Goan Curries – Urad Methi

Here I am back after a small hiatus with one more mouth-watering Goan curry. The mango season is finally here! It is summer and the sweltering heat makes you feel like having just rice for your meals. In one of my earlier blogs I had mentioned about my mom-in-law hailing from Goa. She used to make this lovely curry flavoured with raw mango or kairi (कैरी) as it is called in Marathi. This curry is called udid methi (उडद मेथी) obviously due to the two key components used, that is urad  dal or split black gram and methi or fenugreek seeds as it is called in English. The curry is essentially to be had with steamed rice and should be accompanied by sliced onions. This finger licking tangy curry is so good to taste that you can keep going for more helpings! Here is the recipe for it: Continue reading “Goan Curries – Urad Methi”

Salad Anatomy

Salads have been around for a while as an integral part of our meal. But not only have they shot up several notches on importance scale, they have also assumed totally different and beautiful form. Now even the restaurants and diners have a big menu for salads. Presentation has become such a significant part of culinary industry that  apart from the nutritive value that the salads bring to the table, they also have to look beautiful. Continue reading “Salad Anatomy”

My Diet Diaries : Flourless Pasta

The word diet often takes different meanings and perspectives for different individuals! Mark Twain once said, “The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like and do what you would rather not!”. Well, most will agree to this. Now the word diet is more often used in terms of weight reduction than for eating the right balanced food. I have been in and out of diet programs  sometimes to lose weight and sometimes to maintain the lost weight. The most difficult part I thought was consumption of tasteless food as a part of the diet program. Hence I started making tasty stuff for myself so that not only me but even my family started looking forward to the  meals. I have started noting down the recipes and they are now a part of my diet diaries. Continue reading “My Diet Diaries : Flourless Pasta”

Knife Skills

As a child, I remember helping my grandma in the kitchen when she would be making something special for us. I would love playing assistant to her and she would generally ask me to cut vegetables or fruits depending on what was cooking.  She would be very particular about the type of cut for the vegetables, its uniformity and size. Her deft handling of the knife would mesmerise me. She was a stickler for perfection and at that time I would fail to understand why she would insist on the vegetables be cut a certain way.

Why are knife skills so important? Is the food not tasty if the food items are not cut in a certain way? What are the different cutting techniques and what are the common types of cuts and shapes used? Well, these are the questions I will try to answer in this blog. Continue reading “Knife Skills”