Bye bye!

So this was nice while it lasted, but unfortunately I haven't cooked in over 6 months and have no plans to in the near future either...I'm getting my Masters in Taxation and no pun intended,but it is very very taxing!! I feel bad for all my gorgeous Le Cruset pots and Pans and all my wonderful gadgets I acquired from Crate & Barrel and William Sonoma...I do admire them every once in a while though but that's the extent to my proximity to the kitchen:)
I think cooking was one of those things that was cool while it lasted, but now a days I'm more than happy getting take out and making do with goodies from the freezer section at Trader Joe's and getting care packages from my aunt and uncle. So until further notice I am abandoning this space..bbye!!

Another Video!

I find it a lot easier to make a video than to actually write up a post with a detailed recipe and take a picture of the final dish, so here's a video on how to make vegetable vermicelli upma.

Make your friends fry up the batata vadas- tastes SO much better:)

For some weird reason I had been craving pakoras for the past few weeks with all the rain we had been having lately, not that I've denied myself fried snacks in the past or anything of that sort :), but I was determined to make some pakoras as soon as I was done with school this semester. As I had mentioned in earlier posts I haven't cooked in over 4 months so making pakoras was going to be my way of breaking that record. It was a Sunday evening and my husband and I had invited a few folks over after what seemed like ages. We had a bunch of snacky foods and lots of margaritas and wine to go with it, I made some guacamole (I'm obsessed with this stuff and seriously can't get enough of it- I kid you not, guacamole is my crack!!), bought Spinach Dip and zatziki to have with some crackers and pita bread and made teeny fussy cucumber sandwiches with chive cream cheese and cut the crusts off - yeah it's obvious I didn't cook, but I did make these pakoras/ bata vadas all the while wondering why weather.com predictions are always inaccurate.

In my head I imagined I'd be frying these babies up with my kitchen door open, taking in the cool air blowing my way after a severe down pour, but instead it didn't rain and it was typical sticky Hotlanta weather and I did in fact need to keep my kitchen door open when frying up the pakoras and have the exhaust on just so the house wouldn't stink up with the smell of oil.
You know how there's this immense satisfaction you get out of eating fried food when there's a slight nip in the air or in the cozy comfort of your home when it's pouring cats and dogs outside and you enjoy the weather while munching on your fried goodies and some piping hot masala chai...when you want to take long drives in the rain and listen to cheesy mushy Bollywood music because the rains always put you in such a romantic and sappy mood..well unfortunately for me the weather super sucked and I was robbed of my blissful daydream. I really didn't want to be sweating it out making batter fried food in icky sticky weather, so I assembled the pokora filling and made the batter and put a couple of my friends in charge of frying up the pakoras after I demo'd a few to them! I continued assembling some of the other food while they huffed and puffed over hot oil and it was cool since I always want my friends to be a part of the process when we're entertaining (I know you're saying..yeah right!! but it was hot so don't judge!!), good sports that they were they followed my instructions and fried them up in batches, all the while I was getting smart comments from another friend about how I was "ordering my line cook around" !!
The pakoras were very fabulous, perfectly crunchy on the outside with a well seasoned melt in your mouth creamy potato filling, but seriously who wants to sweat it out over a hot stove when it's 95 degrees outside and when you need to turn the AC off since you've got your kitchen door open?! Not me..for sure!
Save this pakora making session for when the weather's not such a bitch and you'll thank me! Better yet, get your friends to fry them up and you'll find they taste even better:)

Batata vadas/ stuffed pakoras- serves 4-6

For the potato filling:
3 large russet potatoes - boiled peeled and mashed
1 small red onion- finely chopped
4 skinny green chillies - finely chopped
1 hpd tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
Juice of 1 lime
Handful of cilantro leaves- finely chopped
Salt to taste

For the pakora batter
1 heaped cup of besan/chickpea flour
1 tsp red chill powder/cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric
Pinch of baking soda
Salt to tasteEnough water to make a thick batter that will coat the back of your spoon
Oil for frying
Pakora Filling how to:
In a hot skillet add 2 tsp of oil and the mustard seeds.
Once the mustard seeds pop add the onions and the green chillies and saute it for a few minutes.
Add the turmeric and the boiled mashed potatoes and season it with a little salt.
Take the skillet off the heat and add the cilantro and the lime.
Make sure the filling is well seasoned.
Allow the filling to cool slightly and then pinch off golf ball sized portions of the filling and make little balls out of them.Try to refrigerate the filling for at least an hour before frying before it ensures that the filling will stay together.

A few minutes before you're ready to start frying up your pakoras, combine all the ingredients needed for the batter and make a thick batter similar to the consistency of a pancake batter.
Heat the oil in your frying pan and dip the filling balls into the batter coating it completely before dropping it into the hot oil.
Make sure you rotate the pakoras while frying so it's evenly brown all over.
Drain the pakoras on some paper towels and serve them up hot.

Ps: If you have leftover pakora batter , just slice a few potatoes or onions and dip them into the batter and fry them up too, you could even use sliced bread if you're up for it.

Dig in: Pop these babies in your mouth when they are still hot, it's best eaten with a chutney of some sort, I served mine with hot sauce- since I was too lazy to make both pakoras and chutney!

You asked and I delivered....!

Two new videos that is...! Check it out here and here!
Ps: The camera really does add 10 lbs, so be kind!

Remember me?

I used to write a food blog, cook, throw fabulous dinner parties and post the occasional cooking demo, do I sound familiar? I've neglected this blog for quite a while now, and I am seriously beginning to think this is going to end up being another one of those things that I started out doing and lost steam half way through. The reality is that while I have been cooped up with school, I've also been majorly lazy about cooking anything, in fact I haven't cooked anything that couldn't be microwaved in under 3 minutes since March 2009! I've been surviving on unhealthy amounts of Chipotle, frozen taquitos from TJ's, spicy peanuts, ice cream and PB& J's...yeah go figure how much more junk I have in my trunk:)

Anyway I just finished my first semester- whew and I've got a couple of weeks of vacation before school starts back for the fall, so I thought I'd make an appearance here and attempt to revamp this blog to see if anyone was around to hear me. Notice I didn't say I'd cook!
As I had mentioned earlier, I've been surviving on a lot of PB & J's and PB, nutella and banana sandwiches, so this morning with a little extra time on hand and not a whole lot to do besides watch trash TV and surf the internet (which btw, is so awesome to do after spending the past 7 weeks buried under accounting books)I made a french toast PB,nutella, banana sandwich which was the most awesome thing I'd made since god knows when!
It's not rocket science: Slather a slice of bread with nutella and another with peanut butter, add sliced bananas and some toasted pecans and sandwich the two slices together.
Make a quick egg custard by whisking 2 eggs with a splash of milk, 3 tsp of sugar, pinch of cinnamon and a splash of vanilla extract.
Dip the sandwich into the egg custard on both sides for about 10 seconds each and plonk it on a hot slightly greased skillet and cook it on each side until it gets brown and delicious looking.
Serve it hot with a side of maple syrup and marvel in your ability to finally pseudo cook something after missing in action for over 4 months!

I hope to be back to cooking and posting soon unless the lazy gene takes over all over again- wish me luck!

My India trip food collage- Finally!!

(Please click on the collage to enlarge it)

I know I'm only late by a month and a half, but here's my promised food collage.
Needless to say the biggest highlight of my India trip- was the food!
Most of the pictures taken are in and around Delhi, barring a few pictures taken in the open markets in Chennai. I did not take pictures at the restaurants I ate simply because the lighting sucked!

Starting at top left corner-
Lady measuring fruits with traditional weights in Chennai, I loved the see saw like banana stand too.

Spice vendor in Chennai- selling dried red chillies, whole cumin and black pepper among other things.

Jack fruit- very exotic eats:)It's very sweet and has a very unique texture, on the streets of Chenai

Paan Waala- a dying breed, Green Park Market, New Delhi

Open air market in Chennai, man selling whole spices and lentils - he was only too happy to smile for the camera!

Picture of yours truly devouring aloo chaat at UPSE, Delhi- a go to place for all chaat enthusiasts!

Gol Gappas at Bengali Sweets, South Extension, New Delhi- The heat, the cold spicy gol gappa water, the long lines queuing up to get a bite and the mouth watering belly burning stuff- Need I say more? Please note, the gol gappa dude is wearing plastic gloves now:))

Chhole Bhature at Bengali Sweets, South Extension, New Delhi- amazing stuff but will leave you drowsy all day!

Mangoes from a random fruit seller on the street- best thing about being in India in the summer!

Puri Aloo and Sooji ka halwa- classic Sunday morning B'fast at Haldi Ram, Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi

Fruits Galore- random fruit seller on a busy street corner in Delhi, the tiny melons were very juicy and sweet, very different from honey dew melons.

Lady selling coconuts in Chennai (not sure where)- she had parked herself outside of a store on a busy street. It was the perfect thirst quencher after the exhausting Chenai weather and all the shopping!

Pakoras and aloo tikkis being fried in a vat of oil (we'll pretend it was baked!), Evergreen sweets, Green Park, New Delhi

Jalebis getting fried up in 45 degree(centigrade)heat, Evergreen Sweets, Green Park, New Delhi

Fruit Seller selling Jamuns- very tart grape like fruit typically eating with a fruit masala made up of cumin, black pepper, and rock salt, fabulous stuff that will make you want to pucker up!

More aloo tikkis and aloo chaat getting fried up at UPSE, New Delhi- clearly I couldn't get enough of chaat!

More Mangoes- that was my primary food group while in India!

Samosas, kachoris and hot chai, UPSE, New Delhi

Vats of pav Bhaji being smashed up, the aroma filled the crowded market place - my mom and bro are in the background!

Exhausted

I just peeped in to say I'm pooped! I didn't think I'd be back in school for another graduate degree.....and let me just say it is NOT for the faint hearted:( I forgot how much it sucks to do homework every day and have exams pop up like unexpected zits, on the bright side, it is a TON better than working in consulting and schmoozing for a living, now I might actually be able to provide tangible value in my next job, hahaha!!