FOOD : Rice Spice : Prawns Biriyani in coconut milk, Sslurrppp

Prawnss :) brings a smile on mah face! how i love it! its been my latest on the food craving list! I have always believed that sea food and coconut is a matchless combination. The flavor of coconut soo delicately winds itself around the sea food that it becomes really an effort to savor them separately. So here's a rice pilaf, if i may call it so, that is cooked, with prawns and coconut milk. Exotic is the word.
Ill be dividing it into 4 steps
01. Prawns and its marination
02. Gravy in which you cook the rice
03. Rice
04. Garnish


01. Prawns and its marination (14-15 tiger prawns)
Grate Coconut finely-bout 2 spoons, Green chillies chopped, curry leaves, coconut milk(1 cup), a dry masala of (dry roasted cloves-2, cardamom-2, jeera-half spoon, coriander seeds-half spoon, pepper-5/6), garlic n salt.. Marinate and keep aside.

02. Gravy- you will need 2 cups of thick coconut milk and lots of garlic (nuthing like a fresh extract), a separate juice of Roasted tomato, green chilli-1, pepper 4-5, grind this together to get another 1 cup. Mix the coconut milk and the tomato mixture together (has to be a real smooth one)

03. 2 cups of Basmati rice, soaked for half hour. Take a kadhai, put in some ghee, throw in chopped cashewnuts, cloves2-3, bayleaf, cardamom 2-3, put in the rice and fry well. Now put in 3 cups of the above extract (02). Add a little salt. Fry rice over high flame, and reduce once you put in the Pulp, and let it cook for bout 15 min, without disturbing it. I would suggest you to do this at the very beginning, so that by the time you really use it for the layering of the rice, it would be completely non sticky, because it would lose all the moisture by then after cooling down a little and the rice wouldnt break when you dig in with your ladle. The rice here will be only cooked to about 80%. The remaining will be done in the end.
Imp: You will be cooking all the 3 portions separately.. so careful about the salt, everything should contain enough salt, but should come together well, when everything gets mixed.

04. Garnish- slice onions and fry them in lots of oil till they turn brown-(optional), lots of chopped coriander and soak some saffron in warm milk


In a non stick pan, spoon in ghee, add the prawn base (01) and let it cook. Prawns dont take more than 5 min to cook. so once done, spoon out half of it (along with the gravy of the coconut milk) in a separate dish.
Now, you have only half of the prawns at the base, layer one portion of the cooked rice, onions over it, and then the remaining prawns.
Over this, spread out the remaining rice, onions, saffron & milk and finally coriander leaves.
Cover with a lid for 5 min.

P.S dont add turmeric. The picture has turmeric in it. Kinda spoils the look specially cause there is coconut milk. Me too going to avoid it next time
Exotic eh??

FOOD : Star Starters : Stuffed Green Peppers!

The Peppers.. they are soo powerful... they are hottt and your flesh and blood cant bear it for long, but yet, they are appealing. Tone of green, Its lustre and firm body ,,, Wowwiee.. Gorgeous! Make sure, you select these kinds..

The peppers are basically popular around the world along the equator belt. The Anaheim, Jalapenos, Cascabels, Cherry's, Serrano's, etc, oh the wonderful varieties of peppers, but sadly not everything is available everywhere! The spiciest part of the chilli however contrary to the popular belief are not the seeds, but the white membrane attached to the stalk. you;ve got to get rid of this, if you want ur peppers to be less spicy.

for this preparation, you will need long, firm and straight peppers with a good lenth of stalks. Slit each of it (slightly away from the stalk) and remove the white membrane. Just apply a little salt on the inside of the chilli and keep aside.


for the mix, in a Kadhai, take a little oil, put in some crushed garlic, jeera, coriander powder, haldi, chillipowder, one green chilli chopped finely, hing, onions-finelly chopped and optional, and Besan(this is the main ingredient in the base). Fry all of it well, till the raw smell of Besan is all gone. you could add a little more oil here, if you wish to. Spoon in Salt and Sugar(little). mix all of it, with some coriander leaves till they all come together.

Now take it each chilli, and stuff the above mix into them, and Fry over the Tava. Use the stalks to flip them. This could be a very different starter, also teams up with our Curd rice brilliantly..
Just check if you can withstand that powerful bite !!!

This also can be done with the tender bitter gourds, thanks to my friend Jyothi for letting me know, works great!!

FOOD : Star Starters : The 'Phodi'- the favourite amongst all Konkani's

Guys, you must try this.. its simply easy and delicious, and the best part about this?!?! it can be done with any veggie that you get ur hands on. Potato(slice), Banana(slice), Cauliflower(thick florets), Jackfruit(when its not ripened, sliced), sweet potato(sliced), brinjal(sliced), bhendi(halved and slit), onion(when its held tight, and cut into rings), ridge gourd(sliced), Taro root (sliced, when u slice this, either have tamarind paste on ur hands/use gloves, Ull have a bad itch thro the rest of the day otherwise, but this tastes awesome-like they say-nothing comes easy), Kantolas(best with this prep, sliced).. and goes excellent with curd rice. You will forget all those pickles that have accompanied the curd rice all these days.

So, once you have decided which veggie it is going to be, you take them in a bowl, wash them, and put salt over it (this purely is your judgement, cause its only here that we will be adding the salt and no-where later). mix the veggies in the salt, enough to coat it all over. Now in a separate bowl, mix Semolina(small rava) and rice flour (semolina to give the crunchy taste, and rice flour to soak the oil and let the coating stick to the veggie), chilli powder-lots and the coating is ready.

Before anything, let the tava heat up, oil it, once u think its hot, take each slice (shouldnt be dry by the time all this is done, the veggie would not hold on to the semolina mix), coat it with the mix, and put it on the tava. the tava should be hot now, once you lay all the veggies on the tava, flip it immediately. the coating sticks to the veggie, only when theres lots of heat. once you flip it, reduce the flame, spooon in some oil, sprinkle water over the veggies (careful with the amount of water u sprinkle), cover with lid, and let it cook on one side. Potatoes, banana, cauliflower, bhendi hardly take time, the Taro root, jackfruit take a little longer to cook. So now, flip them over, spoon in some oil again, sprinkle little water, cover with lid, let them cook. once done, take off the lid, and let them be, so that the moisture is all gone. you could even flip them again if u wish to. Each side, shouldnt take more than 2 min to cook, so this is like real fast.

there are times, when i get back, and i have this craving for 'phodi' when i know there is either the Dalitoy/rasam/curd rice waiting, so i just slice up whatever veggie is available and the mix of semolina and rice flour is forever ready in my kitchen...so make them and have a blissful meal. Mah husband happened to once call my kitchen 'Phod'ya Factory'.

a simple 'Homecooked meal' is the best anyways! :) and to be honest, my mouths begun to water at the very thought of 'Potato Phodi'. So you surely know whats cooking today!!

P.S-you could try this preparation with prawns too, just make sure along with salt, you coat the prawn with lots of chilli powder and tamarind paste, the rest is the same. (you dont have to sprinkle water here) It would look something like this.

FOOD : A Snack : Corn and Potato Patties

Now this ones real quick and yummy.. All you need are boiled potatoes and sweet corn.. Potatoes are my favourite, its my idea of Heaven.. anything with potato has to taste good :). This would be like your perfect sunday evening snack, especially if its raining outside. Wake up from the siesta, and munch munch with a hot cup of tea.. but make sure you boil the potatoes before so that they arent really soft and creamy on the surface.

-So, 3 potatoes into the cooker, boiled, peeled and mashed. into the mixer put in bout 2 cups of sweet corn, ginger, 1chilli finely chopped, mint-coriander-chilli paste( this is one another thing that is generally kept ready at my place, make sure u slightly fry the mint before grinding it ), a dash of lemon and salt, give it a good run in the mixer.. it shouldnt be a paste. it would be great if you could grind it just enough to have a few whole corn kernels left in there. so mix the mashed potatoes and the corn and check for salt.. if you think its fine, then give them any shape you desire and Shallow fry in Oil.

Serve with either some tomato ketchup or a nice imli and chilli chutney! I hope you've got your mug of tea ready by now!?

FOOD : Rice Spice : Peas Pulav

We have always known rice to be the staple food of South India.. but more so, i consider it to be beautiful. Ever since the time they are sown, in those sparkling waters, they rise up to the bright sky, covered with hull, till they are beaten out to bring the long, pure white rice grains! only India can today boast of the several Rice Preparations, that it has to offer to the world, though the Persians brought the tradition of preparing rice with the meat and yoghurt, which is called the Biriyani today.. Its not the recipe of the biriyani that is going to follow, but of a Pulao, but the spices are pretty understated here.

so you will need 2 cups of the long grained, aromatic, slender... mmm.. yes: the Basmati rice, soaked in water for half an hour.. Drain it and fry it in with a little ghee, till the glorious aroma of the rice, begins to waft around. Keep this aside.

in a Kadhai, put in bout 3 spoons of Ghee. Into this, tip the cloves, cinnamon, pieces of Cashewnut, fry this, till the cashew turns a little golden brown. Keep a coarsely ground paste of Ginger(lots), Garlic(lots) and green chilli ready (i would request you not to use the ready made paste here, it doesnt really give out the needed flavor). Add this to the ghee and fry well. to this add peas (or anything that you want to:carrots, cauliflower, capsicum, etc) and fry. now add the rice to it, and add exactly 1.75 times the water (1.75 cause you have already soaked the rice, and fried it as well), salt and just half a spoon of sugar. The flame has to be really high till this, once you add all of it, reduce the flame, close the lid, keep something heavy on it, and just wait for 15 minutes. open the lid, do not disurb the rice, cause they might break. once you open the lid, let it cook further for about 5 min, so that you dont really have all the steam and moisture in there. Just for that extra jazz, fry in thin slices of onion in lots of oil, till they are brown. Spread this over the rice and tip in some coriander leaves!

Aaaahhh.. Bliss!!

FOOD : Star Starters : Coastal Fish Fry

I have been kinda 'off and on' with my craving for sea food. There was a time, when I had completely given up all kinds of meat, not that i used to venture into many kinds either, but I'm glad that I have got to take pleasure in Sea food again, which is so inseparable from me, considering i straight walk out of the coastal belt of Karnataka. We have always grown up eating fish, prawns, crabs, etc, and the perfect accompaniment for any sea food dish, for a lunch time, is the Solkadi. It will straight drive you to the coziest corner of your house for that perfect nap :-)

Solkadi is basically a drink made out of Kokum/Amsol which is a typical Konkan Fruit. Its a seasonal fruit, available in dried form(also as a fruit-but dont remember eating it), or you could also grab a jar of Kokum extract (not the juice) when you take a trip through Goa next time.

So, for the basic Fish fry,
You will need fish (slice it thick, so its fun ), tamarind extract, lots of crushed garlic, chilli powder, salt, semolina and rice flour mixed together.
-In a bowl, marinate the fish with salt and keep aside for 5 min.

-Mix in the tamarind extract, garlic, chilli powder(be generous with this, nothing like a spicy fish fry) enough to coat the fish well. Leave it for bout 15 min.

-in a plate, keep the rava/rice flour mix ready, coat the fish with this, put it on the Tava which is already oiled well (coconut oil here will just ship you to the beautiful coastal belt) flip it and let it cook, Remember sea food should not be overcooked, threaten it with just enough heat and when done, celebrate it with joy!! :).. Meanwhile keep the steamed rice ready... Before i move on, you could try this with just about any kind of sea food.

and for the Solkadi, you will need grated coconut (easily bout 3/4 of the coconut) 2 medium sized/1 big green chilli, 1-2 (not more) garlic, salt, grind all of this, and you will need 2 rounds of the thick coconut milk (for the 2nd round, add in a little water). To this add the kokum extract (if you dont have it ready, you have to soak the kokum in luke warm water and then add it while grinding, not more, but just about 3-4) once done, garnish it with finely chopped coriander leaves..

So here's the perfect meal, steamed rice, Solkadi and the delicate Fish Fry!!

FOOD : ooSSome Gravies : The Bharli Vangi

Hello Friends,

Finally, ive gotten onto a platform, which I've been wanting to do, I dont think im too good with this, but anyways would like to share what I have been doing. I feel its easy to explain what you put and how u make, but the passion that has to go while cooking, cannot be explained. I've always believed that ambience plays a role into everything. Ambience may hold too much importance in my life, perhaps the reason being Im into space making myself. But to me, my kitchen is the place that Im most possessive about. So, the love for the space, transforms itself, into the love for food and cooking though i personally hate to spend more than an hour in the kitchen.

So, finally here I am sharing my recipe of the authentic Maharashtrian dish 'Bharli Vangi' which means stuffed Aubergines. i dont prefer eggplants too much, but its my husbands favourite dish, and he can absolutely forget everything around him, while he indulges.

Starting with this, first of all, you will need Eggplants that are delicately Green, small sized and tender-to avoid too many seeds within. Keep the stalks, they look good in the end after all the cooking. Im pretty bad with listing the ingredients first and then writing in the process, so they go simultaneously in here. So for 2 people, you will need about 6-7 eggplants

Step 01. Preparing the Stuffing and brinjal.

Slit the brinjal into 4, dont cut them too deep, You will have 4 different pieces after cooking them. For the stuffing you will need-1 onion finely chopped, 2 spns of finely grated coconut, coriander leaves finely chopped, coriander powder:1spoon, jeera:1 spoon, chillipowder, Haldi, a coarse paste of garlic and dry red chilli ( keep this prepared in bulk, its a great ingredient for other dishes as well, to give that fierry red color), salt, add a little oil-about a spoonful and mix all just enough to bind them all. Stuff the eggplant with this, and keep aside. there might be a little of the base stuffing that will always remain, its ok, just add it to the gravy later on.

Step 02-The main Gravy

Oil in the Kadhai, (a little more if you can turn a blind eye to the aftereffects of rich cooking), Tip in the mustard seeds, little jeera, green chillies, curry leaves, fry in bout 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped tomato, little chilli powder, haldi, little of that ground garlic-dry chilli paste, and put in the eggplants. A little extra oil, will allow you to fry the eggplant here, to give that rich shine on the surface :-). Throw in that extra stuffing that has remained. Add enough water to cook the eggplants and also to be a part of the gravy in the end. Spoon in some coarsely ground peanuts, for that crunchy feel. It will also blend in with the gravy and give it the smooth texture. Put in salt as per your taste, and little jaggery ( I love it when the 'Masaledaar Khana' is a 'litttttle' sweet) and once done, lots of chopped coriander.

There is also another way to do the above, slightly different, But I love it.

the Stuffing would remain the same, but for the gravy you will need.. 2-3 cloves, coriander seeds, jeera, dry red chilli, garlic-lots, coconut (little), tamarind- fry all of this in oil and grind it in the mixer to have a smooth paste. Now, in oil, fry chopped onions, curry leaves, add this paste, then the stuff aubergines, whole peanuts, add in water, salt, jaggery and cook. Coriander leaves go in the end.

This beautifully accompanies the Bhakris (Bread made of Jowar/Bajra). A few sliced onions, lightly roasted green chillies/Thecha (coarsely ground garlic, greenchilli, salt and oil) on the Thali, will give one the feel of a traditional meal of the Central/Western India.

FOOD : ooSSome Gravies : Stuffed Brinjal

Well, Thanks to a few friends who have pushed me to getting back to my blog and this time, for reasons that would make people goo drooooolll... This is the first recipe for a very famous Maharashtrian dish, I'm not too fond of this, But my partner forgets everything when he indulges himself into this. So,,, this is called the Bharli Vangi, which is a authentic maharashtrian dish.. first of all, like to let u know bout the kind of brinjal that you should pick for this curry.. It would be great if you find the medium green ones, tender, so that there are very few seeds within. Avoid the little purple ones. I would recommend you to retain the little stalk on it, so that your end presentation looks appealing.

Im pretty bad at listing the ingredients first and then giving out the procedure, so let me just start.. this is for 2 people.. so you will need about 6-7 of the eggplant.. I will be sharing 2 ways of doing the same

Step 01. Preparing the Brinjal and the stuffing..

Slit Brinjal into 4.. dont cut it too deep. then you will have 4 different pieces of one :). For the stuffing you will need-2 spoons of finely grated coconut, 3 spoons of coarsely ground peanuts, little coriander powder.. 1 onion finely chopped, 1 green chilli finely chopped, jeera, Coarsely ground masala of Ginger and garlic and Red Chilli(keep this prepared, this can also be tipped into other curries) coriander leaves chopped, red chilli powder, Turmeric.. mix all of this with a little oil jsut enough to bind all of it, and then stuff this into the eggplant and keep aside.

02. in a Kadhai, throw in the oil ( little more of it, if you dont mind!! )