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Friday 18 October 2013


Closed! 

The Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Festival is back in Edmonton!

With a bang!

'The Edmonton Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival returns to the Shaw Conference Centre for its 12th year! Indulge at the 2013 Festival as you sample an impressive selection of premium wines, spirits, and import and micro-brewed beer, as well as cuisine from an assorted group of Edmonton's top restaurants and hotels. Guests can enjoy a mouthwatering array of beverage samples and Edmonton's top eats within a fun, relaxed, and social atmosphere. You don't want to miss this fun and diverse Festival.'

And I have a pair of tickets to the coveted Saturday evening session (6 - 10 PM) to give away to one lucky commenter. Its easy to enter. Visit the Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Festival website here and come back and tell me what's the dish/ wine/ spirit that excites you most.

Tuesday 15 October 2013

Mushroom Pulao with Roasted Garlic

So you probably all know about my friend, one Addie Raghavan, cheesemaking maestro, judgey... ahem, discerning food critic and all around amazing friend and moral support. Addie is currently judging, ahem... eating his way through Mumbai, though ostensibly he's there for work :) Every so often he posts some amazing looking picture on Instagram of his mom's (and his) cooking, at which point I drool, then curse his arse :)

The two pictures below that got me messaging him frantically for the recipe... he duly obliged and once I made this recipe, I totally knew why he was raving about it. This is an Addie's own recipe, just tweaked very little by yours truly. I actually have a traditional clay pot that my grandma used to cook curries in, and its got a rounded bottom, so I have a wok ring that worked as my diffuser. The clay pot worked perfectly as the perfect heat conductor and I covered it with foil which allowed the pulao to steam, like traditional pulaos should.


Friday 11 October 2013

Roasted, Spiced 'Pumpkin Pie' Ice Cream with Pecan Praline

While I really don't appreciate the onset of winter, I do love autumn. I love the colours, the brisk breezes, the crisp crackle of leaves underfoot, the dark hints of woodsmoke in the air, the abundance of fall produce and the comfort of walking into a warm, cosy house when your nose is really really cold. And if it is sunny and bright, which it tends to be here in Edmonton, then so much the better. The sky is always a bright blue, and the sunshine, while not the warmest, gives you a feeling of cheer and that everything is all right in the world.

I also love autumn cooking. I make spiced soups, hearty stews, baked casseroles, curries and cakes. And I must admit, typical fall holidays like Canadian Thanksgiving and Halloween are growing on me... the last one, thanks to one overexcited little kid and an equally overexcited big kid.

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Sparkling Sweet and Spicy Pepper Jelly
Preserving has never been a huge part of my everyday life, back in India, or even in England. I love my family's spicy pickles, or preserved lemons and limes, but other than that, I have never preserved or canned and it wasn't a technique I was comfortable with for a long time.

How things have changed...

Canning 2013 - Batch 1... yeah, still more
 to come.

Tuesday 1 October 2013


It's been a good season for zucchini. Then again, when is it not a good season for zucchini? This year, I thought I was prepared for them. Well, sort of prepared... I did not reckon for all the ones from the farms and neighbours coming in to me as well. Its like I was taken over by the giant zucchini monsters... and there are SO MANY of them... I even ran out of space to put them in. Aaargh... zucchini, help.

So they now live in a cooler somewhere in the kitchen and I try not to look too hard for them. I am going to have to sort them out soon enough, but for now, out of sight, out of mind.

But.



The one thing that I did do with my early ones was grate them all and pop them into the freezer. I was thinking about these Lemon Zucchini Cookies when I was doing that. But then I realised that they would work perfectly for these bhajis too. So now my zucchinis are doing a happy dance, because not only do they get made into cookies, but there's nothing better than hot, crispy zucchini onion bhajis with a steaming cup of chai on a cloudy, grey autumn morning.

I can live with that. Take that, Mr. Over-proliferating Zucchini.

These bhajis are an adaptation of my onion bhajis. The sliced onion adds a nice hint of sweetness to these delicately spiced morsels. I served them with a lemon cilantro mint chutney that cuts through the richness of these bhajis.

Recipe:
(Printable Recipe)

For the Zucchini and Onion Bhajis

2 medium zucchini, coarsely grated (around 750g total weight)
2 tablespoons kosher or coarse sea salt
1 medium onion, thinly sliced 
1 1/2 cups chickpea flour (gram flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon mild chilli powder (or 1/2 teaspoon hot cayenne pepper)
More salt to taste
1/4 cup water, if required
Unscented oil to deep fry (I used canola) 

Lemon Cilantro - Mint Chutney 

Large handful fresh cilantro
Large handful fresh mint
Juice of one large lemon + extra to taste
1/4 cup water (as required to blend)
Salt to taste

Method: 

Place the grated zucchini in a large bowl and sprinkle over the kosher salt. Stir well and leave for about an hour. Drain and rinse the zucchini well, squeeze out the excess water, then place in a bowl.

Add the onion, chickpea flour, baking soda, whole and ground cumin, coriander, chili powder and salt to taste.

Using your hands (beware, this is messy) or a spatula, mix everything together very well, until it comes together as a very thick batter. Add a splash of water too loosen the batter, if it feels too stiff.

Heat the oil in a deep pot to 350 F. Using a tablespoon measure, gently drop in small balls of the zucchini-onion bhaji batter into the hot oil. Fry, turning every so often for 4 - 5 minutes, or until the bhajis are golden brown and cooked through.

Lift the bhajis out, using a slotted spoon, and drain well on kitchen paper. Serve hot with the lemon-cilantro-mint chutney.

To make the chutney, blitz together all the ingredients until smooth, using just enough water to blend. Taste and season with more lemon juice and salt, if required. This chutney is quite fresh and tangy, so load up on the lemon juice, if you like it.