Food glorious food!!

Today’s dinner was inspired by the Korean boiled dumplings known as Mul Mandu which literally means water dumplings. Did it taste authentic? I wouldn’t know because I’ve never really had the authentic version therefore I say inspired but this was at soul comfort level so I enjoyed what I ate as did the kids. The recipe was adapted and tweaked from my favourite FB food blogger(Sarita).In fact I did my two bits of research after seeing her post, having never heard of something like this before. Ingredients  400gm minced chicken  2 scrambled eggs 1/4cup finely sliced spring onion  4 tbsp    finely chopped ginger garlic  1 tsp black pepper  2 tbsp corn flour  Salt to taste  2 tbsp Soya sauce  2 tbsp green chilli paste(I used Ching’s so it was more tangy than spicy)  Dumpling wrappers 1 cup APF   1/4 cup corn flour  Salt to taste  1tsp oil  To knead hot water  ...

I had my first taste of koshari at this restaurant here in Muscat called Kusharina. With pasta and tomatoes, chickpeas what was not to like?? Maybe it is my Middle-eastern upbringing but I love anything that has chickpeas and tomatoes in it :) Today as I stepped into the kitchen with the intent of making pasta, I realized that we didn't really have enough for everyone. Then I noticed the can of chickpeas staring at me and the packs of tomato puree and the bottle of masoor dal and suddenly my brain put all that randomness together and brought back this little memory of koshari tucked away deep deep deep deep deep inside!! Lunch was decided! Looked at the internet for some recipes and realized I pretty much had everything so that was that. All you need is: Crispy Onions: 2 large onion, sliced into really thin rings(I found slicing them into rings worked way better than regular chopped slices) For Tomato Sauce Cooking oil (I used olive) 1 small onion, slice...

It's funny how you strike a chord with certain recipes and this is one such recipe. I happened to see this post on insta(Thanks Maria Goretti!) and couldn't wait to try it. It was something she had tweaked from her friend's recipe and sounded pretty interesting. I had to tweak it a little as well because the spice level seemed a bit too much for the kids. A chutney chicken! All you need is: Chicken bone-in- I used about 6 big pieces Garlic-lots! I used about 15 big cloves(Told you it was a lot!) chopped fine Ginger- About 1.5 inches chopped fine Dried red chillies- 10 deseeded Onion -2 big sliced Curry leaves-a handful  Coconut milk-I used powdered coconut milk mixed with about 1/2 a cup of fresh coconut scrappings Sugar-2 tbsp (optional) Salt Ghee Take enough ghee to cover the saucepan, heat it a bit and add curry leaves, garlic, ginger and red chillies. Once the aroma releases, add in the sliced onions and let it soften. once translucent,...

Mensakai was something that I ate whenever I was in India back in my grandma's house especially when we had food at the temple. I had no clue what it was called back then. It was just something that was sweet, sour, tangy, and spicy all at the same time!! I used to call it mensinkai which I later got to know was green chillies in Kannada and obviously not connected to my Konkani mensakai. Having lost my grandmother years ago and not visited India or having a temple meal in forever, I had literally forgotten about this gem until a few weeks ago when my mom's friend brought in some for us (Thanks Jayshree) and you know how the universe conspires to bring you closer to what you wish for right? As I slurped away the last bit of that relishing mensakai, the heart yearned for more and lo! One of my favourite food writers on FB happened to have the recipe on her page! I tweaked her recipe a bit because I didn't have a lot of mangoes at home and what happened after that was...

*LONG POST ALERT* Diwali is my favourite time of the year.I love planning,prepping and decorating the house. S was born on diwali-dhanteras to be precise so I always think of him as my diwali present.I love planning an (tr)eats hamper.I started presenting them to friends in 2017.This was my first one: It had: Phenori Coconut laddoo Besan fudge Nimki Ajwain mathris and what I call my 'showstopper' motichoor cheesecake Recipe(s) as follows: 1) Phenori: To make dough Maida-1 cup Fine rava-1 cup Ghee- 2 tbsps Salt- a pinch Maida to dust Oil to deep fry For paste Rice flour-2 tbsp Ghee-3 - 5 tbsps To Serve Powdered sugar-1/2 cup Powdered cardamom Method: In a wide bowl take maida ,rava and salt. Heat ghee and add to the flour. The oil should be so hot that when you pour it on dry flour ,bubbles should form. Mix well. Next add water little by little to make a stiff dough.The dough has to be like poori dough i.e stiffer than roti dough. C...

Reveal Roadside Diner @ Jasmine Complex,Al Khuwair, Muscat, Oman Ever since I saw their posts popping up on my insta news feed and realizing that they're a stone's throw away from where I live(!) I just HAD to go and try out two of their very tempting desserts.Trust me it was an experience!We had the molten Dulce de leche and Magnum blossom. That's S doing the 'reveal' of the molten cake-This was a dulce de leche cake with melted vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate cake crumbs(I think) Was a bit too sweet for our liking but we enjoyed it nevertheless. This is the ever so pretty magnum blossom.Took me a while to get the name right because in my head I kept thinking Magnolia blossom for some reason.When the dessert arrived it struck-Magnum!For the chocobar used in the dessert!This pretty thing comes in a bowl of chocolate fondant,topped with candy floss(the fluffy bit),pistachios,drizzled with melted chocolate ice cream.This is apparently a...

I had my first taste of mulled red wine at a Christmas do in Muscat and was in love!Luckily I also managed to get hold of the recipe of what went in it that day(Thanks Sylvie!) All you need is:(for about a liter of red wine) 1 big whole cinnamon stick 1 Nutmeg 4 Cloves Simmer these in about 300 ml of water for about 10 minutes and turn of the gas.Add slices of 2 oranges and let seep. Add the red wine and serve warm! This is very arbitary,add or lessen spices as you please :) Vive Valeque ❤️