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Blog Patrol 2

Did you hear the siren around your blogs in the past few days? If you did, not to worry. It was the ever-friendly Blog Patrol doing its rounds on duty. :) And this is what it has come up with. Read on!

1. Baingan ka Bharta: I have always eaten Baingan Bharta made the Maharashtrian way. My North Indian friends somehow never made it for the feasts they threw or for packed lunches that they got to work. Although I did order this a couple of times in restaurants in India, looking at the pool of oil in the dish, I never went ahead and touched it. (Goose-pimples at the sight and pimples on the face after consumption! No, dont want em.)
So, I decided to wait until I would come across a decent recipe of this dish. I think my quest has ended now, because I have found this one by Meenakshi of Hooked on Heat. It has a very appetising aroma of ginger and Garam Masala. The Bharta also has a vey creamy texture (which makes it easy to gobble it up effortlessly). Just one thing: I think one tomato is enough in this one (as opposed to what has been suggested in the recipe), but that could also depend upon personal taste. All in all, a great recipe. Thanks Meena.

2. Gherkin-Cashew nut Upkari: This rather unusual combination made me curious, and one look at the recipe convinced me that it should work. (Does this happen to you, too? That you read a recipe, and you kinda know already whether or not its gonna give a good outcome.)
The outcome of this one left me licking my fingers. My two cents: I cooked the gherkins in just enough water, so that I didnt have to drain them. One observation: This dish tastes equally good without the onions too. Give us more of thse, Ashwini!

3. Mango Pachadi: Again one of those, where you know that the recipe will definitely work. The dish turned out exactly the way it looks in the photograph given by Revathi, which means that the instructions given by her are accurate. Good work there! The Pachadi strikes a nice balance between sweet, sour & savoury. A tasty accompaniment with any meal.

4. Potato Salad & Oven Baked Veggies: I am clubbing these two because Meeta herself suggests them as one menu. I, too, like an obedient follower made these two together for a dinner and offered them with readymade Ciabatta bread. My husbands colleague at work was for dinner with us that night. All of us couldnt help but just go on with our oohs and aahs. The aroma of the herbs coming out of the oven makes you keep wondering why the darn thing should take half an hour to bake. The salad is a perfect accompaniment (or shall I say a perfect something to keep your salivating mouth busy while you are waiting for the veggies to out of the oven).

I hope all of you get to try out all these dishes. After all, most of us live to eat. Or do we not?

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Blog Patrol 1

Does this title sound intimidating? I think its an impressive title. :) Anyway, the post is meant to be friendly, and is simply a round-up of the recipes by fellow food bloggers that I have tried out in the last few days. Some recipes were entirely new to me and some were better recipes for familiar dishes. Here they are, listed in alphabetical order. I havent clicked any photographs for these, because the authors have. And they have clicked some really good ones. (Did I hear somebody calling me lazy?)

1. Cream of Broccoli Soup: I had a recipe for this soup sitting on my hard disk, but never really felt motivated to go ahead and try it out. After Saffron Hut did a post on it, I had enough motivation (read more than enough saliva in the oral cavity). I tried out her version and was it good! It was great even without the pepper, which means that it is good also for infants and small children. (I have a seventeen-month-old fussy daughter, remember?)

2. Palak Paneer: I have numerous recipes for this one, none of which has satisfied me so far. The other day, when I wanted to make Palak Paneer, I just knew that only a fellow food blogger would have the solution for this. As I was doing a search on Blogger, I came across this one by Indira of Mahanandi and I was sure that I had found the right one. Moreover, using roasted cashews really intrigued me. I have used soaked cashews in Punjabi/Moghlai preparations so far. But roasted cashews was something totally new and exotic. I was glad that I tried out this one. The spinach gravy was creamy and very, very aromatic. I know what I am gonna cook, whenever I want to impress my guests at dinners.

3. Tart Ratatouille with goats cheese: Does this happen to you? That you read a recipe and you know at that instant that you are gonna like the outcome. This was one such recipe. I knew I had to try it out as soon as I read this one by Meeta of Whats For Lunch Honey?. And it was indeed very good. I made my own pizza base for this. (Now then, who was calling me lazy?) Otherwise, I stuck to Meetas recipe through and through. It is a hearty dish with a lot of vegetables. Her recipe would serve 3 to 4 persons. I reduced the amount of vegetables to 2/3 for the two of us and had the Tart as a one-dish meal. Mmmmmm....

4. Tuesday Soup: I have tried out several recipes by Nupur of One Hot Stove. I am happy to confirm that ALL have turned out well. I have chosen this one for this round-up, because I have made it something like 5976 times so far. Ok, I am exaggerating, but I have really made it quite often since January 2006 (thats when I got to know about food-blogging in general and Nupurs blog in particular). I have also tried adding different ingredients to it e.g. sweet corn kernels, sweet potato, asparagus (my current love interest!) and it has given fantastic results every time. I have also used a fistful of moong dal sometimes and offered the soup with lots of crusty bread to make it a simple yet filling dinner. I dont use the garnishes in Nupurs recipe, especially the croutons, but you could go ahead and use them. This soup again is fit for infants and small children (thats without the pepper and the croutons). By the way, did I mention that I always pressure-cook it? I do, and it is super-fast.

Hope you too try these out. In case you have done already, please let me know.

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Blog Patrol 4

The Blog Patrol team has been busy again. Busy checking out recipes by food-bloggers, and then busy trying them out. Heres the report. :) Alphabetically presented.

1. Butternnut squash Subzi/ Kaddu ki Curry by Krithika of Manpasand: Krithika presented this recipe as a part of an informal event: Nigella Awesome. And this dish too was simply awesome. I had never eaten pumpkin/butternut squash paired with Kalonji/nigella seeds before, but I now know that I am gonna make it often. Apart from the earthy aroma of nigella seeds, what makes this curry special is the addition of Amchoor/dried mango powder. Try it out. You wont regret.

2. Eggless maple syrup-pecan cake by Shammi of Food, in the Main...: I took this one along to a typically German Kaffee und Kuchen party with my Italian friends. They loved it. I loved it too. They were surprised to hear that it had no eggs. (They also found it difficult to understand why somebody would * want * to bake a cake without eggs. I didnt try to explain it to them. They dont understand vegetarianism. Never mind. :))
What is important here, is that it is a great cake, and I highly recommend it.

3. Honey Banana Muffins by Nandita of Saffron Trail: I made these muffins almost immediately after Nandita did her post on them. I found the combination interesting, and the fact that there are no eggs in it encouraged me even more. (Its not that I dont eat eggs, but I somehow fancy baking without them. Maybe because they were never a part of my growing-up?)
As for the muffins, they were easy to prepare and were ready to be taken out of the oven in 15 minutes. Ideal as a surprise evening treat for a tired-after-work husband. :) Even better, if the husband makes them as a surprise treat for a tired you!

4. Italian Vegetable Soup with Gnocchi by Meeta of Whats For Lunch Honey?: This one too I made almost immediately after Meeta blogged about it. Only that I didnt include it in one of my previous editions of Blog Patrol, because every one of them already has at least one dish blogged by Meeta. :) To be honest, whenever I want to cook something non-Indian, I open Meetas blog. Each and every vegetarian dish of hers that I have tried, has been a success. Especially the Italian ones...mmmmmmm.
As for this dish, Meeta gives us the option of combining various vegetables. The last time I made it, I used one small zucchini, 1 medium carrot, 1 medium red onion and 1 small yellow pepper. Also, I used readymade stock cubes. (Although Meeta graciously asks to refer to a post by me for the recipe of vegtable stock! See the irony of things? :))

5. Tomato Rice by Saffron Hut: A wonderfully aromatic preparation. It smells so delicious while it is cooking, that you dont even have to call your family to the table; you find them waiting there already! :) And it is ready within minutes. Great for those weekend dinners, when you are too tired after a days shopping. ;-)
By the way, I used imported from India readymade Biryani Masala instead of the Garam Masala suggested by SH. (I wish we knew her name. Calling somebody a hut is just too much.)
Anyway, name or no name, this recipe is a keeper.

Available link for download

Blog Patrol 3 A Ton Of Protein

Its been long since Blog Patrol came up with a report. However, it deserves to be mentioned that the said party (now, whos that?) has been working on that report. And with a certain theme in mind. Whats the theme, you ask? Well, I was coming to that anyway. :)
The theme is marriage. A Marriage (made in heaven?) of two features that make an appearance on this blog. I am sure the title of the post explains the rest.
Fine then, lets see what yummy dishes with protein our fellow bloggers have offered to us so far. Listed in alphabetical order, here they are.

1. Aruchavitta vengaya Sambar by Shammi of Food, in the main... : I had never made Sambar with freshly ground Masala until then. I had heard about it, but thats it. I am happy that I chose this recipe for my first attempt. The Sambar turned out great. I dont know how it is supposed to taste, but I felt that it tasted authentic. (Is that statement contradictory?) And biting into those cooked yet juicy baby onions (yeah, we get them in German shops here) was very very enjoyable.
In case you dont have your own family recipe for this kind of Sambar, just go for this one. You wont regret. :)

2. Bell pepper sambar by Shammi again: What I have got to say about this dish, is something that Shammi has written in her post already. MMMmmmmmmmmmm...... :) :) :)

3. Lasooni Dal Palak by Nandita of Saffron Trail: If you offered this one to your guests, theyd think that you ordered it from a take-away. Its that good. For me, home food is good when it tastes like home food. And typical restaurant food or street food is great when it does NOT taste like home food. I hope you know what I mean.
Well anyway, just try this one out, and youll know what I am trying to say. :)

4. Mango Dal by Indira of Mahanandi: Do you like unripe mangoes? Do you like the heady aroma of Urad dal in the tadka? Do you like your Dal to be sour and spicy? Do you like it when a dish offers surprises in every morsel?
If your answer is yes to three of these four questions, then just go ahead and make this Dal. Period.
(I am so good at sounding serious about my work, arent I? :))

5. Mattar Paneer Masala by VKN of My Dhaba: The first thoughts that come to our mind when we see the word Paneer in a recipe are fat, calories, weight gain, no no no.... But lets not forget that Paneer has a lot of protein too. Something that especially vegetarians often do not have enough of in their diet. And as far as Paneer is concerned, it can be made with low-fat milk too.
Now coming to the dish, it is another one with that hotel type taste. Great to put on the table, especially when you are entertaining guests. I assure you, that your guests wont stop singing praises of your cooking skills. :) Thanks, VKN, for this wonderful recipe.

Thats it for now, People. See you in a day or two. Ciao!
(No, the last word has nothing to do with the Italians winning the semi-finals yesterday. My loyalties are still with the Germans.)
-cough...choke...cough-

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