Food Fashion Party

Indian

INDIAN – HYDERABADI Chicken Biryani –

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      Food for the body is not enough. There must be food for the soul.- Dorothy Day

Biryani

An Indian feast is only complete if there’s Biryani on the menu, don’t you’ll agree?  An invite for a carnivore means you are in for a BIG belly filling treat.   The gracious host never feels full filled if there’s one missing from their menu of chicken/lamb, egg, fish, shrimp and more….It sounds like a lot, but that’s the ritual that we Indians, in fact a lot of the cultures follow especially to celebrate a special day, special event and that special guest.  It’s an absolute satisfying meal followed by a satisfied heart. I would love to know what other parts of the world cook on a special day.  

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Obbat/ Puran poli – Happy Father’s Day!!

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                                                       Distance means so little when someone means so much.

                                                                                                   ~Anonymous

Obbat/ Puran poli – Happy Father’s Day!!
If you could describe your dad in three words, what would it be??
My DAD,as he would like to be called as ‘a man of simple needs’.  The oldest of all, he grew up with a huge family and lots of responsibilities.  Man of principles, with very strong opinions and seasoned habits.

Holding his hands, going for a walk every Sunday evening was our ritual which I enjoyed.  His over protective and possessive nature played  a huge part in my life.  His strong opinion on not allowing me in the kitchen to cook was annoying, but coming back home from work with a bagful of goodies always made me happy.  He would sit for hours over my bedside when I had a fever, pampered me like crazy which I miss the most as I’m surrounded with three boys who need pampering all the time. Among a lot of his attributes, one of the things I admire most is his love for food. To him, all food was either “marvelous” or not worth mentioning.  He taught me that food is an experience, how you make it and how you serve it, the pleasure it brings leaves an impression. 

QUICK EGG CURRY

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Hi Friends, how is the weather???

It’s really hot in San Francisco, welcome summer, not that I am jumping with joy.  Our Air condition is not working and I am not in my best behavior.  Walking around fuming at everyone is not working either…. Funny how we look into perfection with the weather and everyone around right?

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Indian Chinese – Hakka Noodles street food style

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                                                            India- Land of Street Food




Indian Chinese is quite popular and combines the two cuisines to form one which has a tantalizing tone to it.  This fusion has been there for a while now and we Indians just love it.    With all the street food available, everyone has a favorite. I would hands down chose this, which brings back fond memories from my days back home.

One thing my cousin and I share is the love for food.  The days before I got married, was something I will never be able to forget, who will right??  Mine was filled with laughter, food, company, tears and a lot of emotions.  I stayed at my aunt’s place for sometime, which was a lot of fun and cannot be duplicated ever.  My cousin and I  would hold hands, talk for hours, walk on the foot path engrossed in our conversation not once being bothered by all pedestrians or the buzzing traffic around us.  The best  part we looked forward for was the food we were going to eat  after our walk.  A street vendor famous for his Indian Chinese was right up our ally so there we went, to order a plate of hot, steamy HAKKA noodles with hot and sweet tomato sauce drenched all over it.  That ten rupee(25 cents) plate of goodness was every bit enjoyed.

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Stuffed Dates – with nuts and dipped in chocolate

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“People forget what they ate, but they always remember Dessert, so make it memorable”.- Ina Garten

Stuffed Dates – with nuts and dipped in chocolate

Medjool dates with their crinkly top, sweet second layer was known as the fruit of the royals.  But,  it’s easily accessible to us commoners now.   The chewy texture, the naturally maple sort of taste and it’s size makes for a easy pick me up snack.

Dates are consumed on it’s own for it’s nutritional value and distinctive taste. But, the middle easterners have gotten quite creative with these pick me up beauties.  Taking a note from their page, the MEDJOOL dates get makeovers every chance a cook gets.

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INDIAN VEGETARIAN- Pineapple Curry- tangy and spicy

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“Appearance are often deceiving”- Aesop’s quotes.

INDIAN VEGETARIAN- Pineapple Curry- tangy and spicy

Some kind of curry with tamarind is a staple in a South Indian home. South Indians have a large repertoire for their vegetarian curries and this is just one variation of a tamarind curry. A spicy and tangy sauce atop some steamy plain white rice is comfort food for many.  It’s almost all the time accompanied by a mild dish.  You will never be able to find authentic dishes like this in any restaurant.  Some of the curry recipes are passed on from generations and if followed religiously, the taste is pretty spectacular.  In Karnataka, where I’m from and many of their dishes are  generally spiked with a touch of sugar or jaggery(brown sugar).  Their sambhar, tamarind rice, rasam,  tamarind kozhumbu( curry), their dishes are spicy yet a bit sweet and I love it.

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BEET Soup/Rasam

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“The beet is the most intense of vegetables.  Beets are deadly serious.”- Tom Robbins.

Beets have a inherently woodsy taste to them.  I’ve had them in desserts as well as really spicy dishes, it can be very adaptive.  I happen to love this vegetable.  A simple soup can warm you up when you are just not feeling too good.  My earliest memories of this vegetable was good, in fact great..so I’ve built on it’s repertoire.

This is also similar to rasam (Indian style thin tamarind and lentil soup), but has a very distinct flavor which comes from this root vegetable.  I just drank it up as soup, but you could accompany this with rice or plain old bread on the side.

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BROWN Chicken/Pepper Chicken AMMAMA style

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“Food is the most primitive form of comfort” ~ Sheila Graham

Sundays were and are very special meal days.  Those days (not too long ago;)), I would wait for Sundays for a huge feast.  I would get ready for the part I looked forward to the whole week. It would be hard for me to convince dad, but I would tag along with him sometimes to the farmers’ market really early morning.    Our  fancy breakfast of appam (thin pancake) and sweetened coconut milk or sweet idiyappam (rice noodles), would be ready by the time we got back..   As soon as we devoured  our breakfast, mom would start preparing for our lunch.

There were few things and habits which never changed, our Sunday menu was one of ’em.   The Brown Chicken, as my little one calls it now, was the STAR of our lunch. So glad that this Peppery curry leaves Chicken has become one of  the favorite dishes of the picky eater.

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Vegetable CURRY

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Entertaining the Indian way  involves a soiree of chatter, chai, samosas, vada, coffee, laughs and then begins a never ending buffet of deliciousness.  There’s something very pleasant about food when eaten in good company which is prepared with love.  Every Indian household has their version of this very famous NAVRATAN KORMA which needs no introduction, some add less vegetables and some more,  different spices which can change the appearance and the tastes even if so slightly. This MUGHLAI dish generally consists of cashew paste along with a good dose of heavy cream or even milk.  It’s a staple in an Indian restaurant menu and a way to bump up the buffet for a vegetarian party.

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SPICE Your meal up- Green Chilly Pickle

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“Condiments are like old friends — highly thought of, but often taken for granted.”
Marilyn Kaytor, 

It does no lasting damage, but the way our body reacts to this simple yet strong spice is interesting.  Tingling of tongue, sweat drops forming, quickening of pulse doesn’t stop someone from enjoying it and gulping buckets of water later.  We Indians are known for a high tolerance to this spice powehouse, GREEN CHILLY.  India is known to be the largest producer and consumer of this treat(info from WIKIPEDIA).

Visited a friend for dinner, she keeps the condiment she concocted and warns, ‘it is spicy’, eat with care.  How spicy can it be?? ufffff…sweating, it was spicy, tasted so good and fresh, became a fan of pickle.  I don’t normally have pickle with my meals, but she got me hooked on to it.  She bottled up some for me to take home, which I licked clean in matter of days and called back for more.  Convincing her to bottle it up and sell it.. 

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