Weekend Stuff

Dale places a possessive paw on his new toy, a moose.

Moose-y has a head that squeaks when it is pressed, and Dale loves to carry it around in his mouth all over the place. We have a Halloween pet parade in our neighborhood in a couple of weeks, and I'm dying to get Dalu into a costume for the occasion (he looks miserable every time I talk about it :D...Dale prefers the au naturel look). Any ideas for a simple doggie costume for this handsome pooch?

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Some delicious recipes from fellow bloggers:

1. I love roasted cauliflower in all its shapes and forms. Susan, the Food Blogga, posted a Crispy Breaded Cauliflower recipe that made my knees go weak. The idea of dipping florets into egg whites and then into breadcrumbs, then baking them to a glorious crispy finish- I took that concept and tried a variation of it. I made masala breadcrumbs by whizzing together 2 dried-out old slices of bread, 1 t cumin seeds, 1 t ajwain (carom seeds), red chilli powder, 1 T olive oil and salt in the food processor. The only problem: I was not able to get very fine breadcrumbs. I then dipped florets in beaten egg white, rolled them in the masala breadcrumbs and baked them as directed.

The result was so delicious and supremely crunchy. The coarse breadcrumbs did not stick on as well as they should have, hence the patchy look of the cauliflower, but this is totally worth a repeat. Maybe next time I will buy some panko (Japanese style breadcrumbs) and then spice them up. Of course, I also have to try out Susan's original recipe with the olive tapenade (there, my knees are going weak again).

2. For many months, I have been making my usual crunchy granola with minor variations. But I discovered an awesome granola recipe last week that is sure to become the new favorite. This recipe for small batch crunchy granola was shared by Anna of Cookie Madness.

I did follow the recipe exactly as it is, only scaling it up to 3 cups granola to fill a full-size cookie sheet. Oats and nuts are tossed with a sugar-water-vanilla mixture, then baked at a lower temperature for a longer time. The result, I have to admit, is a lot crunchier than my usual granola, and it stayed that way over the several days that we enjoyed this granola. And one ingredient is conspicuous by its absence; there is **no oil** in this recipe. YAY!

3. Finally, a delicious treat that I always thought was too challenging to make at home, made easy by a fellow blogger. Besan ladoos are made from a toasted chickpea flour-sugar-ghee (clarified butter) mixture, shaped into portion-controlled treats by loving hands.

Tee from Bhaatukli has shared an awesome recipe for microwave besan ladoo that takes all the effort out of besan ladoo-making. I followed her directions exactly and needed about 7-8 1-minute bursts in my microwave for the chickpea flour to get all fragrant and toasty. The last step, shaping the ladoos, is a workout that requires all the strength in your fist to get beautiful ladoos like Tee's. Mine were passable :) I took the ladoos over to the home of our friends. All four of us that were gathered there had not tasted besan ladoos for years and years, and the look of pure joy on our faces as we bit into these...priceless!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Weekend Stuff

Dale staring intently at a cookie, willing it to jump into his mouth...


Dale and I had a little adventure last Sunday. I was taking him down for an early-morning walk at 6.30 am when the elevator sunk a foot below ground-floor level in the shaft and the doors would not open. After 45 minutes of ringing a feeble "alarm" bell, a kind neighbor finally heard us, then called the fire department. They sent THREE fire trucks, complete with blaring sirens (to my utter embarrassment) and we were extracted from the elevator a short while later. Throughout the hour-long wait, Dale sat down patiently, with not a single whine. AND demonstrated superior bladder control, I might add! Anyway, when I related this incident to my parents, my mother had the last word as usual: "I have always thought elevators are nothing but trouble and this incident only proves it". OK, then :D

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A few weeks ago, I got an e-mail from Anjali, the owner of Supreme Spice (a small business dealing in premium spice extracts) asking if I would like to try out some of her products. Now, the concept of using a spice extract instead of the spice itself was a little alien to me and I hesistated, and then finally requested some ginger, cardamom and tea masala extracts, thinking that I could try all of these in my morning cup of tea.

Well, I am *so* glad that I got over my initial hesitation and decided to give these spice extracts a try, because in the last few weeks, I have thoroughly enjoying using them in a dozen different ways. For starters, I am amazed at the potent and "fresh" fragrance of the extracts. Each extract comes in a little bottle with a dropper for convenient use, and is thick and concentrated. 1-2 drops are more than enough to infuse a dish with incredible flavor. Indian-style Tea (chai), of course, is a wonderful way to use these three extracts that I have- I have been drinking ginger tea as a wake-me-up in the morning, cardamom tea as a relaxing after-work treat, and tea with spicy (yes, it is potent and spicy!) tea masala as an accompaniment to a good book on the weekends.

But the other wonderful use of these spice extracts is in baking and cooking. I used the ginger extract in many different ways- including some ice-cold refreshing ginger lemonade (Indian-style nimbu pani with a drop of ginger extract in each glass), gingery dal, and in some Asian-inspired food: ginger-scallion fried rice (to use up some left-over rice), in dipping sauce for Chinese-style dumplings (recipe coming up next week). In each case, I was amazed at the freshness and potency of the ginger flavor.

I used the cardamom extract in banana-cardamom pancakes and in a mango-soymilk smoothie, making it an instant dessert treat. It is excellent for use in drinks, where powdered cardamom may not dissolve and end up giving a gritty texture to the drink. I know I will be using this extract in all my Indian desserts, certainly.

I used some of the tea masala extract in place of vanilla extract in carrot cake (vanilla can get so "vanilla" sometimes, isn't it?) and it gave the cake a subtle exotic "spicy" taste. I am looking forward to using these extracts in other ways. Thank you for letting me try them, Anjali!

My suggestions for other spice extracts: I would love to see lemongrass extract, to add to tea, and to Thai curries and stir-fries. Fresh lemongrass is not very easy to find. Also, curry leaf extract would be wonderful for adding some extra fresh curry leaf flavor to my favorite Southern Indian dishes. For use in desserts and baking, rose extract would be unusual and delicious. The rose extracts on the market smell so "artificial" and I would be delighted to find a pure additive-free rose extract from a trusted source.

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Updated post: For an all-vegetable version of korma, scroll down to the bottom of this post.

I'll be back on Sunday, with a bowl of soup to share. Enjoy your weekend!

Weekend Stuff

Oh, the dog days of summer...Dale enjoys a frosty popsicle in an attempt to beat the record-breaking highs in St. Louis.




Book Love: Thanks to the recommendations shared by so many of you in this post, my summer reading is turning out to be a lot of fun. Priya, if you are reading this, I did get around to reading "Tiger Ladies" by Sudha Koul and enjoyed it very much. It is really an intimate glimpse into everyday Kashmiri life in peaceful times. I am currently enjoying Bill Bryson's "Travels in small town America" (Bee recommended Bryson's books). I did get started on Bapsi Sidhwa's "Cracking India" but it somehow did not engage me much and I didn't get around to finishing it. I still have a lot of the books on my list, and thank everyone for taking the time to point them out to me. To continue this conversation about books, I have made a page called Book Love listing some of the books that I have particularly enjoyed. I invite all you fellow bookworms to add your suggestions, comments etc. to this post if you like! A link to this post has been placed under Favorite Reads in the right column of the blog for easy access at any time.

It is award season here in the food blog world.



Many many thanks to Zlamushka, Madhuli, Bee, Lydia, Anita, Santhi, TBC, Raaga, Suganya, Mandira and Manasi for each giving me one or two of the sweet and encouraging awards listed above!

Finally, a recent experiment that turned out to be quite tasty...
Pav Bhaji burgers: the flavors of pav bhaji packaged into a handy portable form that is perfect for a lunchbox, picnic or cook-out.

1. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine 1 medium onion (minced), 1/2 cup green peas, handful of minced green beans, 1 green pepper (minced). Cook in microwave for 4-5 minutes or until the veggies are soft (no need to add any extra water). One could add minced cauliflower or grated carrots here as well.
2. To the cooked vegetables, add 1 cup cooked mashed potatoes.
3. Season with salt, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, red chilli powder and pav bhaji masala (all to taste).
4. Mix everything well, form into patties and grill/ shallow fry until golden brown on both sides.
5. The one pav-bhaji flavor missing in the patties is tomato, so be sure to serve the pav bhaji burgers with slices of sweet ripe tomato or a squirt of ketchup!

I'll be back on Sunday with something that is sure to give you a sugar high! Enjoy the weekend!

Monthly Blog Patrol, Weekend Stuff

Every month, Coffee from The Spice Cafe sends us off on a mission called the Monthly Blog Patrol: the idea is to browse our favorite blogs and choose some recipes that make us want to run to the kitchen and try them, and, well, run to the kitchen and *actually* try them, instead of just drooling all over the keyboard. The theme for this month was Something Sweet. I chose the simplest sweet treat ever: Banana Muffins from one of the most gorgeous new blogs on the block: Tasty Palettes, written by Suganya. I loved this recipe because (a) it is a good way to use over-ripe mushy bananas that would be otherwise fated for le garbage. (b) most muffin recipes are for 12 muffins, this one only makes 6, the perfect number for my little family (and I only own one 6-cup muffin pan anyway). (c) it calls for all pantry ingredients, no sour cream or any such thing that I don't usually have on hand.

I followed the recipe quite closely, only omitting the walnuts (since I made it the day after V's dental surgery, as a get-well-soon treat, and he was certainly not able to chomp on walnuts at the time), and adding a dash of cinnamon and a couple of drops of vanilla extract instead. Here is a look at the muffins right after they emerged from the oven:

I wonder why the tops looked so funny! Any ideas from experienced bakers? The only thing I can think of...the oven temperature was too high, so the outside of the muffin cooked before it got a chance to rise. Next time, I will bake at 350 F instead of 400 F.

Anyway, the muffins tasted wonderful, and made for a very special breakfast-dessert indeed!


Thanks, Coffee for hosting and thank you, Suganya, for a lovely recipe!

Weekend City Blogging-1

(Pictures taken by V)
Now that the weather is nice, I thought I would share some glimpses of Saint Louis. The first in the series has to be the iconic Gateway Arch that defines this city. I'm never too interested in monuments and touristy attractions, but I do think the arch is a very beautiful creation, rising sleekly into the sky at the bank of the Mississippi river, denoting the border between Missouri and Illinois.

It is in the shape of an inverted catenary arch and is made of stainless steel. It is the tallest monument in the United States. You can get into tiny pod-like elevators and take a 4-minute trip to the top of the arch.

We recently made a trip to the arch as part of a Flat Stanley project. What is it all about? Basically, an elementary school child (in this city, V's cousin's little girl) makes a paper doll ("Stanley") and mails it out to a family friend/ relative (in this case, V and me) in another city (in this case, St. Louis). The recipient has to take the doll on an adventure and write back to the child telling her all about it. It is a lesson in geography, letter writing etc. and fun for all concerned. Read more about the Flat Stanley project here.

Here we are, taking a paper doll to see the arch...

Weekend Dog Blogging

(Pictures taken by V)
As part of his adventure, our lucky paper doll Stanley also got to spend some quality time with the most adorable dog in all of St. Louis, Dale!

But posing for pictures is so exhausting! After a few minutes, Dale heads off for a nap...

Dale might be asleep, but his ears stay wide awake in case someone should utter the magic words "Chalo" heralding a walk!

I'll leave you with a final link: As a avid food-blog-watcher, my new favorite place to find new posts is Food Blog Desam. Many thanks to Mathy and Indira for their efforts in creating this time-saving resource that lets us find newly written posts the minute they are posted! See you tomorrow, for the Q of Indian vegetables.