garam masala tuesdays |

30Apr 2013

Garam Masala Tuesdays: Oats Khichdi

Sukaina of Sips and Spoonfuls recently blogged about a topic that resonates so closely to what I feel as a blogger.

The post talks about how Sukaina got an email from one of her readers and how the reader thought she had a perfect life with everything about it perfect- ”the perfect house, the perfect blog post, the perfect meal, the perfect recipe, that perfect image, the words or story that sounds just perfect.” But, of course, as she points out in her post, in reality, things are far from perfect.

For me, Sukaina’s blog is perfect. Her recipes look and sound great. The pictures are bang on in terms of styling, lighting, sharpness, and focus. The video she made is still, in my opinion, one of the best cooking videos I have seen. So it was refreshing to know that she goes through the same doubts as I do, that like me, she too is constantly struggling with getting everything perfect and somehow that more often than not does not happen.

Take this post for example. I made and took pictures of this “oats khichdi” a few days back. I was not happy with the pics. So I decided I will have a go at them again. I made the khichdi again, and I had a picture in mind as to how I wanted to style it (which I did even the first time but this time I improved on it). I tried different surfaces, different stylings but somehow what I wanted I couldn’t achieve, mainly because that would have required props I did not have. So I ended up with these pics that I am posting today and I am just not satisfied. None of them were how I had imagined it to be. But, since the recipe is good I decided to post anyway with what I have, mainly because of what Sukaina had to say.

I know I have come a long way from where I started almost 3 years back, but I still look at blogs and sigh to V, when will I be THAT good!

I also know there are people who have started blogs with the perfect pictures, the perfect recipe and everything about their blog being perfect; but I have come to terms with the fact that while some people catch on quickly, some take their time. I am the latter, but then, I try every day to improve myself and I think that says for some thing. So even though I am not happy with what I have to put forth today, I know tomorrow I will improve on it. But because of my insecurities I should not let a good recipe go by and as Sukaina puts it:

There would be no blog if that moment of perfection is coveted. Perfect is not always possible. And that shouldn’t be our aim. If you succeed each time, you will stop trying. And if you stopped trying, you would stop creating.

Read More →

23Apr 2013

Garam Masala Tuesdays: Mint kebabs

Shumaila ⋅ 9 Comments

Yesterday, a friend of mine who is in India, asked me whether I was happy here and do I see myself settling here. She is thinking of moving to the States, but loves India too much to ever think of settling anywhere else and wanted my take on the whole thing.

To be honest, if given a chance I would move to India in a heartbeat. Not to discard the lifestyle I have here, its great. I have great friends, without whom I don’t think I could have lasted as long as I did in this place and I would definitely miss the luxury of certain food items available here, especially when it comes to baking. I will aslo miss the TV shows that you get to see as soon as they premier instead of hoping and praying for the Indian channels to think that the show is worthy of broadcasting in India and then only getting to see it.

But that said, India has always suited me more. They say you always do better in your habitat and well, India is my habitat.

26Mar 2013

Garam Masala Tuesdays: Mustard Fish Curry

Shumaila ⋅ 3 Comments

It’s the festival of Holi, the festival of colors, in India today and I wish everyone a very happy and colorful holi!

Even though Holi is a pretty messy festival, and each year I swear I won’t play it, I end up playing and I end up having the time of my life.

When we were young, a day before Holi my mom would rummage through our old clothes, since the clothes we wore on Holi would end up in no condition to be worn again.

Growing up, Holi in the Air Force stations used to be really dirty. As kids we were saved from being thrown in the mud pit, but I remember seeing my parents being picked up and thrown in. It was absolutely brutal. I also remember grown ups pouring entire beer bottles on each other.

We children though saved from all the above still would be covered in colour from head to toe, dripping paint all over the place. I really don’t know how my mom cleaned the house after Holi party, because I remember the house and the bathrooms would get so dirty. My mom would give us a wash with the hose outside but still the bathroom would get dirty, with colored finger prints on the sink, the toilet seat, the faucets, the tiles, etc. It was never a pretty sight.

05Mar 2013

Garam Masala Tuesdays: Kothimbir Vadi or Cilantro Cakes

Shumaila ⋅ 8 Comments

Another few days and I will be back to the US. I should be more excited given that I have been away from my home for more than 3 months, but its a mixed bag of feelings. I always hate leaving India. Though I have friends and my husband in the US, India is still the place I would truly want to be. Family is here. Friends are here. Life is here. Both countries have their own charm, but being an Indian at heart, I have never been the kinds who has been able to stay away from India for extended periods of time. And that is why whenever I come, I stay in India as much as I can (since I can afford to). Thankfully I have a husband who understands that and for the sake of my (and his) sanity lets me spend as much time as I want here.

Since I am almost ready to go, I thought I will get some recipes from the awesome cook we have at my parent’s place. Plus, its a delight to be able to take step by step photographs of someone else making the stuff, in comparison to what I have to do in the US, where I stop midway, clean my hands, take a picture, get back to the next step and repeat the same process of cleaning, capturing and then moving on to the next step.

So now I have a lot of masala for Garam Masala Tuesdays and hopefully unlike the past few months where this series was put on a back seat, we will see some seriously good stuff on the blog. Read More →

15Jan 2013

Garam Masala Tuesdays: Mathi/Mathari

Shumaila ⋅ Leave a Comment

This post has been lying in my drafts for a long time. I made these during Diwali (November of last year) and wanted to post them before Diwali but somehow that never happened.

Since I am hardly cooking here in India, (I do bake though and am learning a little from the talented cook my parents have at their house), I thought I should make use of that fact and post recipes that have been pending for a long time.

Mathri or Matthi is a very famous indian tea time snack option in North Indian homes. They are crisp, flaky, buttery biscuits/cookies/crackers, usually salty but can be made sweet as well. The basic mathri is a blend of hot melted ghee, salt and refined flour to which one can add a variety of spices such as ajwain(carom seeds), kalaunji (onion seeds), kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves), shahjeera(caraway seeds) and even peppercorn.

23Oct 2012

Garam Masala Tuesdays: Gluten Free Ragi paranthas

Shumaila ⋅ 1 Comment

I have been trying to perfect this recipe for some time now.

Growing up, in our family and in even in V’s, chappati, roti, phulka were interchangeable words for the same thing. When I came here, my friend who is from the south of India said that for them there is a difference between roti and chappati. She said, that in the south, chapati is traditionally made using a 3 fold process turning the dough into a triangular shape and then rolled out into a circle. Each layer is well oiled, resulting in thin layers. In my family (and even V’s), this is how we make a plain parantha.

A roti (or what we north indians also call chappati or phulka) are kind of like indian styled tortillas. Roti is a traditional unleavened whole-wheat bread which, depending on the cook, can be as thin as paper or thick as pita. Small portions of the dough are rolled out into discs much like a Mexican tortilla, using a rolling pin. The rolled-out dough is thrown on the preheated dry skillet and cooked on both sides. Sometimes after partially cooking it on the skillet/tawa, it is then put directly on a high flame, which makes it blow up like a balloon. The hot air cooks the chapati rapidly from the inside. In some parts of northern India (e.g. Punjab), this is called a phulka (that which has been inflated). After cooking, the top of the chappati/roti can be slathered with some ghee or butter. Deep fried versions are known as “poori”.

02Oct 2012

Garam Masala Tuesdays: Goan Style Fish

Shumaila ⋅ 7 Comments

Goa, a state located in the West of India, is famous for its beaches, its relaxed culture and of course its cuisine. The long period of Portuguese rule, besides that of the Muslim and Hindu kingdoms has led to a different and unique style of food with a combination of spicy flavors in this beloved vacation state.

The Portuguese dominated Goa for centuries coming in the 1500s and leaving in 1961. Thus, the Goan culture heavily reflects the Portuguese influence. The Portuguese culture is known for their happy go lucky nature, love for drinks, late night parties and gala dinner. And that’s how Goa is perceived all over India and loved by all.

The taste of Goan food involves tangy, spicy and other lip-smacking delicacies. Most Goans, unlike the rest of India, eat all kinds of meat- including beef, pork and all types of seafood, besides the regular chicken. Prawn Balchao, Pork Vindaloo and Chicken Xacuti- yup they are all goan dishes.

One of Goa’s staple dishes is fish curry and rice, something I will be sharing today.

25Sep 2012

Garam Masala Tuesdays: Chicken Tikka Pizza

Shumaila ⋅ 8 Comments

If you love chicken tikka, and you love pizza- this is totally your kind of Pizza.

I made it last week for V and me, using some leftover pizza dough I had and both of us really devoured it!

Now, V is not a pizza person. He is mostly a dal roti person, but for this pizza he changed his mind. He actually was sad when it got over and even though he knew there was no more pizza left he was talking about how he felt like having this pizza the next day. He still talks about it. And while writing this post, I wish I had some pizza dough so that I could make this again now.

19Sep 2012

A belated GMT (again) and two recipes revisited!

Shumaila ⋅ 6 Comments

I know, I have been making a trend of doing belated GMTs. But it’s been crazy busy with me and when its not been busy, sitting on the computer has been last on the things I feel like doing. I have been cooking and photographing- just not getting enough time or will to pen (or in this case type) it down.

The reason why I could not blog yesterday for GMT (again) is that Tuesdays have become busier than other days. I have joined Art Class, giving me no time in the evening. And since I am getting up at 5 am everyday to exercise, most afternoons I try getting a quick snooze in. I still thought I would be able to do a quick post yesterday, but my cold (which thankfully is better today) and a visit from my friend threw those plans out of the window.

Another reason, besides my triathlon (which FYI is this Saturday) training, my posts have been so sporadic is that due to a recent easy recipe plugin update, all the recipes that had the print it option were missing text and photographs. The easy recipe plugin guys have come out with an update that claims to take care of the problems with the previous update, but not before I manually fixed the recipes myself. That took some time and thus I had to take some time off blogging new recipes.

I promise next week onwards, I will be more regular and you will have a GMT that is posted on a Tuesday and not a Wednesday!

But for now, to compensate for my absence, I am sharing two old recipes that I posted around the beginning of my blogging days. If you remember I mentioned that I will be revisiting old recipes- one, to check whether they are spot on in terms of instructions and ingredients and two, to shoot better photographs and give them the exposure they deserve.

Today, as part of GMT I am revisiting V’s crockpot Toovar Dal recipe. This recipe is seriously good and so easy!

It’s the only thing that V has cooked for me (besides Maggi), and even though V doesn’t cook often or at all, this dal of his is my all time favorite dish. My friend B has also made this dal and every time she makes it she asks me to thank V for the recipe. Yes, this is THAT good. And since its made in the crockpot, it’s the easiest thing to put together. Click on the picture or here for the recipe.

The other recipe I am sharing today is my mom’s quick channa masala. Going with the theme today, this too is an easy recipe to put together. Somebody who tried the recipe, commented that “it was the best chole i have ever made. the perfect punju taste that i always attempted to get”.

I love this recipe not only because it tastes great, but because its really easy to put together. You can find the recipe here or click on the picture to take you to the post.

The day I made the chhole, I had a few ready to fry channa dal samosas in the freezer. So I decided to make a favorite Indian street food- Samosa Chaat. I have made it before with a different recipe for the chickpea dish and homemade samosas. This time I used my mom’s quick channa masala recipe and ready made samosas. The end result was pretty good. You can find the original recipe here.

05Sep 2012

A belated GMT: Mushroom Pepper Fry

Shumaila ⋅ 6 Comments

So I have been MIA for quite some time. The reason? I have been traveling a lot the past two weeks. First it was Phoenix. V had a week long conference and I tagged along. I managed to do a quick post about the four layer chocolate cake while I was there, but that was about it. We came back Sunday, the week before last. I was home for two days and then I left for a 4 day vacation to New York, sans V.

It was my second time in New York, though the first actually doesn’t count. I was in first grade the first time I went there, and don’t remember my visit at all. So according me it didn’t count. But this one does. And it was the most amazing vacation I have had after a long time. And OMG I am in loooooove with the city! Thanks to my friends and V’s cousin I was able to do a lot- all the tourist-y stuff like Times Square, Wall street, view of Statue of Liberty and the non conventional stuff as well- a 15 mile bike tour of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn! I will share more of my trip to New York in a later post, but for now I must tell you I am totally hungover on the place. I got back Monday early morning, and every time I see something related to New York on TV, I feel like crying. Yes, I miss the city THAT much!

1 2 3 Next »

Tag Archives: Garam Masala Tuesdays