mayurisjikoni

Rice Bowl of India    For the month of January the Shhh Cooking Secretly group (started by Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes ) had to make cuisine from the state of Chhattisgarh. Chhattisgarh literally means 36 Forts. This central eastern state was formed by separating the Chhattisgarhi speaking southeastern part of Madhya Pradesh in the year 2000. The north and south part of the state are hilly and the central part is  covered by plains.    It is believed that Lord Rama along with his wife Sita and brother Laxman spent 10 years of their 14 year exile in the regions of Chhattisgarh. Its also in this state that Lord Rama was offered half eaten berries by the old blind lady Shabari. Shabari was a devout follower of Lord Rama. She waited patiently in the ashram for Him to arrive so that she could seek his darshan. As an offering to the Lord she had picked berries from the nearby forest. She tasted each one of them and left the sweet ones for Lord Rama. For her pu...

Back To Normal Routine    Its after a very long time that I had a very relaxing holiday. Relaxing means no cooking at all, no blogging and just lazing around doing what I want. I slept, I read, I walked a bit and spent quality time with my eldest son, daughter in law and her parents. Visiting Bali was a truly a surprise for me. When I use to see postcard pictures of Bali, blue seas, sandy beaches it was not really on my wish list. When you have sandy beaches and blue sea and sunshine in your backyard, Bali was not that alluring. I think if my son and daughter in law had not decided to settle there, hubby and I would probably not have visited Bali.  However, I am so glad that we went there last December. Though we were not able to see much of Bali because of my daughter in law's accident, we managed a few day trips.     Bali is a predominately a Hindu island. However, their customs and rituals are so different from the Hinduism practiced ...

Delicious Dumplings    A visit to Phoenix Mall, Bangalore is like a dazzling visit to Fairyland. Only thing is that nothing is free, you need oodles of money to buy whatever you want. I remember when I was studying in India in the 70s, nothing much was available and relatives and friends would have a long list of things they'd want us to bring for them from Kenya. Tables have turned, everything is available in India right from Rin soap to Audis. For a girl who comes from the supposedly second biggest city in Kenya, the malls are like paradise for me. Visiting Foodland is a foodie's dream but unfortunately everything from lettuce to wheat pasta is overpriced. Eating healthy is an expensive habit. Wonder why?? Healthy foods should be pocket friendly. Anyway we can argue about food prices world wide endlessly and get nowhere. Lets face it food is expensive.    Daughter and I were at the mall to catch a movie. Have you seen what PVR charges for popcorns??? For a handful ...

healthy gujarati snack I simply love all gujarati snacks. Whenever my grandfather brought loads of doodhi (lauki) from his friend's farm or some grew in our garden, my mum would make either handvo or muthias. Muthias taste lovely with a  cup of hot spicy tea or milk. I love dunking  muthias in milk. The reason I love making muthias is because number one they are healthy as I add a lot of vegetables to it and secondly I can prepare them way ahead and just heat them up again before eating. We usually make muthias as a light dinner option. The proportions of different flours used varies from recipe to recipe and so does the amount of vegetables. I find this recipe works best for me. Its an ideal tiffin meal, carry it for lunches and picnics. Yes picnics. If mum didn't carry handvo to the drive in cinema it would be either muthias or dhebras . Yes, such a typical gujju feast, but who is complaining.  There are to types of muthias, one steamed and the other fried. The fried o...

Elephant ears?    Colocasia leaves, colocasia esculenta, arbi, arvi, taro and elephant ears are just a few names of this tropical edible plant. The leaves and tubers are used in various parts of the world. I have grown up eating the wonderful leaves steamed. Yes believe it or not but these leaves taste wonderful once cooked in the typical gujarati style. We know it as paan bhajia, but it goes by the name arbi or arvi in India. My all time favourite, these plants grow easily so we had loads of them growing in our garden. Had to have many leaves, considering the size of the family.           However, now I have to buy them as I cannot grow them in my small apartment. The tuber is made into a  dry vegetable or curry , stuffed paratha or even fried in some parts of India. The leaves are readily available in the market in Mombasa and Mumbai but have not seen them in Bangalore. The leaves are available in most Indian vegetable shops in the UK. The ...