Dear all,

Thank you so much for your wishes on our move back to India. We are here and still in the process of settling down. And no, I have not started cooking yet. Other than still being pampered around, work has been keeping me quite busy and away from the kitchen. But I will, soon, reconnect with my passion. I am just hoping I haven’t lost my mojo!

And as I was composing this post today, I realized that it has been a year since I started Kitchen Aromas! Traa-laa-laa, I am wishing myself a happy blogiversary! For the coming year, I do hope to write more about traditional cooking and recipes, from my real home, in Bangalore!

Here is wishing all of you fun-filled holidays and best wishes for the coming year! And of course, wishing all the foodies happy and healthy cooking and eating!

And a final note: I have a new blog where I will be writing about life in Bangalore. It is still brand new and I hope to bring it to good shape soon. Here is the link:

http://bangaloreorama.blogspot.com/

Umm, that sounds deep. Believe me, it is not meant to. Where I’ve been – something I want to answer if you thought I abandoned my foodie blog and ran away. I’ve been busy. Busy packing. Not just our suitcases, but the whole household. Where I am going – the whole family is going. We are moving. We are moving back to INDIA!

It is a big move and needless to say quite stressful. Also needless to say that there are no worthy aromas coming out of my kitchen right now. They probably won’t for a while too! I will be taking a break from blogging for a bit. I’ll be hopping on over to yours when I get some time! I’ll be back as soon as I can with tidbits from India. 

Wish all of you happy and healthy cooking!

 Here is saying adios to the summer season with this ruby red and golden cherry tomato salad! I found these juicy and beautiful bombs at the farmer’s market last weekend. No recipe, really. I cut the tomatoes in half and tossed them with torn basil leaves, a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, freshly ground pepper, salt and a tiny pinch of sugar. If you have fresh mozzarella on hand, dice them into cubes and add to the salad along with a dash of balsamic vinegar for a delightful chopped Caprese.

Buh-bye  Summer L

How, just how could I not experiment with peaches as fresh as these?! And it was not easy to cook these, believe me, not because they wouldn’t lend themselves for cooking but because we were gobbling them up as is. They were fantastically juicy and sweet to bite into. I had to save up some specially to make this phirni. 

After my first ever post about how versatile phirni can be, peach phirni was as though just waiting to happen. And I don’t regret it; although I do have to apologize for taking away all the authenticity from this sweet concoction! A lot of you were curious about what I would make with these peaches. Here it is!

You”ll need:

• 3 cups of Organic Milk (I used 2%)
• 1 cup of raw Almonds
• ¼ cup of raw Rice
• 1 cup of Sugar
• 4 large ripe, sweet Peaches

Method:

• Soak the rice and almonds separately in water for 4-6 hours.
• Peel the almonds, set aside
• Drain the rice and grind into a coarse paste along with peeled almonds
• Bring milk to a boil on low medium-low heat with sugar
• Add the ground rice and almond mixture and whisk well to avoid lumps
• Cook until the phirni reaches pudding-y consistency (about 15-20 minutes). Take off the heat and let it cool completely
• Pit and peel the peaches (or not. I didn’t peel) and puree 3 of the 4 peaches. Dice the remaining peach and set aside
• When the phirni cools completely, add the peach puree and diced peaches (save some for garnishing, if you wish). Mix well and refrigerate.
• Serve chilled, garnished with a piece or two of diced peach

Quick update: If you pick peaches that are tart, there is a chance that it might curdle the phirni. In that case, I suggest cooking down the peaches with some sugar to make a “peach syrup” and then adding it to the basic phirni.

Another update: I am sneaking this in as my entry for this month’s AFAM-Peach hosted by Mansi of Fun and Food. And while I am at it, here is another look of this fruity phirni:

A very dear friend of mine, Mekhala who is one enthusiastic and exceptional cook, was thrilled at the idea of RCI Karnataka. She is a regular reader of many of our blogs, but since she doesn’t have a blog of her own (yet!), I invited her over to Kitchen Aromas to do a guest post for the event. Here is her entry showcasing a true taste of Karnataka, on its way over to Asha! Mekhala will address all your comments and questions directly in the comments section.

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This simple saaru is Mysore style, traditional to most South Karnataka homes. The black pepper broth, mixed with fresh soft rice and a spoon of ghee is literally prescribed for the sick and the weak, which includes women in their post-partum period. Unlike some other menasina saaru recipes, this one does not use the toor dal base. Milk is used as the base for this and it contributes to the protein content. Understandably so, since it is easily digestible by a sick person. The jaggery in it contributes to the Calcium and Iron content. In some households, this is also called Haal Menasu, literally meaning Milk-Pepper in Kannada! Pepper as a traditional healing spice aids in soothing any sore throat. Cumin helps in alleviating what is termed as ‘pittha dosha’ in Ayurveda. Curry leaves and hing add to the flavor, apart from lending their healing properties. Clarified butter/ghee aids in digestion. I love to sip this saaru like soup, sometimes without the rice. If you use rice, make sure it is super soft, else this saaru doesn’t lend well. Sona masoori rice cooked in the 1:3 (rice to water) ratio works very well. This saaru can get a little pepper-spicy; you can adjust the quantity of pepper to your tolerance level.

While too much pepper is not recommended as it increases body heat, too little renders the saaru useless for healing. So, enjoy this whenever you are feverish or have a sore throat or simply to up your spirits on a gloomy day!                                                                                                              

The recipe for this wonderful concoction follows below.

Mekhala’s Menasina Saaru – for RCI Karnataka

Ingredients to grind into powder:

• 1 tsp Split black lentils/Urad dal
• 1-2 tsps Black pepper corns
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Corriander seeds
• 2 tsps Desiccated coconut gratings
• a pinch of Hing
• 1/2 tsp Ghee

Other ingredients:

• 1 cup Water
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 tsp Crushed Jaggery
• 1 sprig of Curry leaves
• Salt to taste

Ingredients for the tempering:

• 1/2 tsp Ghee
• 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds 

Method: 

• Heat the ghee, add Urad dal and roast until almost light brown. Add remaining ingredients except coconut gratings. Roast until fine aroma wafts through the air and everything is nicely toasted, not charred. Best indicator to take off the heat is when the peppers start popping.

• Grind this with the desiccated coconut and keep aside.

• In a sauce pan, allow 1 cup of water to boil, add the ground powder, jaggery, salt and curry leaves and boil for 5-6 minutes.

• Add milk and let it boil once. Turn off the heat.

• To temper, let the mustard seeds splutter in hot ghee and add it to the broth.

• Taste for spiciness and salt. You can add more milk and jaggery to suit your palate.

• Serve with fresh, soft rice and half a tsp of ghee.

Tips:

* If your grinder does not grind ghee toasted spices, it is ok to dry roast. Grind all the spices and urad dal once before adding the desiccated coconut and grinding again into a fine powder.

* Hing can be added at the time of tempering too.

* Sugar can be substituted for jaggery but the nutritional value and special flavor are lost.

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It is amazing how certain foods are so strongly tied to memories; memories that are decades old, braced to childhood, to growing up, to the warmth and comfort of relishing mom’s cooked food and sometimes, also to sorely missing all of those! You get the picture.  This, Nucchinunde (nucch-in-unde), to me falls in that memory-stirring category of foods.

When the queen of blogosphere, dear Asha of Foodies Hope announced RCI for this month as Karnataka, ideas were flying in my head, one dish at a time from that category. When my Mother-In-Law made these heavenly delicious dumplings over the weekend, I really didn’t have to think beyond. This is the kind of food that you are not likely to find at restaurants. Some of these genera of dishes are even lost from one generation to the other. Here is my lowly attempt to get you the true taste of Kannada homes!

Nucchinunde is best enjoyed drizzled with ghee and dipped in “majjige-huli” aka “mor kozhambu”. You could eat these by themselves or as a side dish with a typical South Indian meal. Me? I eat them for breakfast! J

And I hope you enjoy the little Kannada tutorial along with these, authentic bonne bouche from Karnataka!

You’ll need:

• 2 cups Tuvar dal/Yellow Lentils (Thogari Bele)
• ½ cup Fresh/frozen coconut (Thengina Turi)
• ¼ cup chopped Cilantro (Kothamri Soppu)
• 6 -8 Dry Red Chilies (or to taste) (Vana Menasinakai)
• ¼ tsp Asafetida (Hingu)
• 1 inch piece of fresh Ginger (Shunti)
• 1 cup finely chopped Onion (optional) (Eerulli)
• ½ cup fresh/frozen Green Peas (optional) (Hasi Batani)
• Salt to taste (Uppu)
• Steamer (Idly mold + pressure cooker preferable) 

Method:

• Wash tuvar dal in 2 or 3 changes of water and soak for about 4 hours
• Drain the soaked dal and grind about 75% of it to a coarse consistency, without adding water (or use as minimal as possible)
• Grind the remaining 25% dal with coconut, ginger and red chilies
• Transfer to a working bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Mix well to combine
• Make dumplings of this batter by moulding the batter in your fist to shape - as in the picture
• Place the dumplings in the idly mold if using (2 dumplings per slot). If using steamer, place the dumplings in the vessel in a single row
• Steam cook for about 20 minutes until done
• Eat them hot, drizzled with ghee

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Update: My MIL read the post and had a few updates to the recipe. She suggests using a couple of green chilies along with dry red clilies. Secondly, you could use about 1/4 cup of chana dal (split chickpeas) along with tuvar dal. Lastly, she indicated that ginger is opional, so leave it if out if you so wish. For a completely different flavor, you could use fresh fenugreek leaves sautéed in some oil until it is wilted, in place of onions and green peas.

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A great peach harvest from my colleague S’s backyard! He was generous enough to bring us all pounds of these fresh beauties.  Joys of summer!

Rice. It is synonymous for food to a lot of us. It is hardly a surprise, given that rice is the most consumed grain in the whole world. History has it that in many parts of the world, eating rice symbolizes prosperity and happiness. Now that’s not hard to fathom, is it? This thought reminds me of the famous saying (famous for me at least) by a “mami” in our neighborhood back in India. In her own choicest words “Rice wonly fulfills stomach!” Right on! J 

The JFI pick for this month is Rice, hosted by wonderful Sharmi of Neivedyam. Now, when you are posed with an ingredient like Rice for JFI, how do you zero in on a dish you would want to showcase?! For me, the choice was simple: to pick a dish that brings out the flavor of rice.

I call this minimalist because of the few ingredients used and the ease with which you can whip this pulao up. And take my word for it – there is nothing minimalist about its flavor. This is a recipe from my Mom, who is an exceptional cook and my inspiration. She calls this “white pulao” or “plain pulao.” My take is that this is one heck of a colorful pulao and it is far from being plain. So, dear reader, I now present to you the Minimalist Pulao!

You’ll need: 

• 2 cups Basmati Rice
• 3 cups of water
• 2 cups of mixed chopped “pulao kind” vegetables (I used carrot, green beans, green peas and yellow bell pepper)
• 1 small yellow/white onion, sliced
• 3 green chilies/jalapenos, slit (adjust to your taste)
• 4 cloves
• 2 inch stick of cinnamon bark
• 4 pods of green cardamom
• 2 small or 1 large dried bay leaf
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp ghee (optional)
• Salt to taste

Method: 

• Wash and soak the rice in water for about 30 minutes
• In the meantime, chop the vegetables and thaw green peas if using frozen
• Heat the oil and ghee in a pot and add the whole spices – cloves, cinnamon, whole cardamoms and bay leaves
• Stir for a few seconds, taking care not to scorch them
• Add the sliced onions and green chilies. Sauté until onion is just transparent. Do not brown them!
• Add the rest of the chopped vegetables, season with salt, stir and cover the pot. Let the vegetables soften just a tad, about 4 minutes on medium heat
• Now turn up the heat to High and add the soaked rice along with the water into the pot. Stir well to combine
• Let this whole mixture come to a rolling boil on high heat. Leave it on for 5 minutes
• When the water seems to have evaporated quite a bit and the rice grains look plump, turn down the heat to low (I set it to 3 on my gas mark), gently mix, cover the pot and let the pulao cook, about 12 minutes or so, until the rice and vegetables are cooked through
• Fluff with a fork and serve with raita or simple dal

Here is another look:

The title says it all – this is a gem from grandma’s plethora of recipes; from my husband’s grandma’s magical kitchen, recreated here by my Mom-in-law. In her kitchen, grandma P whips up the tastiest traditional dishes, enthusiastically tries new dishes from her favorite TV cooking shows, imparts culinary wisdom to many and mesmerizes the taste buds of those lucky ones who get to eat what she cooks! Because of her, this great legend, I sure have come to believe that the statement “magical culinary hands” is indisputably true! With great love and wishing her best of health, this post is dedicated to lovely grandma P!  

You’ll need: 

 For the chutney:

• About 6 medium sized Green tomatoes or Tomatillos
• ¼ cup grated Coconut, frozen or fresh
• 1 tbsp of Roasted Gram/Dhalia
• 6 – 8 Green Chilies (adjust according to your taste)
• 2 tbsp Sesame Seeds
• 2 tbsp Grated Jaggery
• Salt, to taste
• 1 tbsp oil

  For Tempering:

• 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
• ¼ tsp Hing (Asafetida)
• 1 spring Curry Leaves
• 1 tsp oil

 Method:

• Dry roast the sesame seeds and roasted gram until fragrant. Keep aside
• Dice the tomatillos and green chilies. Heat the oil in a pan and add diced tomatillos and green chilies. Sauté until tender
• Place the cooked tomatillos, green chilies, dry roasted sesame, roasted gram and the rest of the ingredients for chutney, in a blender. Puree until smooth
• Remove to a serving dish
• Make the tempering by adding mustard seeds to the hot oil. Wait until it splutters. Add hing and curry leaves and sauté for a bit
• Add to the chutney
• Enjoy with hot rice (or as an accompaniment)

What’s so funny about Salsa? Seinfeld’s episode about Salsa! That’s what’s funny. Ever since I watched the “The Pitch” episode, the word Salsa (say salsaaaa like Jerry does) is always uttered accompanied by a giggle! Here is the salsa excerpt of the script from that episode (http://www.seinfeldscripts.com/ThePitch.htm):

“GEORGE: Why don’t they have salsa on the table?
JERRY: What do you need salsa for?
GEORGE: Salsa is now the number one condiment in America.
JERRY: You know why? Because people like to say “salsa.” “Excuse me, do you have salsa?” “We need more salsa.” “Where is the salsa? No salsa?”
GEORGE: You know it must be impossible for a Spanish person to order seltzer and not get salsa. (Angry) “I wanted seltzer, not salsa.”
JERRY: “Don’t you know the difference between seltzer and salsa?? You have the seltzer after the salsa!”“

Are you a Seinfeld fan too?

 Now let’s move on to the hot and cool part of it. Honestly, I have never messed around with adding flavors, or mixing and matching watermelon with anything. Never felt the need to. This sweet, juicy pulpy melon is so darn good by itself. But the blogosphere is dressing up watermelon, so I thought I’d jump in and send in my experimental entry to Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi. They are hosting “A Fruit A Month” event this month. This is the first time I am participating in this event; must be the watermelon! 

I still haven’t gotten to the hot and cool part of it. So watermelon salsa it is! There is really no recipe for this. To about a cup or cup and half of cool chopped watermelon, add about ½ cup of diced cucumber, 2-3 chopped hot jalapenos, 2-3 tbsp minced red onion, 1 tbsp of finely chopped cilantro, 2 tbsp lemon juice, salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste. Toss well and serve immediately with baked pita chips or crackers. Or just eat like chopped salad. Or eat a big wedge of watermelon just by itself J It gives you as much as 9 oz of water! 

I served the salsa on some organic whole wheat crackers, like so: