Wanderberry Tales

A new recipe on the blog to celebrate Diwali - Pineapple Kesari. May joy, love and prosperity illuminate your lives and homes. Wishing you all a Happy Diwali! Ingredients Pineapple - 1 cup roughly chopped Rava/Semolina - 1.5 cup Sugar - 3/4 cup Ghee - 1/2 cup  Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp Saffron strands - 3 or 4 Water - 3 cups Raisins - 2 tbsp Cashew nuts - 2 tbsp Method Heat about 2 tbsp of ghee in a pan and fry the cashew nuts until color begins to change. Drain on kitchen towel In the same ghee fry the raisins until they puff up. Drain and set aside. Add another tablespoon of ghee and fry the pineapple. Keep it covered and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Remove the pineapples and add 2 more tables spoon of ghee and add the semolina. Cook the semolina until roasted and fragrant. Meanwhile heat water in a saucepan along with saffron strands. Add the semolina to the boiling water and keep mixing to avoid lump formation. Once it is mixed well, ...

Festive season along with the breezy winter has made its presence felt. Although good food needs no season or reason, it is simply an excuse to make some deep fried sugary  tea time snacks. It's strange how memories that have long been pushed to some remote corner of the brain comes popping back on occasions with no particular trigger. That is how diamond cuts made its way into my list.A long time ago (as all stories begin) my mamma lovingly rolled out these dough and the sheer desire to use the spoon that had a wheel on its end to make the diamond shapes got me onto the kitchen slab beside her! I did enquire after the well being of the spoon last time I was home:) I have used wheat flour, you could easily replace it with Whole Purpose Flour and also use some powdered sugar in the dough itself. Off we go to the recipe. Ingredients For the dough- Wheat Flour - 2 cups Ghee - 5 tbsp + 1 tbsp Water - 1 cup warm Salt to taste For coating -  Sugar - 50 gm...

I am a proud Indian. I do not live in India now but that does not make me any lesser an Indian. It hurts me to see Indians fighting in the name of religion, state, caste and anything you can possibly think of. How better a country we would be once we start appreciating the uniqueness of the country. Where else can you find a country so diverse - just imagine the number of dance forms even within a state! The state of Kerala for example boasts of Mohiniyattam, Kathakalli, Ottam thullal, oppana, Thiruvathira, Marghamkali and many more to go. If this is the story of one state in India, summing up that of all states together will have dance forms that is beyond math I can do now! The festivals , the religions, languages, food, culture also follow the same swing. India is a country that defines the spirit of UNITY IN DIVERSITY! Let that not go waste due to the selfish intents of a handful who stand to gain. I am proud I belong to a country like this and our heritage is something that need...

Glass jar full of colorful sweets, cookies and biscuits are common in local grocery stores in India. Rava/Semolina laddu was a popular sweet that adorned one of these glass jar during my childhood days. I remember making this dish  several times at home with my mom and very often instead of rolling it up into balls we just leveled into a steel plate and cut it out as barfi. I always had a penchant for these laddus. It was recently that Famidha from My Life in Yanbu expressed her love for semolina and desire to even create a semolina recipes only blog! That is when I got all pumped up to make this laddu again. It is easy with minimal ingredients and done in under 15 minutes.  So if you have guests popping in at short notice this is a recipe for you , after all semolina is an ingredient readily available in our household. Ingredients Roasted Rava/Semolina - 1 cup Dessicated coconut -  1/2 cup Sweet condensed milk - 1/2 cup Warm milk - 3 tbsp Ghe...

That was a pretty huge break from blogging. After a wonderful trip to Cyprus - (details on a travellogue soon) and also a bout of sickness, I am back in the kitchen. Now that Diwali is right around the corner, why not a sweet dish? Diwali is probably a festival that brings together the entire country. From lighting the lamps to bursting the crackers, everyone irrespective of age and religion join in. The energy can be felt in every lane in India and the hustle bustle in every household. The earliest memories of Diwali for me is the kids in our colony gathering for Diwali celebration at a neighbors house. We joyously lined the walls with candles and lit them, took part in the pooja, burst crackers and finally gobbled down really sumptuous food. This was a day, we the kids of Vidyanagar colony looked forward to. Crackers were not my favorite but I loved lighting the lamps and loved going on a drive to see the beautifully lit houses. This is my first Diwali away from India and discus...