Til Ki Chutney/Sesame Seeds Dip & A Special Giveaway From T.G.I.Friday's

It’s already last Friday of holy month Ramadan…….As Friday being considered as most auspicious day of the week, a Friday in holy month of Ramadan signifies more propitious…By now reciting of Holy Quran comes to end and people start to get ready with their final Eid party menu, Semiya (fine vermicelli) which plays main role as a lavish dessert is bought….masala’s (spice paste like ginger-garlic paste…spice powders like garam masala) will be getting ready, shopping for clothes and gifts will be done, Iftaar parties will be on full swing…..it’s a month long festival coming to end in few days with the big celebration to celebrate with family and friends……As the holy month of Ramadan gives you enough time to reap good deeds through fasting, reading Quran and praying….it also brings in families together to celebrate Eid….Many families look forward to celebrate Eid with their loved ones in their natives……

During Ramadan as we are involved in numerous activities…it is always important to eat Seher and Iftaar properly…..which should be healthy, easily digestible and involves less time in making. Fruits and juices play an important role in Ramadan food menu….Likewise chutney’s and dips also play an important role….As chutney’s are easy to make and consumes less time….and can be stored for a day or two…I love making them…..and chutney’s are best suited to Indian palette…..One such chutney which I love relishing more during this period is Til Ki Chutney…An delicacy from my mom……My mom makes so many tempting flavoured chutney’s and this one is my favorite…I tried making it many times but till date never ever got that taste…so whenever it is possible I want my mom to whizz this up….even my husband has become huge fan of this chutney. My mom always serves this chutney with steamed kichdi (a lentil-rice recipe), kaccha khatta (tamarind soup), papad and onion flavoured omelet….

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ cup Til/Sesame seeds
• ¼ cup Khopra (dry coconut slices)
• 1 tbsp. thick Tamarind paste
• 3-4 pods of Garlic
• 2 Green chilies slit length-wise
• ¼ tbsp. Cumin/Jeera
• 1/4tbsp. Coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp Red chili powder
• ¼ tbsp. Turmeric powder
• Salt

TEMPERING/TADKA:

• ½ tbsp. Cumin/Jeera
• ½ tbsp. Mustard seeds
• ½ tbsp. Urad dal
• ½ tbsp. Chana dal
• 2-3 dry Red chilies
• 10 fresh Curry Leaves
• Oil

PREPARATION:

• In a heavy bottom vessel or wok, on a low flame toss sesame seeds until they turn color (be careful while doing this as they get burn very soon). Set aside.
• In the same wok heat a tablespoon of oil and fry dry coconut slices until they turn light brown. Set aside.
• Now in the same wok fry green chilies and let them cool.
• Grind dry coconut slices, green chilies, tamarind paste, garlic, red chili powder, turmeric and salt to fine powder. Now add sesame seeds and grind to smooth paste by adding little water. Add more water if you want.
• In a heavy bottom cooking vessel or pan add oil and do tempering by adding one by one the ingredients under tempering/tadka. Add this tempering to above ground paste.
• Serve as a dip with pakora’s or as chutney with hot steamed rice with a dollop of ghee or with hot kichidi.
• Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

As we are almost near to end Joy From Fasting To Feasting –IV……I request you all to link in your entries by clicking here or by just clicking the link tool in the event announcement page by clicking on the event logo Joy from Fasting To Feasting-IV in the left hand sidebar.…..get your entries linked…..This til ki chutney is linked with Joy From Fasting To Feasting - IV....a global Ramadan event.

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Murmur Chat / Puffed Rice Chat/ Bhel Puri (Andhra Style)

When I said it is a luxury to get pampered by mom….I has to admit it is fun to grow up with sibling who shares a huge age gap…..i feel as if it is just yesterday my sweet little sister was playing with her cute little kitchen toys…making tea in a small cup and happily forcing everyone to have a sip….and making some sweet dish with bread and making us eat and secretly taking a small bit of dough from mom and making chapatti by rolling it in her palms and floor….turning the chapatti black. And slowly while growing up she lost in her own world of books, school and college……studies…studies and studies was only there in her mind…..In the course of time I have never seen her resting for a while….every time she was with books…..working on seminars, reading or writing down or making notes on lectures......In this period of time I somewhere missed her naughty gestures, sweet moments and innocent looks….but I am happy that she is grown up into a beautiful and responsible girl.

I told all this because today’s recipe is purely from my sweet little sister…..when I saw her making and serving this recipe…..a flash from the past just crossed over my mind and it was like seeing my lil sister again playing innocently in her own world……but with maturity……Thank you AllahTala for blessing me with such a sweet and cuddly sister.

Coming to the recipe, it’s simple and it’s easy…..Just a handful of easily available ingredients can turn up an perfect snack with tea or coffee. This chat is going to participate in Flavours of South India hosted by Nayna of Simply Food, also going to participate in Any One Can Cook series#30 by Umm Mymoonah of Taste Of Pearl City and also going to participate in Seasonal Indulgence Series: Monsoon Medley hosted by Sukanya of Saffronstreaks.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups Puffed rice
• 1 medium sized Onion, finely sliced
• 1 Tomato, de-seeded and chopped
• ½ tbsp. Chat Masala
• ½ tbsp. Red chili powder
• Salt
• 2-3 tbsp. fresh minced Coriander
• 2 tbsp. fresh Lime juice

PREPARATION:

• On a low flame in a heavy bottom skillet toss puffed rice for 1 minute and transfer into a bowl.
• In a bowl mix sliced onions, chopped tomatoes, chat masala, chili powder and salt. To this mixture add puffed rice and gently toss over.
• Before serving add minced coriander and lime juice. Serve immediately with tea or coffee or any juice.
• Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

VARIATIONS:

• You can even add dry roasted peanuts or cashews or both.
• You can even add fried corn flakes.
• You can add boiled sweet corn and boiled potato pieces.
• You can even add chopped raw mango pieces, when they are in season.
• My mom sometimes add tempered curry leaves, this enhances the flavor of puffed rice.

A version with sweet, sour and tangy flavor of this recipe…which is popularly known as Bhel Puri in north can be found here in my blog.

Mash Ki Roti

What is luxury according to you? To me it means being pampered by mom. How it will be when your mom asks you what you would like to have before making every meal and you just ask her to make your favourites.....Your favourite dishes and her touch of love makes the recipes taste delectable and you feel to be on cloud 9......right now this is something I am experiencing being at mom's place. When you don't have to get up early in the morning thinking what to make for breakfast and what to pack in lunch......and when this episode ends you need to think for dinner. But being at mom's place just tell her what you like to eat and with in no time it is served.....that's what I call pure luxury.....

Coming to today's recipe, this is one of my all time favourite roti as I can call it....Recipe may differ from family to family...one which I follow is from my mom....Being at mom's place I thought let her do the cooking and let me click what she cooks and this recipe being of my top favourites....I thought of clicking this first.....The aroma which surrounds in the air when mash ki roti is flipped on hot tawa is incredible.......This simple roti can be prepared even with leftover idli batter....This roti can make a perfect Iftar snack or a perfect breakfast recipe or simple evening snack.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup Mash/Urad dal
• 2 cups Idli rava
• Salt
• Oil/Ghee

PREPARATION:

• Soak urad dal overnight or 5-6hrs & grind to smooth paste.
• Wash & soak idli rava in water for 30-40mins. Later squeeze the excess water from idli rava & mix above grinded urad-dal paste. Add salt & water to adjust consistency which should look like idli or pancake batter.
• Take a heavy bottom vessel or pan, grease it with oil and pour a big ladle full of batter. Spread a little to form a nice thick round.
• Reduce the flame & cook covered till the bottom of the crepe turn crispy & golden in color. Flip over & cook till the other side turn lightly golden.
• Serve hot with peanut chutney/tomato chutney/any pickle.
• Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

VARIATIONS:

• My mom brushes each mash ki roti with a spoonful of ghee.
• Sometimes she adds finely sliced onions, jeera/cumin and chopped green chilies to the batter. This gives whole new flavour to the mash ki roti.

This recipe is going to participate in Joy From Fasting To Feasting - IV event hosted by me. Details of the event can be found here or you can click on the image below or you can click on the logo in the left hand sidebar......come participate and win cookbooks.....happy fasting....happy cooking....

Joy From Fasting To Feasting -IV

I look forward to celebrate holy month of Ramadan since the time I was a kid. I love getting up in the morning to have quick meal before sunrise which is called as seher…..to performing namaz to reciting Quran to get involved in the preparations of iftaar which means the end of the fast. In between the day I liked to soak up with other activities like shopping and preparing meals to end the fast. It’s always fun to shop during Ramadan……choosing clothes to gifts to food, making semiya (hah…still some people make semiya at home and some by from the store as they are readily available) and to select menu for everyday meal for seher and iftaar and in between attending and hosting iftaar parties is all fun filled time…..being involved in so many activities time just fly by and within no time Eid will be round the corner.

This fun has doubled when I started Ramadan event for the first time in my blog. Being newbie in the blogging world, my efforts paid off when I got tremendous response for the event which I happily named as Joy From Fasting To Feasting. I thank each one of you for being there constantly supporting me and encouraging me with kind words and sending your huge love in the form of posts/recipes/comments. I am happy and elated to call you all to join me as I celebrate Joy From Fasting To Feasting season four. Rules to participate can be found here. This being the global event I want you make it huge as you have done it till now….

If you are a non-muslim/non-blogger and want to write any thing on Ramadan or wanna share any recipe or just remember your muslim friends or know how people around you celebrate Ramadan, feel free to write down in your blog and link back the page to this blog. If you are not having blog then please do drop a mail at kitchen.flavours@gmail.com.

NOTE: Spread a word on the event bu placing the logo in your sidebar.

You can have a glance at the previous season entries by clicking on the corresponding links,

Joy From Fasting To Feasting – I

Joy From Fasting To Feasting – II

Joy From Fasting To Feasting – III

GIVEAWAY:

I am happy to announce a giveaway to one the lucky participant of this event. The giveaway is sponsored by Yvonne Maffei of My Halal Kitchen. She happily agreed to giving away her latest pocket size book Clean Your Kitchen Green which educates you on a non-toxic and organized approach to freshening up and deep cleaning the kitchen in ways that are safe for kids, pets, and the environment. More on this book can be found here. This giveaway is restricted to US home address only (no P. O. Boxes). You can also grab your copy online at Amazon by clicking here.

Apart from this, I have one more suprise giveway to one of the participants of this event. A surprise cookbook is in store for you. This giveaway is open to all the participants of this event irrespective of geographical borders. So link in your entries as soon as possible........Happy Fasting!!! Once recipe is entered you can check it by refreshing the page.

You can upload your entries by clicking on Click here to enter link down the post.......

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Workshop on Sugar-crafting in Bangalore by Swati Jain

On a different not one of my blogger buddy Swati Jain who is a creative sugar crafter is hosting a workshop in Bangalore from 21-23 August. The details of the event can be found by scrolling down....Would appreciate if you could confirm about your participation.

Sugarcraft and Cake Decoration Workshop

PRICE: RS 14,500.00

Timings: 9.30am-4.30pm

Date: 21st-23rd August 2011

Venue:Hotel Halcyon, Koramangala

AVAILABILITY: Seats still available! Limited Seats!!

In this three day class you will be hand crafting gumpaste flowers: roses, carnations, daisies, jasmines, sweet pea, daffodils that are so delicate and confetti-like.

Well... it's intensive!!! We pack in as much learning as we can in a few short days. Be prepared to challenge yourself.

What you will Learn?

Gumpaste flower making, shading, and assembly of roses, leaves, jasmines, blossoms and sweet peas. Along with flowers you will be taught how to make fondant and cover and decorate your individual cake.

The fondant cake madness doesn’t stop there. We will also be creating interesting features like bows, butterflies, small animals like elephant, bears and swans. By the end of this class you will have a magnificent cake to take home with you along with the confidence to make and design your next cake independently.

Is this class right for me?

This class starts at a Beginner Level and takes you all the way to Intermediate Level.

The flower making techniques are basic to intermediate, fondant making and covering and decorating a cake are for beginners...

The basics of animal modeling and figure modeling are also imparted.. The features will be used in the cake that you design yourself to take back home on the last day...

Supplies and Tools:

You will be provided with a Petal Pad, Balling tool and a Rolling Pin which is already included in the class fees. Other than that the flower paste, colours, the cake that you will decorate etc are also provided to you.

You will be shown how to make fondant on Day 1 and it is compulsory to make fondant at your home after the class and get it to class on Day 2. This is done to ensure that you get to make the fondant perfectly. A short list of a few things for you to bring will be sent out to you a week before the class commences ( eg apron, brushes etc.)

Extra Information:

Catered lunch will be provided on all the three days of class along with tea/coffee.

Class Payment Options:

You can register yourself using any of the following options:

1. You can deposit the fees to the following account number (depending on availability of seats). Please retain your deposit slip and email the transaction details to sugarcraftindia@gmail.com.

Simultaneously call up and confirm the payment made by you.

Bank Details:

SWATI JAIN

Account no: 06161000024841

HDFC Bank

GURGAON BRANCH

GURGAON, INDIA

2. You can do an online transfer to the following account and email the details of your transaction.

Account no: 06161000024841

HDFC Bank

GURGAON Branch

GURGAON

FOR FURTHER CLARIFICATIONS CONTACT SWATI ON 09800093323.

Swati Jain

Sugarcraft India

www.sugarcraftindia.com

www.sugarcraftindia.blogspot.com

Phone: +91-9800093323

Guest Blogging - Food Photography #4

It's been long since I updated my blog.....simple reason...I am at my mom's place...relishing, relaxing, rejuvenating and rejoicing....My lil one MM is fully enjoying all the attention and pampering getting from her grand parents and sweet aunt.....Now coming to today's post....as by now most of you know about food photography series being featured on first of every month. After talking much about light, camera, angles and settings....I thought of moving on with blog props. Blog props play much important role in food photography.....where food photography has involved as a new hobby/passion blog props play a major role in making the food appealing to the eyes....

The guest who is going to share her asset of blog props and who is going to make a clear cut notes on blog props is someone who has acclaimed heights of blogging with in no time since she started her blog. I choose her because I am always bowled by her unique and distinguished look of her food pictures. Colorful props and elegant backgrounds and cute hand made articles are signature in the food pictures of her blog...I am talking about none other than friendly and charming Nithi Rajasekaran of The 4th Sense Cooking. When I contacted Nithi to make a guest post on blog props, she enthusiastically accepted my invitation and being busy with her work she manged to send a detailed post on the topic. Scroll down to check what Nithi is going to tell us about backgrounds and blog props....

A warm hug to Lubna for giving me such a nice opportunity to write on her blog and for choosing a favorite topic of mine as well.

I was surprised and also was wondering if I would be worth it to talk about photography! But then the two topics that she wanted me to cover were my most favorites. First being backgrounds and next the properties involved in food photography. Though not sure if I am an expert at it, I have always enjoyed that specific phase of food blogging or rather photography. So I happily agreed to share my behind the scene secrets with you all :)

I always believe that colors have the ability to bring a canvas to life. I enjoy playing with colors in my photographs.

BackgroundBackground of an image is as important as the foreground or the subject as such. The dish that you make gets really highlighted only when the background is supportive and pretty.There are various items that you can choose as backgrounds for you photograph

• Colored charts
• Hand made papers
• Wall papers
• Planks of wood roughly painted
• Colorful napkins
• Gift wrappers
  
• A dining table as such
• or even a simple Dhupatta or saree can do wonders to your pics.
  

Colored charts that I use as background

Properties A wonderfully cooked up curry which tastes amazing could look absolutely unappealing when presented in a cooker that it was made!!!(excuse exceptions) That is not what you want right??!!Its not just the dish that gets one's attention to the pic. It could even be the serving bowl, or the flowers used at the background or even a simple napkin could grab the attention. So do concentrate on all the properties on the setup to make it a beautiful pic on the whole.

I choose colorful bowls and plates that suit the dish and highlight it very well. Plastics, ceramics or glass!! what ever they are made of have their own attraction quotient definitely :)

Flowers never fail to make us smile :) Choose pretty flowers that compliment your dish as backdrops.

Now comes the most important and interesting part of the post - factors that help us choose the best backdrops and settings.

I go by following simple rules of colors or color theories that help us choose the best schemes that pleases our eyes.

Monochromatic Color Scheme:

Monochromatic color schemes are derived from a single base color and extended using its shades, tones and tints.

Using one single color in the picture from its lightest shade to the darkest can keep the focus on the subject color and would register in the viewers mind easily.

Simply go ahead choosing background and properties of the same color of the dish :)

Example:I have used only shades of yellow as the main color and have extend to its lightest shade being white in mango yoghurt parfait picture below.

Complimentary color scheme

Complimentary colors are colors that are opposite to each other on the color wheel.

Complementary color schemes have a more energetic feel. The extreme contrast between the colors creates a vibrant and fresh look.

Example:

I have used Purple and Orange as prominent colors which are complimentary to each other and highlight the picture.

The vibrancy is phenomenal when such opposite colors are used.

Analogous color scheme:

Analogous colors are colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel. Analogous color schemes are pleasing to the eye. They usually match well and create serene and comfortable photographs.

Example:I have used Yellow, Orange and Green in this picture that blends well and gives a pleasing effect.

Bi-Color and Tri-Color: Restricting the number of colors in a picture to two or three result in extremely pleasing pictures. Example: I have kept it simple and classic by choosing background and properties of just two colors(yellow and brown) in the first pic and three colors(Yellow, pink and green) in the second photograph.

Apart from having such colored backgrounds you could simply choose to have nature as the background at times too. The photos give a very pleasing and homely appearance when they are shot next to a window :)

Example:The apple tea photograph below was shot next to a large window. The blurred trees at the backdrop give it a nice tropical look isn't it?!!!

Saying all that, we can also have simple vegetable or fruit carvings as our properties too.

Use the prominent veggi or fruit used in the dish to carve out simple flowers or creatures and place them next to the dish. You would score extra points for this from your viewer :) It shows your creativity and also enhances the presentation factor of the picture.

Example:I have carved out frogs from green bell peppers and used it as a property to decorate my Bell pepper rice.

The aim of food photography is to make people drool, so keep clicking pics with different backgrounds and settings until you reach your goal :)

Food photography involves a huge scope of creativity and I have realized it in the two years I have been blogging. The best way to learn is to try and keep on trying different things.

Enjoy clicking :)

In case if you have missed the entries under this series, here are the links to the posts.....

Guest Blogging - Food Photography #3 by Nisha of Look Who's Cooking Too.

Guest Blogging - Food Photography #2 by Kulsum of Journey Kitchen.

Guest Blogging - Food Photography #1 by Namitha of Collaborative Curry.