The foodie puts on the apron

Soon after our marriage, when I was ready to cook the evening meal my husband said "You must be tired from work today, let mom cook." It took me a couple of weeks to realize that the thoughtful gesture was actually a sign of non-confidence on my culinary skills. I never liked cooking, I still don't. But what can a foodie who craves for Pesarattu dosa in California do? Gather the stuff, put on the apron and turn on the stove!

There have been many who have inspired me to experiment with food. My mom, the most methodical cook in the world, my mother-in-law who makes cooking look so easy, my kids who think I am the best cook in the world and my husband, the unforunate guinea pig; my friend Vinita Sawant who taught me nothing is impossible by trying out Bakarwadis in the UK, my friend Ketaki Kalgaonkar Apte who makes the best healthy dishes and believes in keeping recipes quick and simple and my friend Anuja Apte Kulkarni who's food blog inspires and entertains me.

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Malai sandwich

There are some sweets that look very royal, very fancy; yet when you start making them, you realize how easy they are to make. Malai sandwich is one such. Time and patience, are however, essential here. Malai sandwich is not quick to make, but that's only because it involves a lot of sitting time. Ideally the rasgullas should be made a day in advance so that they have soaked in the syrup and have become sufficiently sweet. Making the malai sandwich is a three step process - 1. making the paneer 2. making the rasgullas 3. making the sandwich The problem in my house is that my kids will want a bite or more after every single step. So by the end of the second step half of it is gone already. In fact there have been times when we have never reached the malai sandwich stage ;) When you do though, it's worth the wait! So let's get started. Ingredients: For the rasgullas: 2 litre milk (I generally use 1 ltr full cream milk and 1 ltr low fat; all low fat is ok ...

Subway's honey oat sub

I have always been a Subway fan and have been wanting to try making some of their breads. Since honey oat is the family favorite, I decided to try this one first. The sub recipe is made of 3 parts - the bread, the stuff, the dressing. You can choose the parts you like and replace the others with any other recipes you have - it's subway after all - the choice is yours. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The bread: For the bread you will need - 4 tbsp olive oil 410 ml of lukewarm water (may need to be adjusted based on the protein content of your flours. some flours need more water. remember the dough should not be too stiff) 100 g of oats (made into a flour. i used whole oats) 250 g of wheat flour 300 g of All purpose flour 6 g active dry yeast 60g of honey 1 tsp of salt A pinch of freshly milled pepper For brushing on the top you will need - 2 tbsp of water 1 tbsp of honey 2 tbsp of oats for sprinkling Recipe: Mix all the bread ingredients. Kne...

Home made butter/makkhan/loni

If there's one thing that goes best with a paratha or thalipeeth it would be the white homemade butter. Of course when you live outside India, it becomes impossible to get it or make it (since we normally don't boil the milk or separate the cream and save it to make butter). But there's a way. And it's pretty straight forward. All you need is a hand mixer and plenty of strength in your arms (as it can take a while). Ingredients: As far as ingredients go, you need just one and that's Whipping cream. I bought a 1 L whipping cream tetra pack. Recipe: As far the recipe goes, again there's just one thing to do. churn, churn and churn. It may be easier if you have a standing automatic churner. I didn't so I had to hold on to the hand mixer and keep churning for about 40 mins.. Here is a picture of how it looks at each step and a little description explaining how it should feel like. 1. The whipping cream is milky. Keep churning. 2. Soft peak...

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