Garam Masala Tuesdays: Split Green Gram Pancakes

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…and a lesson in knowing your “Moong” dal.

When I was in India this time, somebody asked me, why is your blog called the “Novice” Housewife? Going on further to explain that from the pictures and the food I make, it didn’t look like I was a novice.

At that time I took it as a compliment and smiled (reminding myself that when someone pays you a compliment you should always accept it and never protest).

In my mind though, I was saying- of course I am a novice, there is so much I do not know.

This post is a reflection of just that.

How little I know. And how much I need to learn.

(I know this doesn’t sound like a strong case for me giving my “expert” advice on Indian food at GMT!   Yikes!   Anywho….)

The other day, I downloaded a food recipe app- a Nita Mehta iPhone app.

Nita Mehta is like the Ina Garten of Indian food, if I could say so, without offending fans of either of the mentioned parties. Her recipes are quick and mostly great. Like Ina’s.

So anyway, I downloaded the app- its a breakfast recipes app. And looked good. I decided to try her version of Rajasthani Chilla.

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Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms and Gruyere Tartlets

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I love Michelle’s site- The Brown Eyed Baker.

In the past I have made the portobello pesto pizza adapted from her site, and it was wonderful.

Coincidentally (although it was not intended) I chose another mushroom recipe from her site to try.

Last week, it was my turn to host the weekly coffee meets we ladies of our small town have every Friday.These get-togethers are my lifeline and thanks to the amazing group of people I have met through these weekly affairs, living in this town has actually become enjoyable.

While browsing through FoodGawker for some appetizer ideas to make for my friends, I came across these caramelized onions and mushroom tartlets. One look at the recipe and its rave reviews, I was sure this is what I had to make.

I love mushrooms.

And caramelized onions. And Gruyere.

And I loooooooove puff pastry. So I knew these would be delish.

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January Daring Bakers: Biscuits

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Homemade biscuits with tips and tricks to achieve light, flaky biscuits
UPDATE February 2017: 

The original recipe went live in January 2012. I keep switching between these and the buttermilk biscuits recipe also up on the blog. Both are equally good. I have tweaked this recipe and added some whole wheat flour which was not there in the original recipe. Whole wheat does affect the texture a bit, and they are not as soft as the ones with just all purpose flour, but still these are pretty fluffy and it feels good to know that you are including more whole grain into your diet. Except the first and last photo, the rest are pictures I had shot when the original post went live. 

ORIGINAL POST January 2012:

I am two days late.

In posting (before you get the wrong ideas).

I have been slacking with my DB challenges. I was not able to do the last two as I was in India. And this month, even though I could have worked on it, some other things, besides my laziness, kept me busy.

I have been slacking in all my posts and now there is a huge backlog of recipes to be shared. I have resolved this week I am going to try and catch up with some of those pending posts. I will be sharing some seriously good recipes in the coming days. So watch out for this space.

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Audax worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

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