The winter season is creeping in fast in this part of the country. Today when I woke up and looked out of the window I saw nothing, I mean just a white blur of nothingness. I rubbed my eyes assuming I was still dreaming. But yet I see the same. All the quaint pastel colored red roofed buildings, the perfectly manicured green lawns, the bright orange cosmos blossoms,  the neatly tarred path through our housing society even the huge open amphitheater that was there till last night till we went to bed had simply vanished. Poof! It took some time to register that a thick wall of mist was staring back at me which was so dense that the visibility was reduced to a few feet merely. I was pretty surprised realizing it since just two days back we had heavy rains in outskirts of Pune and till yesterday morning we didn’t have any trace of morning mist let alone this thick wall of blob. I went out to the balcony to take snaps. My D90 was struggling to focus as it sensed the object in front too near due to the flowing mist. It was pretty chilly outside and felt like we were in Darjeeling where it’s very common to be kissed by the clouds and mist in the morning. A charming start to the day indeed!

A cup of Tea & the Foggy Morning

On such a cold morning whats more rewarding experience than a mug of freshly made warm, comforting and mildly sweet chai. So delicate and beautiful – the color of the tea looks like liquid amber. Tea is such an inevitable part of almost every India's life. There are people who can't start their day until they get their due cup of tea. My mom is a avid Tea drinker. From time I remember I have seen her drink tea at least thrice a day religiously - the calming one in the morning when no one woke up, a hurried one during the breakfast and one in the evening lazying around with a good book. As a kid I always dipped biscuit in her evening tea, which really irritate her because it became cold due to my constant biscuit stirring. So when I grew up a bit she used to give me a separate cup of tea in the evening. I was never fond of tea as a kid so that cup of tea was only to soak the pile of biscuits I would sit down with. Even now I am not a big fan of Tea but have a cup of raw tea during morning with a couple of cookies. Its a light snack that I have while cooking. We only have dinner at home and return very late from office so I prepare the dinner gravy in the morning itself.

For me tea always meant to be tea leaves brewed in milk and sugar. But chai with milk in it many a times resulted in heartburn. I am a bit intolerant to lactose as well. So this was one more reason I avoided tea. But strangely with coffee I didn't have this heartburn issue only felt too full. Once I started to drink raw tea and like it too. It's a habit I picked up after seeing in my in-laws home. The raw tea never gave me any issues. Tea leaves brewed in hot water and a spoon of sugar and sometimes for a change I squeeze in a wedge of lemon to vary the taste.


When I was in Atlanta I saw Starbucks introducing Chai Latte / Chai Tea which became an instant hit among the people. Americans liked the taste which was very much like masala chai. Chai Tea is such a misnomer as Chai itself means Tea in Hindi, So when you translate Chai Tea it means "Tea Tea". But then that's how its marketed in US and no one really cares whether its Tea Tea or simply Tea. Much is talked about Masala Chai. Even when you search net you will only find recipes of Masala chai only. However I am repulsed by it totally. The strong smell of cinnamon, cardamom, clove and other spices totally overwhelms the original flavor of Tea. Maybe when the flavor of tea leaves is not that exceptional all these spices are required to make it richer. But in India any good quality expensive tea whether Darjeeling, Assam or simply CTC tea have such rich and flavorful texture and taste that its a sin to mess up with the original flavor  with all those spices. Maybe a bit of Ginger is fine as its very good when taken during a cold but that's that. Creamy milk, sugar and a tea spoon of the best quality tea leaves - the magic it weaves is only felt if you taste it. Water has also a major role to play in enhancing the inner flavors of a tea leaf. I remember when we had gone to Darjeeling, mom and all my relatives became very fond of the Darjeeling tea that the maid used to make everyday. So when they returned to the plains they got many packets of the same brand of Darjeeling tea. The exact same method was used to prepare the tea and yet there was a lot to be desired in the taste. Even after trying for several times with milk or no milk when the taste could not be recreated my grandpa concluded it might be the mountain water that resulted in the brilliant taste.

Here are the two simple ways I prepare my tea.

Raw Tea :-

Raw Tea

Milk Tea :-


Today is the last day of the extended holidays for Diwali - the end of all festivities for this year. Now again looking forward to the festival time in the coming year. A pictorial roundup of Durga Puja and Diwali this year.

Diwali Lights in our Patio

The Temple at home & Diwali Rangoli

Durga Puja @ Kali Bari Khadki

Durga Puja @ Matre Bridge

July - September is the most beautiful time of the year in Maharashtra as it's monsoon season. The emerald greenery all around almost hurts the eye, its so beautiful. This year the monsoon have extended beyond September. So even around the Durga Puja we had rains. Even when we don't have rains the sky is overcast at times with mild breeze. It's on one such day that the idea of visiting the Veer Dam has loosely been discussed. Usually many such plans hatch during the weekday while we ride to the office and by the time its weekend the ideas fade into oblivion. So this time also I didn't take the plan very seriously. On a Friday night we set the alarm early as next day we were going on a ride to Veer Dam.

 So next day we woke up early but got late getting ready. We left home around 8:15 AM.  We got ready to face the morning air and the unknown that lay ahead. From Dhayari to Veer Dam it's 62 KM. From Pune we took the Satara road. About 40 kms from Pune take Pandharpur road on the left for Shirval village. This road goes along the veer dam.

The roads were pretty empty and we breezed through the ghat-like roads, small dark green rocky hills adored both sides of the road. The morning air was very cool and refreshing. Unfortunately I had not taken my helmet and the air was lashing against my face making my eyes teary. I was trying hard to look ahead instead of the strong gusty wind because I didn't want to skip any part of the landscape. 15 minutes into the road we stopped at a roadside restaurant to have breakfast. I had medu vada-chutney which was very crisp and yummy. I always found eating by the highway restaurants or dhabas very intriguing. The panoramic view of the highway, the vehicles zooming past, old movie songs playing in the small TV at the restaurant, the clanging of the utensils as the servers placed the food before the guests - everything makes you feel like you are in a time warp where everything is moving at a fervent pace except you. I enjoy that "you" moment a lot.

We started off after having breakfast. The scenery started to change slowly, green hills gave way to big blue mountains faraway.

The route from Dhayari to Veer Dam

As the city limits slowly faded away we were greeted by miles of golden orange carpet of Cosmos lazily placed over the rolling green terrain interspersed with sudden burst of bold fuchsia bougainvillea , shy white creepers and violet unknown flowers. Post monsoon many parts of Maharashtra  witnesses a heavy bloom of Cosmos, especially away from the city limits on the highways or some distant places which are not having much human habitation. I had never the faintest idea that Cosmos blossoms can look so pretty in a bunch. The Pune Satara road looked as beautiful as our drive to Panshet a few weeks before due to the presence of these Cosmos. Mostly orange at times we saw yellow smaller ones as well. The orange and yellow marigolds also gave a tough competition to the Cosmos throughout the entire stretch but then at the end the Cosmos won hands down due to their petite frame and the cascading effect that was created by ripples of wind along the mountains.


We took a left from the main highway at one point to go towards the Veer dam. As we proceeded the landscape became dotted with farm lands and farmers working in the fields. We  saw some small hut type houses which were probably some village. Soon we crossed the Nira river and from then on our left side the backwaters of Veer Dam started accompanying us. We could see the water through the thick foliage and the villages, but the distance from the road was much. As we drove further the condition of the road deteriorated and at one point of time there was no road but pebbles and dirt. Got to know that the government had tried to construct good roads here but due to the local political influence on the villagers dispute happened and they never let the government complete the roads. We even saw unfinished bridges and worn out “men at work” signs all along the road indicating the truth of the fact. As we moved on the distance between the road and the backwaters decreased and slowly we were riding very next to it. The water was very calm and peaceful. The aquamarine waters had dark and light alternate ribbons of color due to the difference in depths at places.

Marine trees were seen in the water. We saw many birds on way – some of them very very beautiful and not the ones which are usually seen in city. Veer dam is known for migratory birds visiting it during the winters. A large number of birds are seen in this region every year and many bird watchers are present to witness them.

Such a beautiful place and yet it seemed unexplored and virgin. Maybe that’s one reason why the water of the dam was so clean. A couple of cars stopped for a quick snap but no one stayed for long. We moved further on till the gates of the dam. Few Eucalyptus trees were there along the bank, the minty pine scent with a touch of honey lingered in the air. A couple of village women sat under them washing clothes. We parked the bike outside the gate and walked inside. The lake looked very serene and deep. Veer is one of the largest dams of Maharastra. The slope of the dam was rocky and had tiny violet blossoms all over. We did not walk ahead but spent some quite time by the entry and took snaps. The sun was getting hotter and we decided to backtrack.

There are a couple of hotels by the side of the Veer dam, one of them Sai International was operational. As we were very thirsty from all the driving in the sun we decided to unwind for some time at the hotel. The property is strategically located overlooking the backwaters. It has a nice lawn with wrought iron tables. It has both lodging and fooding. The bar area is separate. We sat at the family restaurant and ordered some mixed bhajiyas and vanilla milkshake. The restaurant was clean enough though we were the only two people there. The bar had more people. The milkshakes arrived first in tall glasses and was one of the best vanilla milkshake I have ever tasted – creamy , frothy and delicately sweetened not more or less. The bhajiyas also arrived and we were left speechless by the sheer mountain sized quantity of it. Somehow we managed to finish half plate.



Well fed and happy we left the hotel and began our journey back. We stopped for an occasional picture or two. The return ride was more pleasant as by that time the sky had become overcast which brought down the temperature a bit. Also the flowers looked brighter against the green backdrop in the shade. The Pune Satara highway has a very large tunnel. This was the first time I was crossing a tunnel on a bike. The air rush with all the light and shadow play on the walls made me feel like we were in some Harry Potter video game navigating a dungeon on a broomstick :D.


We were home by 2.30 PM. We were tired but happy. After a year almost we did a long ride.

During the ride we discussed a lot about the Maharashtrian cuisine and spicy Kolhapuri chicken was also discussed.  The bold and super spicy dish from Kolhapur is well known for its heat content. If it's not spicy its not authentic Kolhapuri chicken. The next day being a Sunday was our usual day for Chicken. Since so much had been discussed about spicy chicken curry I decided to make something on similar lines. But didnt want it overpowered with spiciness, so it had to be something with the rich flavours of regional chicken but at the same time be low on the heat. I had heard one of my colleagues at office who is from Rajasthan, talk about a particular dish famous in Rajasthan - Laal Maas or Fiery Red Mutton curry. The colour itself is something to talk about - mutton pieces cooked in a rich deep red coloured spicy sauce. What Kolhapuri Chicken is to Maharashtra , Laal Maas is to Rajasthan. I didn't have mutton in the pantry so it had to be tweaked to accommodate chicken in the same recipe.

I looked up on the net and found many recipes of Laal Maas. Among them one of my favorite blogger  Soma of eCurry's Rajasthani red chicken curry looked very delicious. She had a lot of garlic seasoning in her recipe but I tweaked the ingredient list according to my taste - I am not very fond of strong garlic smell in my Indian chicken curry. So I reduced the quantity of garlic and other masalas to keep the curry light on the stomach while keeping the color intact. I was a bit doubtful about the color that Soma had produced in her dish but finally I also managed the same hue. The recipe turned out soooo very good that I got compliment that it was tasting just like "Biyebarir Mangsho" or Mutton prepared during wedding dinners in Bengal.

When Sharanya asked me to do a guest post for her blog I was too excited reason being this was going to be my first guest post for any one. Writing for my own blog is one thing and writing for someone else is a totally different ball game together, there is a lot of responsibility attached to it. As the initial excitement subdued, I started to become jittery. Now the biggest job was to zero in on a recipe that would be good enough for a guest post. I had a lot of dishes in mind and was finding it difficult to streamline my thoughts.

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of food is Bengali cuisine...of course it’s the cuisine which is most dear to my heart because I grew up with it. The Bengali's love for food is legendary. The variety of fish and vegetables are so diverse that anything can be combined with everything and a new dish can be created. Bengalis make ambrosial dishes out of the oftentimes rejected peels, stalks and leaves of vegetables.  Ghonto, chorchori, chechki, labra, paturi, bhapa, jhal, jhol, kosha, bhate, chhyanchra, dalna, dolma,kalia, pora, shukto are some of the predominant cooking styles from this cuisine. Every dish gets its unique signature flavor and taste depending on the cooking method.


The eating method is as elaborate as the cooking method. Quoting Wiki "The Bengalis are very particular about the way and the order in which the food should be served. Each dish is to be eaten separately with a little rice so that the individual flavors can be enjoyed. The first item served may be a little ghee which is poured over a small portion of rice and eaten with a pinch of salt. Then come the bitter preparation, shukto, followed by lentils or dals, together with roasted or fried vegetables (bhaja or bharta). Next come the vegetable dishes, the lightly spiced vegetables, chenchki, chokka, followed by the most heavily spiced dalna, ghonto and those cooked with fish. Finally the chicken or mutton, if this being served at all. Chaatni comes to clear the palate together with crisp savory wafers, papor. Dessert is usually sweet yogurt (mishti doi). The meal is finally concluded with the handing out of betel leaf (paan), which is considered to be an aid to digestion and an astringent."

By now you would have a fair enough idea about how religious the Bengalis are about their food. Today I would like to write about a very humble and comforting recipe from Bengal.


I have been food blogging for over a year now. I had a G+ page which I never tried to explore. I used to remain within the frontiers of my blog until recently when one fine day I decided to understand the enigmatic G+. As I started browsing I became aware of "communities" and started adding them. The more time I started spending I became aware of the huge treasure trove of recipes being posted all around the world.  One fine day I was invited by Sharanya to attend her ongoing event "Let's celebrate Halloween" that's how I gradually started interacting with her. A very sweet person whose cakes and pastries are equally sugary, delectable, mouth-watering, ravishing and I could go on and on. As much as I try to keep myself away from all this calorie filled yummies I still love to savor the delicacies with my eyes on Sharanya's blog. Her blog is very warm and inviting...it almost makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop. It's a very proud moment for me to be doing a guest post for a cordon bleu like her.



There are many restaurants claiming to serve "authentic Bengali" cuisine, but be sure the real essence of Bengali food can be only savored at a Bengalis home. Maybe as they say, hotel cooked food  lacks the warmth and love of a home cooked meal. Among all the amazing dishes that are there the one that I am going to write about is just a simpleton in front of the other more famous counterparts. But still this inconspicuous homely dish has a lot of filigrees of memory associated with it and interspersed with the quintessential flavour of Bengali cuisine – warm and near to heart.

Two things are very commonly used in this cuisine – Mustard and Poppy seed. Mustard in the form of oil, paste, powder or as a whole spice and poppy mainly as a paste.  Jinge Posto is one such dish which most of the bengalis are crazy about. The basic Posto preparation is made out of potatoes in a creamy poppy paste base. Variations include using onion, Ridge gourd, pointed gourd (potol/parwal), ladyfinger (bhindi), cauliflower(Fulkopi), yard long bean (borboti) etc along with aloo. Each version has a characteristic taste. My favourite is Jhinge Posto - soft jhinge and mushy potato in a clingy creamy poppy seed paste with a sharp flavor of Kalonji and some slitted green chillies building up the heat. Very personal and comforting.


PS: I am humbled by all the kind words that Sharanya had mentioned about me in her post. Thank you Sharanya once again for giving me this opportunity to write the first guest post for you.

First of all wish you a very prosperous Maha Ashtami. Just two days ago the much awaited Durga Puja started now already it's halfway over.  Today being a weekend will start our pandal hopping and eating out, rather pigging out even if I say so myself. And if we talk about food sweet is an inseparable part of any festival in India.

Who doesn’t love sweet? And Bengalis are famous for their sweet tooth. In earlier times a meal had to end with a sweet dish. My Grandpa loved  sweets. I remember whenever we visited Kolkata during the vacations there was not a single day when we had breakfast and at least two variety of sweets was not present in the side.  Dadu (grandpa) used to go to the market every morning and buy the best sweet available that day at the moyerar dokan (sweet shop).  The freshly made spongy hot Roshogollas dipped in thick sugar syrup which the moyera would pack in big earthen pots were my favorite.

Dida(Grandma) would make Chaler Payesh (Rice pudding) with a generous seasoning of Raisins. She would add Nolen Gur instead of regular sugar which enriched the taste. Chaler payesh was always more flavorful than the Sevaiyan payesh (Roasted Vermicelli pudding) because of the Gobindobhog Chal (a type of flavored rice like the Basmati).  Once we visited North Bengal during the Durga Puja and my mother got hold of some “Choshi” from the local market. Till then I had never seen or known about Choshi - little dull white colored rice flour cylinders with bulging centre and tapered ends. Ma made Choshir payesh with them and it turned out to be one of the most delectable Payesh I have ever tasted. Add Nolen Gur to it and you will be in paradise. Choshir Payesh is a very old traditional fare, which is hardly made now-a-days and I bet there are a handful of people in our generation who has had the good luck to taste it.

During the summer vacation it was Dadu’s regular practice to have Aam-Dudh-Bhaat(Mango+Milk+Rice). A portion of the rice was kept aside, at the end of the meal he used to mix sugary ripe orange mangoes and warm milk with the rice and a pinch of sugar/sondesh. The aroma of the king of fruit was too tempting but the looks of it deterred me from trying it. The elders of the house however relished it with much joy. Now when I look back it seems I should have had tried it. Since Dadu passed away we don’t have such big family get-togethers anymore where all the family members would sit together and have their meals, interspersed with the usual adda and sharing of interesting stories.

As a kid I was a real Sweet freak. I loved anything sweet and hated anything salty or spicy. Mom also liked to have sweets. The love for sweet was in the blood. Whenever Dad used to go to the market I would tag along with him to go to the Sweet shop – Bimala Sweets (I still remember the name!). To admire the array of mouthwatering sweets arranged on the glass shelves was a very exciting thing for me. I would look out if any new type of sweet was on display and ask my dad to buy it. When I was very small dad used to leave me at the shop while he fished his bajar. I would happily stay in the shop and mingle with the shop owner and his workers. Sometimes he would offer me a sweet or two just like that. I would sit on the counter and witness the mundane activities inside the sweet shop. As I grew up a bit I became a bit shy of the surroundings and would not stay back in the shop, just buy the sweets and come back. Bimala sweets was a part of my growing up years- my metamorphosis from absolutely loving sweets to just about liking them. It was the only Sweet shop within the IIT campus during those days. During Durga Puja my entire friends group would flock there and have Matka Kulfi or Chocobars while catching up.


My Ma is a very good cook, got her culinary skills from Dida. Her culinary skills enhanced meeting my ever increasing demands of making new dishes and sweets. Now when I look back I wonder how she managed to cook 3 times a day plus interesting snacks during evening, I get worn out if I have to make 3 meals in a day. So all my evenings were filled with interesting snacks or sweets. I absolutely loved the bread Malpua she used to make more than the traditional malpua, because the former was much softer and succulent in texture and taste. Though the dish was a bit sweeter, the loving traces of malai on it was absolutely  irresistible. I am drooling even now thinking about it.

At times when there was no sweet I would resort back to Bourbon biscuit. They were always there in our home as I loved them. When I was not yet inducted to tea I would most of the times wait for ma to settle down with her evening tea so I could dip it and eat. This irked ma to no extent because my constant stirring with the biscuit would make the tea cold or sometimes even too much stirring would result in breaking the biscuit which would sink into the tea. But I never gave up and finally Ma gave up. So cleverly she permitted me to have tea so that I have my own tea to stir the biscuit in. If it was not tea time and I wanted to have Bourbon biscuit, I would separate the two biscuits, lick off the chocolate cream inside and then eat the biscuit separately. There was this friend of mine who would lick off the chocolate inside and throw away the biscuit! I was of course a better behaved kid :D.

As I grew up my love for sweet dishes decreased exponentially. I began loving salty and spicy things better. As of date I only have sweets in form of cold desserts, gajar ka halwa or if it’s a very tempting looking dessert. The other day I was flipping some recipes on the net and came across the recipe of Sahi Tukda. It’s a bread pudding soaked in hot milk and spices, a north Indian specialty which has its roots in Pakistani cuisine. It is particularly prepared during the festive month of Ramadan and on Eid Some people say it’s similar to Double ka Meetha which is a specialty from Hyderabad.

It’s easy to make but is too much calorie packed and involves quite an amount of work in the preparation. Assembling is the easiest part. For this festive season it’s the perfect reason to indulge. This one reminds me very much of the Bread Malpua that my mom used to prepare.

• Bread (White / Brown) - 4 slices
• Full Fat Milk - 1/2 litre
• Dry Fruits ( Pistachios, Almonds, Cashew) - 1/4 cup
• Sugar - 1/3 cup
• Cornflour - 1 tsp
• Ghee - 3/4 cup
• Rose essence - 2 drops
• Saffron - 4-5 strands

Method:


1. Remove the edges of the bread and slice them diagonally into two triangles. You will get 8 triangles from 4 slices.

2. Chop the nuts. Heat a non-stick pan and add 3 tsp of ghee over it. Add dried fruits and toast for a couple of minutes and keep aside. 

3. In the remaining ghee fry the bread triangles till they turn uniformly golden on both sides.


4. Take milk in a thick bottomed pan and bring to a boil. Cook on medium flame and allow the milk to reduce to half its original quantity and get a Rabri like texture. Add sugar as per taste. The mixture will be sweet enough. Add saffron strands and stir. Mix cornflour with 2-3 tbsp milk and add it to the reduced milk and mix. Add the rose essence and roasted chopped nuts.  Cut off heat and let it cool down to room temperature. Chill it in the fridge till serving time.


5. In another pan take some water and sugar. Boil it till the sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes a bit thick. Turn of heat and let it cool to room temperature.

6. Soak the bread pieces in the sugar syrup as you fry for a couple of minutes only and take them out and place on a serving dish.



7. While serving, pour the chilled rose flavored thickened milk over the bread slices, garnish with some more toasted nuts, bits of silver foil, rose petals, drizzle some rose syrup and serve.


The desert tastes better when chilled.



Sending this recipe to Pari & Jiya's "Only Traditional Recipe", Priya's and Spicy Treat's "Diwali Delicacy" event, Recipe Junction's "Spotlight : Festive Treats",Guru's "Vegan Special'13", Merry Tummy's "Cook with White", Motion and Emotions' "Theme Party" event, Gayathri and Asiya's WTML event, Simply Tadka's and Swetha's foodabulous fest .
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