lovely gift for a garden proud person or even someone who is a newbie gardener, for they can easily sow them in pots with minimum help from a local nursery.
Bakeware set
One can never have enough loaf tins or baking sheets. This 3 piece set from Alda that I use extensively, is something every home baker will appreciate. It’s regular stuff, alright, but something that can be used on a day to day basis. Not something that will stay stacked away in the attic only to be give away later! For the no-nonsense practical person who loves to bake, this one will make an apt gift.
Oil Mister - Foodie gifts
An oil mister is a super tool when you want to cook / grill with just a spray of oil. What’s more, you can flavour the oil as per your liking. Garlic, herbs, chillies, you name it, you can get a spray of your favourite flavour of infused oil. The Mastrad oil mister is a trusted brand, and its less than 5 calories per spray!
Stainless Steel cookware - Foodie Gifts
Heavy duty stainless-steel pans are the best to cook in. Not only do they look very professional, it is safe as there is no risk of any non-stick coating chemicals leaching into your food. They also look good enough to serve on the table. This 3.3L Wellberg Turbo Cook Frypan is perfect for making curries, stews, soups.
Handheld Milk Frother
If you follow my blog, or have attended my workshop, you will know that the handheld milk frother is my favourite little appliance. To froth the milk for your coffee, or to blend dressings in seconds to a thick creamy consistency, or to beat 1-2 eggs, it is just perfect. You may need to buy a couple, one for coffee and one for other purposes Please remember this is a delicate appliance, used to froth a single cup of milk, or a small portion or dressing or one egg. It's not a substitute for a hand blender (like the disappointed comments on Amazon indicate) :)
Air Fryer
Air Fryer is a fabulous gift for yourself or a loved one, who love their fried nibbles but are making an attempt to lead a healthier life. The fries do turn out unbelievable and it is, to put it straight, a mini oven on steroids, so you can even bake the pizzas, cakes and muffins in a jiffy. Do read my detailed review on the Philips Air Fryer.
Whistling Kettle
This teal whistling tea kettle is the stuff tea-times are made of. It’s a no-brainer to gift this to a tea-loving friend or relative. An array of loose leaf teas or tea bags, a tea pot, slices of sandwiches and tea cakes, how I would love to attend such a tea-party!
I have an exhaustive Chettinad cookbook, written by a family friend. I must say it is one of the most flavourful cuisines from the South of India, and so much more to offer than just Chicken Chettinad. Surprise someone who loves to cook ethnic Indian cuisine with this book, The Bangala Table. I have only heard good things about this book, from anyone who has bought a copy.
The newest cookbook from superchef Yotam Ottolenghi’s stable, Plenty More, is something I can’t wait to lay my hands on. His unique way of playing with vegetables and simple style of cooking is appealing to both new and experienced cooks and a gift that will be much appreciated. Disclaimer: Please note that the Amazon links and affiliate links and your purchase via them will help support the blog in a small way. However, you will not be charged anything extra for the same. Thank you!
Tweet Thanksgiving is round the corner and Pinterest is so full of Cranberry recipes. Apparently, this was one of the three fruits growing wild in North East America and beyond its edible uses, it was also used to dye rugs, clothes. It was clearly a part of the diet of the Native Americans and that's how it has become an inherent part of Thanksgiving dinners since the 1600s. Cranberries lend a burst of sharp sourness to any sweet bake, adding a totally new dimension of taste, not to mention, a gorgeous red colour, that is pleasing to the eye. My generous neighbour left me a big stash of groceries when she was moving out from Bangalore to Dubai, stuff she had been saving in her freezer, brought in from different parts of the world. Among other things, there was this bag of frozen cranberries. It has been staring at me in the eye, each time I open my freezer compartment and I've been wondering how to put them to good use. I have only eaten cranberries in dried form. The fresh berry in frozen form is MUCH tarter, something that will make you screw your eyes shut as your tastebuds tingle. Cranberry pairs well with white chocolate, as the latter is intensely sweet and the sour of the berry adds such a perfect contrast to it. Orange is also an excellent partner to cranberries, bringing to the table, a mellower tartness and a beautiful citrusy fragrance. This loaf can be made with rehydrated dried cranberries or with any other berries you can lay your hands on. Strawberries are in season in Bangalore now and you can chop them into bite sized pieces and use instead of cranberries.
The house was filled with the most amazing aromas when this loaf was baking. Who needs room fresheners, when you can bake your cake and have it too, really! A bite from one slice had the right level of sweetness. The tartness of cranberries mellows down considerably after baking and the coating in a little sugar surely helped that along. The sweet bursts from the chocolate chunks felt so complimentary to the sour bursts of fruit. It made a perfect bite, beautifully balanced in flavours and boy, was it gorgeous to look at! These are my favourite kind of bakes, simple and delicious :) Do bribe one of your friends travelling abroad to get you a pack of cranberries or try them with what you find locally, you won't be disappointed at all!
Cranberry Orange Loaf Makes 12 slices Ingredients 2 cups all purpose flour 1.5 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 cup sugar 1 egg 3 tbsp oil 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice zest of one orange 4-5 drops of orange oil flavouring (optional) or Use Vanilla extract 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, roughly chopped and tossed in sugar 1/2 cup mix of milk chocolate and white chocolate, chips or roughly chopped Directions Grease a loaf tin and keep aside. Preheat oven to 175 C. In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients until combined. In a medium bowl, beat the egg with the oil. Add the orange juice, zest and orange extract and whisk well together. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir gently to combine, finally stirring in sugar coated cranberries and chocolate chips. Scrape out the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake at 175 C (350F) in the middle rack, for 50 minutes to an hour, until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from oven,allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Carefully, loosen the sides and turn it out on a cooling rack. Let it cool. Slice and serve with a cup of tea.
For the uninitiated, it was neither Pepsi nor Coca Cola. They were these deliciously icy sticks available in various eye catching colours and myriad flavours, all 100% artificial, I assure you. The ones made with water were 25-50 paise a stick and the one made with milk were 50 paise - 1 Rupee, depending on whether you got a half sized one or a tall one. It was nothing but a slim pencil like plastic casing filled with liquid and kept frozen, so it could be eaten like a portable popsicle without the worry of the melting ice spilling on you. The melted remains inside the plastic case were slurped up in the end. Walking back from the school to the public transport bus stand in the hot afternoon sun, this was something to look forward to. It was always had on the sly as my grandpa would never approve me eating foods whose hygiene standards were quite suspect. Also, any cough or cold I'd fall prey to, would be instantly blamed on the cold stuff eaten, so I had to keep my affair with Pepsi cola a secret. What started in high school last well into junior college days. Conveniently, there would always be a mom and pop kinda store selling these cheap treats near every school and college, fully knowing the lure they were presenting to their young target audience. Oh yeah, we did 'graduate' to 2 rupee a piece stick kulfi in the later years, and 'pepsi colas' became a forgotten thing, that had provided some sweet excitement to those hot summer days. A few days ago when my son said he wants to make popsicle with milk and his regular malt, my childhood love of all things icy came back to me. Freezing anything in childhood, even a cube of ice was something fraught with much fascination and naughtiness. Forbidden fruit and all that. So when he said he wanted to mix LOTS of Bournvita into milk and pour into molds* and make popsicles, I felt like a kid myself. The idea is my son's, who will turn 6 shortly. He did confess that the idea was not entirely his own and that he had watched this in an ad on TV. Do we see a pattern here? His instructions to me were - "Take some milk, mix in 4 BIG spoons of Bournvita and pour into popsicle molds. We'll eat it once it is frozen." Where to buy Popsicle Molds - These could be available in the Plastic section of your local supermarket, or they are also available on Amazon - regular and Mickey. If your kid is not a fan of milk, trust me, you will see them slurping these popsicles with no further nudging.
Recipe for Malted Milk Popsicles Makes 2 Ingredients1/2 cup milk 1 tbsp custard powder (vanilla or butterscotch) 2 tbsp malted beverage of choice 2 tsp sugar Directions Whisk the custard powder into cold milk and bring to a simmer with sugar and malted beverage. Once it coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn on the spoon stays intact, bring to cool in a sink or big bowl of water. Very lightly oil the insides of the popsicle mould. Pour the mixture into 2 moulds, cover with lids and freeze for 6-8 hours. Remove when frozen and slurp, one for your kid and one for you :) Variations You can also make thick milkshakes using bananas, chikoos, custard apples and fill them in the moulds, with some frozen berries thrown in for colourful healthy frozen treats.
So you want to have a little kitchen garden? Don’t let the word ‘garden’ discourage you. A few pots on a sunny window sill, a foot wide soil around your compound, or even a bunch of pots on the waterproofed terrace can all turn into a productive little ‘garden’. The most important thing is to start small, with easy to grow plants. A few thumb rules apply for kitchen gardening. Soil used to grow any vegetable should be well aerated, neither too loose nor too compact. The depth of the soil needs to be more than one foot. The soil should retain moisture, for example, a mix of red soil clay, small pebbles, vermicompost and once the seed has germinated, cover the top layer with dried leaves. It is worthwhile to do a germination test before sowing. Soak seeds in water for 4 hours, discard floating seeds (these wont germinate) and sow the others. The best time to sow is when there will be three hours of sunlight post sowing, so around 9-10 am in most places would be a good time. You can start with either seed or sapling. For newbie gardeners, saplings cut down on the waiting time and also the chances of the seed not germinating or getting affected by pests in the early stages and leading to disappointment.
Lavender
HERBS
I personally started my kitchen garden experiments with a few herbs in my tiny Bombay apartment balcony. The joy in garnishing a dish of pasta with a freshly plucked leaf of Italian basil was unparalleled. That’s the magic of herbs. A little goes a long way, and they are most flavourful when they go straight from pot to plate. Be it basil, rosemary, thyme or mint. Also, unless you are making a pesto (in which case you need lots of basil) you need just a few leaves, for which you don’t need to buy a big expensive bunch from the supermarket. Don’t ignore the Indian favourite, Tulsi or holy basil. It is excellent in teas to prevent or soothe a bad throat. A sprig of tulsi in a jug of water imparts a delicate flavour and subtle health benefits. Mint easily grows from sprigs that you have bought from the market. It covers ground very quickly, so it is best grown in pots. Curry leaves, a South Indian favourite, grow best in the soil as the roots go quite deep. Curry leaf sapling is available in most big nurseries. When you buy lemongrass from a supermarket, choose one with the root end intact. After you use up the leaves, keep the root immersed in a jar of water for one week. Once new rootlets develop, this can be sown in soil and soon you’ll have lemongrass leaves sprouting out. These can be used in Thai curries and also to flavour masala chai.
My mum plucking chillies
CHILLIES While there are different varieties of chillies, kandhari is one that grows well in winters. We got nearly 3-4 kilos of this one from one plant in season. Obviously since they can’t all be used at once, we allowed them to ripen, dried them out in sun and now use it in daily cooking. These can be grown in pots, but the yield will not be as much as when grown directly in soil. You can use the seeds from any dried red chillies at home, to grow that particular variety.
Lettuce patch
OTHER GREENS Sow garlic cloves in soil and in a few days you’ll find green garlic shoots, which can be snipped and used in chutneys, curries etc. Salad greens like lettuce, rocket etc also grow well in shallow trays. Seeds are available in most online gardening stores. Celery is also easy to grow, both leaves and stems can be used in stocks, soups and salads.
Just harvested carrots
ROOTS
Red radish is a delight to grow as it is ready to harvest in 30 days. Don’t sow too many at a time, as you can eat all of them together. Also, don’t sow the seed deeper than 1-2 cm. To grow turmeric and ginger, bury a piece in the compost pot, sprinkle water every day and after few days bury it in soil along with some of the compost. This has better success rate. Turmeric leaves lend a delicate aroma to foods steamed by wrapping in them. Of course, it is used to tie around the pongal pot so it is the perfect time to put one in soil before the onset of winter.
Red radish <3 td="">
For inspiration, join relevant Facebook groups such as Grow Your Own Veggies, Organic Terrace Gardening which have many enthusiastic kitchen gardeners, ready with advice, suggestions and support. Attend local farmers markets, events like Oota from your Thota in Bangalore, or attend seed and sapling sharing events where you can buy seeds, saplings and get inspiration from the rest of the kitchen gardening community. Start small and bask in the joy of cooking with home grown herbs and vegetables. [With expert inputs from Alladi Mahadevan, organic farmer - theorganicfarm.in] Originally published in Hindu Business Line
[Disclaimer: Amazon affiliate links are provided for ease of browsing through relevant seeds available online. Purchasing through the links will support the saffrontrail blog. Thank you]
