A Recognition - Kungumam Thozhi

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It surely feels great when someone says your work looks great. A simple word of recognition can mean a lot to one and it does a lot to me. When someone appreciates it just motivates me to do more and to think bigger :)

A phone call from an unknown number on a fine morning, I picked up and she greeted in a sweet voice and introduced herself as Vaidehi, reporter from Kungumam. I was surprised as to how they figured out my number and what the call was all about. Within minutes we could catch up well with more conversations and she said she loves my profession and profile and would like to meet me for a longer conversation on it. Until then I wasnt sure where it would all end up. 

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She came home and was surely one interesting person to meet. Though she isnt the first reporter I am meeting, I should say she was much different from others, she was tactful to ask loads of questions and get the maximum information from me :) And she said its going to be on their magazine!!! Felt so proud and happy to be interviewed for a popular magazine and that too about my newly born profession - Food stylist and photographer :)

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In a day, their photographer came home for a work shoot of mine and so was the article prepared by her. 

I was completely excited when the copy came home and to open it up and see the article right in the center of the book occupying 4 pages with large pictures of mine and my work :) along with brilliantly written article from Vaidehi :) 

All thanks to Kungumam, Vaidehi and the others who made it for me :)

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Tomato Rice

OMG its a week already! Most of you would have been wondering why I was missing for quite some time and why there wasn't a posts too. Life completely gets busy when there is a new entry in life. Yup! My sister delivered a cute little princess on Valentines day. A lovable girl indeed! :) 

The tiny tot is keeping all of us at home on our feet all the time. I mean it. Little did I know that there would be so much of attention needed for a kid! Oh but I am loving this. I am running around happily buying things for her, cleaning her potty and playing with her :) She is really the princess of the house now :)

So that's the very reason I couldn't compose a post for my blog. Now that she has given me some time, here I come with a simple comforting tomato rice and the base mix for it. 

The simple spice mixed of saunf and cinnamon with tomato would make it really delicious and the rice mix can be stored in the fridge for almost 10 days and used. Make life simple when you need to pack lunch boxes. :)

Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 5

Green chilies - 4

Garlic pods - 15

Curry leaves 

Saunf - 1 tblsp

Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece

Channa dhall - 1 tsp

Urad dhall - 1 tsp

Mustard - 1/2 tsp

Salt - for taste

Method:

Step 1: Dice tomatoes into small cubes and peel the garlic pods. 

Step 2: Split the green chilies lengthwise. 

Step 3: Powder the saunf and cinnamon coarsely. 

Step 4: Take 2 tbsp of oil in a sauce pan and crackle mustard, channa dhall and urad dhall. 

Step 5: Add the green chillies and curry leaves and saute for a min. Now add the ground saunf and cinnamon powder.

Step 6: Now drop in the diced tomatoes, garlic pods and saute in low flame until it gets cooked and becomes thick. Tomato rice mix is ready. 

Step 7: Cook rice with exact measure of water and add 2 tbsp of ghee to it. Separate the grains. 

Step 8: Now add this rice mix to the rice and mix well. Serve hot with potato chips. 

Written by: Nithya
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Crème brûlée

Wish all my readers and lovers around the world a very happy Valentines day :)

Oh yeah!!! Nothing in red or pink, no hearts or no chocolate this year! I choose to be a little different. 

I tried this recipe from Nisha's blog but replaced the cream with full fat milk to make a lighter version :)

Ingredients:

Double cream (I used full fat milk instead of cream) - 250ml

Vanilla extract- 1 tsp

Caster sugar- 50gms + enough to sprinkle on top for caramelizing 

Egg yolks- 3 

Method:

Take egg yolks in a bowl and beat it along with caster sugar until light and fluffy. 

Boil the milk or cream in a saucepan. Reduce heat and keep stirring so that a film doesn't form on top. 

Preheat the oven to 150 degree C. 

Increase the flame and bring the milk / cream to boil. Stir in vanilla essence. Remove from flame and pour it over the egg mixture little by little and whisk briskly. Keep beating until it becomes slightly thick. The mixture thickens since the eggs start getting cooked. 

Now pour in the mixture into ramekins until 3/4th full and place them on a large baking dish with water at least half way up the sides of the ramekins. This process of baking is called Bain-marie. Put the baking dish on the center rack of the oven and bake for 25 - 28 mins until the pudding is done. It is very much fine if the center is wobbly, it will set when refrigerated. 

Remove the pudding from the water and refrigerate it for atleast 3 hours. 

Just before serving remove from fridge and sprinkle caster sugar evenly on top of the pudding and caramelize it using a blow torch.  You can use a grill or broiler too. 

Enjoy eating your home made creme brulee :)

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here. 

Masala Vada / Lentil Fritters

Masala Vada... Masala Vada!!! How many times have you heard the vendor screaming out the name when you travel in Indian Railways? The first thing that I can remember when I think about day time train travel is the hot chai and masala vada. They are incredibly tasty tea time bites that all Indians would have tasted :) 

Fresh and hot masala vadas on rainy days can literally be unbeatable. I just love them so much and have been enjoying it since evening. 

Here goes the recipe for simple masala vada :) 

Ingredients:

Channa dhall (Bengal gram dhall) – 1 cup

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp

Green chillies – 3

Onions - 2

Asafoetida – a pinch

Ghee – 1 tbsp

Cooking soda – ½ tsp

Salt – for taste

Oil – for frying

Method:

Soak Channa dhall in water for 3 hours. 

 

Grind green chillies coarsely. Grind the soaked channa dhall coarsely and keep it aside. Chop onions finely.

Take ghee in a mixing bowl and add the cooking soda to it. Beat with your palm until frothy. Now mix in the ground channa dhall, ginger garlic paste, green chillies, onion, salt and asafoetida and just a few drops of water to make the batter. 

 

Pinch lemon sized balls of dough and make them into balls and flatten them with your palm. 

Fry them all in hot oil until evenly browned on both sides and crispy. Remove and put them on paper towel to remove excess oil. 

Serve hot and enjoy eating :)

You can add 2 tblsp of oats to the batter to make it all the more healthy. 

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here. 

Aglio Olio Pasta

Nothing can make you feel more satisfied than making a dish from scratch. I made the simplest of pastas Aglio Olio Pasta with homemade angel hair pasta.

My priceless possession – pasta rolling machine bought at Italy has been put to decently good use ever since I bought it but just realized that I dint post any recipe that I made using them!!! Sometimes it just happens that I get so overwhelmed by the taste that I completely forget to take pics of the dish :(

I shall surely post the recipe of pasta from scratch as soon as possible. That's a promise! :)

Ingredients:

Angel hair pasta / spegatti - 300 gms

Garlic – 6 pods

Olive oil – 2 tblsp

Dry red chillies or chilli flakes

Water to boil the pasta

Salt – for taste

Method:

Step 1: Chop garlic into fine pieces.

Step 2: Measure your homemade pasta or use the store bought angel hair pasta or spaghetti. 

Step 3: All your need next is the olive oil and chilly flakes. I used extra virgin olive oil that I picked up at Italy. 

If you are using dried whole red chillies then chop them finely. I used ready chilly flakes instead. 

Step 4: Boil 2 ltrs of water with some salt and oil added to it. Put the pasta into the water and cook. It took just 3 minutes since I used freshly homemade pasta. It might take upto 10 mins if you use store bought dried pasta. 

Step 5: Drain the water and keep it aside. 

Step 6: Take olive oil in a large pan and saute the finely chopped garlic and chilly flakes. 

Step 7: Add the cooked pasta and toss until it is well mixed. 

Step 8: Serve hot and enjoy eating. 

You can add some crushed pepper too to make it spicy but bet on me it tastes awesome as it is!

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here.