When Valli announced this month’s challenge for ICC, I was ECSTATIC! The making of it sounded and in fact looked exactly like my childhood favorite which in Tamil is known by ‘Kola Vadai’. There was this fav. restaurant in Chennai where they used to sell packets of these and we used to literally splurge! Of all the things to splurge on . Now don’t ask me why in God’s name something which does not taste anything like Vadai per se, is called similarly! I have no idea – may be cos it resembles slightly like one! Anyone who knows about the reason/origin for the name, kindly lemme know.

Anyways, I got to know that this is called as “Chegodilu”, “Chekodilu/ Chekodi” in Andhra and is pretty famous snack – rightfully so, I might add. The minute you put one in your mouth, the next few seconds are followed by “Crunch”,”munch”,”crunch”,”crunch” and “gulp”. That’s how crispy they are!!! Valli had given us two recipes and we could choose any of them. I chose the one which I felt was closer to the one I have tasted and it sure was – almost. During the making of it, I made few observations and that which I have given by way of my notes below each of the steps (wherever applicable).

You might also like : Cashew Kunukku, Wheat Diamond Biscuits, Murukku (chakli), Thattai, Uppu seedai, Vadai
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Post tags: cumin, ghee, rice flour, sesame seeds, yellow lentils

During one of our vacation spots, we landed up in a place which was nearly anti-vegetarian. It was actually even worse for me since I don’t even eat eggs. If you can cheat me by hiding its taste, appearance and smell into something, then I am ready to be cheated, otherwise you will be treated to free ‘throwing up’ sessions! Which is what I pretty much did during that trip since no one could even contemplate from which planet we landed from and could not customize recipes! I think few people probably wondered secretly how I could look the way I did when I was practically eating ‘Nothing’ Vegetables are supposedly not food in their dictionary.

One conversation at a breakfast joint

Me: Can I have a vegetarian Burrito pls?
Waiter: Do you mean with lots of vegetables?
Me: Yes – no meat..
Waiter: Oh! No sausages then. Is Bacon ok ?
Me: (#$!#) No no Bacon, its meat too….
Waiter: Oh ok sorry about that – so trying to eat healthy ah? (winks!) Its always good! I know ppl trying to eat lots of fish nowdays. You know we have the best salmon here….
Me: umm…well no fish too – we don’t eat fish either..
Waiter: (looks shocked) No bacon, No fish! That’s really sad! What do you want us to put in there instead?????????
Me: Potatoes would be great!
Waiter: (scratching head) Oh ok! 2 ‘plain’ burritos coming up
Me: aah! One second – I have one more request..I cant eat eggs – can you skip that too for one of the burritos?
Waiter: (scratching head some more) Without eggs?????? Sorry then there is nothing on the burritos.
Me: but.. but there are vegetables in there. That’s what I want..
Waiter: Sorry we dont know how to make it without eggs…
(few more suggestions, no’s, arguments follows without any success for me ….)
The Husband: Its alright – just get us 2 burritos. We are starving!
Me: (grumble)(mumble)
(and we traveled happily after, with me throwing up of course!)
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Post tags: garlic, heavy cream, onions

The Caribbean cuisine is as vibrant as its culture and land. There is such a healthy blend of so many other regional cuisines in its food like African, French, Spanish and even Indian. How about that? It seems to have taken exotic flavors from all these countries and made its own version from it.

So, don’t be surprised to find recipes which look and sound familiar to some other dish you know which you enjoyed in some other setting. Although its inevitable that it has lots of meat based dishes, its great to know that its cuisine has many vegetarian dishes included too. I didn’t have to search for options to make anything vegetarian at least as long as I have about 10-12 famous vegetarian dishes before that to try out.

This is a simple dish made with Achiote, otherwise called as Annatto Seeds which gives this dish its beautiful yellow color (or should I say orangish yellow?) Its a staple in the Caribbean thanks to its beautiful color and flavor. I read somewhere that this dish is served with a garnish of Pimentos. Use them if you can get hold of the red beauties. If you want a meat version then add Cooked chicken to make the famous ‘Arroz con Pollo’ . I have put together this recipe gathered from various different ones from the internet

You might be interested in:

Annatto : Know more about Annatto seeds here

Simple Rice Recipes : Chipotle Cilantro Lime Rice, African Jollof Rice, South Indian Kadambam Rice
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Post tags: annatto, Basmati rice, bell peppers, cilantro, onions

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Post tags:

This is the Best Snickerdoodle Cookie recipe EVER! From all the ones that I have tried (well its not as many would think, but anything more than 3 is many in my dictionary. I am lazy remember?). This recipe is from All Recipes where for once, at least for me, the term “best” has been used precisely. I know of so many of these “The best” recipes that turn out to be “oh hum” at the end. I scaled the recipe to yield about 24 cookies. I added a little cardamom powder and some more cinnamon for that aroma and taste

There are some do’s and don’t for this recipe which I read in the comment section of the original recipe. I am providing them here along with few of my own observations. I am sure they will help you to make some amazing cookies ever. Snickerdoodle is a cousin of Sugar Cookie. The addition of Cream of tartar to these cookies helps these cookies to rise well. Wikipedia says -
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Post tags: cardamom, cinnamon, cream of tartar, eggs, shortening

Delicious, bright red and fresh cranberries have been checking me out for the past few days (or is it the other way?!). Every where I go, there they are nestled among other fruits, yet standing out with their juicy appearance! I could not resist the temptation any longer (can’t remember what the heck was stopping me in the first place!) and bought some home last week.

Just like I suffer from C.D.U.W.F, I also suffer from C.D.F.M.B – “Compulsive Disorder for Making Breads” with anything and everything! My smarter half accuses me of a misleading tag line in my website. He says I should name it – “Cooking only two things – Wholegrains and Breads”!!! Ah, well – for all that accusation, haven’t come across one Bread or Wholegrain Recipe the past few days now at Chef In You have you??? (cough! Nope – Cornbread and Vegetarian Meatloaf are not counted in breads and if you made a smart quip about Polenta Pizza being wholegrain, ahem – well too much smartness is bad for your health is all I am going to say!)
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Post tags: cranberries, eggs, oranges, pastry flour, walnuts

Isn’t it amazing when you get appreciation for doing something you love doing? Yes, I agree – Noting down precise recipe instructions (esp. for a eye-balling person that I am), making sure that I have enough step by step instructions for every one of my recipe, taking a final satisfactory photo, then sitting down to sort/arrange them, put a copyright sign on each of the photos (which is supposedly not a hindrance at all for the freeloaders anyways) and then finally sit down to re live the tastes and aroma of the food (Phew!) can be exhausting process indeed!!!!!!
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I received a recipe request from a dear reader ‘Neha Vaswani’ for a vegetarian alternative to the classic meat loaf recipe. I had never made a loaf per se which did not involve flour or a wholegrain in a prominent role. So set about checking out various recipes. This Lentil and Bean loaf is IT. We loved it so much and it was an instant hit. This recipe is inspired from various meat loaf recipes available online. I had decided from the get go that I was going to use red lentils for this recipe. I mean its easier to cook, its hearty and I thought it would provide the required ‘body’ to the recipe. But what about Protein?. Meat has so much protein.

I thought adding beans would give that protein kick this dish needs and also help in the binding of the recipe without using eggs (for those not wanting to use eggs for this recipe). If you desire, you can also add 2 slightly beaten egg whites to this recipe.I had Pinto Beans in my pantry, hence went for it. Another protein enriching factor I went for was TVP – Textured Vegetable Protein ( or Soya chunks as available in Indian stores). Instead of using whole wheat bread crumbs which I normally do, I used whole grain and flax bread to make my bread crumbs (Omega-3 power enrichment) along with some vegetables (of course).
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Post tags: bell peppers, carrots, celery, cheddar, flaxseeds, pinto beans, red lentils, TVP

Alton Brown says that these are the “Best Ever Green Bean Casserole“.Sure, I agree. These indeed are the Best. I say it cos the hater in the house actually took 3 extra helpings of this recipe. But I would be damned to know how the heck the food network photographer/cameraman managed to take such a beautiful picture of this! I simply failed to capture the deliciousness of the dish with this photograph. Well it was 9 pm, was hungry, no time to take photo , blah, blah and blah some more. But the essence is, pls don’t go by the picture. Make it! Its good!

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Post tags: green beans, half and half, mushrooms, onions, panko, soy flour

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Post tags: saffron