FOOD : Break.. fast : Akki Rotti

What's the first thing that comes to your mind, when you have to mention 1 e-shpeshal thing about Namma Bengalooru!? For me, there are 2 things : Weather and Tindi. Tindi in Kannada means Breakfast, and it is the most essential Meal for all people of Bangalore. Check out any Hotel or fast food in the morning, and you will have scores of people taking that Token for their plate of Breakfast and that 'Idli, vade, masala dosa, set dosa rattle' will sound like music to your ear!! Bangalore and Bangaloreans simply don't have a rival when it comes to Breakfast.

What I am posting today, is a very traditional Tindi, along with a seasonal Vegetable, called the Avarekai : I'm assuming the english name for it, is Flat Beans. This is essentially and mostly available in Karnataka and Bangloreans love it. The whole array of dishes that are prepared in a traditional household during the Avarekai season is unbelievable. Right from Avarekai Saru, Avarekai Sambar, Avarekai Upit, AvarekaiShavige bath, Avarekai Chow Chow, Avarekai Akki rotti.. its just Unbelievable. Walk on the 'Tindi Street' in V.V.Puram and you will also be treated to Avarekai Holige - a sweet preparation, like the Puranpoli !! And what is even more special is the Hitikida Avarekai... which means, the Transparent Skin of the bean removed and that is the costliest in the market. If you can spare Half an hour, then this job is not difficult either.

You need to soak the required quantity of Avarekai in water for around 8 hours, and then the transparent skin comes off easily.

Avarekai with skin

So for Akki Rotti, you will need the Hitikida Avarekai(with skin removed-Cooks easily on the tava/Pan) or if you don't find time, use the ones with the skin-just make sure you cook it before you add it to the Akki Rotti batter.

Avarekai with Skin removed

For 2 people you will need

2 cups of Rice flour

1 cup of milk

Green chillies finely sliced

Coriander Leaves finely chopped

1 big Onion finely chopped-quantity optional

2 spoons of grated coconut

2 spoons of cooked rice-Optional

salt

Sugar

1 cup of Avarekai

• In a bowl, add onion, green chillies, salt, sugar, boiled/cooked rice, grated coconut and give all the ingredients a good mash/crush with your fingers. Essentially with this, the Fluids within the ingredients will get released: specially of the onion.
• Add milk, and repeat process.
• Add the rice flour and the Avarekai and mix well. (Add water if needed)
• Add sugar (little) and salt as per taste.
• This mix/Batter should be thick.
• Check for taste.
• Now on a butter paper, Apply a little oil and water, spread well. Immediately take a lump of the batter/mix and spread evenly to a round shape. Let it be a thin later. Moisten your hands with water if needed. Water will not let the batter stick to your hands and will help you spread the batter easily.
• Keep your pan ready on the hob. Don't keep the batter spread out on the paper for long at all, else you will have difficulty in removing the paper once on the pan. Flip it over the pan (Pan needs to be kept oiled) and immediately remove the Butter paper (Paper needs to be on the top). Cook it on one side.
• Flip and turn it over. Spread oil again and let it cook.
• Serve with coriander Chutney/Coconut Chutney/simply the traditional Chatnipudi. :-) Top it with butter-that's not to be forgotten.

Try this and you will know what you miss and what Akki rotti is without Avarekai .. for the remaining part of the year!!

ARTE - Warli - My first

Write your own diary or Paint.. its the same, You are weaving your thoughts. Warli Tribes did the same too. They are the Indigenous people who live in and around Nasik and parts of Gujrat. They use a high vocabulary of Graphics, comprising of circles, triangles and squares: shapes derived from nature, and have been essentially wall paintings.

Warli Painting..hmm.. I always have marveled at it. Simple, yet soo intense, showing human and human interaction with the nature around. I could never get to it, till my friend, Ms.Megha Viswanath, came up with NeoWarli - adding her own funky touch to her everyday thoughts and depicting the same in a Contemporary Warli Ishtyle.

I would highly recommend you to visit http://www.neowarli.com/

Then, being highly inspired by it, I gave myself a first chance.

As Edgar Degas(A French Artist) puts it 'Art is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do' :-)

FOOD : EuroGrub : Veggie Casserole

Forget Food, I can have Potatoes all day and for Life.

This dish came to my mind one day and I thought it would be nice to do a combination of a bit of pasta and casserole. So the Sunday found me hitting to the kitchen, and getting all my basics ready for the above casserole. Luckily i had most of the needed ingredients. And this hardly takes around 45 minutes... so its easily fix your lunch!!

And raghu was quite surprised that i had decided on this menu for the Sunday, and as the saying goes 'There is no sight on earth more appealing than the sight of a woman cooking for someone she loves.' I assume he was quite glad, and I was glad only because I was cooking something with potatoes!

I started with pasta.

U need: Pasta, salt and oil

• Boil 1 fistful of pasta with salt and oil and keep aside.

for the Potatoes:

U need: 4 medium potatoes, butter, little oregano, Milk (1/2 cup), salt.

• Boil 4 medium sized potatoes, Mash them with some butter, oregano, salt and a little milk for the smooth consistency. This is the layer that goes on the top.

White Sauce:

U need: Flour-1 spoon, 4 spoons of butter, milk, salt, pepper.

• In a non stick pan, take some generous dollops of butter, 1 spoonful of Flour and mix fast and make sure there are no lumps. Add milk, salt, Nutmegpowder-if you like it, and mix well. You can tip in Pepper if you like.

Veggies :

U need: Carrot, Baby corn, Mushroom, Zucchini, Broccoli, Beans-All sliced.

• Saute with some Onions, garlic and pepper, depending on how much spice you want. Add salt.

Final Assembly :

• Take a Casserole dish and spread Olive oil on all faces.
• Spread the pasta first along with a portion of White sauce and a portion of the veggies over it.
• Spread the remaining white sauce over the veggies.
• Its time for the heavenly mashed potatoes to get over and be the final layer. Spread some cheese if you wish to, drizzle some Olive oil or throw in some dollops of butter and flake in some Oregano in the end!!

I baked this in the conventional oven for around 45 minutes. I also just grilled some slices of Potatoes and placed it on the top, just for that zzzing.

FOOD : Sweet Bites : Flaky Fenori/Chiroti

Its been raining Sweets and Sweets this Diwali, though luckily Konstanz has been spared off some rains. The week has been quite good for the fact that its end of october. I have been in the mood to do some traditional sweets this diwali, may be because I'm out of India, and you know how Your Country and everything associated with it, calls out for you during such times. My mom does an excellent job with this sweet... So I thought I'd try too.. and the result was a Sweet, delectably flaky, crisp and 'Sweet'.

This is a very typical 'Amchi Konkani' Sweet, and I suggest you to start with small amounts. The base is Maida/All purpose flour and 1 cup of Maida will give you 11 Chiroti's. So that should be a good start. So my proportions will go accordingly.

1 cup of maida

Sugar-powdered and mixed with cardamom-kept ready in a dry bowl-you could use about 1.5-2 cups of sugar

Ghee-little

Salt-little

Water to knead the dough

Oil for frying

• In a bowl, take the maida, add little salt, and make a dough. Let the dough not be too tight.
• Now make 7 equal balls of it, each would be about 1.5" diameter.
• Now roll each of it to make a thin Chapathi-i mean THIN!!-thinner it is, the flakier it would be. Now you have 7 chapathi's.
• Keep one on a dry base, apply ghee over it.
• Place the 2nd such that it is offset from it say by about 1/2". Apply ghee over the 2nd one.
• Place the 3rd one, again offset from the 2nd by about 1/2". Repeat the process for all the 7. So at the end of it, you have 7 chapathi's with ghee in between each of it and offset from each other by 1/2".
• Start rolling the top one toward the lowest one. Let it not be too tight, nor too loose.
• So you have a rolled bundle of 7 flour chapathis.
• Take a knife and cut into 11 equal divisions. Each cross section will resemble the annual rings in the trunk of the tree! :-)
• Take each section of it, apply little flour on both sides, and place it on the flat side and roll it out to a round shape. It can go up to say about 4" diameter. Dont make it too thin, you might lose out on the flakes and layers.
• Deep fry each of it, till Crisp. Remove from oil and place it on a Kitchen Paper.
• Immediately take the powdered sugar with the cardamom and sprinkle it over one side till covered with the sugar. Since its hot, the sugar will stick easily onto that side. Flip and sprinkle sugar again on the other side.

Your Fenori's are ready. Store in an air tight container, might get soft otherwise. Bon Sweet Appetite!!

PENNED DOWN : ti amo

Love, I always knew was a great feeling

An emotion for which I could do anything,

A sentiment that is wonderfully magical

A pillar of strength in all its offering.

Love resides in my soul

You complete my world as a whole,

Love lives on with me through all a season

And grows with me swelling in passion.

You are the angel walking around me

You are the clean wave gushing into my soul,

You are the sweet scent wafting around

You are the bee stinging me with your warmth.

Your smile makes my summer days brighter

Your sincerity makes the autumn days more golden,

Your affection makes those wintry days warmer

And that charm only makes the spring come sooner.

There is a gentle wind that stokes my ear

Each time I think of you,

There is a missed heart beat

Each time I don’t see you.

Each morning I want to wake up

Looking for our bright moments in your eye,

Each night I want to go to sleep

Wanting to dream for our life full of joy.

I always have been blessed with more than I asked for

I wished for a smile and I was blessed with You,

I wished for Love and I was blessed with You

I would not have known what Life could be, if it was not for you.

Divya Hegde

ARTE - Madhubani

THE SUN GOD :-) Some frames that i did 1 year back!!

PENNED DOWN : Love

Some obvious emotions in Love... Divya Hegde

ARTE - My Picture Frames at home

Everyone is an Artist, the minute you translate your simple thoughts into 'A Beautiful Depiction'

FOOD : Sweet Bites : Rabdi

This is like one of those sweets that is sooo sooo North Indian.

There is something that I hate about Milk, and something more about all the Milk Derivatives which I love, Be it Paneer, Cheese or any sweet. Milk reduced, delicately sweetened and flavored with the king and queen of all spices - Saffron and Cardamom - Sounds like a bit of heaven in your own kitchen right!? Rabdi or Basundi is a sweet that I simply love when combined with Puri's or Chapathi's and so does my husband. My husband has a sweet tooth anyways, and for sometime now, I have developed one too. And there are lots of times when i Love to surprise him with food. So this Diwali, after living in Germany for long, I thought I'll treat him to this rich and exotic sweet dish, which we hadn't savored for long. So I made this and refrigerated it before he got home and Voila!! He loved it!! The Rabdi was thick, rich and luscious.

I bought 2 liters of milk, with 3.5% fat content for this.

Procedure:

• In a non-stick pan, begin to boil the milk.
• Add a few strands of saffron at this stage.
• Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat, and keep stirring it.
• It will take atleast 30 minutes for it to give you a feeling that the milk has really started to reduce.
• You need to constantly keep stirring this, not continuously but every 5 minutes at least.
• Once it starts reducing, add Sugar - depends on how sweet you want it to be. You will notice at this stage, the rabdi will get a slightly loose consistency, cause the sugar will dissolve.
• Add cardamom Powder at this stage, and a few more strands of Saffron to it.
• Remove from heat and give it a slight whisk with your handblender, and the entire thing will come together beautifully.
• Add sliced Blanched Almonds and Pistachios and refrigerate.

Now head right to your kitchen and get some Rabdi for yourself... Trust me, Puri's are an excellent combo with this!!!

FOOD : Sweet Bites : Besan Ladoo-Diwali Time!!! :)

Sweets - indian sweets stay unbeatable... the variety and the array simply can blow anyone away. And that too at the time of Festivals... Sweets fall into the 'can't resist' category. And when the Queen of All Festivals is drawing near... The whole air, seems to be laden with the sweet scent of the variety of savouries.

Its Diwali time, and its time to say a good bye to all the diet regimes, fitness centers and simply drive away on the highway of delicacies...

I was soo confused about what I would be preparing for this grand festival. Pictures of Wheat flour Laddoo, Rava Laddoo, Besan Laddoo, Gud Poli, Rasmalai, Malpua, Pedha, Coconut Burfi and many more were hovering my dreams. So finally i got started with Besan Laddoo!!

Recipe:

3 cups of besan (ChickPea Flour)

I started with about 8 spoons of ghee

3 Cups of Sugar powdered

cardamom powder

Raisins fried in Ghee separately

In a wide bottom pan, add ghee and the Besan and start to fry on a low heat. You will need to fry this for about 15 minutes... and you will realise the raw smell of Besan is gone and the heavenly smell of ghee just punches your olfactory cells!!! The color of the besan also would have changed by now.

this is when you add the powdered sugar and start mixing it well, Take it off the heat. Allow it too cool for say 5 minutes. Add cardamom (Don't add cardamom when its very hot-i always feel the fragrance is lost out a bit) let things cool down and then you add the cardamom. Make Laddoos out of the mixture. Just when it is going to get into that perfect form, keep one Raisin over it and continue giving it that round form.

(Ssshhh: I added Badam/Almond Powder along with the besan while frying in ghee-adds a fine taste to it!)

Add a little more of Melted Ghee if you are having trouble binding the laddoos... Indulgence is allowed! :-)

AND...

Strike out that word 'Diet' from your vocabulary for sometime guys!

FOOD : Break.. fast : Udid Dosa and Mushroom Nonche

The combination sounds unusual right? Yes... till you dig deep into it, and it almost feels like you have been in love with this for eons... I'm sure most of the people are aware of the 'Dosa and chicken curry' in and around Kerala, so this is a parallel delight for the vegetarians...

If you journey through North Kanara District of Karnataka and settle down for a breakfast in one of the Konkani Households, easy chance that you might be served with this mouthwatering dish. The heat and the humidity will surround you, and this spicy curry with the dosa will just keep tingling your taste buds and you would not want to stop. And of-course the mushrooms that you will get around the villages will taste more earthy compared to the cultured mushrooms that you possibly will buy from one of the flashy super-stores in the city. Mushroom lovers are sure to binge on this and I can vouch for that..

Starting with what you need:

01. Dosa 02. Mushroom Curry

01. Dosa : Soak 1.5 cups of Rice along with 0.75 cups of Urad dal with a few methi seeds. Grind it fine in the mixer (Sssshh-I always add a spoon or two of the thick Poha into this dosa batter before grinding, just for the softness; im sure you know Poha is a key ingredient in all the 'Set Dosas', but here just to bring that softness i add 2 spoons of it). Grind it and leave overnight.
Next morning, add salt and im sure you dont want me telling you how to make those crispy dosas on the Tava. So you have your dosa's ready!!

Coming to the Curry, You will need

1 pack of those Mushrooms available in all the stores-cut finely(Mushrooms anyway throw out the water content in them and reduce in size once cooked)

3 spoons of coconut grated-optional-avoid it if you want it spicier

5-6 dry red chillies-you want the curry spicier, have more of them

Small piece of Tamarind

Half spoon of Coriander Seeds

Turmeric

1 Onion-finely chopped

Coconut Oil - as usual my preference for this dish - use the oil you prefer if you don't like Coconut Oil

In a pan, with some oil, roast the red chilies and add it to the Coconut, tamarind and turmeric in the Mixer. Roast Coriander seeds separately and keep aside. Grind the Coconut Masala and just when the masala is going to get that fine texture, add the roasted coriander seeds and grind till its a smooth paste.

In a pan, take some Coconut oil, fry the finely chopped onions till transparent. Add the chopped Mushrooms along with a little salt, add let it cook. As it cooks, you will see that the water content will increase and the mushrooms will get cooked in the same. Once they are almost cooked, add the Coconut masala, check for consistency, add water if you think its needed. Check for salt, You added it once before to the mushrooms. Bring to a good boil and you are done!!

Dont forget to add that dollop of butter to your dosa before you settle in with this!!!

FOOD : A Snack : Kanda Bajji's (Onion Pakoras)

I rarely find my frying pan, cause i bury it deep inside... i see it rarely, not that Im calorie conscious, (i'm sure the people who have seen me know that fact by now), but it's just that, the minute the oil is in the frying pan, i for sure know that the next couple of days, is all about Crunch, Crunch and Crunch... but when I think of Kanda bajji's (atleast remember the ones that are served in Singhagad, pune), I dive deep and hunt for my Kadhai, and definitely if there is some Baarish around.

So Kanda (onion) Bajji's are kinda easy to make, doesn't take you more than 5 minutes to get your basics ready.

3-4 Medium Sized onion, cut lengthwise and real fine.

Chilli powder as per taste

Coriander powder - little

salt

1 spoon rice flour

Besan/Gram Flour

Once you slice the onions lengthwise, take them in a bowl, add salt and start crushing them with your hands. With this, the juices within the onion kinda ooze out and that definitely makes a difference. add the chilli powder, rice flour, salt and blend all the ingredients. Now start adding the Besan/Gram Flour. Add very little water, and i can say it again... LITTLE. The more water you add and make it like a gloop, the less crispier it gets. Water should just help coat the besan around the Onion Slivers. It can/should be in the 'Waterless Bracket' as much as possible.

Keep the kadhai with the oil ready, Medium heat again... Take a lump of the above mixture, it necessarily will not have a shape, but who cares, as long as they are crisp and crunch-able :-). But U will get the shape soon, with practice, so don't worry. Drop them in oil, and keep moving them around and flipping it, till you think they are golden brown and crisp enough.

I serve my kanda bajji's usually with a spicy ketchup, just to add up more huffs and puffs, when having them and with ofcorz a 'Garam Chai ki Pyaali'

Did you just meet up with 'The evening Bliss' on that lazy day!!??

FOOD : Break.. fast :The Famous Tonak or Goan Vatana Bhaji

Goa-sounds exotic right!? i somehow have always seen Goa being associated to only the beaches and the sea food, they are of course very synonymous though, without any denial. But the vegetarian food too can fulfill any gluttony appetite. Goa for me, being a Gowda Saraswat Brahmin has always been about temples (a yearly visit to our temples is always a must) and obviously food outside the temples have always belonged to the vegetarian bracket. The spices used here are too unique and delectable. So this Tonak is a bhaji/sabji made out of pulses(specially dried peas or vatana as they call it) and is perfect with their famous pav. Goa literally wakes up to the call of poder (traditional baker) as he delivers the crisp fresh Pao/Pav, to each door. But the poders are on their way to extinction! :(

So, coming to the recipe, You have something called 'Samaaracho Pitho' (Pitho-means powder), you can keep this powder ready for your use.

To make this powder you will need

4 spoons of Coriander, 2 spoons of Saunf, 5-6 Cloves, 7-8 pepper pods, 2" Cinnamon, 7-8 Dry Red Chillies- Dry Roast all these and make a fine powder-and store-It might come to your use 'twice' for two people.

You will need 1.5 cups of Dried peas soaked overnight (i would not recommend the frozen peas here). Pressure cook with 2 medium sized potatoes.
In a pan, with a little oil, Fry about half an Onion, 1 Garlic (Garlic is my addition-though they don't use it. So this can be an option for you too), 1-2 spoons of grated coconut. Make a paste of this along with tamarind and Turmeric in your processor.

In a pan, with coconut oil (you could use the oil that you are conditioned to, I love it with coconut oil). Fry the remaining half Onion(finely chopped) add the cooked dried peas along with slightly mashed potatoes (mashed potatoes will give you a nice consistency). Add the Powder to the desired level of spice, Add water to the required consistency, salt, a little jaggery if you like, and bring it to a good boil. After it cools down, add finely chopped coriander leaves. Team with Pav that you get in the bakery (the softer pav, (if available) that they give in all the chat eatouts will be even better)
You could use this powder with any of the pulses... They simply transport me to that hotel outside the temple in Goa.

FOOD : Break.. fast :Mangalore Banana Buns

You must have not missed this item if you are journeying through anywhere in the Coastal part of Karnataka, specially in South Kanara and goa. South kanara hotel guys offer you buns with a simple chutney, But the Goans team this up with their Famous 'Vatana' bhaji.. the Vatana Bhaji recipe will follow this post.

This basically requires you not to throw away those bananas which have been adorned with the black blotches.. Perfect.. You exactly need the over-ripe bananas for this (You could use the normal ones too, but the over-ripe ones lend a discrete taste to the buns)

So you will need: (for 2-3 people)

1-2 big over-ripe banana

Flour (Maida)

Little soda bi-carb

salt

sugar 8-10 spoons

2-3 Green Chillies

Curd-1 small cup

Jeera (Optional)

(Again, green chillies can be an option. Towards Mangalore territory, you'll have a hint of spice, which i particularly like. But with the preparation in Goa, Chillies would go missing-So purely your choice)

So, macerate the Bananas, sugar, chillies into the food processor and you will have a slimy paste. Remove in a bowl, add salt, curd, jeera(optional) and soda bicarb... Give it all a good mix. and now start making a dough by adding Maida/Flour till its tough. Softer dough will leave you with Greasy Buns. Leave this dough covered for about 2-3 hours atleast.

Now get your rolling pins and roll these out, they have to be little thick, say even about 1/4" inch thick to whatever diameter you want them to be. Fry them in oil. Be careful, when you let them in the oil, it should not be very hot. Keep on medium heat, otherwise the inside's would just be raw. Flip on both sides till golden brown.
This is perfect for a breakfast, or even when you have a lazy weather wrapping your house. I would suggest you to have a good cup of filter coffee along with this. Enjoy