Rinku Bhattacharya's Blog, page 60

Sunken Apple Honey Cake

Rosh Hashanah often coincides with some dates of Durga Puja, somewhere or the other making me think of the festivities back home.

I can always tell, by the recipe searches on the blog that there are others thinking of Bengali food as well. Today, to keep with the general holiday spirit, I made an apple honey cake, my version of it anyway. I have always been intrigued by the idea of a honey cake it is however a cake with a reputation – people have warned me about how sweet and dry it can be. The general idea of meshing honey and spices appealed to me, and pair in apples and fall, how can one go wrong?

Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of the day when God created Adam and Eve and is celebrated as the Jewish New Year. Apples and Honey are a part of the food traditions as they are supposed to bring sweetness in the New Year, hence the honey cake. I wanted to try meshing the apples with the honey cake, and once I saw this recipe I was well – Smitten.

I kept the idea of the Sunken apples, I did not peel the apples hoping they would retain some color and they in fact did, just not as bright as their original appearance. The cake batter I used was more along the traditional lines, except I made a spiced tea brew, and added some more ginger and orange zest and juice and the result was a moist, delicate cake that is good for all days of the year and certainly worth trying if you want a honey cake that does not live up to its ahem, reputation.

For good measure, I finished this cake with a salted honey, spice tea glaze and it added a love balance to the entire cake. And, here is hoping that the upcoming year or season is balance with salty sweetness. If you really want a practical take on food of Rosh Hashanah, you might want to check out this fun and informative video.

 

I had wanted to finish this last night tonight, but I had also promised myself an early night. And for a change, I shall actually kept my word to myself. BTW, I have lately been feeling very indulgent to myself, so that is reflected in some of recipes on this site.

PrintSunken Apple Honey Cake

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 60 minutes

Yield: Serves 6 to 8

A beautiful moist and flavorful honey cake that will put all the flavors of fall into your kitchen while it cooks.

Ingredients

For the spice tea liquid
2 spice tea bags (Such as Celestial Seasonings)
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
Round 10 inch cake pan

For the cake
4 small apples
1.5 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest (about 1 orange)
1/3 cup orange or clementine juice
1/2 cup spice tea liquid
1/2 cup honey more if you like it sweeter
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs beaten

For the glaze
1/2 cup spice tea liquid
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

To make the spice tea steeping liquid, in a sauce pan add 2 cups of water, the tea bags and the ginger and boil for about 5 to 7 minutes and strain the liquid. You will have about 1 and 1/2 cup of water which is enough for this recipe.
Pre-heat the oven and grease the cake pan and set aside.
Cut the apples into half, core the apples and cut them into thin slices, keeping the shape intact. You basically want to pop these into the batter into half moons, so if you can try to not completely slice through.
Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda into a mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl add the orange zest, orange juice, spice tea liquid, honey, vegetable oil and the eggs and mix well.
Pour this on the cake pan and carefully arrange the apple halves over the batter and place to bake.
The cake bakes for about 35 to 40 minutes, remaining a little softer in the center.
While the cake is baking, place the remaining tea liquid, honey and salt in a pan and cook for about 8 minutes until thick and smooth.
Let the cake cook in the oven for about 5 to 7 minutes, invert the cake and invert back again. Pour over the honey glaze and serve the cake warm or cool.3.1http://www.spicechronicles.com/sunken-apple-honey-cake/

 

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Green Pea and Almond Pesto and Stereotypes

This super simple recipe for Green Pea and Almond pesto was pure inspiration, to cater to a robotics play date last weekend.

I have been a robotics mama almost as long as I have been a soccer mama, it is what my daughter enjoys doing. My daughter had her friends over, who she was helping with an upcoming competition.

Her love for robotics actually breaks two stereotypes – one that science cannot be fun and second that girls cannot be good in math and science. In fact, her enthusiasm has actually made a believer out of me.This green pea pesto with mint and almonds came to my rescue to make dinner for the girls.

Yesterday’s debate was the first formal election related event that I watched and was left with a sense of reflection. We had a unprepared candidate and another candidate being critiqued for preparing for the debate, often critiqued for being to too serious, I cannot help wondering how much of this is because of her being a woman.

All those gender stereotypes, believe they live around loud and clear. Possibly, the only time I have seen a political candidate being under fire for her husband’s affairs. One may not like her, but that she is being unfairly treated as a woman cannot be overlooked. People like me have our share of gender stereo typing everyday.

Now this pesto is an easier thing to talk about.

It is practically made with pantry staples, yes, I usually use frozen peas which I have around in abundance. almonds also a pantry staple in our house and olive oil with fresh mint still around in our back yard. I had started this post earlier in the week and had gotten sidetracked.

It has been surprisingly busy this past week. I definitely need an early night. It is for nights like this, I often keep an extra container of this pesto handy. You can add Parmesan to this if you want, but we liked it as is with chopped mint to garnish. .

PrintGreen Pea and Almond Pesto and Stereotypes

Prep Time: 11 minutes

Cook Time: 4 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

A super easy vegan green pea and mint pesto, perfect for these rainy busy evenings.

Ingredients

1 12 oz bag of frozen peas
Salt for cooking and seasoning
1 cup blanched almonds
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1 jalapeno pepper (optional)
Water as needed
4 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
Extra almonds and mint to garnish

Instructions

Place the peas in boiling salted water and cook for 3 minutes. Drain.
Place the peas in the food processor, with the almonds, olive oil, garlic, mint leaves and jalapeno pepper (if using) with about 1/2 cup of water and the lime or lemon juice. Blend until pureed.
Serve with your favorite short pasta, garnished with additional almond and mint.3.1http://www.spicechronicles.com/green-pea-almond-pesto-stereotypes/

 

 

 

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Kolkata Travel Diary 2015- A travelogue by Aadi

We have a new contributor to this blog!!!

It is with great pride I share my ten year old son’s first post. He is my fellow foodie and a lot of the dishes are tasted or inspired by him. As he starts middle school, I thought it was time for him to join me on the Spice Chronicles team.

In fact, he and his able sister will eventually take the helms of video making but we shall talk about that later and Aadi has started this charge, with gusto, what he lack in precision he makes up in enthusiasm, as evidenced in this video but today is about his first travel post, and of course it has to be about Kolkata.

My experience in Kolkata was great. I saw the culture of India in the Artisan Fair. I enjoyed playing with Rurdo, a native 3 year old boy. The food was the best. At a mall called Mani Square, I tried a new flavor of ice cream. I also had a unique type of dumpling called a momo. I went on a boat ride on the River Hoogly as a surprise from my mom. We even went to a museum called Science City where we saw some amazing things. I realized that I could still be friends with someone who speaks a different language.

On a bright sunny day, my sister Deepta and me would go outside and have a nice game of catch with a tiny soft green ball. A boy named Rudro would come and play. He didn’t speak our language, but that didn’t get in the way of us having fun. He would throw the ball when we rolled it to him. On a particularly wild lobb, it would go over the neighbor’s fence, and Deepta and I would climb over and get it back for him. Sadly, when we had to go inside he would start to cry.

The food was outstanding! Period. We had vegetables and chicken with lentils, rice, and yogurt. I asked my mother to make these lentils again for me, they are one of my favorites.

We also went to two other restaurants, and there was Indian style pizza, pasta, and baby corn. We also got a smorgasbord consisting of bread, cream cheese, smoked salmon, and capers.

In Science City, we learned how dinosaurs are connected to birds. We went on a monorail around the park to see it from a bird’s eye view. On this particular monorail, it ran completely green, because we pedaled it like a bicycle to power it. My dad went in the same cart as me, because at some points my legs slipped and I could not completely reach the pedals to their full extent. We were going to watch an IMAX movie about the Indian and African wilderness, but the line was three hours long.

We also saw some cool things at Science City. There was a fountain that moved in very interesting patterns. There was Indian music, and Dad, Deepta, and me relaxed on a bench in the cool spray of the fountain while we listened to the native music and my mom came to meet us at the museum. We also say a poor, homeless, kitten meowing at it’s mother from the other side of the busy road. Neither of them could cross without being hit. Luckily, the kitten had an opportunity and took it. It made it across.

At Mani Square, we brought fresh chicken momos and a date palm jaggery ice cream that is only available in the winter. For my sister, we got a special Indian dessert called cashew burfi. Obviously, it had cashews. For me, we got a chocolate burfi, because I am allergic to nuts. We brought them back home to New York without opening them in India. It was a really fun day.

At an Artisan Fair, we got some really nice gold and bronze statuettes for my friends: two owls, a turtle, and a elephant. We saw some beautifully woven dresses that my mom bought for herself and Deepta. We also saw other clothes and even people weaving straw hats. My dad got some spicy pickle to use as a sort of jam on bread. We saw Indian style slippers and even keychains.

My mom took us on a surprise boat ride on the River Hoogly. In the boat were Deepta, Dad, Mom, me, and my uncle.We sat together in a tiny cabin. For a while, we laughed and shared pictures. We then, when the men started rowing the boat, saw a suspension bridge called the Hoogly Bridge. We took and admired the amazing image of the Hoogly Bridge. We saw birds in great numbers, too.

We walked to a mall called City Center. We looked for a suitable ball for Rudro, because Deepta had kicked his ball into a thorny tree and it had become deflated. It was his favorite ball. We couldn’t find a good ball or kicking, so we gave him some toy cars. We went to the bookstore, where we met a Santa who gave us chocolate. We found some game sets and a travel book for Hong Kong, our next stop.

Overall, in Kolkata, my family and me had a great time. There were nice, comfy mattresses to sleep on, delicious food, and many, many great adventures. I look forward to going there again!

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Bhaja Mooger Dal – Roasted Yellow Split Lentils with Hyacinth Beans and Carrots

Hyacinth Beans or Sheem in Bengali, are a variety of broad beans that finally found their way into our garden this year. To celebrate their arrival, I cooked them with Yellow Split Moong Lentils, cooked in the traditional Bengali manner in a recipe that we call Bhaja Mooger Dal.

These lentils can be made with or without vegetables, they are characterized by a nutty taste, which results from the obligatory dry roasting of the lentils until they are pale golden and aromatic.

Putting my brother to good use, I even created a video for this post. As I had thought, getting the home crew involved with the video production is certainly helping with creating more synchronized real time videos for my posts, all I need from you guys is a little bit of inspiration and support so please do subscribe to the channel to keep my spirits happier.

After his last trip to Kolkata, which you will hear more about soon, my son has been interested in simple Bengali dishes such as this, which can only be done right in a home kitchen. I had meant to make them for him, but forgot until I saw these beautiful sheem or hyacinth beans.

In the US, these come in the standard green variety, the seeds of which we got from the temple in Pomona, and the ornamental purple variety, which we found the starter seeds from our the garden patch maintained in downtown Valhalla by Mughal Palace.

This particular dal, is made with or without vegetables. I have a recipe for the uncluttered variation in the Bengali Five Spice Chronicles, and is also made a tad thinner in most households. With all my yearning for comfort moods and foods, this thick soulful variation is really what my heart has been craving.

PrintBhaja Mooger Dal – Roasted Yellow Split Lentils with Hyacinth Beans and Carrots

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

A hearty soulful dish of fragrant moong lentils, perfect for a weeknight fall supper.

Ingredients

3/4 cup split yellow moong lentils
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon red cayenne powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
2 to 3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 cup (about 1/2 pound) hyacinth beans, trimmed


For the tarka or tempering

1.5 teaspoons ghee
2 whole red chilies
2 to 3 bay leaves
1 medium sized (about 2 inches) cinnamon broken into smaller pieces

Instructions

Dry roast the yellow lentils, stirring frequently for about 6 to 8 minutes, the lentils will become few shades darker and are very fragrant at this time.
Add in 3 to 4 cups of water and mix well. Add in the turmeric, ginger, cumin powder, red cayenne powder, sugar and salt.
Add in the diced carrots, bring the lentils to a simmer and cover and cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes, at this point the lentils should be thick and fairly soft.
Add in the beans and cook for another 7 to 8 minutes. The lentils should have a thick, soft texture but not dissolve completely.
For the tarka or tempering, heat the ghee and add in the bay leaves, whole red chilies, cinnamon and cook until the spices darken and the mixture is fragrant
Pour over this aromatic tempering and cook for a minute or so, check for the seasonings and serve hot with rice or flatbreads. 3.1http://www.spicechronicles.com/bhaja-mooger-dal-roasted-yellow-split-lentils-hyacinth-beans-carrots/

 

 

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Bengali Chicken Curry With Fall Vegetables

Childhood kitchen nostalgia and thinking of my grandmother are synonymous. This month’s Recipe Redux theme, encouraging us to share early culinary memories takes me back to her kitchen.

I would sit and watch and learn, by listening to her stories, her food memories, her childhood all a part of great fabric that sometimes still wraps me up with the warmth of nostalgia when I enter the kitchen. It was what kept me from plodding along, those early days of graduate school when my cravings were rich and my pantry was sparse. As I found my way around the kitchen, in a different land, familiar childhood dishes began to slowly weave their way onto my table. So many of them rest and work their way into our dinners, in flavors and avatars of their own as we move through this journey that we call life.

Today, the was the first day of fall, I slept in just a little bit, woke up to a gorgeous day and a fall garden filled with potatoes, carrots, peppers, beans and tomatoes. My brother was on his way to visit and life for the moment felt perfect, well almost. Things are getting better, I think I just need to hang in and give myself and life a little time.

I gave myself the indulgence, to cook this delicate almost stew like curry, something my brother likes very much and is a childhood staples in many Bengali homes, albeit made more often with goat meat but sometimes also done with fresh chicken on the bone. I have done a compromise and used chicken thighs, as that is what I had handy. The whole chicken maybe once the job front sorts itself out.

An InLinkz Link-up

PrintBengali Chicken Curry With Fall Vegetables

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

A hearty Bengali style chicken curry with lots of fall vegetables.

Ingredients

2 to 3 tablespoons oil
1 large onion, diced
1 medium sized, green bell pepper, diced
11/2 tablespoons grated ginger
2 to 3 pods garlic, minced
1.5 teaspoons cumin powder
1.5 teaspoons coriander powder
1 piece of cinnamon broken
2 to 3 cardamom, bruised
2 to 3 cloves
2 pounds chicken thighs, skinned and on the bone
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon red cayenne powder
1.2 teaspoons salt to taste
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
2 to 3 red skinned potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and halved
Lots of chopped cilantro to finish and garnish

Instructions

Heat the oil and add in the onion and pepper and saute well for about 5 minutes, until the onions have softened and wilted.
Add in the ginger and the garlic and mix well.
Add in the cumin and coriander powder, and the cinnamon, cardamom and the cloves and mix well.
Add in the chicken and mix well and cook the chicken with the spices and stir in the turmeric, cayenne, salt and black peppercorns and cook the chicken for about 10 minutes, allowing it to turn golden. This process is important for the deep flavor.
Add in the carrots, potatoes, green beans and about 2 cups of water and simmer the chicken for about 20 minutes, until the meat is very tender.
Check for seasonings, garnish with cilantro and serve hot.3.1http://www.spicechronicles.com/bengali-chicken-curry-fall-vegetables/

 

 

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Applesauce with Dates and Star Anise

There are many benefits to retrying recipes other than perfecting them. One of the things that I have found is that, in most cases as I retry recipes they tend to get simpler. My innate preference is cooking with fresh and seasonal ingredients and of course simplifying the recipes every time I try them I tweak them here and there, sometimes to adapt to my families changing preferences.

I have made this applesauce which really is a hybrid between an applesauce and a chutney, a few times since the first time I made it a year ago. I think today’s variation was about the right level of flavor and simplicity. I have since reduced the number of dates I have used, and if you want you can actually leave them out. Apple sauce, a simple way to use up the abundant apples that we get in our neck of the woods is great as a lunch box snack and of course perfect for adding into desserts.

Tart and smooth with just a hint of spice, this applesauce will be a great side for an assortment of dishes. It would be great with crackers as well. This resurfaced along with a deep yearning to go apple picking this year whether my yearning will be fulfilled or not time will tell.

The girl was very sick after we returned from India, and could not eat anything heavy I made a batch of the applesauce, reducing the dates. I was a little sad that it took away the richer brown color but the deep sweet and tart taste of the apples balanced with the gentle fennel like flavors of the star anise shone through.

PrintApplesauce with Dates and Star Anise

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: Makes about 3/4 cup

A lightly spiced apple sauce that works very well with crackers and cheese.

Ingredients

3 to 4 honey crisp apples
2 Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup (about 15) dates, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup water or apple cider
4 star anise
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder

Instructions

Core and chop the apples leaving the skin on and place in a cooking pot.
Place the apple juice, dates, star anise, lime juice and red chili powder in the same pot and cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes.At this point the apples should be very soft and the mixture fairly thick.
Cool the mixture, discard the star anise, puree until smooth in a blender.
Use as needed.
This will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks.
3.1http://www.spicechronicles.com/applesauce-dates-star-anise/

 

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Adzuki Bean Breakfast Quesadillas

I think that I might finally be getting the hang of school lunchboxes – it might sound like rocket science but it started out as a struggle, so the fact that I have two kids (and sometimes me) reasonably diverse and somewhat healthy lunchboxes down makes me feel pretty good, but of course the next frontier everyday breakfasts is a totally different ballgame. By the way, if you need lunchbox inspiration, there is an entire facebook group dedicated to the lunchbox. Of course, it is a group I tend to lurk around more than actually post, but hopefully all is forgiven when it comes to good intentions!

It probably will remain the sacred domain of weekends – and on one such nicely sun-kissed mornings, the kinds when you feel everything is well and fine with the world and you work around the kitchen listening to the voices of the children supervised by the cat.

The kids had their cousins visiting and I had some freshly made adzuki beans, actually a little bit of both adzuki and black beans handy and I worked them together into this wholesome quesadilla dish. It was fun and a rare mid season morning, because the kids had their cousins visiting.

My children have two real cousins, my brother-in-law’s (husband’s brother’s children), and sadly we do not see them as much as we would like. Time, distance, schedules keep us from connecting. Another ritual, that I have readily grown up with, is more of a novelty in their lives.

Over the years, even the years that I have kept this side, I have realized it is the rituals, memories and connections that make food special, and make us want to savor something again and again. Weekend breakfasts, family Sunday dinners, grape leaves in Summer, loads of peppers and green beans in fall, Anshul’s  grape crushing party in fall, and loads of delicata squashes to close out the seasons are among some of those things that we have started calling our rituals.

I add scrambled eggs to these breakfast quesadillas, if you want they can just be made with the beans and cheese. I have not tried making them with vegan cheese, but I am sure that would be a very viable possibility.

This is one of the many quesadillas we have fun with, after all, the younger boy in this house has a thing for cheese, here is another one with chicken that I posted a few moons ago. Which I promise you will still be pretty darn good on a rainy fall or spring day.

PrintAdzuki Bean Breakfast Quesadillas

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Serving Size: 1 or 2 quesadillas

A hearty well seasoned quesadilla, pairing eggs and well seasoned adzuki beans, what we like to call our breakfast quesadillas.

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium tomato, diced
¾ cups cooked adzuki beans
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (juice of about ½ lime)
1 medium sized red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeno, minced
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
8 medium sized whole wheat tortillas
1 cup freshly grated cheddar cheese

Instructions

Beat the eggs with ½ the salt. Heat about 1 tablespoon of the oil, and add the eggs and scramble them until they are well set.
Place the scrambled eggs in a mixing bowl, add in the adzuki beans, lime juice, red onions, jalapeno, cilantro and mix well.
To make the quesadillas, heat a cast iron skillet or griddle, place the tortilla on the skillet and cook for about 30 seconds. Place about 3 to 4 tablespoons of the prepared filling on one half of the tortilla and add about 3 tablespoons of the cheddar cheese and fold over.
Add about a teaspoon of olive oil and fold over. Cook for another minute or so, turning to crisp the tortilla evenly and allowing the cheese to melt and bind the quesadilla.
Continue making all the tortillas in this manner and serve with my guacamole for complete indulgence.
3.1http://www.spicechronicles.com/adzuki-bean-breakfast-quesadillas/

 

 

 

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Shimla Alu – Curried Potatoes with Bell Peppers

Most of life’s choices are not short lived, and even the simplest ones come back to full circle. Today’s very practical, and everyday dish – a North Indian creation called Shimla Alu or Curried Potatoes with Bell Peppers is about as homey and practical as Indian cooking gets!

I make this dish in copious amounts, this time of the year when both bell peppers and potatoes are out and about in the garden. The leftovers if any, make for a great sandwich with wholewheat bread, and today’s post is about this simple dish but with a video, probably not the greatest video but one shot by none other than by baby boy Aadi.

The kid’s want to join me and assist me more in the blogging journey, and let us face it they are already a large part of the inspiration of why this space exists, having said that this sharing will mean some makeshift videos, but, it is once of those things that form a large premise and part of the Spice Chronicles kitchen and household.

It is a home style blog, that chronicles a flavorful yard to table immigrant journey, it is about a family table and I have no doubt that eventually, they homey you tube channel will emerge and grow up with the kids. All of this is a kind of happiness that the kids want to be a part of the journey and a kind of invisible (yes, almost) apology that the next few videos will be sort of strange, but please follow along and they will grow up along with the kids.

I have to confess, that even with all of Amy’s help and finesse it took some time to get my groove with her videos, as you will see with the early videos, and yes, with my in home volunteer’s hopefully the videos will in fact adhere to the seasonal component of the blog.

Those sandwiches, photographed blearly eyed in the morning was Aadi’s school lunch the second day of middle school, and he even hold me to skip the cheese. Other things in life, well, they are not quite where I might like them but maybe they will get there…

PrintShimla Alu – Curried Potatoes with Bell Peppers

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

A lovely simple and flavorful take on fresh bell peppers, tomatoes and potatoes. Perfect for that comforting rich tasting vegan meal.

Ingredients

3 to 4 medium sized bell peppers
2 to 3 potatoes
2 mediums sized tomatoes
1 medium sized onion
2 to 3 pods of garlic
3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
2 teaspoon cumin coriander powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Salt to taste

To garnish
1 lime
Chopped cilantro

Instructions

Cut the bell peppers into halves, remove the pith and cut into 2 inch pieces, essentially fairly large 2 inch pieces.
Peel and cut the potatoes into 8 pieces.
Coarsely chop the tomatoes
Dice the onions and mince the garlic
Heat the oil and add in the whole cumin seeds, once the seeds begin to sizzle, add in the cumin and coriander powder and mix well.
Add in the onion and the garlic and saute well until translucent, add in the tomatoes and the potatoes and mix in the cayenne, turmeric and the salt to taste.
Cover and cook for about 6 to 8 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
Add in the bell peppers and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
Mix well.
Cut the lime and add in the lime juice, sprinkle with cilantro and serve hot.3.1http://www.spicechronicles.com/shimla-alu-curried-potatoes-bell-peppers/

 

 

 

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What’s in my Fridge – Week One

Order and organization is such a key tenet in my life, and I have been dealing with the inability to plan things beyond  a few days at a time. It has resulted in my reaching out and trying to organize almost anything in sight with mixed, successful and not-so clear results!

Probably, something I have never been able to organize and get clear success with is meal planning and today I am actually reversing the whole idea into fridge planning…

Let me explain fridge planning and what I mean, I tend to cook a lot over weekends and then lose track of stuff and well, a meal plan might or might not help with the process. I feel actually doing a log of what I cooked up might help or assist with the process of organizing my meal planning better. So, this is what I have in my fridge and here is to the first of these posts. Do you make things that you stash away and forget? Or is it just me?

So, I have a Creamy Potato and Kale Soup, loosely based on this recipe, a big batch of my spicy marinara, this one actually is left over because the kid got sick. She loves her pasta and I am hoping that I can actually pack her a sensible lunchbox later this week.

Well, at least she gets to go to school next week, heck of a lot better than not being able to even sit up and read. I have a big batch of upma, a semolina based breakfast dish that will probably help me get through the next few weekdays and a green pea pesto that I am really excited about. It has loads of potential that needs to be harnessed and I guess, I can see the next two recipes coming up on the site… Also, have some mixed up chapati dough, some dosa batter and a small amount of stir-fried green beans and potato and bell peppers. Almost sounds like I have the week nailed down. What do you think?

 

Returning from India, most of the plants survived, one looked rather sad and I was about to throw it out but in the past couple of days, I have been seeing more and more green so maybe it is my hope plant? Let us see. This is what it looks like on, I posted the picture on instagram.

Hope and the jasmine plant, wonder if I can revive this plant? #green #homegrown #spicesandseasons #jasmine #hope

A photo posted by Rinku Bhattacharya (@spice_chronicles) on Sep 11, 2016 at 3:23pm PDT

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Baked Parmesan Diamonds or Nimkis and Back to School

Back to School and jet lag are a bad combination, but rediscovering these baked Parmasan Nimkis helped just a little.

This post should be labelled, the other side of seasons – as in the Other Side of Midnight… OK, not quite sure of the connection except that I read the later book at 13.

The current age of my darling 8th grade daughter. Truth be told, I cannot quite remember the book, but, I thought of the name because I realized that seasons and events related to them arrive whether we like it or not and sure enough, I am bracing and welcoming a new school year for my darling children, despite the fact life feels a little disrupted, thank you MS!!!!

If things were not crazy enough, Deepta seems to have imported a virus back with her and ended up missing out most of this week, and Aadi is really not sure what to do with himself. One week into middle school however, he has thus far approved of the lunches that I have been packing him and has proclaimed that this will be a fun year. These baked diamonds are named after a Bengali teatime snack, that makes a major comeback around Durga Puja or Bijoya time.

A photo posted by Rinku Bhattacharya (@spice_chronicles) on Sep 6, 2016 at 10:01am PDT

Well, that and these snack box treats that I recreated for the second time in my life, the first time being a huge hit so this time around I make sure that I kept notes and of course took some semblance of pictures.  Also, probably the perfect recipe to break the silence of a few weeks on this site. My son has named these baked savory cookies Parmasan Nimki.

It is difficult to believe that summer is on it’s way out. There seems to be so much going on and then at the same time just nothing at all… These diamonds keep well for up to a week when stored in an airtight container. The nigella and Parmesan cheese work extremely well together – who knew?




PrintBaked Parmesan Diamonds or Nimkis and Back to School

Prep Time: 2 hours

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes

A flaky cheesy savory diamond cookie, laced with Indian spices, perfect for all after school or lunch box snacking.

Ingredients

11/2 cups all purpose flour
4 tablespoons salted butter plus more for greasing the baking sheet
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 to 6 tablespoons ice cold water
11/2 teaspoons nigella seeds

Instructions

Place the flour in a mixing bowl and add in the butter and mix well with your hands rubbing in the mixture until it resembles the beginnings of a pie crust.
Add in the cheese, salt, sugar and cayenne pepper and mix well.
Add in the ice cold water add just enough to form a pliable dough.
Shape the mixture into two round balls and refrigerate for about 1 to 2 hours.
Remove from the refrigerator and roll into 1/2 inch sheets. Sprinkle and press with the nigella seeds.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking sheet.
Cut the dough into diamonds and place on the baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes until the diamonds are golden.
Let the diamonds rest in the oven for about 15 minutes and then cool outside and enjoy as a snack.3.1http://www.spicechronicles.com/baked-parmesan-diamonds-nimkis-back-school/

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