Wanderberry Tales

I was never a big fan of chikki until quite recently. The month of February changed it all. I ate nuts candy from St.Maarten, almond candy from China and sesame candy from Dubai. Not that I traveled to China and St Maarten, let's just say it is simply the benefit of staying in a country with so many nationalities. This was a trigger enough to try making this candy myself. The resolve was made stronger at Dubai Mall last week with the sample of peanut candy coated with sesame seeds that we got to sample at one of our office lunch outings. The candy looks complicated and anyone might think twice before even looking up this recipe.My assumption was the very same till I actually tried it out. Making a chikki ,as it is commonly called in India is just a 10 minute job if you have all your ingredients in place. Here is your ten minute recipe. Ingredients Roasted peanuts -1 cup Sugar/grated jaggery - 1 cup( I used sugar, you may substitute it with jaggery) Butter - 2 tbsp ...

A small tea shop in front of our college campus was the favorite hangout place during our free hours in college at Brahmavar. This is where we have feasted on the Mangalore Buns as it is popularly called. Do not go by the name Buns! It is nowhere similar to the normal buns baked out of the oven. It is deep fried in oil and usually served as tea time snack along with chutney. It is sweet, hence can be eaten without a chutney also. That is precisely what I did roaming around with a piece in my hand and preparing for our trip to Al Ain Zoo. That is a long awaited trip and we finally did it this weekend Yay! Guess what we were lucky too! Got to see the majestic White Tiger and White Lion in all its glory and majesty. I had packed a few buns for our evening snack time which we gorged on after the visit to the Zoo. I hope you guys too try out this recipe, you could make it a tiffin box recipe for your kid too:) A simple way to use the overripe bananas which you do not feel like eatin...

I am not much of a sweet tooth, neither is Soumya, my sister. Despite this, one sweet dish that both of us would love to snack on is Boli or Holige as it is called in Karnataka. Boli and a splash of warm milk is just beyond yum.  My sister often comments on my good memory, be it with the dates or my ability to connect different incidents and the day it happened. My memory with food is not bad either. That gives me the right to comment on my Boli memories as well. Boli is a snack that my father often buys from local bakery and I loved taking it to Bangalore during my college days. More recently on our visit to India, my sister introduced this to Shibin as well. He loved it too which inspired me to try out this snack.   Boli is made of All Purpose Flour/Maida. To make it more healthier, I tried out the with wheat flour. Not much of a difference in recipe, just replace maida with wheat flour. There it is the recipe - Ingredients Wheat Flour/ All purpose Flou...

I happened to leaf through the pages of my diary and came across this recipe taking me back to my PG days in Bangalore. With a lot of time in hand, nothing better to do and whenever I managed to overcome my lazy mode, I stepped into the kitchen for my adventures. Crunchy Oats Chicken was the result of one of these adventures.My friends and I spent quite a time debating on what the name of the dish should be. Chinese Oats Chicken we named it, is what the diary entry says! And one day we said, we will all look into this recipe journal and cook for our husbands'. Well my Mr. Husband did not find the name catchy enough and we renamed it to Crunchy Oats Chicken. So here we have the Crunchy Oats Chicken and a dip that goes along. A quick recipe -even your kids will enjoy, it is only mildly spiced with a sweet and sour dip. Ingredients for the sweet and sour dip Tomato sauce - 3 tbsp Soya sauce - 1 tbsp Honey - 2 tbsp Garlic - 1 tbsp chopped Ginger - 1 tbsp chopped Onio...

I am back from my vacation ! 3 beautiful weeks and so many memories - just the perfect start. A new year and a lot more resolutions. A growing vigor and enthusiasm to do a lot more this year. While I ponder on where my resolutions and vigor takes me why don't you guys go ahead and catch my latest recipe. Chicken Sukka - a Mangalorean style chicken preparation that uses plenty of coconut and quite a bit of spices - name it and you have it. The dish goes along well with dosa, neeru dosa, sanna, chapatti to name a few. So here is the recipe - straight out of my akka's kitchen. Ingredients For the masala - (you can choose to make the masala and refrigerate it. Lasts for 4-5 months. Kashmiri Chilly - 50 gms Pepper Corns - 2 to 3 tbsp Coriander seeds - 2 to 3 tbsp Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp Fenugreek Seeds - a pinch Ajwain - a pinch Turmeric Powder - a pinch Garlic - 2 pods For the dish Chicken - 1 kg cut into small pieces Coconut gr...

Christmas is fast approaching and I am so excited. It is vacation time, a wedding in the family and a lovely festive get together. It is the best time of the year in so many ways this year and I have begun my countdown! 5 days to go for Christmas and 5 days for me to shop, pack and catch the flight.  It is another wonderful season and like I said in my previous blog entry, I hope you are enjoying the season to the full. If not here are some perfect movies to watch this week -  Santa Claus trilogy, a perfect family entertainer to watch with your family. 12 gifts for Christmas, reminds you that festive season is the time for your loved ones. Deck the halls - a comedy that keeps up the spirit of Christmas. Have you put up your tree yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Hurry, put up your tree and star. hang your stockings, adorn your door with wreath, finish your Christmas shopping, let the baking begin and let the carol bells chime all the day through - because i...

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la Christmas is here and so is the holiday season. While we  prep up our lunch and dinner menus, lets not forget the breakfast! Quick and simple recipe which the young and the old will love alike - peanut butter sandwich with honey and fried banana. This time round we made the sandwich with homemade peanut butter!That is quick and easy too, if you have not yet tried. Before I move onto the recipe, let me remind you to make the festive season fun filled and all the more christmasy, do not forget to watch some Christmas movies. We have already begun ours with The Holiday and Polar Express! Just so Perfect! So here is the recipe -  Ingredients Bread slices - 3 Banana  - 1 Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp Butter - 5 tbsp Peanut butter Honey Method Heat a pan and add butter to this. Once the butter melts, place the banana t...