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Wednesday 30 January 2013


The one word that’s almost synonymous with a working mum is ‘balance’. How do you balance all the ten million things that we all do, even with the support of your partner? Just thinking about all the things I have to do every day and every week makes my head spin sometimes. Child, husband, household, work, school, shopping, appointments, birthdays, more shopping, more child, more work, cleaning, cooking, laundry... it’s enough to just make you want to hide yourself under a duvet and just wish you were on a warm tropical island, lounging on a beach with a long tall cocktail, and... what the heck, a few cabana boys at your beck and call.

But since that’s not happening any time soon, I just take the example of my mum instead. I talk about my mum many a time on this site, because for me, my mum was the epitome of balance. I still have no idea how she managed to keep all those balls in the air, and never dropped a single one. She’s now almost sixty two, and she’s still balancing out her life and all her commitments with a grace that I certainly do not possess by any means!

There was one thing my mum never ever missed, though. And that was dinner. Now dinner for us, growing up in India, was very different to how we have dinner here. For one, we rarely, actually almost never, sat around a table and had dinner as a family, as we would do here. Instead, once we came back from school, we would make ourselves tea with a substantial snack, and mum would start dinner when she got back from work. She had a repertoire of quick and easy dishes that she could throw together in a few minutes, and dinner was then on the table. We then wandered over to the table and helped ourselves to rice and whatever dish mum made and usually with a side of a simple spicy pickle or two.

So, of course, when I moved to England and then subsequently to Canada, I took with me a whole bunch of recipes from mum, particularly the easy ones, the ones that I could throw together in minutes.

Sunday 20 January 2013

Chicken Sukka 

Well, well, well, look whose 5th birthday it is this month? 

Yep, five whole years have passed since I created this website and made my first tentative post. And from those early years, look how much this baby has grown! Its only a month younger than Aditi (although, looking back, I have no idea how on earth I managed a blog and a baby... I guess it was football that helped me through, haha) It feels weird to think that not only did I managed to sustain this site for five years, but also, looking back on my older posts, I am constantly amazed that I actually managed to grow it the way I have. I think I had about 50 visitors for that first post... and all of them just wanted that recipe I made on Masterchef, and weirdly, all of them arrived from that addictive forum, Digital Spy. 

From that point to where I am now is just crazy and I am so hugely humbled that so many of you read my idle meanderings and share in my world. Its been a rollercoaster ride from Masterchef contestant to stay-at-home mom recipe blogger to good home cook to sous chef and full time chief leftover scrounger at Get Cooking.

I never ever thought that my love of cooking would lead me to a real career in food, but it has, and I am just so grateful to be doing something that I love, enjoy and am truly passionate about. Its not many people in the world who love doing what they do, but I can attest from experience that when you do find the one thing in the world that you can wake up in the morning and be constantly excited about what you're going to be doing that day, well, its a joy that's second to not very much in this world. 

Wednesday 9 January 2013

Tandoori Chicken

I never thought I'd actually say this, but its official. I am suffering post holiday blues. Aditi started school again this week, and for a change, I get to relax a bit at home, but suddenly the house is quieter and lonelier and the blues are really settling in. Its been hard to do anything, including scraping myself out of bed in the mornings, when all I want to do is gag the cat and snuggle down into my duvet.

So what do I do to combat this?

Well, for starters, I watch a lot of funny cat videos (ha, bet you weren't expecting that :)) And then I cook food that reminds me of the warm tropical breezes of India and my home. This tandoori chicken dish is a Indian classic, and rightly so. Chicken drumsticks are marinated in warm, fragrant spices and yogurt that tenderises them, and then grilled in a tandoor to make a mouthwatering appetizer, or if you're anything like me, a whole meal. Oh, and by the way, did you know that India is one of the countries that has a very high consumption of chicken drumsticks? So much so, that the breasts are exported, while the drumsticks are sold domestically. That was a funny piece of info I came across during my endless quest for useless knowledge :)

A tandoor, or an outdoor clay oven is traditionally used to make tandoori chicken, along with other delicacies like naan or tandoori roti. A distinct lack of one of those means that I have had to improvise to get that charred, tandoori flavour. If this was summertime, these drumsticks would go straight on to a barbeque on the deck, but again, the masses of snow on said deck made that an impossibility as well. So I ended up making these in a very hot oven in my trusty Microstoven baking dish, probably one of the best pieces of baking equipment I own (PS - this is not a sponsored post, I bought this dish on sale from Sears last year, and I've just been really impressed with how well it works for recipes like this one) Using this baking dish actually gave me the charred taste without the hassle of having to scrub it after.

Tandoori chicken is an Indian classic for a reason. No Indian celebration is complete without mounds of these tasty, delicately spiced, grilled chicken pieces, nestled in cucumber and tomato slices, sprinkled over with cilantro and with lemon or lime slices beside them to squeeze over. Traditionally tandoori chicken is served with a yogurt raita and a mint/ chutney, which adds another level of freshness and flavour to this simple, elegant dish. I like to keep it simple and serve it with just plain yogurt that I season with a little salt, pepper, cayenne and a squeeze of lemon juice. But you can easily go all out on the dips as well, and most Indian households certainly do.

Friday 4 January 2013

Crab Cakes

Happy new year, everyone... 2013, wow, another year, another beginning! I am feeling a bit weird this year, because, to be honest, I have no idea where the last year went. It feels like only yesterday life was all organised and stable and suddenly, its upside down again.

2012 has been a year of ups and downs in many ways. It was the year Aditi started kindergarten, or big girl school, as we call it. I made good friends in Edmonton that I feel confident that I can turn to when life gets tough, and got my life into shape. I was lucky enough to be invited to events here, and also contributed to several e-zines and recipe books. I became more confident in my cooking, and Food, Football and a Baby, a small personal blog, turned into The Tiffin Box, which is so much more reflective of my life now.

The downside was all those awful world events that took a toll on all our lives. Kay and I were really affected by the Newtown tragedy, especially as our baby girl is the same age as those beautiful kids who were senselessly killed. We cried with all the parents, and we couldn't even watch some of the coverage for fear of breaking down. I rarely talk politics on this blog, preferring to keep it simple, but this tragedy made me question a lot of things in life, and get more involved in making a difference.