Pickled Jalapeños n' a note on 'The BBQ Story', Bangalore

I have to do a blog post today....yeah, HAVE TO. You must have all realized that i'm being rather slow with my blog post updates these days....well let me assure you its not lack of cooking. I have been really busy with guests/friends pouring in (what with me not working anymore more n' all, I'm the only one with loads of time on my hands) n' on top of that I'm just not inspired to take photographs of what I have been cooking. Don't know why, i'm hoping its just a phase n' it will soon be over. I have heard some bad news yesterday which has left me feeling gutted. Well mopping up is over n' I have decided to do a blog post today.







I have mentioned Chef Sarabjeet in my Hara Bhara Paneer Tikka post a while back. I met him at this Weber grill workshop here in Bangalore. Now he n' his friends are working together on projects/workshops to make food enthu people like you n' me, convert that enthu into some serious skills in the kitchen. They call it 'The BBQ Story' n' "Learn, Grill n' Chill" is there motto. :) So far, they have done 3 workshops, missed out on the 2 of them, but I ensured I could take part in the 3rd one n' I enjoyed it a lot. Some of you who have added me on Facebook must have seen some of the snaps here. The menu that day was Banglore Muslim Dum Biryani, Chicken Malai Tikka, Grilled Ghost Kheema Tikka, Grilled Fish Wrapped in Plaintain leaf with a Coriander marinade.. The Biryani was to die for, the recipe was simple, but the tips n' pointers the Chefs there tell us while cooking are irreplaceable. All in all, it was just an awesome Sunday for me. Please read more about them here n' follow them for more regular updates. They are coming up with BBQ Chapter 4 on 24th July...the details are as under.

Chef Sarabjeet says...."Learn to make,Country style Grilled Steaks and Home made fresh Sausages, and lots more...!!!!!!
When..????-24th July, Sunday
But what time..?? 10am onwards
Now..Where..?? @ Yolk Studio Kormangala
How to book..? Call sarabjeet on 9916580506 or text Sushil on 9880340900
and to drink??......:) Wines from Nine Hills..!!!!!..come learn, grill and chill..!"

Coming to today's recipe, its a simple recipe for some fuss free Pickled Jalapeno Peppers. I love pickled jalapenos, if I see them listed as an ingredient while ordering a Pizza, i'm almost always biased towards that pizza. Buying them in Bangalore is an expensive option. I buy a 200gms of sliced jalapeno pickle for Rs.75/-. So when I saw a packet of fresh Jalapenos here, I just had to buy them. Having no clue how to pickle them didn't help. Saw lot of takes on how to do some fancy way of pickling them. But I decided to stick with this simple version. The recipe is adapted from here.



Ingredients:

1. Fresh Jalapeños: 250gms (whole or sliced)
2. Salt: 1tbsp
3. White Vinegar: 1cup
4. Water: 1 cup

Method:

Step 1: Warm the jar you want to put the pickle in. (I kept it in the MW for 1.30 seconds)

Step 2: Pack the jalapeños in the warm glass jar. Since I used whole Jalapeños Peppers, I prodded them with a serrated knife to ensure that they soak up the brine.

Step 3: In a saucepan, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 5 minutes. (I just boiled the mixture in MW for 2mins).

Step 4: Pour hot brine over top. Bubble your jars thoroughly by tapping them firmly on the countertop and using a wooden chopstick to release any stubborn bubbles. Wipe rims, apply lids and bands.

For a crunchy bite, you can start nibbling on them within a few hours. As for softer texture, let this sit for 4-5 days. They say you can keep it refrigerated for upto two months.
They taste awesome in a sandwich n I plan to take some for my mom who is a huge fan of Sandwiches n' pickled veggies. Happy Cooking!!! :)

Vanilla Cupcakes (Oh! I love them.....)

After my happy experiences with the Blueberry n Banana Muffins and the Mangoes n' Figs Muffins, I decided to learn cupcakes. Both Rj n' me, we love vanilla cupcakes. Ok, I stand corrected, he loves it more than me. We used to buy them often before, but he turned sugar conscious a while ago n' we stopped buying them. I baked these babies n' he is begging for more on most days. Ever since I tried them the first time, I have made them twice again after that. That's how good this recipe is.





The recipe source? Ria's Collection. If you check her blog, on the homepage it self, you will see these oh! so pretty vanilla cupcakes she had baked recently with a friend. I had visited her blog to check out another recipe, but I saw these n' fell in love instantly. I just had to try them, n' the cupcakes comes out perfectly. The texture is just great. I didn't use the chocolate frosting, that will go well with this, just coz we like them plain. The lesson I learned from it? Find a reliable source for good simple baking recipes n' I can get over my fear and have good results. I haven't changed the recipe much, I have just reduced the amount of salt by half from Ria's recipe. With this I learnt the simple n' yummy basic cupcakes. My sincere thank you to Ria for sharing such a nice recipe.



Ingredients:
(Makes about 16 cupcakes if you are using big cupcake liners)
1. All purpose flour: 2 cups
2. Baking powder: 2 tsp
3. Salt: 1/4 tsp (omit if you are using salted butter)
4. Castor sugar: 1 cup
5. Unsalted butter: 1/2 cup (room temperature)
6. Eggs: 2nos
7. Milk: 1/2 cup (room temperature)
8. Vanilla extract: 2 tsp

Method:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F. Keep the cupcake trays also ready by placing the cupcake liners in them.

Step 2: Sift the dry ingredients (Flour, Baking Powder and Salt) together, if possible, thrice.

Step 3: Cream the butter and sugar for 3 mins.Add in the eggs one by one and beat it will for 1 minute after each addition. (I'm guessing the time is mentioned coz we need to get the consistency right, I loved that bit of precision in the recipe. Great for an amateur like me.)

Step 4: Next with the motor running,add the sifted flour and milk alternately starting and ending with flour.By now the batter should be light and fluffy.

Step 5: Spoon it into the cupcake liners, about 2/3 rd's full, which will be about 2 1/2 tbsp.

Step 6: Bake for 20-25 mins or till the top is lightly golden brown in colour and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (it took mine only about 20mins)

Step 7: Remove from the tin immediately and let it cool completely before frosting (if you opt to frost it).







Honestly, I loved this recipe n' it helps me produce great results. In a span of 3 weeks, I have made this three times. Having guests at home helps. :) Happy cooking!!! or better still Happy Baking!!! :)

Mangoes Figs n' Walnut Muffins

I have been missing from here since a while now. Just having been having some issues with time management. Have been having people over at home n that has kept me off the Internet n' in the kitchen or out shopping with them. :)....I wonder how many awesome recipe updates I must have missed out on of my blogger friends out here. Well, I hope to catch up on that in couple of days...:) After my big proclamation about learning to bake in my kitchen itself. I have been kinda doing well in the baking department. I'm guessing it has something to do with the great recipes I have found. I'm gonna do 2 small posts today.









I'm baking something again today n' I'm looking forward to it already. The first post are these muffins. The Blueberry Banana Muffins I had done had come out so well I wanted to try some more. Just to make sure it wasn't fluke n' that I did have a great recipe n' some amount of skill to get it right. Why this combinations? I'm not too sure, I just went with things I like n' I had with me in the kitchen. With this second batch also coming out really well, I'm comfortable with my muffin recipe n' would substitute the fruits with anything in season n' know that they will turn out well. I have used the exact recipe from the Blueberry Muffins recipe here. The only change is I have used fresh ripe mangoes, along with some chopped figs n' crushed walnuts for sprinkling on top instead of Blueberry n' Banana. With this I salute my Muffin Recipe. I made 15 muffins using this recipe.

Ingredients:

1. All Purpose Flour (Maida): 3 cups minus 2tbsp
2. Baking soda: 1tsp
3. Baking powder:2 tsps
4. Heavy pinch of salt
5. Caster sugar: 1 cup
6. Vegetable oil: 1/2 cup (or half a cup of melted butter) *
7. Egg: 1no
8. Yogurt (plain n unflavored) : 1 generous cup (throw in extra if you want)
9. Mangoes(ripe n fresh):1 and a half cup
10. Figs (chopped): 1/2 cup
10. Vanilla Extract/Essence : 1tbsp
11. Softened Butter, for muffin tins (I used the cupcake liners so didn't need this)
12. Caster sugar (optional): for sprinkling on top.
13. Walnuts (crushed): to sprinkle on top

(* to my horror I saw that I didn't have enough Vegetable Oil with me. So I used melted butter instead. They say that while mixing the wet ingredients as mentioned in Step 3 below, one should take care while adding the hot butter to eggs. What I did was I added butter n' then added yogurt before adding the eggs n' I was safe.) This is what I had done for the blueberry recipe n' I did the same this time around too.

Method:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 180° C.

Step 2: In a large bowl sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Step 3: In another large bowl whisk together sugar, oil, vanilla essence, egg, and yogurt.

Step 4: Add the dry ingredients (I sifted it in little by little) and stirring to a count of 10.

Step 5:Add the mangoes and the chopped figs, to mixture and stir 3 times. (At this point I got a little worried, coz the batter looked really different from anything I have ever baked. But I decided to proceed as instructed.)

Step 6: Add mixture to well-buttered muffin pans or like I mentioned the Cupcake liners. Sprinkle some walnuts on top and press down lightly. Sprinkle a little sugar over top. (Brown sugar can be used instead.)

Step 7: Bake 20 to 25 minutes and allow to cool completely.

Curd Rice/ Mosarnna

Curd Rice for me is like a healing food. Perfect to have when your tummy is troubling you. For the 2yrs that I was in Sales in Bangalore, I faithfully had this for lunch almost everyday. Not really cause I had tummy ache everyday :). But coz Adigas in Bangalore serves a really yummy curd rice with a mixed vegetable spicy pickle. I would say, like a Biryani gets served for weddings in Kerala (as if its a must), in Karnataka, Curd Rice is considered special and gets served for all occasions. Almost like a meal is incomplete if Curd Rice doesn't get served. This Curd rice recipe is a South Indian rice recipe. It is easy and quick and simple dish to make especially if the cooked rice is ready.Generally it is served at the end of the meal.

Curd rice is aka Dahi Chawal(Hindi) Thairu Sadam(Tamil) and Mosarnna(Kannada). I wish I could stay n' chat more. But I have a really busy weekend ahead of me and I should really be going. Wish you all a Happy Weekend. The recipe is as under.






Ingredients:

1. Cooked rice : 2 cups
2. Plain curd : 3/4 cup (not too sour) (also feel free to be generous n' add more curd)
3. Milk : 1/2 cup
4. Green chilies : 1 or 2
5. Ginger paste : 1/4 teaspoon.
6. Salt - to taste

For Seasoning:

1. Oil - 1 tbsp
2. Tur Dal - 1/2 tsp
3. Massor Dal - 1/2 tsp
4. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
5. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
6. Asafoetida - a pinch
7. Curry Leaves

Method:

Step 1: Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When they stop crackling add Dal (I used masoor n' tur, you can use any dal, i'm sure). Fry it, but ensure it does not get burned.

Step 2: Add asafoetida, chopped chilies and curry leaves. Fry for 5 seconds.

Step 3: Take off the pan from the stove and let it cool a little.

Step 4: Mix the cooked rice, curd, milk and salt.

Step 5: Add the seasoning into the rice mixture and mix well.

It is ready to serve. Serve it as a meal by itself or with lime pickle or mango pickle.The only thing to remember, really, is mix Curd Rice just before serving. Once the curd rice is mixed it should be eaten immediately or it can get sour, so if you are not planning to eat it immediately, put it in the fridge. Rice also becomes thick after some time. So a little milk may be added again at the time of serving. Adding Pomegranate Seeds, fried cashews, fresh grapes etc into the curd rice before serving it is a practice that I love. :) Happy Cooking!!

Grilled Carrots with Rosemary

I like carrots, they are sweet but tastes great in a savory dish. They are crunchy, look so pretty n' is packed with healthy nutrients especially Vitamin A, K n' C. (I learnt all that from the Active Foods workshop I recently attended). So anyways, Rj doesn't like it when I cook carrots, (for that matter most veggies) so I clean them n' give them in his salad n' he enjoys that. So I bought some extra yesterday. But I forgot to give him any last night n today he has some office thing so didn't need lunch n' won't be back before late in the night.

So I was looking at an option to make a juice. But then I came across this recipe for grilled carrots n' I just fell in love. I have been hoarding posts for later. But with this one I just couldn't wait to publish it. I totally love this recipe n' the kitchen smelt so good after grilling them with rosemary. You just have to try this. Our awesome friend, Jeffrey, who was with us in Bahrain, had given me this grill pan (I had even used this in my Hara Bhara Paneer Tikka recipe too) and its just so useful. He wanted me to show off this pan here n' I thought this recipe is perfect for it. lol.... I love it n have used it to make this. The recipe is adapted from here. So here you go.












Ingredients:

1. Carrots: 3nos
2. Butter: 2-3 tspn (room temperature) (yeah I was a little generous, I used salted Amul Butter)
3. Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 2tsp
4. Balsamic Vinegar: 1 tbsp
5. Rosemary: 1 tsp (chopped) fresh
6. Salt: if required
7. Fresh Black Pepper: as per taste (optional)

Method:

Step 1: Heat grill pan to high flame.

Step 2: Whisk together butter, olive oil, vinegar, and rosemary.

Step 3: I left the whole carrots in the marinade for couple of mins and then arranged them on the grill and brushed them lightly with the marinade occasionally. (all this should be once you have changed the flame to low. (keep them in the warm area first before shifting them to the hot area on the grill.)

Step 4: Grill for approximately 20 minutes, turning occasionally to prevent extreme charring.
When carrots are softer, but still slightly firm, remove from heat.

Step 5: Add to a serving platter and drizzle with the remaining marinade. I had to add a little more salt n' some freshly ground black pepper to give it an extra kick (but that is totally optional). I even grilled 2 red chilies along with this in the last 5mins n' ate it along with this. Try it try it...its good...Happy Cooking!!!

Waffles n' Cherry

A waffle is a batter or a dough-based cake cooked in a waffle iron patterned to give a distinctive and characteristic shape. Waffles can be eaten plain (especially the thinner kinds) or sprinkled with powdered sugar. Ice cream cones are also a type of waffles or wafers. It is said that, there are many variations based on the type and shape of the iron and the recipes used.

I have had my waffle iron for a while now n' hadn't tried anything with it. One morning I woke up all inspired n' decided to try it out. Rj was fast asleep just the way I wanted him to be. He doesn't enjoy waffles or pancakes n' I encouraged myself to have some 'me' time for breakfast...:)

I used the simplest recipe I could find, so here you go.




Ingredients:

1. All Purpose Flour: 2 cups
2. Baking powder: 3 tsp
3. Caster Sugar: 1 tbsp
4. Salt: 1/4tsp (less or more as per your taste)
5. Eggs: 3nos (separated)
6. Milk: 1 and a 1/2 cups
7. Butter (melted) : 5 tbsps
8. Vanilla Essence: 1tsp (optional)

Method:

Step 1: Mix and sift dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt and sugar).

Step 2: Combine beaten egg yolks, milk and the butter and add the same to the dry ingredients, beating until smooth.

Step 3: Beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold the same into the above mixture.

Step 4: Pour batter into each section of a hot waffle iron. Cook waffles until crispy and browned.

Serve it with your choice of fruits or honey or maple syrup or even ice cream. Happy Cooking!!!

Kerala Mango Pickle or Curry/ Kadumanga Achar

This is my third post on Mangoes this month, I had gotten distracted with my baking mission n' couldn't complete the hattrick as planned. :) This pickle, even though it comes under the category of a pickle is often mistaken n' eaten as a Mango Curry. Kanji, the most popular comfort food of a Malayali, is most often accompanied by this pickle. I love it so much, this is one of the first things I wanted to make the moment I got a kitchen to myself. The only thing is, I love eating it even without anything with it. I can just eat this in a bowl n' be happy about it. I have consciously stopped doing this, but the inane desire is to do just that, the moment I see this pickle is still there.

I can eat pickle with anything n' everything, that's how much I love it. But other than this, I don't make any other pickle at home. The white lime pickle, the no oil red lime pickle, the black gooseberry pickle, the mango with mustard seeds pickle etc that we keep a stock of at home are all supplied by my mom. This pickle has less shelf life than the other pickles. The recipe? Here you go. :)





Ingredients:

1. Raw Mango: 2nos medium (chopped or rather cubed into really small pieces)
2. Chilly powder : 2 tbsp (or as per taste)
3. Turmeric powder : 1/2 tsp
4. Salt : As reqd
5. Gingelly oil : 5tbsp (best for pickles)
6. Fenugreek(Uluva) powder : 1 tsp
7. Asafoetida(Kaayam) powder : 1/2 tsp
8. Vinegar : 3tbsp ( or more depending on the taste)
9. Curry leaves : 1 bunch
10. Mustard seeds : 1 tsp
11. Dry Red Chili: 1-2nos

Method:

Step 1: Add salt to the mango piece n' keep it aside for atleast an hour or 2.

Step 2: In a kadai/wok, heat the oil. Add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, dry red chilies n' curry leave. Allow it to splutter.

Step 3: Remove the kadai from the stove and add the red chili powder, turmeric powder n' asafoetida powder. (You are doing it off the stove cause we need to take care not to burn the powders used.)

Step 4: Mix in the mangoes into the above mixture. Allow it to coat well. Add vinegar. Check the salt n' add more if required. Keep it aside overnight or at least for 4-5hrs to allow it to absorb the spices.

If you ask me, its best served with everything. ;) But traditionally, its served with Kanji or Rice n' Curry. Happy Cooking!!! :)

Mushroom Pepper Fry

I love mushrooms in all forms. Some of the other mushroom recipes on my blog are, Black Eyed Peas with Mushrooms, Mushroom Ragout on Garlic Toast. There are very few things that Rj eats without any qualms, which aren't under the category of Non Veg food. Mushrooms happen to be one of them. So i'm always on the look out for an interesting way to cook them. This recipe is spicy n' really hits you with its flavours n' we love having it with a simple daal n' chapathi or rice. I have added cubed capsicum to balance the spice and its a winner. So here you go...






Ingredients :

1. Mushroom : 200 gms (each sliced into 4 pieces)
2. Onion : 1 no
3. Green chilies :2 nos. (slit)
4. Bell Peppers (Capsicum) : 1/2 cup (chopped)
5. Garlic: 1-2nos (crushed)
6. Curry Leaves: as much as you like (the more the better)
7. Pepper Powder - 3 tbsp (use freshly crushed for best results)
8. Oil - 2 tsp
9. Mustard seeds
10. Salt to taste

Method:

Step 1: Heat oil in a wok , add mustard seeds n' curry leaves to do a tadka.

Step 2: Add chopped onions n' garlic and saute till onion turns translucent.

Step 3: Add green chillies and mushrooms. Sprinkle salt on the mushrooms n' allow it to ooze out the water. On high flame allow the water to evaporate while stirring the mushrooms occasionally.

Step 4: Then reduce the flame to sim , add the pepper powder, stir it in n' allow it to cook well. Add the cubed/chopped bell peppers at this stage. (they cook quickly, n' hence I prefer to keep it crunchy i'm adding it at this stage. If you want them well cooked add them along with the mushrooms in step 3.)

Its best served with Daal, Rice or Chapathi. :)...Happy Cooking!

Blueberry and Banana Muffins

Let me start today's post by giving a heartfelt thank you to all who have left me a comment on my previous post. I will try the recipes you have taken the trouble to recommend to me. :) Here is my first post from a small series of Baking goodies I want to do this month. I had never made muffins before. I have eaten them a few times. But seeing these blueberries in the stall pushed me to buy them. I have heard on countless occasions how these are filled with anti oxidants, that pushed me a little too. I bought only a 100gms (what with the being so expensive in Bangalore n all that), that left me with very few recipes I could actually try. The first classic things that came to my mind were these Blueberry Muffins n' a Blueberry Compote on pancakes. But Rj doesn't like Pancakes n' I would've had to finish the whole thing on my own...how can that be interesting? That left me to choose these Muffins.






I really didn't know muffins were this easy to bake. An ingredient lead me to choose the dish, but boy am I thrilled with the results or what? So this is the first baked dish I taught myself. :) I will shamelessly say, what helped me the most is the fact that I didn't make any changes to measurements of the base ingredients. (normally i'm always keen on that coz I don't want too many baked things on my table) I got 15 baked muffins with measurements and there are only 3 left. :( If nothing else at the end of my baking journal, I will be overweight at this pace. :) But even that daunting thought is not killing my spirits. :) So, here you go. The recipe is adapted from here.






Ingredients:

1. All Purpose Flour (Maida): 3 cups minus 2tbsp
2. Baking soda: 1tsp
3. Baking powder:2 tsps
4. Heavy pinch of salt
5. Caster sugar: 1 cup
6. Vegetable oil: 1/2 cup (or half a cup of melted butter) *
7. Egg: 1no
8. Yogurt (plain n unflavored) : 1 generous cup (throw in extra if you want)
9. Blueberries (fresh):1 cup
10. Banana (chopped): 1 cup
10. Vanilla Extract/Essence : 1tbsp
11. Softened Butter, for muffin tins (I used the cupcake liners so didn't need this)
12. Caster sugar (optional): for sprinkling on top.

* to my horror I saw that I didn't have enough Vegetable Oil with me. So I used melted butter instead. They say that while mixing the wet ingredients as mentioned in Step 3 below, one should take care while adding the hot butter to eggs. What I did was I added butter n' then added yogurt before adding the eggs n' I was safe.

Method:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 180° C.

Step 2: In a large bowl sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Step 3: In another large bowl whisk together sugar, oil, vanilla essence, egg, and yogurt.

Step 4: Add the dry ingredients (I sifted it in little by little) and stirring to a count of 10.

Step 5:Add blueberries and the chopped bananas, (reserving 1/2 cup of blueberries for later), to mixture and stir 3 times. (At this point I got a little worried, coz the batter looked really different from anything I have ever baked. But I decided to proceed as instructed.)

Step 6: Add mixture to well-buttered muffin pans or like I mentioned the Cupcake liners. Sprinkle remaining berries on top and press down lightly. Sprinkle a little sugar over top. (Brown sugar can be used instead.)

Step 7: Bake 20 to 25 minutes and allow to cool completely.

They came out so well, I looked at them and I could cry with Joy. I just couldn't stop smiling. Rj was at work n' I took some to my cousin Seena, who is passionate about baking. I just had to get her view on them. She liked them too n I was ecstatic. When Rj came home, he was balled over with the texture n' the fact that I used blueberries for the muffins. :) All in all I feel like a Happy Baker! Happy Baking!

My-Baking-Baby Steps- Please recommend a Baking Recipe

Anyone who has added me as a friend on FB would know my Baking woes, I have updated it there often enough. I could always say, you win some you loose some n' just quit trying. But I just couldn't do that. I have almost never had a craving for sweets, cakes or cookies. But Rj is a die hard fan of anything sweet, he has the mother of all sweet tooth so to speak...lol..;)

So anyways, truth be told, i'm scared of baking. I have had so many of my baking efforts flop on me in the last 2months. Yet I see so many people doing it effortlessly n' successfully. If you have faced baking problems like me, you will know how irksome it really is. Do you guyz remember, Arundhuti from My Saffron Kitchen, gave me this book, Sanjeev Kapoor's Cakes and Bakes. It's a really nice book, but I still managed to goof up. If you have gone through my blog, you will know how big a Sanjeev Kapoor Recipes fan I'm. Along with Aru, I also, wanted to give a special thanks to Namitha from Collaborative Curry n' Maria from Maria's Menu too, who have listened to me patiently and answered my queries, whenever I have talked to them about baking. :) Ria from Ria's Collection was telling me yesterday, to go easy on myself and to relax and try again after a while to find my baking mojo back. But I was scared what if I loose track n' loose my steam. So she has recommended a few of her simple cakes recipes for me to try out. :) Thank you so much gal.

Madhuri from cookcurrynook, another established Baker like the others I have mentioned here, is a really good friend now. She takes bulk orders for baking, (how awesome is that, right?) knows so many digs in and around Bangalore where you can go pick up baking goodies n she is on first name basis with so many renowned chefs. ;) That's how cool she is. We attended this 'Active Foods' workshop in Taj Gateway Hotel, Bangalore organised by Food Lovers Magazine. It was an awesome experience and Chef Naren Thimmaiah shared with us a lot of tips and recipes on healthy cooking. I had a wonderful experience, all thanks to Madhuri (who told me about it in the first place) and Food Lovers Magazine. :)

Coming back to the topic of baking, Chef Naren served us a Molten Chocolate Souffle with a Florida Orange Reduction. It was divine, to say the least. Sitting there I said to myself, thats what I will try first. I promptly tried it. It flopped on me, literally. It rose well enough in the oven, but 5mins after taking it out from the oven, it shrank to half its original size and tasted bad. :(...Here is a picture, just so you can get an idea. I also tried a Red Velvet Cake recently, it turned out as hard as those Red Angry Birds from the game Angry Birds....:( I tried a sponge cake to make Jam Rolls n it rose n' rose while baking in the cake tin n' had this smell of eggs after baking...eeks.. It was horrible. Let's me not say anything more. But anyways you get the picture. Having said that I should also say, I have successfully baked, a simple chocolate cake, a Marble Cake, a Chocolate Carrot Cake, a Banana Bread n' a Chocolate Mud Cake before.










The contradictory part about this is the fact that the first time I baked, I was in my 8th Std in school. I used to make Butter cookies, learnt from a summer holiday workshop my mom sent me to. My grandmom, her sister n' one of my aunts are all really good at baking. I still remember how proud my ammachi was when the butter cookies I baked turned out well. I used to have fun distributing them too. :).But after that, I don't think I baked anything till we went to Bahrain. I have been told on countless occasions that practice is key in baking n' also follow the recipe to the last drop of the batter.

This post is dedicated to me and my Baking Efforts. I have decided I need to conquer this worry I have about Baking. This July, I'm planning to challenge myself and try to bake something or the other over the coming 2-3 weeks, lets say 4weeks. More like a baking class for myself, where the cook and the student is one n' the same. :) I realize this post is too long, so i'm highlighting this para for you. It would mean a lot to me, if you could recommend an easy but yummy baking recipe from your blog (sweet or savoury) to help me get better at baking. Looking forward to hearing what you have to say. :)

Pickled Mango Chutney/ Uppumanga Chammanthi

I have socially busy day ahead of me and decided to do this post bright n' early! Ever since last Friday, I have been having busy days like these n' I love it. :)....To continue with my Mango Posts, I give you a chutney. I mean, I have had this so many times at home in Kerala with Kanji or just rice and a curry. You know how fashion gurus will tell you, a gorgeous scarf or chic handbag you are holding will make a simple outfit turn into a fashion statement! Well this chutney does that to my food. ;) (lol...yeah even I can see the funny side to that statement.) But really, I do mean it! This does turn a simple meal to a drool worthy finger n' plate licking experience. ;)






My mom tells me, I started making coconut chutneys on the regular arakallu when I was 6yrs old. (I'm sure she used to help ;) I used to put a stool next to the arakkalu n' gladly make the chutney. The only problem used to be that I would finish half of it as soon as I made it. ;) So then amma started giving me extra coconut for the "just for me" portions of the chutney. You know how small girls in kerala would play "Kanjiyum Curryum" during the holidays with friends n' cousins? In my case, we had a big parambu (backyard) and we would actually make the kanji on a small coal and stone stove and pair it with a chutney n eat it hot. Just the thought is mouthwatering for me. I bought a new pestle and mortar recently and decided to make this. Need I say, I loved the experience? So here is my version of the simple food fashion statement....;)

Ingredients:

1. Pickled Mango (Uppu Manga)- 1 or 2 (cut into small pieces)
2. Small Onions: 6-8nos
3. Green Chili (or pickled chili)- 3-4nos *

* (depending on how spicy you want it to be add more or less. But it tastes best when you make this chutney really spicy. I'm not adding any coconut to this chutney! )

Method

Just grind all the ingredients above into the chutney consistency that you want. I liked biting into these pieces, but some people like to have it in the form of nice paste. So I leave that up to you. You can also use this in the form of a dip for which you obviously need to grind this into a paste. :) Happy Cooking!!!