Saffron and Almond Custard

I hope you all are as excited about 2012 as I am. I wanted to end this year on a sweet note and wish you a very happy new year. I can't thank you enough for being generously supportive over the year. But I'll try - thank you!

Khurdi - Bohra White Stock Soup

Food has not been on my top of my mind lately and hence the lack of posts. When my mind is void of any food creativity, I fall back on food that I grew up with. Food that doesn't require me to think much or work much. Food that I can throw in a pot and be assured of delicious endings. And when it comes to simple comfort, soups top my list. One of my favorite part about Bohra cuisine is the soups. Unlike the general Indian cuisine, Bohras make a lot of soups. They are often served along side rice dishes, to sip on while one eats the rice.

Paneer Bruschetta with Alfalfa Sprouts

Paneer was nothing but a 'cheap filler'  we siblings used to complain to mom, asking for meat instead.  Like all things we didn't like, we ganged up against her, protesting to not eat it, leaving her with little option but to cook us what we liked. That's the power of having 3 siblings. I used it. Paneer vanished from our lives.

Knowing M and his family's love for paneer I prepared my self to mentally gulp down paneer after marriage. Then the day came. Everyone at home demanded to eat my mother in law's paneer roll, which made my mother in law quite happy. "Easiest thing to make! Let me teach you how to make it" she said. I followed her to the kitchen, wishing all along a change in plan. While she fried her paneer to beautiful golden brown she told me about their humble starting as a family. "Meat was not always an option and paneer was my go to healthy 'filler' for the children and they loved it" she smiled with pride.

How to make Paneer at home

"What are you upto madam?" asked the shopkeeper of the mom's favorite dairy products shop, after he noticed me inquiring, pressing hundredth time the block of paneer he had handed to me ten minutes ago. Almost, embarrassed by his tone, I blurted out, I was just curious how they got that paneer to be so soft and spongy. Not expecting an answer, after all his business relied on it, I looked up at M, who was clearly annoyed he was getting late, the shopkeeper like a true Indian salesman said "You have to buy milk from us for that". Mom has warned me not to buy milk from him already "Way to expensive and its as thin as water" she complained.

Chocolate Cinnamon Date Truffles (Sugar Free) and Eid Al Adha

In this week, Eid Al Adha will be celebrated by Muslims all over the world, to comommerate Ibrahim's devotion to God and his willingness to sacrifice his own son when God commanded. But just before he was to do so God replaced his son with a ram, and revealed to Ibrahim that his sacrifice has already been accepted.

Udaipur Trip - Food and more!

In my last post on Udaipur, many of you noticed the lack of food photos. So I dug into my hard disk to find some and in the process found more photos I thought were worth sharing.