Wanderberry Tales

Vattayappam is a popular Kerala delicacy, which traditionally was made in households with left-over appam batter. However now, most of the bakeries in Kerala sell packaged Vattayappam. This can never beat the freshly prepared homemade ones.   Vattayappams are steamed soft rice cakes with a perfect blend of coconut and fermented by yeast to make it fluffy. This is definitely on my Easter Menu.You guy's better rethink yours:) Vattayapam usually has cashew nuts and raisins for richness along with a tinge of cardamom. My recipe has a whole lot of dates which gives it the sweetness and of course you may do away with the sugar that you add.  I picked this recipe from my mother-in-law :) Ingredients Dosa Rice/White Rice -1 cup Dates - 40 to 50 - you may reduce or increase as per your choice. Coconut - 3/4 cup grated Cardamom powder -1/4 tsp Boiled rice - 1/4 cup Cashew nuts and raisins -a handful Salt to taste Yeast -1tbsp Water -1 cup Method Soak t...

Just like the place, Kashmiri Cuisine can also leave you spellbound. While generally known for the rich lamb dishes, Kashmiris pride in their vegetarian delicacies like the Kashmiri Dum Aloo, Kashmiri Rajma and the Lotus stem curry. One such cuisine that is very popular and eaten with equal frenzy across the country is Kashmiri Pulao. What makes Kashmiri Pulao different from the rest is the use of dried fruits and fresh fruits in addition to the vegetables cooked in milk and saffron. Raitha alone is an excellent accompaniment or you may chose to have this with any gravy. It took me two years after my visit to Kashmir to finally try this out and I was lucky enough the very first time. The flavor filled aroma was more than what I could possibly ask for. There you go - Ingredients Basmati Rice - 1 cup Milk - 1 cup Water - 1 cup Saffron Strands - 3-4 Cardamom - 3 Cinnamon - 2 inch stick Cloves - 3 Pepper Corns Cumin seeds Bay leaf - 2 Mint Leaves - 5-6 Gi...

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...