Friday 30 March 2012
First off, I want to share with you all that my mum's fish curry recipe was trialled by Felicity Cloake of the Guardian. Holy!!! Yes, that Guardian, of which I am an avid reader and fan. I am still recovering from the honour of having my name mentioned alongside Madhur Jaffery and Camellia Panjabi.... faints again...
You can read the article here. Mum, you rock!
... recovers from faint... and on to our feature presentation...
Monday 26 March 2012
I've been having an influx of visitors lately. I love having everyone over, but of course, this does mean that life does get a bit hectic. My in-laws left today, and we miss them terribly. But now that they've left, I do have an excuse to go back to my lazy ways :)
Edmonton has been having some weird weather lately as well. First it seemed like spring was coming early with temperatures into postive digits and the shining bright and warm. Then it snowed more in a day, than it has all winter and the skies went all cloudy and grey. The next day the snow all melted away and the sun started shining again. Talk about confused! So I decided to make a soup. Like you do, of course.
The one thing that has been gladdening my heart, though, has been the beautiful sunshine and that is staying light longer and longer every day. Amazing what a little bit of warm sunshine can do for your happiness quotient! So of course, while its still cold outside, I keep feeling that spring is just round the corner and my mood has lifted immeasurably as a result.
Edmonton has been having some weird weather lately as well. First it seemed like spring was coming early with temperatures into postive digits and the shining bright and warm. Then it snowed more in a day, than it has all winter and the skies went all cloudy and grey. The next day the snow all melted away and the sun started shining again. Talk about confused! So I decided to make a soup. Like you do, of course.
The one thing that has been gladdening my heart, though, has been the beautiful sunshine and that is staying light longer and longer every day. Amazing what a little bit of warm sunshine can do for your happiness quotient! So of course, while its still cold outside, I keep feeling that spring is just round the corner and my mood has lifted immeasurably as a result.
Wednesday 21 March 2012
First off, I am not quitting the blog... this post is not about that kind of good bye :)
Readers of my blog will know that I was born and brought up in Mangalore, in India. My family and I lived in a beautiful, quaint old house, almost a hundred years old. Last week, my beautiful childhood home was demolished to make way for a block of flats. This has elicited a huge amount of emotion from me, and I am writing this post to help me sort through all these emotions.
As a child, your home is your castle. I have a vivid memory of sitting on sun soaked steps, and watching my mum's prized grape vines (that never produced any grapes) and thinking that this has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. My sister and I wandered the gardens, got yelled at for going too close to the incredibly deep well, climbed every fruit tree that was ever grown. We ate nectar sweet guavas straight from the tree, screeched in horror at the caterpillars festooning our roseapple tree, raced out into the depths of the orchard to find my mum fresh bay leaves. We revelled in the sweet fragrance when our two coffee bushes were in bloom, and grumbled constantly about all the work we had to do when coconut drying season was in full swing. We muttered and whined when we were asked to help mum with all the cleaning, and we made up all sorts of games in our yard. We helped mum with the garden, and loved the beautiful flowers she grew.
Friday 16 March 2012
You've probably noticed a dearth of posts on this blog for a few days. I can only apologize for this. Its been a mad, mad March so far, and I've actually been working a lot. Add to this a visit from a dear friend from England and my in-laws, and its meant that I didn't have a ton of time to do a blog post.
However, I hadn't forgotten that I had to make a salad recipe for the Canadian Lentil's Recipe Revelations challenge. I mentioned this to my in-laws when we had a rare moment to sit down and visit. And to my surprise, my father-in-law mentioned that his cousin actually grows lentils on his farm in Saskatchewan. How is that for a co-incidence?
As this is going to be my last recipe for the challenge itself, I thought I might write a few things about Canadian lentils themselves, and perhaps a bit of background would be useful as well. As you already know, my daughter and husband don't eat meat. This means that they can be limited in their protein intake, and I have to be constantly aware of what I am feeding them, and if it has a good balance of protein in it. Lentils, I have found, are an amazing source of protein and also of fibre, and are so good for you too. Not to mention that they taste pretty darn good as well.
Lentils are versatile. You can throw them in a stew, or a curry, or make a dal. They are beautiful vehicles for spices, and a gorgeous accompaniment for meats and fish. Just yesterday, Kathryn and I taught a class where we paired beautiful nutty brown puy lentils with a pan fried salmon steak, and served it with green beans and a salsa verde. Simple, delicate, delicious and so healthy and good for you.
Monday 5 March 2012
Sometimes, you need a little help from your friends! I wanted a pretty special recipe to enter into the 'Freestyle' category of the Canadian Lentils Recipe Revelations Challenge, and so I gave a shout out to my foodie friends for recipe ideas that I could make for this category.
The overwhleming consensus from my friends was that I should make dahi vadas. Dahi vadas, those spiced, crisp lentil fritters, out of the pan and into a delicately spiced, sweet, hot and tangy yoghurt sauce. They are a staple street snack in India, both in the North and South. The best thing about these fritters, though, is how easily you can make up your own spice combinations and add your own special touch to a classic.
This challenge, in a way, has forced me to rethink the way I make and write recipes. Pretty much all of my recipes are classics that I have reinvented to suit the way I cook, and to avail of the fresh ingredients I get here. So while I turned to my beloved Mangalorean Ladies Club Cookbook for inspiration, I actually decided to go my own way with this particular recipe and tested it a few times to make sure I got my own brand of individuality on it. Of course, some recipes you don't mess around with, but at the same time, I do consider my cooking a canvas, on which I use my creativity and all my local ingredients to 'paint' a beautiful dish that is full of lovely, fresh flavours and, sometimes, a twist on old, classic recipes.
Thursday 1 March 2012
Memories are funny things. You may remember something completely random and unrelated to anything at a certain point. On the other hand, you may completely and utterly forget the name of your new neighbour. Then again, you might recall with perfect clarity the exact clothes you were wearing for your first interview. And forget what the heck you wore yesterday. Yes, memories are funny things indeed.
I was thinking about England a few weeks ago. I was trying to see if I could remember Hoylake, where we were living before we moved here. As it turns out, I remember quite a few things. But I also realised that my memories of Hoylake were fading, and it was as if I was viewing things through a bit of a foggy filter. I can remember names and places. For example, Julian from Julian's Restaurant, or Nick (the Arsenal fan!!) the owner of Flavours, and his son Justin (the Aston Villa fan!!). Chok, the head waiter at the Golden Orchid, who always took Aditi on a tour of the kitchens as soon as she arrived, while Kay and I enjoyed a leisurely Thai meal.
Oh, and 'Chocolate' Tom Sargeant from Sargeant's Chocolates. When my husband went to buy chocolates for me after I'd just given birth to Aditi, he said to Tom, 'you know my wife, of course, she's here every day!' To which Tom replied 'I cannot confirm or deny that sir, its a breach of client-chocolatier confidentiality' hehe. T'was a sad day indeed when he had to close down the chocolate shop and become a driving instructor instead.
I remember old Pat, who always had a pat for Aditi, yet could never remember that she was a girl, not a boy. And the myriad characters that made up the little village we lived in. I was thinking about all of them, trying to remember names and places, trying to preserve the memories, when I suddenly thought of an ice cream that I'd never been able to forget (yep, all memories lead to ice cream in my life :))
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