Signature Concoctions

my first student

Vasanti — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:20:26 +0000

A couple of months ago, this girl I know, reached out to see if I was up for teaching a cooking classes! More than teaching the class, I was just excited to get an opportunity to share my passion for cooking. We set up a date and then my days were filled prepping for my first ever cooking class! I decided to keep it simple, making it a stress-free learning experience, adding fun twists to the menu and the recipes. I wanted to show that just by switching a few ingredients here and there or using a different culinary techniques, we can put a wonderful spin on everyday cooking, taking it to the next level and relishing the flavors ourselves or impressing our guests.

And there she was, my first student, standing at the door holding bags filled with ingredients and smile on her face, ready to take on the kitchen stadium! It was certainly not the first time Nupur had stepped into a kitchen. She had tried her hand at cooking several times but needed a crash course on fine cooking. She was aware of the mistakes she made and simply wanted to know how to fix them. She shared some of her cooking disasters and I remembered mine! We talked about all kinds of things and then started cooking together, having fun in the kitchen as we chopped, sautéed and plated simple, yummy dishes.

Together, we reinvented Indian vegetarian classics by using different techniques and incorporating non-Indian ingredients. In about 5 hours, we made about 8-9 different dishes including Baingan Bharta with Roasted Red Peppers & Goat Cheese on Bruschetta, Sev Potato Dahi Puri Chaat on Puff Pastry tarts, Gobi-Fennel Raita Slaw, Roasted Aloo Methi, Light Paneer Makhani, Jeera Rice Pilaf with Fresh Herbs, Moong Dal Stew with wilted Spinach, Lentils Soup with Green Masala…just to name a few.

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my lil’ Top Chef!

Vasanti — Sat, 12 May 2012 08:17:23 +0000

I’m not surprised that my 5 year old is quite a foodie, worships Giada and dreams of being the next Top Chef!

Long before she was born, I have been into anything and everything related to cooking …from gawking at mouthwatering pictures on food blogs, experimenting in the kitchen every chance I got and watching television shows on the Food Network or Cooking Channel. As a baby, my daughter would be sleeping on my while I watched cooking shows on TV, crawling around the kitchen while I cooked and even playing with the pots and pans, cooking up all kinds of toys in them. I guess it’s but natural that cooking is one thing that bonds us together very strongly.

When we are not catching up on “Giada at Home”, Nia and I love spending time baking together on the weekends and holidays. During the week, when we get back home in the evening, she joins me in the kitchen for a little cooking therapy. We spend a couple of hours cooking together, talking about her day at school as we prepare and finally feast on our “concoction of the day”.

When she was younger, I would just pop her on the counter and have her wash off fruits or vegetables, press the button on the food processor or stick M&Ms on to cookies and watch her giggle and laugh. It was precious!

As she grew up, I started giving her tasks like measuring ingredients, whisking eggs, mixing the pancake batter or stirring up her favorite chocolate sauce for dipping strawberries and she would get immense pleasure out of helping me. It was also a great sense of achievement for her to be a part of the process that was going on the kitchen and then getting to taste the fruits of her hard work.

Now, at 5, she is able to cut veggies on her own! This is a huge accomplishment for her and I am so proud of her!

So for Mother’s day this year, I thought of sharing concoctions that I whip up together with my lil Top Chef!

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a weekender at the Austin Food & Wine Festival

Vasanti — Mon, 07 May 2012 05:53:27 +0000

Last weekend, I traveled all the way to Austin for it’s first ever FOOD & WINE festival. With a weekender badge hanging around the neck, my friend and I got a weekend of indulgence, culinary education and celeb chef citing.

Thousands of gourmands and food fanatics lined up for the festival at the Austin’s Auditorium Shores for celebrity chef cooking demonstrations, seminars and grand tastings.

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will travel for FOOD&WINE!

Vasanti — Tue, 01 May 2012 07:40:29 +0000

Thanks to my friend, Fats, I just got back from a delicious and exciting weekend at the Austin’s Food & Wine Festival!

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concoctions for tiny fingers

Vasanti — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 07:01:29 +0000

You’ve met the lil’ connoisseur before! This little guy loves yummy mom-made food and now insists that he eat it all on his own…

So his super mommy has come up with a bunch of new concoctions that are perfect for his tiny fingers. And here I am, sharing all those toddler finger food recipes that my sister, Deepti, makes especially for him. I hope her simple and incredibly easy ideas will inspire you to try them for your lil’ connoisseur!

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lazy weekend mornings

Vasanti — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 01:28:17 +0000

Weekdays come and go…and then come the weekends! I simply love them…and I’m sure so do you . Weekends make me so lazy; it’s like everything around me is in a slow motion. It’s nice not to wake up to a screaming alarm and rush to work but just take it easy, slouch on the couch, sipping on a cup of coffee and watching TV. While everything takes a backseat on weekend mornings, breakfast certainly does not!

Not sure if its that cup of coffee or my love for cooking, but I’m all charged up to get in my kitchen and whip up a ‘signature concoction’! Making breakfast or brunch on weekend mornings is something I look forward to. For me, it’s the perfect time for wallowing in some early morning cooking therapy! From simple oatmeal to elegant breakfast bites, I do it all! Here are some of my simple and easy creations from lazy weekend mornings in the kitchen…

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Til Gul – the essence of Sankrant

Vasanti — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 08:45:02 +0000

As the sesame seeds were roasting, their delicate aroma hovered over the pan and soon filled up my entire kitchen. Simultaneously, golden brown sugar syrup was bubbling away in a saucepan, adding a subtle sweet fragrance around me that reminded me of my childhood days when mom made Til Gul especially for Sankrant.

The very first Indian festival of the year is here and for the very first time, I made the quintessential sweet for the festivities, Til Gul, at home. After all these years, I was almost craving to bite into one of those soft, nutty candies and I decided to make some right away! I pulled out my handbook of Marathi cuisine, “Ruchira” (see Evolving Tastes for the details and an extensive review of the book) and looked at the traditional recipe. Having all the ingredients on hand, I jumped right at it by roasting the sesame seeds and caramelizing the sugar. The simple combination of the sesame seeds with melted sugar is incredible on it’s own, but becomes even more amazing when mixed with ground cardamom and crushed roasted peanuts. This, to me, is the true essence of Sankrant!

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kheema and beyond

Vasanti — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:19:44 +0000

Kheema, a North Indian classic, is a spicy curry made with minced meat and fresh peas, simmered in a pot with ginger, garlic, onions, tomatoes and a bunch of warm spices. Think of it as the Indian version of the American favorite, chili. While traditionally, ground mutton or goat meat is used in kheema, you can use any kind of ground meat or create a vegetarian version like I have done, with minced mushrooms or cauliflower.

Making the kheema may seem a little daunting, but don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients. It’s a pretty simple, one-pot concoction that’s easy and quick enough to make even for a weeknight dinner. And you can play with the ingredients; stir in a few veggies like green peas, diced potatoes and even chopped spinach! Serve it in its humble form to be mopped up with pav or naan or simply mixed in with steamed basmati rice for a hearty meal.

I often double my kheema recipe; my family loves to eat it in its true form and then I like to play with the leftover, turning it into something beyond my imagination – stuffed in kheema puffs or kheema triangles for quick appetizers, turned into a party food as kheema tartlets or as a topping for the kheema pizza, bubbling with melted cheese hot off the oven!

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3 cheers!!!

Vasanti — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:09:36 +0000

And here we are at the finalé of yet another amazing season of signature concoctions! What an eventful year with my culinary journey mirroring real life; New York to San Francisco. It’s been three years since I started blogging about my cooking and clicking adventures. Unbelievable! Unbelievable, because I am now here with over 100 blog posts, more than 250 recipes, an average of 250 daily page views and thousands of readers all over the world. It started with, like, my mom hitting my site a number of times a day and me clicking pictures with a trusty old point and shoot.

This blog lets me share my love for food and record everything around it…the stories, some lovely memories and my ethnicity. Cliched as it may sound, it all comes down to, you, my readers. You visit week and week to read my posts, praise my photos and try my recipes; I am humbled and very thankful to you for the kind comments and words of encouragement that keep me going.

Enjoy the rest of your summer and see you in the fall. Signing off on a sweet note, with my decadent chocolate-orange ganache tart.

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more with the mango

Vasanti — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 08:15:34 +0000

It’s that time of year when mangoes are all over the place. And for me, no other fruit says Summer, quite like the mango! At the very onset of the season, the markets start filling up with a variety of mangoes. You’ve experienced the mango madness and explored the green side of mango with me, but there’s a lot more you can do with the sweet- tart, versatile mango.

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