Papdi Chaat

 

I'm a die hard fan of Indian Chaat or Indian Street Food and you? I know nobody can say "NO" to these mouth-watering dishes whether it's a child or an adult we all love them equally.  There are so many options in this genre, starting from Pani Puri, Bhel Puri, Dahi Puri, Vada Pav, Egg rolls, Chow mein, Dahi Vada to Papdi Chaat: we just love all of them. 

The exact place to enjoy the taste of any "Indian Street Food" is on the Indian Streets. But, sometimes the health conscious soul inside me wakes up and forces me not to have these roadside chaat and all those alluring foodstuffs and the little child inside me gets disappointed. So, in order to make that child happy the foodie inside me gets up and tries to recreate the taste of Indian Street Food in my very own kitchen but in a hygienic way. As a result me and my soul both are happy.

Yesterday, I had a very serious craving for some Papdi Chaat and as usual I was not in the favor of having it from the roadside shops. So, I decided to make it at my home. Making "Papdi Chaat" at home is very simple but you need to do some prior preparations like boiling chickpeas and potatoes etc. The crunch of the Papdis, the tanginess of the yogurt and the sweetness of the tamarind chutney is simply irresistible. 

I know this recipe will make you drool. So, without any further ado let's begin with our recipe:

Indian Spices.....The Heart Of Any Indian Dish

From last few months I had been continuously asked by my Non-Indian readers about the various spices used in Indian cuisine. I always try to answer all the queries of my readers but then I realized when I'm getting so many questions on a particular thing why not to make a blogpost about it. This will be very handy for my current and future readers.

Now, coming onto today's post Indian spices serve as the heart of every Indian dish. We can't imagine any of our dish without some of the very basic spices. There is a misconception about Indian Cuisine that it's very spicy. I lived in USA for quite sometime where I used to meet people who wouldn't eat Indian food because of its spiciness.

Let me correct this misconception: Using spices doesn't mean it makes the dish fiery hot. It's used to induce the flavors into the dish and make it aromatic. Each spice has it's own flavor and aroma but when they are added in a right proportion, believe me thwy can create a magical flavors. Blending increases the fragrance and flavor of the dish exponentially.

These spices are not only used in cooking but they have medicinal properties too. They are used to make many Ayurvedic medicines as well as to preserve food items. Here, I'm writing about very basic spices used in an Indian kitchen. Moreover, they are region and climate specific. Some of the spices can be found and used in North India but not in South India and vice versa.

When I was in USA I used to buy these spices from an Indian grocery store whereas, here in India you can get these spices in any local grocery store or in a supermarket. So, let's begin the journey to unfold the treasure of Indian Spices:

Carrot Fudge/ Carrot Barfi

I know these days I'm a bit irregular in posting new recipes. The reason behind is that we moved from USA to India. So, there's lot of things happening at our end. The major thing is shifting to our new home. Hope I'll be regular once we get everything settled at our end. Amen!!

One of few things which we used to miss in USA is our family and the way festivals are celebrated here in India. The real essence of Indian festivals can be enjoyed being in India itself and so did we this time in Holi. This was my first Holi with my in-laws after my marriage. So, I was quite excited and made lot of sweets and savory items. One of them was "Carrot Fudge". 

Carrots marks Indian winters and they are incomplete without them. There are lot of dessert delicacies made with carrots. One of them is "Gajar Ka Halwa". I already posted the recipe here. You can have a look here:

http://flavorsofmyplate.blogspot.in/2015/01/gajar-ka-halwaa-quintessential-dessert.html

As this festivals marks the ending of Indian winters so I thought of enjoying these last few days of winter by having carrots in the form of dessert. So instead of making the usual "Gajar Ka Halwa" (Carrot Pudding) I decided to go for "Carrot Fudge" (Carrot Barfi). This is a very easy recipe and takes very less time to make.

My family enjoyed it having with the various other sweet and savory items. Hope you'll enjoy it as we did.  So, let's get started:

FoodPanda India: Online Food Ordering Made Easy

Although I have a great passion for my food and share a deep love with my kitchen, yet there are times when all I want is to sit on my couch, watch my favorite TV show and sip a cup of piping hot coffee. I just don't want anything to interrupt my ME TIME. I just want to come out of the thoughts of what to cook for lunch or what shall I serve in dinner. 

Definitely you always have the option of going to your favorite restaurant but this too doesn't provide you the comfort of your couch or your pajamas :P At times I would wonder if I could get food of my favorite restaurant with just a click. Well, few days back I was just browsing my nearby restaurants with the same thought in my mind and Oh My Gosh!! all of sudden I stumbled upon a website named FoodPanda

Having lived out of the country for many years I was totally surprised to find online food ordering system in India and was quite impressed when I tried it. So, I thought of giving it a space on my blog.

Mango Ice Cream

Yes, you might be thinking that I have gone crazy. The season of Mangoes and Ice-creams has not been arrived yet or I must say we are just a few weeks away to indulge ourselves in the sweetness of mangoes and the rich, creamy goodness of Ice-creams.

To be very frank I am a die hard fan of Ice-creams and can enjoy it even in the subzero temperatures and when its Mango flavored I can't resist myself to have a scoop of it. Moreover who doesn't love mangoes after all it's the King of all fruits.

Recently, I found a can of mango puree in a departmental store and as usual I couldn't stop myself from buying it without a second thought. I was walking through the aisles and thinking what to do with this puree. Suddenly I turned and saw an aisle of ice-creams. Yippee!!! I got it. I decided to treat my family and of course myself with Mango Ice-cream.

Whenever we think of making ice-cream at home two thoughts comes in our mind successively:

• Will it be smooth, creamy, rich and soft like store bought?
• Is it possible to make ice-cream without an Ice-cream maker?

Well, the answer to all your questions is "Yes, Of course!" . It's just a pleasure when your ice-cream scooper glides through the ice-cream without encountering any ice crystals and yet you get a nice and perfect scoop. Moreover it requires very few ingredients and no cooking or churning. Just mix all the ingredients together and set it in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours. 

So let's dig into the divine flavors of Mango Ice-cream: