My mail box has been overflowing with lovely notes asking me when will I get back to blogging??!!

So when will I get back to blogging?

Well, I hope to ….. soon……..

Work is taking up all of me currently and I am just to drained out to type a post……

I open it once every weekend thinking that I will post something today…… but my mind goes blank and my fingers are constantly waiting for a signal from my brain on what to type………

I hope to get rid of this soon.

Till then……….

I enjoy eating sweet potato. Love the fleshy, fibery, orange mush that it makes. I have tried replacing it with potatoes in many recipes and enjoy the result thoroughly.

This time I used them in paratha. This is a very common way of making aloo paratha at my home since I am too lazy to roll and stuff and roll again. I just replaced potato with sweet potato and played around a bit with some spices. The result was great! Lovely soft parathas and its keeps you guessing about the secret hidden ingredient.

For Sweet Potato Paratha:

• 2 medium sized sweet potato – peeled, boiled and mashed
• 2-3 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 tsp ginger chili paste
• 1 tbsp oil +oil for cooking
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 cup chopped coriander
• salt to taste
• wheat flour – as required

Mix together all the ingredients except wheat flour and oil for cooking (duh!!).

Add wheat flour little by little and keep mixing till it forms a soft dough.

Let it rest for 15-20 mins.

Roll into parathas and cook on the tava by applying oil on both sides till done and it forms golden brown spots on both sides.

Have it with yogurt, pickle or peperonata. 

… and was forced to get out of my hibernation by someone

She told her not to give me my prize until I do atleast three posts!!

Life’s been busy as always, but thats not the excuse this time. I somehow couldn’t get myself to bring me to the blog…… is there somethign called as blogarthargy? :-!

I haven’t checked what comments I have recieved……… I opened my mail box after a long long time……. blog stats are something long forgotten!

I was talking to her sometime back and she was going through it as well. And she very aptly put it as, “Our honeymoon period with our blog seems to be over!” (U) ( I don’t think she has reached my stage though. )

And that was so true………

I used to have my blog and email links open always……. TOI was being refreshed every few minutes to check what’s cooking around? ………. blog stats were checked twice a day and IP adresses were put to use to see who’s visiting me from where………. SIGH!! Whats happened to all that??

I have at least 10 posts in my draft……. but I still can’t get myself to publish them…….. There are more than a dozen emails asking me where have I disappeared and whats wrong with me still waiting to be answered. Too many thank you’s are due for all those blog awards.

Is anyone feeling anything remotely like this? Or is it just me?

Anyways, lets have some bhutta…

This post was long due….. remember this?

I was in my draft since then!

For Garlic infused, oregano butter corn on the cobs, you need:

2 corn on cobs

1 1/2 – 2 tsp butter (softened to room temperature)

1 small clove of garlic

1 tsp oragano

salt to taste.

Except corn, mix all the other ingredients together

Brush it evenly over the corn

Preheat the oven to 200 C and grill the corn till they just start to get some brown specs….. about 12-15 mins

Enjoy it hot!

Yellow is sunshine. It is a warm color. It denotes happiness and joy.

For years yellow ribbons were worn as a sign of hope as women waited for their men to come marching home from war. Today, they are still used to welcome home loved ones.

Today, as the blog world comes alive with with its shout for YELLOW to help our dear Bri, this is my contribution to CLICK is a monthly theme-based photography contest hosted by Jugalbandi.

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For Paneer Butter Masala: (serves 4)

• 250 gms paneer
• 2 onions – chopped roughly
• 2 tomatos – pureed

• 3/4 tsp ginger paste
• 3/4 tsp garlic paste
• 2-3 green chili
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tandoori color (optional)
• 1/2 tsp Black pepper powder
• 1 tsp kasuri methi
• 1/s tsp garam masala

• 3 tbsp oil
• 1 ½ tbsp butter

• 3 tbsp cashew nut soaked into warm milk for 20 mins and made into paste.

Heat oil and fry the onions till they are tansparent.

Add ginger -  garlic -  chili paste.

Add tomato puree and let it cook for 3-4 mins

Now add Kasuri methi, black pepper, salt and haldi

Let it simmer till oil separates.

Let it cool and grind into a gravy.

Heat butter and add paneer. Fry for 2 mins

Add the gravy, cashew nut paste, and water is need be.

Cook for 5 mins

Add garam masala and tandoor color if using.

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This is an appeal on behalf of a group of food bloggers who are friends of Briana Brownlow @ Figs With Bri.

Bri was diagnosed with breast cancer two and half years ago. A mastectomy, chemotherapy and two years of relatively good health later, the cancer is back. It has metastasized to other parts of her body. At the age of 15, Bri lost her 41-year old mother to the disease. Now, she’s waging her own war against breast cancer. More about it here.

She is going through intensive chemo and other treatments and needs to focus single-mindedly on healing and finding what treatment works best for her. Her health insurance, unfortunately, does not cover holistic alternatives which she would like to try. Bri and her husband Marc have enough on their plates right now in addition to worrying about her medical bills.

The team organising the JUNE edition of CLICK at Jugalbandi has organised a fundraiser to help Bri and her family meet her out-of-pocket medical costs for ONE YEAR.

CLICK is a monthly theme-based photography contest hosted by Jugalbandi. This month’s theme is: YELLOW for Bri

Yellow is the colour of hope. Through the work of the LiveStrong Foundation, it has also come to signify the fight against cancer.

The entries can be viewed HERE. The deadline for entries is June 30, 2008. The fundraiser will extend until July 15, 2008.

The target amount is 12,000 U.S. dollars. We appeal to our fellow bloggers and readers to help us achieve this. Bri deserves a chance to explore all options, even if her insurance company thinks otherwise.

There’s a raffle with exciting prizes on offer. After viewing the list, you may make your donation HERE or at the Chip-In button on any participating site.

Your donation can be made securely through credit card or Pay Pal and goes directly to Bri’s account.

This month’s photo contest also has some prizes. Details HERE.

You can support this campaign by donating to the fundraiser, by participating in CLICK: the photo event, and by publicising this campaign.

This richly flavoured low-fat dip combines spicy tomato with sweet red pepper. Best complemented with crisp italian-style breadsticks, it is delicious when served hot, cold or at room temperature and can be stored in refrigerator for several days.

To be more experimental with it, try it as a spread on any bread, as a pizza base or as a pickle with parathas and you will be licking away to glory!

This dip is rather rough in texture as compared to the traditional smooth, pasty dips as it is not blended. Peppers and tomato are cooked with garlic and spices till done. Long, slow cooking helps to bring out the sweetness of pappers and tomato, so don’t be tempted to cheat on the cooking time by cooking over  a higher heat. :p

For peperonata:

2 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves of garlic – crushed

2 large red bell peppers, halved, seeded and sliced

1 can (400 gms) of tomatoes

a pinch of dried chili flakes

salt and ground pepper as per your taste

Heat the oil in a large, non-stick pan and add garlic till it sizzles.

Add sliced peppers and cook for 3-4 mins, stirring occasionally.

Add chili flakes to the pan and cook for 1 min.

Stir in tomatoes.

Season with salt and pepper.

Cook on slow heat for 50 mins to 1 hour stirring occasionally.

This goes to Pooja who is hosting JFI – Peppers

You will find many gujrati dishes on this blog, and if there is no mention of bhinda ni kadhi then something is missing.

I started cooking ever since I was in school. I started by making chapatis first and then gradually moved over to other stuff. Boring as it was then, I would always try to get out of the kitchen but pulled back in by her.

It began with making chapatis and then standing next to her just stirring the spoon in whatever she was making. Theory lessons would go on in the background as a running commentary which whould be everyhting from what different types of dals are used for, to what goes in first while tempering and why.

Gujju food is famous for its long endless preparations and hence that was the next lesson. Standing next to her in the kitchen and helping to make masalas, chop the vegetables, stuff them if required and the likes.

I would enjoy stuffing! Now that I think back, I don’t really understand what’s so fascinating about that mundane task, but I used to enjoy it then and I even do it now. 

For Bhinda ni Kadhi:

serves 2

10-12 small to medium sized lady’s finger, washed, dried, remove the corners and slit it along its length

1 cup stuffing masala – same as that for Sambharyu Shaak.

1 cup yogurt

2 tsp besan

2-3 tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp hind / asafoetida

salt to taste

1 tsp sugar

Fill the stuffing masala in the lady’s finger and keep it aside.

In a kadai, heat 2-3 tbsp oil, add mustard seeds, once they start to pop add cumin. Let it brown and then add hing.

Throw in the stuffed lady’s fingers, stir, cover and let it cook till they are half cooked.

In the mean time, mix besan with yogurt and add salt to taste. Add this to the kadai once the lady’s fingers are half cooked. Mix it well.

Give it a good boil. Some of the masala will spill out into the kadhi. Add one tsp sugar and garnish with chopped coriander.

Enjoy with khichdi or just plain rice.

Camera: Panasonic FZ18

Yes, mini mango it is.

Maprang (Bouea macrophylla) is also known as gandaria, plum mango or marian mango.

It is a native fruit of Malaysia and Indonesia, and can be sporadically found throughout the tropical region.

Maprang fruits, especially the sweet varieties, are consumed  fresh or eaten cooked in syrup.  Entire immature fruits are chopped and used as an ingredient in the spicy condiment sambal, and are pickled to prepare asinan.  Young leaves are also consumed in salads and eaten with sambal.  

In taste it gives a hint of mango….. a very young, naive mango. It is sweet and it is sour and it still keeps you guessing at that.

The skin is very thin and can be eaten along with the fruit as well though skinned maprang pulp tastes nicer.

From inside it looks like a mango in its  miniature form. A central seed enclosed in juicy fibrous pulp surrounded by a thin skin.

For 1 cup Maprang Salsa:

Skin 7-8 maprangs and chop the pulp in1 X 1 cm pieces.

Add salt to taste, 1/2 tsp chili powder and 1 tsp chopped coriander.

Mix it all together and let it sit for 15 to 20 mins till the flavors get infused.

Comsume it immediately, else it starts to release its juices.

We had ours with thin toasted flat bread.

Guess the name….

Update: Answer

Towards firday night it always comes to the point when I have to empty my fridge and look for what can I make from the left over stuff. And on one of those fridays what I found in my fridge vegetable section was a bunch of spinach, a beetroot, a carrot and some frozen peas.

With nothing particular thing in mind I put the beetroot to boil, peeled the carrots and cut them into julienne, washed the peas, washed the spinach and removed the stalks.

But now what?

Should I make like stir fried vegetables? Nah….. too less variety and quantity for that!

Chopp everything finely and add flour to make mix veg parathas? Ahh…… too lazy for that right now!

How about some fried rice kinda thing? BINGO!!

So out I got my pressure cooker, washed the rice, set it for two whistles and thats it!

For Spinach Beetroot rice:

1 bunch spinach, washed, stalked and roughly chopped

1 beetroot boiled and chopped in 1 cm squares

1 carrot cut into juliennes

1 cup peas

1 onion finely chopped

1 cup rice

2-3 pods of garlic crushed

1 inch piece of ginger peeled and crushed/grated

1/2 tsp garam masala

3/4 tsp red chili powder

3 tsp oil

salt to taste

Set one cup rice to cook in a pressure cooker with 2 cups of water, salt to taste and 1 tsp oil for two whistles.

Meanwhile take a kadai and heat 2 tsp oil.

Add crushed garlic, ginger and onion. Stir till the onion is soft and transparent.

Add beetroot, carrot and peas. Stir together.

Add salt to taste (remember there is salt in rice as well) garam masala and chili powder.

Cover and cook for 2 mins till everything gels together.

Now add the rice and chopped spinach. Mix it all well. You will gradually see the rice picking up color from beetroot and turning into a pinkish shade.

Cook till thee spinach wilts and then turn off the gas.

Serve plain or with yogurt.