Cakes cookies n savory goodies

Maa's Homestyle fruit and nut cake

10:56 AM


All of us who grew up in the 70's and 80's grew up eating two types of cakes, one, the small square shaped dense cake wrapped in butter paper, stored in big glass jars called Boyam in street side tea shops or grocery stores. Two, cakes baked at home in the pressure cooker or round aluminium table top oven, that our mothers learnt from someone in the neighborhood or from distant relatives. Which they baked again and again to achieve a recipe that worked like charm everytime. I have not much memory of the first one as I was never fond of that dry and cloyingly sweet cake but the second one is something I am very nostalgic about.

Merry Christmas 2017

6:52 AM


Merry Christmas Everyone.
Hope your day is filled with family time, fruitcakes and good food.
Be Cozy and enjoy...

Bengali

Kopi Dantar Charchari (Cauliflower stalks curry)

3:00 AM


Often while I take my clients on market trips in Kolkata I tell them how thrift and foraging have always been a part of Bengali cuisine. But 'Always' is a big time span and I never was sure if this trend really existed in our style of cooking and if not,  then when and why this desire of using scraps and peels of veggies and other ingredients came into existence.

Because of the fertile Gangetic plain Bengal always was the land of abundance and had a huge repertoire of plant based recipes.  The narratives in the MAngal Kavya written during the time between 13th and 18th century has many citation of its rich heritage of vegetarian cooking. Later the Vaishnvaites and widows developed it further. Sometimes out of need and sometimes out of their mastery they created dishes that were as good and sometimes better than their non veg counter part. 

Bengali

Shim Mulo die Matar Daal (Lentils with Broad beans and Radish)

11:08 PM


It's amazing how smell can bring back much more than long lost memories. Often some scent on the road, fragrance of a specific flower or aroma of a dish makes us relive some old memory, it takes us right back to that moment. The feeling, the sound, the emotions just the way we felt at that very moment. 

Cakes cookies n savory goodies

No Bake Strawberry Tart

11:03 AM


When Strawberries are in season you need to make something with them...well that's an assumption my kids always make. Every week when we go to the grocer, invariably 2 boxes of these ruby red fruit will come home. from their morning cereal to evening fruit bowl they just love to have a few pieces of it.

On the contrary the elders in the family are not very fond of the super tart taste of the Indian variety. Every time I make something they will pick out the fruit and give it to the kids. so this time I decided to make something that will not only complement the tartness rather make it indispensable. And this time also wanted to make a dish that does not need an oven or OTG. For all those readers who wanted something super simple, something that both kids and bigs can enjoy and something that is so so gorgeous that it could easily be the talk of your dinner table...let me introduce you to my no bake strawberry Tart. 

After you finish gawking at it's prettiness do note down the recipe and make it to surprise your family.

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