“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well”
Virginia Woolf
Just back from a trip to Leh, an invite to a Zoroastrian Rhapsody with the oldest Parsi chefs Tehmtan and Shernaz Dumasia promised to be fun, exciting, engaging and invigorating. It certainly was. Parsi cuisine is an involving experience,and offers the old world charm of a tradition well preserved. The exclusive lunch created by the Dumasias for a bloggers table of eight filled the ‘Amaranta’, Oberoi Gurgaon with endless cacophony and laughter…My first visit to the property wasn’t quite what I expected it to be. The Oberoi stands tall … very modernistic, high ceilings, loads of natural light, minimalistic too, ‘glassy‘ and quiet. Then the lovely Mallika walked in with her positive energy and enthusiasm and the silence was history. We met at The Piano Bar, greeted at the door by a stunning sculpture by new age contemporary artist Valay Shinde.
This stunning sculpture in bronze discs and pocket watches is created by Mumbai- based sculptor and video artist, Valay Shende. He uses non-traditional materials like metal, fibre glass, copper and pocket watches to create stark, traditional images- trucks, animals and this dabbawalla!
There has been a bit of Parsi cuisine in our neck of the woods of late, the first that comes to mind, Soda Bottle Openerwala. Both offered different experiences, starkly different at times, yet both special. SBO with it’s endless energy, loud music,casual dining, constant movement, colour, noise etc while Amaranta is quite the opposite in ambiance. Fine dining, pin drop silence {until we spread our wings of course} … everything working like clockwork.
The Oberoi Gurgaon’s fine dining Indian coastal restaurant offers cuisine from nine coastal regions of the country. Guests can enjoy the best of the morning catch flown in everyday from the 7500 kilometre long Indian coastline, just in time for lunch. What impressed me at the Amaranta was the fusion cuisine we were served. A bit of Indian fine dining coastal in perfect harmony with the Dumanias hand cooked Parsi cuisine.We began with a fabulous in house ginger ale, served alongside some addictive bread with interesting sea salts trademark of the Oberoi Gurgaon. Curry leaf & Coconut Powder, Goan Spice, Kerela spice and Lentil & Curry Leaf … stirred into some olive oil offered a magical accompaniment for the fresh bread. In jugalbandi, or perfect harmony, were papad {crackers} served with the Dumanias trademark carrot date chutney. Finger-licking good stuff!
Loved the starters, though was a bit iffy about the Parsi Lamb Cutlet coz it was a brain cutlet! Jabbering got the better of me, and before I knew it I chomped my way though them without realising that was brain. It was delicious … full of flavour, crisp with a semolina coating. The Chicken Farcha was yum too.
What made the meal complete was that the chefs joined us at the table. Parsi food is homey, comforting, traditional is satisfying only in good company. Chef Tehmtan talked us through his life, how his day pans out, the celebrities who love his food, the club he runs in Mumbai, songs he sings at the Christian gym every Friday {there’s nothing he doesn’t do}. Up at 4am every morning, he sets off to buy fresh produce, then comes back to wake his beautiful wife … and off they go to cook! Together since 17, the two are inseprable and you can see the harmony they share. He is outgoing, social, media savvy, a quick thinker, cracks jokes every minute. She is a little reserved, cooks diligently, smiles all the time, and looks completely relaxed.
We continued to eat amid incessant chatter. Justice was done to everything we were served.Mutton Dhansak with kebab, Patra ni Machi / Banana leaf wrapped steamed pomphret, Jerdaloo Salli Murghi / Chicken cooked in roasted onion and apricot gravy … a champagne sorbet woven through too! It was good food, great company …
Time flew by … and soon dessert was served. This was the part I loved the most. Haven’t had a better Lagan nu Custard{a rich baked pudding served at Parsi weddings} ever. Also excellent was the tender coconut ice cream … both desserts in perfect harmony again, and a perfect end to the meal!
Photo courtesy Anamika @ Anindini Tea
Thank you Chef Tehmtan and Shernaz Dumasia for taking precious time out for a table for us, and for sharing the recipes for Patra nu Machi and Lagan nu Custard.. Thank you also Mallika for hosting us at the Oberoi Gurgaon, and Anamika for organising this. It was a memorable afternoon indeed!
Do moods, colours, stories, ingredients, seasons, connects, props and everything in between paint your daily canvas? They do for me, an obsessed baker and cook, a ‘locavore’ by design, who enjoys getting food to the table with seasonal ingredients and local produce. Give me an ingredient, offer me an idea … that’s enough for the magic to begin! Thoughts flow, the lens focuses and I begin to dream!
Writing my food blog since Aug 2007 made me move from just baking, to baking and taking pictures. Then came the abundant inspiration from the magical internet. Styling the food for the lens became second nature; stuff my dreams are made up of. I want to tell my story, and most of the time it is through pictures with some words to tie the post together! I am seldom lost for inspiration as seasons, colours, ingredients, people all inspire me. When I hit a road block, you will probably find me at Pinterest.
I devour cookbooks for meals. I am fascinated as I turn pages of my favourite authors … Ottolenghi, Donna Hay to name a couple. They inspire me. I dream food, FOOD in pictures actually. Vibrant, rich, colourful, moody, picturesque … then wake up with thoughts of how to capture my dreams. I am also an obessive prop collector, hardly a secret from those who know me. I’ve been one for years, even before I began food styling. Vintage and rustic props make my DNA! So when Aparna asked if I might be interested in doing a Food Styling workshop at the IFBM in August, I said YES PLEASE!
Food styling is something I love, and something I find engaging. The good thing…the more you see, the more you share, the more you learn. Creativity is very individual, and for me, it exposes a part of me in every frame. Moody more often than never, I sometimes step across to the lighter side too … whatever tells my story!
Summary of the Food Styling Workshop – Every food story is unique, rich and worth a share. Through the lens, I’m here to discuss how to capture the story behind your food. Connecting the ‘dots’ or rather crumbs, let’s try and see how we can slowly develop our trademark style!
Will discuss basic planning, building a frame, setting the mood, using props to tell your story.
Hope to see you there! Would love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, thinks you might like included etc. Look forward to catching up with you!
“The more you know, the more you can create. There’s no end to imagination in the kitchen.” Julia Child
Phalsa Berry Sharbat … the much dreaded ‘loo‘ or hot summer winds, dry and dust laden, sweep across the plains of North India. Summer here becomes intolerable at times, with ‘fry eggs on the sidewalk‘ like temperatures threatening your very existence! Then along come some of the best fruit that nature has to offer … and life becomes worthwhile again! This Phalsa Berry Sharbat helps you survive…
With a slew of summer fruit now being offloaded by the truckloads, we could not have asked for more. Red, luscious, juicy cherries, mangoes falling off hand carts, watermelons piled sky high on roadsides, peaches just about beginning to surface, Indian java plums too. And then the phalsa berry, a beautiful, tangy, astringent much awaited native Indian berry!
Packed with vitamin C and antioxidants, this humble little berry, Grewia asiatica, brings alive childhood nostalgia. Back then, almost 40 years ago, the silent afternoon would be pierced by the shrill cry of the ‘phalsa wala‘. You’d find him with a wicker basket, topped with a very wet gunny bag which he gently peeled back to reveal the precious little berries. The very fragile and perishable phalsa would change hands for a few pennies. Washed gently and tossed in rock salt, we would hungrily suck them, trying to extract the most from the almost impoverished looking fruit.
Sometimes if we were lucky enough, we would be rewarded with phalsa ka sharbat! It was pain staking to make and a special treat. Life is a little easier now, with gadgets that make life in the kitchen a breeze. Just one sip of this amazing cooler, in colours that uplift the soul, memories of a quintessential part of Indian summer comes alive! Sharbats or ‘fruit and flower based coolers‘ are the answer to the beat the heat!
This takes me to the launch of the KitchenAidPro Line Cordless Hand Blender in association with Masterchef Vikas Khanna in Delhi. The launch is a part of multi city #Blendappetit Tour spanning across India starting from May 20, 2014. While, the cordless blender is a unique, first of its kind, versatile product, it comes with an ultimate experience of ‘anytime anywhere’ blending.
This new blender from Kitchenaid India is a magic machine, ergonomically designed, a thing of beauty. It comes equipped with a rechargeable 12V lithium ion battery which gives it the power to perform efficiently. The super blender can blend, mix, whisk, chop, froth, puree, shred and whip up anything in a flash.
The very sweet and charming Vikas {I was fortunate enough to shoot with him recently} blended a lip smacking good kiwi smoothie from his new book. The chef was affable as ever; entertaining, engaging, humourous! He connected instantly with the expectant crowd and soon had the gathering mesmerised. Ripples of laughter flooded the studio in Gurgaon with Vikas holding court, spinning out one anecdote after another. Stories of his home, his mother & grandmother, his inspirations, his journey from cooking a Rs 20 meal in Punjab to a Rs 20 lakh meal for Obama … yet humble and grounded as ever, a philosopher at heart!The afternoon witnessed the launch of his book- .Hymns from the Soil, his first book on Indian vegetarian food and a tribute to Mother Earth. It is full of nostalgic tales of his childhood, and in many ways ‘our childhood’. The ‘mitti ki khushboo‘ or the smell of the wet soil, planting his own vegetable patch, the vegetable vendors with fresh vegetables, seasons that spelt fresh produce {unlike now when you almost get everything round the year} … a touching evocative connect with the soil of the land. The book is beautifully written, with stunning pictures and recipes that call your name.
With so much talk of the connect of the earth, including the shrill call of the vendor that pierced the afternoon silence then, it’s a good time to share this recipe. I make the Phalsa Berry Sharbat every year, changing the recipe as I evolve, always in panic like the berries might disappear or go out of fashion. The phalsa season is a short one here just through May and June. Juicing these in my Thermomix is a breeze … which is why I make this quite often.
Not sure if taste buds change as the years go by, or the flood of flavours availableand sugar laden options in packaged juices snatch simple pleasure away. Maybe it’s the slightly astringent aftertaste, but unfortunately, this isn’t the kids favourite sharbat. The boy loves his aam panna or raw mango sharbat, the daughter her cranberry juice. Thankfully both also love the daily fresh watermelon juice & smoothies.
The Phalsa Berry Sharbat takes the summer heat away, refreshes the soul, gives you a generous dose of vitamin C and antioxidants … what more can you ask for in these ‘oven like’ months? Oh yes, and if it takes you on a trip down memory lane, that’s even better! I’m loving it!!
[print_this]Recipe: Phalsa Berry Sharbat
Summary: Refreshing, cooling and right for the Indian summer, the Phalsa Berry Sharbat is just what the doctor ordered! Sweet, tangy, uplifting, it’s a summer cooler packer with vitamins and antioxidants. Serves 4-6
Prep Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes Ingredients:
250g phalsa berries
100g brown sugar
1 tsp black rock salt
250ml water
Method:
Wash the berries gently, drain and soak for a few hours, or overnight in the water.
Add the sugar and rock salt and squish well with hands {or Thermomix speed 6 , 1 minute}, then strain.
Dilute with cold water as desired. Serve over ice cubes, garnished with fresh mint.
“The great thing about cake is it doesn’t feel like work. You forget about work. Kids, adults, they all get the same look in their eye when they’re decorating cakes… That’s the magic right there.” Duff Goldman
Wholewheat Almond Buttermilk Pound Cake … made on the trot the other day before dashing off to Bangalore. There was a young, enthusiastic photographer coming over to shoot my profile for a newspaper feature on The New Indian Express … It’s a Feast For the Eyes. How could I not bake a cake?
There was plenty of stuff baked as I was going to be away for 2 days. Some Coffee Shortbread Cookies which I quickly turned into Coffee Shortbread Nutella Sandwich Cookies {absolutely divine}. Also on hand some recently baked Amaranth Oat Walnut Ginger Cookies {gluten free and eggless}, and a batch of Wholewheat Dark Chocolate Walnut Brownies. Of course, there is always GF Multigrain Granola at home too …Yet, what’s a food porn photo-shoot sans cake? It was a mad rush that day so I had to keep it simple. Short on time, I reached for one of my most trusted recipes, a buttermilk pound cake which has evolved over the years. It’s a basic recipe that works with infinite combinations; a recipe never short on ideas!
I’ve made a buttermilk pound cake a million times in many avatars, my to-go recipe that lives in my head! Some of my favourites versions are the Buttermilk Chocolate Pound Cake, Whole Wheat Coffee Dark Chocolate Pound Cake and the Tres Leches Wholewheat Lemon Pound Cake.
This one turned out to be a hit too. Light, full of flavour with a silky almond whipped cream topping. Fresh sweet strawberries added the right oomph to it; a burst of colour too. You can use any seasonal berries, actually any seasonal fruit for that matter. Mangoes, litchi, kiwi, oranges, plums … all fruit pair well with almond and vanilla!
Photography is sacrosanct and as vital as the written content for Deeba Rajpal, a celebrated food blogger from Gurgaon, who churns out scrumptious recipes and snaps their exquisite replicas for her website Passionate About Baking.
“We eat with our eyes first cannot be understated in today’s increasingly visual and dynamic world. The photographs should complement the recipe and build a food connect with the reader,” says Deeba, who banks on her aesthetic sense, eye for detail and Canon camera for desired captures.…read the rest of the feature on TNIE
Summary: A healthier & delicious version of the pound cake, one that works with infinite combinations; a recipe never short on ideas! The good thing about the Wholewheat Almond Buttermilk Pound Cake is that is made of whole grain only. Another plus that it doubles up as a tea time favourite, a snack box filler AND a light, healthy dessert too!
“Cookies are made of butter and love.” Norwegian Proverb
Amaranth Oat Walnut Ginger Cookies were an experiment, yet another happy one!. Strangely enough, ever since I claimed I hardly ever bake cookies, that’s just what I have been doing of late. Eggless Honey Almond Cookies … then Coffee Shortbread which still has to see light of day on my blog. We’ve got some happy cookie monsters on the prowl this end!!
Did you notice something? They’re all eggless cookies, or lacto vegetarian as they call them. Like the ‘Not Quite Anzac Cookie Pops’ below. I woke up early one morning and had fun making on Anzac Day last week. I did a Not Quite Anzac Cookie Cake too! On this eggless trail, I also recently stirred up Dark Chocolate Nutella Kumquat Pudding … sinfully addictive! Hmmmm … maybe it’s a trend? Certainly feels like one! Then the other day Ruchira & I popped by at Sangeeta’s and were treated to these fab GF Ginger & Jaggery Energy Bars. The taste of the bars lingered on for long, flavours dancing in my head. That they were just 5 ingredient bars and had amaranth flour and oats was intriguing enough!
I had to come home and recreate ‘something‘. Her recipe inspired me. I’d do cookies. Nice plump whole grain bites. Cookies are always handy to have at home, gluten free more so for Mr PAB. I didn’t have jaggery on hand, so changes happened. Many changes.
Eventually ended up with these and they packed a nice punch. The subtle undertones on ginger and honey teased the palette. The walnut taste didn’t come through, but upped the ante on the ‘healthy nuts’ factor. I ran the Amaranth Oat Walnut Ginger Cookies past the ‘inspirer‘ at the Food Freak Awards Gurgaon later that evening. She gave them a huge thumbs up, so here you are.
These possibly aren’t going to be huge kiddie favourite cookies as they aren’t very sweet. Slightly crumbly, reminiscent of the quintessential Indian nan khatai that we used to bake in our childhood, I found the Amaranth Oat Walnut Ginger Cookies quite addictive. They grow on you. For eggless, gluten free cookies, they are fabulous! I shall experiment some more with the recipe, maybe crack an egg or two in the days to come. Until then, these eggless cookies might please you like they did Sangeeta and me!
[print_this]Recipe: Amaranth Oat Walnut Ginger Cookies
Summary: For eggless, gluten free baking, these Amaranth Oat Walnut Ginger Cookies are fabulous! Slightly crumbly, reminiscent of the quintessential Indian nan khatai that we used to bake in our childhood, I found them quite addictive.
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
100g + 50g oats
50g amaranth flour
50g walnuts
100g butter, chilled, cubed
1″ piece ginger, grated
1/2 tsp baking soda
50g brown sugar
50g honey
1-2 tbsp brown sugar for sprinkling
Method:
Place 100g oats, amaranth flour, walnuts, chilled butter and ginger in bowl of food processor and blend to a fine meal.
Add the baking soda, brown sugar and remaining oats and pulse al low speed to mix.
With the motor running on slow, pour in the honey until mixed and the cookie dough comes together.
Heat oven to 150C.
Scoop out walnut sized bits of cookie dough and place on a parchment lined cookie tray. Gently press down with the tines of a fork. Sprinkle over with brown sugar.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes until light golden brown and firm to touch.
“You’ll never convince me that there’s more to life than chocolate chip cookies”
Charles M. Shultz
Eggless Almond Honey Wholegrain Cookies … cookies that are meant to be shared! I haven’t posted a cookie recipe for a while on PAB. Possibly since I don’t make new variations very often, or when I do, I forget to jot the recipe down. Ones that I regularly make are all time favourites like Wholewheat & Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies & these Not Quite Anzac cookies.
That morning I was due to meet a sweet girl who was coming in to meet me from halfway across India. I knew she was a vegetarian and I wanted to bake something eggless for her. Cookies seemed a good idea for the coffee morning. I had some Strawberry & Cape Gooseberry Quark Mousse chilling in the fridge for her too.
Spring has all but given way to summer. Mornings and evenings are beautifully pleasant; the season inspires like no other. Flowers bloom, fruits spill off bazaar shelves, birds chirp, butterflies zip around. Baking is fun in this weather though baking cookies is fun any time!!
The cookies came out delicious, even better since they were packed with nutrition and whole grains. I love the idea of adding nut meal to cookies. In my case I ‘haveto‘ since the daughter dislikes nuts with a vengeance. She loves cookies with nut meal though!
I baked another batch soon after as we flew into breathtakingly beautiful Srinagar for a short vacation. It’s always nice to carry a ‘taste of home’ with us. Though Srinagar is known for its little bakeries that dot the length and breadth of the city, my humble cookies were much in demand with the kids too! One look at the ingredients in the recipe and you’ll see the cookie goodness I am talking about. Almonds, whole wheat, amaranth {my latest obsession}, oats, and honey instead of corn syrup! Told you … these are deliciously healthy cookies. Indulgent too!
Try them. Cookies don’t get simpler than these. One bowl goodness, fun to make, get the kids involved. Do watch them towards the end of baking. Honey in baked goods tends to lead to faster browning. So do keep an eye!
Healthy, fun recipes with amaranth, whole grains, oats {read lots of oats}, unrefined sugars, honey etc have kept me busy of late. I’ve been involved in doing a project for Saffola Oats here in India.
Shot two recipe videos with the very sweet Michelin Starred Chef Vikas Khanna for Food Food Channel, India as part of the engagement. You can catch the first episode for a Bittersweet Dark Chocolate Gateau {Gluten free} which has been uploaded onto You-tube.
[print_this]Recipe: Eggless Almond Honey Wholegrain Chocolate Chip Cookies
Summary: Eggless Almond Honey Wholegrain Cookiesoffer deep delicious butterscotch flavour thanks to the brown sugar and butter. Almond meal adds interesting taste, and chocolate chips are thrown in to make another quintessential chocolate chip cookie, this time eggless. These whole grain cookies are nice, chewy if you underbake them a little, and crisp if you bake them longer! Makes approx 2 dozen Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
100g unsalted butter, room temperature
100g honey
1 tsp vanilla bean powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
55g brown sugar
100g whole almonds {or almond meal}
50g amaranth flour
50g whole wheat flour
100gm oats
50g chocolate chips {I used dark}
Method:
Preheat oven to 150C
Run the almonds in the processor with the wholewheat flour until you get a fine-meal.
Heat butter, honey and vanilla bean powder in a pan over low heat till the butter melts. Mix well. {Can do it in the microwave too}.
Add the baking soda, salt and brown sugar and whisk to mix.
Add the remaining ingredients and stir to form a cookie dough. The dough will be a little stiff.
Drop tbsp of dough on parchment lined cookie sheets, flatten with the tines of a fork. {I rolled the dough into balls, flattened them slightly with the palm of my hand, and then further flattened them by pressing down with a fork.}.
Bake for approx 20 minutes until golden brown.
Leave to cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes {they are quite tender when they come out of the oven} , and then transfer on racks to cool completely.
Thermomix Recipe:
Run the almonds in the TM bowl with the wholewheat flour on speed 7 for 30 seconds to get a fine-meal. Scrape and repeat if necessary. Turn into a bowl and reserve.
Place butter, honey and vanilla bean powder into TM bowl. Heat for 2 minutes at 60C on speed 2 until fully dissolved. Place bicarb into bowl and mix for 5 seconds on speed 3.
Add remaining ingredients and set dial to closed position and mix for 30-35 seconds on interval speed…. then continue as above from step 5.
Note: Since the dough has honey, the cookies tend to brown faster than normal cookies. I use double cookie trays. Keep an eye on them.
