Pasta in White Cream Sauce

Serves two.

Quick to put together and delicious to taste, it isn't exactly the healthiest of foods. I don't have a picture, but I've borrowed one from image search.

You need -

2 tbsp butter

1 cup milk

2 tbsp flour/maida

1/2tsp salt and pepper

2 cups of boiled macaroni or pasta

1 tsp oregano

What you need to do -

- In a pan, heat the butter and add the milk, salt and pepper

- Once heated, add the flour and stir briskly to avoid any lumps (add more milk if you'd like the cream to be thinner)

- Add the boiled macaroni/pasta and mix until adequately cooked

- Garnish with oregano seasoning

Serve hot with garlic bread!

Tri Color Veggies

Serves two.

This is a side dish that goes well with rasam & rice, and even dal and roti. It's easy and quick to make and makes boring vegetables (re: carrot, beans) interesting!

You need -

1 cup of chopped up beans, carrot and potato, each

1 tsp cooking oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

Salt, pepper, garam masala to taste

Coriander to garnish

What you need to do -

- In a cooker, steam the veggies for ten minutes - it's easier to cook this way and takes up less oil

- Heat the oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds until they're adequately brown

- Put in the steamed vegetables and add salt, pepper and garam masala to taste

- Cook for another 5-10 minutes depending on how crisp you want it, and then garnish with freshly chopped coriander

Idly Upma

My maternal grandmother used to make this for me when I was younger and I loved it! Usually, she'd make this for lunch or dinner, and would make it with leftover idlies from the morning. I think it makes a great snack and goes very well with South-Indian filter coffee!

You need -

3 left over idlies

3 tsp idly powder/mollagapodi (recommend MTR if you don't have the homemade variety)

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp mustard seeds for seasoning

What you need to do -

- Powder the idly with your hands until it gets a rough consistency like rava upma

- In a pan, heat the oil and burst the mustard seeds

- Add the powdered idly and sautee until the oil spreads evenly

- Add the mollagapodi and sautee for another 2-3 minutes

Serve hot with coconut chutney!

*Apologies for the poor picture quality. My camera's out of order and I am using my phone to take pictures.

And, I'm back!

I've been away a long time, and I feel awful about it. I was sick, then I was travelling, and then I had visitors, and my list of excuses go on and on.

Any how, I'm back now. With new and exciting recipes and not so exciting photographs. My camera fell and broke when I was travelling and is currently getting fixed. So, we'll have to make do with pictures from my phone.

Come back in a couple of hours for more!

Corn and Pepper Sandwiches

Credits for this recipe & picture go to one of my closest friends, Deepika -

It takes about 5 mins to get all the veggies cut and about another 5 minutes until you serve.

You need -

2 cups of sweet corn (you just scrape off 3 quarters of a corn)

1 capsicum/bell pepper

20 gms butter

Salt & pepper

Basil

Parsley

Broken wheat bread (or brown)

What you need to do -

- Melt butter in a pan

- Add a little salt

- Add the cut corn & capsicum/bell pepper

- Stir for a minute and turn the stove off

- Toast broken wheat bread (it’s the yummiest and crunchiest)

- Spread some corn and capsicum mix on the toast and garnish with herbs on top according to taste

You can even eat it with a single slice of bread (as opposed to a two slice sandwich). And eat the left over mix just like that!

On nice cozy morning, whether a weekend or not, this could make a yummy start to the day.

Cilantro & Mint Risotto

When I was in Rome in June '08, I had the best spinach pasta ever! So, I decided to try it out at home, but with a few variations. I made a cilantro-mint version of it, with easily available ingredients, and I must say, it came out better than I expected.

You need -

1 cup rice (I used regular white rice, but you could use brown rice or the original arborio rice)

1 cup of mint leaves

1 cup of coriander/cilantro leaves

1/2 an onion

2 tsps olive oil

Some garlic salt

1 cheese cube/slice or 1 small cup of Parmesan cheese

5 tbs of white wine

What you have to do -

- Mince the onions and sautee in the olive oil until it turns translucent

- Add some garlic salt and regular salt to taste

- Grind the mint and cilantro into a rough paste and add to the mix on the flame

- After a minute, add the raw rice

- Allow rice to cook and after it's half done, add the white wine

- When the rice is almost done, add the cheese and wait for it to fully cook

- Garnish with freshly chopped mint/cilantro

Serve hot!

Gajar/Carrot Halwa

You need -

6-7 medium sized carrots

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp powdered cardamom

10-12 cashew nuts

5 tsps ghee

What you have to do -

- Grate the carrots and set aside

- On low flame, in a pan, crush and roast the cashew nuts

- Take the nuts out once they're golden brown and then add the carrots (add more ghee if you want it richer)

- Cook carrots until the raw smell goes away

- Once they're soft, add the sugar, powdered cardamom and the milk

- Cook for another 10 minutes and take it down from the flame

- Garnish with the roast cashew nuts

Serve hot with ice cream!

Banana Preserve

A bunch of bananas were rotting on the kitchen top when I decided to try make something of them. It took lesser time than I expected and turned out quite well!

You need -

6 Bananas

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp powdered cardamom

1 pinch of citric acid

What you have to do -

- Chop up the bananas and in a kadai let them get soft

- Add the sugar and wait for everything to turn into pulp

- After about 10 minutes, turn off the flame and wait for it to cool

- Once it cools, use a blender to get a fine paste

- Once again, pour it back into the kadai and cook after adding the powdered cardamom and citric acid

- Take it off the stove after about 5 minutes and store in a bottle for future use

Kill your evening hunger by making these quick choco-banana sandwiches: put the jam and some chocolate syrup between slices of fresh toast and you're good to go!

Chocolate Pancakes

Anu and Joy came over last weekend, and as promised I whipped up some pancakes. Easy to make and very fulfilling as a breakfast, this is ideal for a lazy Sunday morning.

You need -

3 cups maida/flour

3 eggs

3 cups milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 small spoons of baking powder

2 spoons of molten butter

2 spoons of vanilla essence

Some choco chilps or Hershey's chocolate syrup

Honey/more chocolate syrup

What you have to do -

- Mix the maida, eggs, milk, sugar, baking powder, butter and essence to make a thick batter. It has to have the consistency of dosa batter.

- Add either chocolate syrup or the chips to the batter depending on how chocolatey you want it.

- Heat a wide flat pan with a small amount of butter.

- Pour out the batter evenly, while ensuring that you're maintaining a half centimeter thickness.

- After it cooks for a bit, it will separate from the pan. Turn it over and let it cook on the other side.

- As it cooks, add honey or/and chocolate syrup.

Serve hot with coffee and you're set for a good day ahead!

The Vineyard Brew

Chennai. College. Conversations. Coffee.

It all started over a couple of Vineyard Brews at Coffee?. Through my college days in Chennai, I was a regular at this tiny little coffee shop near home. The place has now moved and isn't as cosy as I remember it being earlier. I'm not even sure they still serve these brews and that's just a pity, because they've got to be the best semi-alcoholic evening drinks I've ever had!

Never the less, here's how you can do it yourself!

You need -

Instant coffee powder

A dark cola (preferably coca cola)

Red wine

Ice cubes

What you have to do -

- In a tall clear glass, put half a spoon of coffee powder (add up to a spoon if you want it strong) and add a very small amount of red wine (as alcoholic as you'd like it)

- Add ice cubes per your preferences

- Tilt the glass at a 45degree angle and slowly pour the cola from the rim of the glass (if you rush this, it fizzes and turns foamy)

Serve with popcorn or other light snacks!