Diverse Cuisines, Different Meals, One Serveware

With rocketing real estate prices it is hardly surprising that our homes are steadily becoming smaller and smaller. Less floor area often translates into lesser storage area. It is in a scenario like this that innovation comes into the picture. We are constantly on the lookout for furniture and appliances that can multitask. Such conditions also apply to the kitchenware that we use. The need of the hour is something that can directly go from the gas stove to the dining table and if need be, also into the refrigerator. Sigh not, for Borosil is here to save our valuable kitchen space and even more valuable time ( with the need to do away with washing multiple utensils ).

Here comes a serveware that works with every cuisine and every meal. Find it hard to believe my words. Well...the pictures below say it all ! Now don't they say 'A picture is worth a thousand words'.

It is breakfast time. The soft white idlis and the sambhar are invitingly displayed in the beautiful glassware. Can you resist their appeal ??

In case idlis are not your thing, how about sampling some of this glorious poha served in a deep round Borosil dish??

Even if it is a special lunch prepared for Ramzan, my Borosil serveware does not fail me. The Hyderabadi Dum biryani is displayed in its full glory using the deep rectangular dish. The glass doubles up as a 'easy-to-pour' raita jug .

Coming to the 'royal' dessert, the creamy white 'Shahi tukda' is beautifully set off by the glass walls of the deep square dish.

It is snack hour and this time it is an 'Italian' favorite. The Chifferi rigate pasta is roasted red pepper sauce looks beautiful and aesthetically appealing in the round casserole.

A regular no-fuss dinner made special with Borosil. A simple yet tasty sweet corn-green peas-mushroom pulao with yellow dal and a dry chicken curry.

Seafood lover ?? Opt for a crab stir-fry instead of the chicken !! Still looks incredibly good, doesn't it ??

Vegetarian ?? No worries.........try a veg Manchurian instead !!!

But the real star of the package seem to be the pint sized vision glasses!! They are surprisingly versatile and I have simply let my imagination run wild with them...

A simple fruit custard certainly looks sublime when presented in a glass. Not the one to be outdone, the delicious 'Tiranga' faluda with its resplendent colors makes for a vivid display !!

In the mood for some hot jalebis dipped into chilled rabdi ?? Well...try serving this classic dessert in a sexy new avatar.......good enough to tempt even the hardcore weight watchers, isn't it ??

Here I have even used one as a holder for these delicious home made chocolates...

Thank you Borosil and Indiblogger for making my food come alive !!! ( This is my entry for the Round 2 of the contest )

Spicy Vegetable Daliya

A simple and healthy daliya recipe with South indian flavours !! Yep... have spiced it up with sambhar powder and a typically Southern tempering. The tang from the tomatoes also adds another dimension to this fiber rich preparation.

Read on for the yummilicious recipe -

Preparation Time - 20-25 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup daliya or cracked wheat ( used Patanjali brand )
• 1/4 cup split moong dal
• 1 1/2 cup assorted vegetables ( carrot, cauliflower, french beans, peppers, sweet corn, beetroot, potato )
• 1 small onion
• 1 big + 1 small tomato
• 1/5 tsp red chili powder
• 1/6 tsp coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp Sambar masala
• a pinch of turmeric
• a pinch of fenugreek seeds
• a pinch of mustard seeds
• a pinch of asafoetida
• 4-5 curry leaves (optional)
• 1 green chili
• 1/2 tsp ghee (Patanjali brand)
• 1 tsp oil
• salt to taste
• coriander for garnishing

Preparation - Heat a frying pan. Add 1 tsp ghee followed by the daliya. Roast for 5-6 minutes on medium heat. Remove and keep aside.

Chop the onion and tomato into small pieces. ( do peel the outer skin of the tomato )

All the vegetables should also be chopped into tiny pieces.

Cooking - Take the roasted daliya and moong dal in a cooker. Add 4  cups warm water and salt to taste. Close lid and cook for 3-4 whistles. Remove from flame and keep aside till steam escapes.

Add the vegetables (including the green chili, tomato and onion) along with salt, turmeric, chilli powder, Sambhar power and coriander powder to the content of the cooker. Cook for 1 whistle on medium flame. Keep aside .

Heat the oil in a tempering pan. Add the mustard and fenugreek seeds. Once they start popping, add the asafoetida and curry leaves. After 5 seconds, remove from flame and pour over the contents of the cooker.

Allow to cook on a low flame for 2-3 minutes more so that the flavors are properly assimilated into the daliya. Remove from flame and serve hot.

Shakarkand ka halwa (sweet potato halwa)

Shakarkand or sweet potato is a rich source of fiber with almost twice as much fiber as compared to other potato varieties. Thus they are digested slowly and do not spike sugar levels as is the popular belief. Also they are rich in Beta-carotene, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C and Vitamin E. They are also loaded with manganese. All there nutrients make it good for the heart/arteries, regulating sugar levels and ofcourse a low-cost 'beauty food'. Yup, it is the combination of Beta-carotene, Vitamins C and E which go into the making of the beauty capsules for hair, skin and nails.

I like to have boiled sweet potato as an evening snack at times or even make it into a sweet-sour gravy. But very recently that I go to know that it can be made into a delicious halwa. This is Tarla Dalal's recipe which I have followed with some minor changes. This halwa is also consumed on fasting days especially during the ongoing Shravan month.

Preparation time - 20 mins ( including 10 mins standby )

Ingredients -

• 1 medium sized sweet potato
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tsp ghee
• 2-3 tsp chopped dry fruits ( almonds, pistachios, cashews, walnuts )
• a pinch of saffron
• 3 tsp sugar ( or to taste...I prefer less )

Preparation -  Wash and clean the sweet potato. Boil in a pressure cooker ( with 1 cup water )for 3-4 whistles . Keep aside till steam escapes. Peel and grate it.

Cooking - Heat the ghee in a wok. Add the nuts and fry for a minute. Remove and keep aside.
Add the grated sweet potato and fry till it is a little brown.

Add the milk, saffron and sugar at this stage. Mix till the milk is absorbed and it forms a creamy mixture. It should start leaving the sides of the wok once it is done. Finally add the nuts and remove from flame.

Garnish with a few strands of saffron and nuts. Serve hot or cold ( both taste good ).

Brown Rice Pongal

Have been trying to incorporate either brown rice or cracked wheat (daliya) into my diet at least 4 times a week. While I have got the hang of daliya, brown rice is still not my cup of tea ( or grain ). I find it tough to like brown rice but I still keep trying various recipes. This one however is something that I really loved. A typical Ven Pongal made with brown rice, the flavour of ghee, curry leaves, asafoetida and jeera is just sufficient to mask that unappealing smell of brown rice. The heat from the chilis is also a plus. Hopefully I can now stick to having brown rice twice a week without failing.

Read on for the easy recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins


Ingredients -

• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 1/3 cup yellow moong dal
• 1 broken red chili
• 1/2 green chili
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 pinch carom seeds
• 5-6 curry leaves
• 2 generous pinch asafoetida
• 1 1/2 tsp ghee
• salt to taste
• 3 cups hot water

Cooking - Heat the ghee in a pressure cooker.  Add red chili, green chili, cumin, carom seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida. Fry for 30 seconds.

Wash and add the brown rice and moong dal. Fry for 2-3 minutes or till a fragrance comes.

Add the hot water and salt. Close lid and cook for 4 whistles.  Allow steam to escape before opening.

Serve hot with roasted papad and yogurt.

Chifferi Rigate in Roasted Pepper sauce (Indian Masala Style)

Last week they celebrated 'Red Day' at my son's kindergarten school. The kids were to be decked up in red and the contents of the tiffin box were to be something red as per the school's circular. Pack something like apples, cherries or strawberries advised their class teacher. However since my kid prefers something more filling than mere fruits, i had to cook something palatable but without using any red food coloring.

Thankfully I had bought red and yellow peppers over the weekend. And they looked quite inviting everytime I opened the fridge prompting me to incorporate them into some more than just a mere salad or a quick stir fried mixed vegetable side. Though I had read a few roasted bell pepper pasta recipes, this was the first time I tried it. I decided to roast a tomato along with the pepper and add it to the Indian masala kind of gravy that I had in mind.

It turned out to be fabulous and my kid wanted more even after finishing his box. I made it again for dinner after two days and even my husband loved it. Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 20 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup chifferi rigate pasta ( )
• 1 big red bell pepper
• 1 medium sized tomato
• 1 medium onion
• 1/3 tsp GG paste
• 1/4 tsp coriander powder
• 2 pinch cumin powder
• 1/5 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 pinch garam masala
• 5 tbsp grated processed cheese (I used Amul)
• 2 tsp rice bran oil
• a small cube of butter (optional)
• salt

Preparation - Roast the pepper and the tomato on a low flame till the outer skin turns black.

Keep aside till it cools down to a bearable temperature. Peel/remove the blackened skin and chop up the flesh.

Roughly chop the onions and keep aside.

Cooking - Bring water to boil in a large saucepan. When the bubbles start to form, add the salt.

Once it gets to a rolling boil, add pasta. Cook till al-dente ( do give a stir 2-3 times in between so that the pasta does not catch at the bottom) on a medium flame. Drain the water ( while preserving 1 cup for the sauce ) and keep aside.

Add 1 tsp oil to a skillet. Add the onions and fry on high for 30 secs. Add the GG paste and reduce the flame. Fry till the onions turn translucent. Add the chili powder, coriander, cumin and garam masala. Fry for 20-30 secs.

Remove the contents of the skillet and transfer to a food processor . Add the roasted pepper and tomato as well. Buzz it to get a smooth paste.

Heat the remaining oil and butter in the same wok. Add the pepper-tomato sauce along with 1/3 cup of the pasta water and fry for 2-3 mins on a medium flame. Add the sugar and the grated cheese. Adjust the salt.

Add the pasta. Cook for another 2-3 mins till the sauce thickens and coats the pasta. ( Add a few teaspoons more of the pasta water if the sauce feels too dry )

Serve hot or cold.

Note - Skip the cheese if you want to keep it vegan.

This is my entry for the event Pasta Please~Peppers hosted by Nayna ( blog ) and Jacqueline ( blog). Do check out their page for more details!!

My Coorg Chronicles (Part 2)

Continued from Here..........

The next morning, I woke up to the sounds of chirping sparrows and gushing water. It had been raining heavily throughout the night and small stream were running down the hillside. Though the downpour had reduced to a light drizzle, there were hardly any folks to be seen on the lone road visible from the hotel window. The sparrows were happily playing in the small pools of water that had formed in the hotel courtyard. A mild sense of nostalgia started to grip me while I was watching them. Once an integral part of my growing years in Rourkela, one hardly encounters these winged friends in Bangalore. I sat by the window side for almost an hour lapping up the sights and sounds of nature. Coorg during the monsoon can only be described as virgin nature at its' pristine best.

As I walked into the hotel dining hall for breakfast, a lone waiter greeted me and took my order. As the guests were few, they had not served buffet. Within 10 mins, the soft idlis and crisp vada had arrived at my table, accompanied by tea and warm water (a nice thing given the cold conditions). The food was delicious. After ordering for breakfast to be brought into the room for my husband and son, I retreated to our room and settled down by the window once again. Somehow hill stations give me that idyllic feeling of time having stopped in its tracks and make me reluctant to allow any kind of intervention into my blissful state. So, no newspaper and no TV is my rule during such vacations.

It was almost 10:30 by the time all of us had freshened up and had eaten breakfast. We then proceeded towards our first tourist destination of the day, the much famed Abby falls. It was around 9 kms from the hotel and it did not take us long to reach there. The drive was short but beautiful with mist covered hills and valleys keeping us engrossed throughout. But due to the light drizzle we were reluctant to step out of the car for clicking pics. At one point we came to a forked road, the left one leading to Abby falls and the right one taking off to the picturesque Mandarpatti hills. As we had decided to skip the latter ( our Innova would not travel on the narrow roads leading to the spot ), we proceeded on the left road and reached the point leading to the falls. As expected it was thronging with visitors who had come to watch the falls in its full glory. A long descend on the broken stone steps took us to the place. The fall does not have a great height but still it is spectacular. A hanging bridge is built across the water and this was the most preferred stop for amateur photographers. Spending a few minutes near the gushing waters, we started back on the steep climb. This is the tough part and can be quite painful for elder folks.

Back into the comfort of our vehicle, we decided to wind up with a visit to the Madikeri fort and Raja's seat. Though Talakaveri (the birth place of Cauvery river) is considered one of the most important places to visit while in Coorg, we decided to give it a miss as there was a minor landslide 2 days back. Also, it had rained heavily in the intervening night which made it still riskier. The adventure bug in me kept nagging on but I silenced it with some stern reasoning.

The Madikeri fort is located very near to the center of the town. A Ganesh temple, a Church turned museum, and two life size elephants were all we could see. The main building (palace) was closed. Sadly, it is not well maintained and I was kind of disappointed. Next stop was Raja's seat, a garden that offers a spectacular view of vast green lands and mist clad mountains. It is said that the kings of Kodagu used to frequent this spot with their consorts to watch the sunrise/sunset. Quite a nice spot but the best time to come here is the winters when the gardens are in full bloom. The toy train ride ( at Rs 10/- per person ) is an added attraction for the kids and other people who refuse to grow up.

It was almost lunchtime and we wanted to grab a table at good restaurant before it became too crowded, Our driver (who was well acquainted with the place) suggested a place called 'East End Hotel' which is located very near to the Thimmiaih Circle. It was almost 1 as we walked in and the place had just started to fill up. The service was good and they also gave some complimentary curry with the white rice. But it is the 'chilli'-fied items and the 'Coorg Chicken curry' that one needs to try at this place. Mind-blowing good. Another attraction of this place is the awesome selection of wine/hard drinks they have. Though both of us do not drink, the crowd at the bar bore testimony to the fact that this place was a huge hit with people who love their poison.

After the nice lunch, we retired to our room and took a short nap. Feeling refreshed after a late afternoon shower and some tea, we proceeded to the Omkareshwara temple . Dedicated to Lord Shiva, this is a unique temple built in the Islamic style. It has a small mandap surrounded by a sparse corridor. In front of the main shrine/temple, there is a small fish pond with a smaller shrine in the middle. There were a few ducks too but as it was almost dark, they had started to doze off.

By the time we started from the temple, it had started raining heavily. But we could not return to our hotel without completing the sacred ritual of shopping for spices, home made chocolate and the other exotic stuff that one usually finds at hill stations. Our very knowledgeable driver duly guided us to a shop call Coorg Greens which was stocked with all kinds of spices and nuts. Though one finds a plethora of spice shops in Madikeri market, this one was crowded than usual. I picked up some biryani spices , saffron, honey, coorg cofffee, raisins and nuts. There was the dry fruit jam that caught my fancy and I took one of those too. Another item which caught my attention was the hand made soap in different flavours. I loved the smell of the one with 'Goat milk' and bought half a dozen of those too.

It was then time for the home-made chocolates and we did not have to look far for those. There was a very good chocolate boutique called 'Choci Coorg' upstairs. Though a little on the expensive side, they had a good collection and I must say that these chocolate tasted even better than the ones we have had from Ooty or Munnar.

The shopping had made us a little tired and we wanted some coffee to refresh ourselves. Our driver took us to this small place called 'Hotel Neel Sagar' which is located on the Madikeri Main Road.  We ordered for the Coorg special coffee (which was priced at Rs 25) along with a butter masala dosa. The coffee turned out to be delicious but the dosa was pretty average. But service was quick even with a good number of tables being occupied.

We decided to laze about in our hotel room for the rest of the evening as it was raining quite heavily. But the rains had stopped by 9 pm and we decided to head towards 'East End Hotel' once again for dinner. However it was a disappointment this time around. With so much liquor flowing , the place resembled and smelled like a bar rather than a restaurant. Deciding against having dinner there itself, we got a parcel and returned to the hotel room. The 'Chili chicken' was quite good. Watching TV after dinner, it was almost 11:30 by the time we hit the sack.

We woke up to a bright and sunny morning the next day. After a quick shower, we went for the breakfast. The hotel staff had prepared a buffet and everything was as delicious as the previous day. Although they had revised the menu and I missed those crispy vadas, the delectable set dosa more than made up for it. It was almost 9:45 when we started from the hotel. We lapped up the sights of this beautiful place for the last time as we raced towards Bangalore. A no-break journey ensured that we had reached the outskirts of Bangalore by 1:30 pm but the traffic ( thanks to Ramzan shopping being in full swing ) ensured that we could not reach home before almost 4 pm. A sense of relief washed over me as I unlocked the door. After all, don't they say 'Home is where the heart is'.

Happiness Delivered With Jabong.com

Remember the anticipation of opening birthday presents as a kid. Shaking the present, trying to feel whatever is inside it....well making those wild guesses were really funny. Well I still feel the same way whenever I get a present. But thanks to the online shopping revolution, I no longer have to depend on  anyone (except the courier guys) to have happiness delivered at my doorstep. I pride myself on belonging to the growing number of women who have attributed to the success of e-biz or e-retail.

Though it has been more than a year that I have been shopping with Jabong, I am finally writing a much delayed post on my experiences with my favorite e-tailer as a gesture of appreciation. After all, I have some memorable purchases with them.

Coming to my latest purchase, I was looking for a new kurti in a bright color when this peacock blue one on Jabong caught my attention. The price was well within my budget and it was also available in my size. I did not have to look around for the earrings. All it took was a few clicks to place the order. I opted for COD as is my usual habit. The package arrived on the third day carefully and neatly wrapped. Though the stickers on the outside had faded a bit due to contact with rain water/moisture, the contents were intact thanks to the great quality of the packaging.

Some other products that I have purchased from Jabong and loved them -

This one is my favorite sling bag

The multi-color jhumkis from Touchstone that I can team up with almost every traditional outfit -

To summarize it all, this is why I love to shop from Jabong's -

1. COD is available ( but they do charge a small amount for it ).
2. Free shipping .
3. They deliver within 3-5 days.
4. Easy 30 day return and refund policy .
5. Great offers going on at regular intervals ( notified though SMS and emails ).

Have you ever shopped with Jabong ?? If yes, how was your experience ?