Hello everyone,

Yes, it has been an awfully long time since I have been away. Thank you to those who have missed me, checked on me and encouraged me to come back. It means a lot and thank you for being there! I have missed sharing my thoughts and recipes on this platform.

I am looking forward to sharing some of the food that I have been eating and cooking. Let’s start with rice dish – a staple in my house.

Did I ever mention my dislike for raisins? I am not, I mean, really NOT fond of raisins. No, not even a bit. On the other hand, little V, who, by the way, is not that little any more, can survive on raisins alone. That is, if he had his way  He can have as many raisins as he can get his hands on.

I was cooking a quick + less effort lunch for us one week day when I thought of adding raisins in the pulao (pilaf) to please him. But to my surprise, he suggested dried cranberries instead. I immediately jumped with joy and happily took his suggestion. His love for cranberries comes a close second to raisins. So, there you go! We had a win-win situation.

When my rice was soaking and I had some time to think, I just happened to glance on the bottles of sunflower and pumpkin seeds which were kept on the kitchen counter and I normally add to oats for breakfast. I thought – why not?! So there we go, at the end of it, we had a beautiful and crunchy twist to the usual Pulao. I roasted them in a little bit of ghee together with half of the dried cranberries and added them as a garnish. It gave the Pulao a whole new dimension!

For a printable recipe, click here. 

Serves: 2
Cooking time: 15 minutes + 5 minutes resting time
Preparation time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Rice: ½ cup
Dried bay leaves: 1-2
Cloves: 4
Cumin seeds: ¼ tsp
Whole black pepper: 8 nos.
Star anise: 1
Cauliflower: 8-10 medium and evenly sized florets
Peas: ½ cup frozen or fresh (I used frozen)
Cranberries: 15 pcs approx. (adjust to your liking)
Sunflower seeds & Pumpkin seeds: In equal amounts ¼ cup in all
Cashew nuts: about 6 pcs, roughly broken in twoCinnamon stick: 1 thin stick
Ghee: ½ tsp for the rice and another ½ tsp for frying the garnish
Salt to taste
Boiling water: 1and ¼ cups

Method :

Rinse the rice with water at least twice. Soak the rice for 15 mins. At the end of 15 mins, set it aside to drain for 10 mins using a strainer. Put about 2-3 cups of water to boil which we will need later.

While my rice was soaking, I soaked 1/2 a cup of frozen peas in water for at least 10 mins.

Now that the peas were taken care of, I quickly went on to cut / break cauliflower into about 8-10 pcs of of medium sized florets. I also roughly chopped the cashew nuts in halves. When these were done, I put my garam masalas aside to make sure I had everything ready when the pot went on!

I heated half a tsp of ghee in a pot in which I was going to make the pulao. I added the cumin seeds and all the whole garam masalas.

At this point, I lowered the heat to make sure they don’t burn. When the garam masalas start to emit a nice aroma and before they burn, I added the cashew nuts and half of the cranberries. Make sure you stir it continuously and keep the heat to low. It’s really easy to burn them at this stage. When they get a nice color (1-2 mins on low heat), it’s time to add in the vegetables.

Add the peas and the cauliflower florets with the heat on medium. Fry for another minute. Next, add the rice and mix it without breaking it to make sure the rice is coated with every bit of ghee there is in the pot.

Now carefully add 1 and ¼ cup of the boiling water and salt. Gently mix and taste for salt. A pulao is never too salty, so go easy on the amount of salt you add. Quickly lower the heat to the lowest mark, cover with a tight lid to not allow any or minimum steam to escape during this process. Set your timer for 11 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a little ghee in a small frying pan. Have your sunflower seeds + pumpkin seeds + remaining dried cranberries ready by your side.

As soon as the ghee melts, add these beauties and fry them on low heat until the seeds get a nice warm golden color. The cranberries just swell up a little and they look absolutely gorgeous.

At the end of 11 minutes, turn off the heat from the pot of Pulao. Now, I know if you are like me, you’ll just want to open the lid to see what happened in there, but hold back for just  5 mins more.

Open the lid when it’s rested. Your Pulao is waiting to be garnished and served.

Garnish with the cranberry, pumpkin and sunflower seeds we fried earlier and serve immediately. This can be eaten as part of an elaborate meal with a spicy curry. It’s really that simple and you can include it very easily to make any regular weekday meal a little more exciting. Have it with some achaar (pickle) and yogurt / raita.

Notes:
- Add the cashew nuts as a garnish and fry it together with the cranberries and seeds instead of adding it in the beginning. That helps to add more crunch.
- Now if you are like little V, you could have this entire dish with raisins in place of cranberries.
- In it’s simplest form, you can make the cauliflower and peas pulao without any cashewnuts, cranberries, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. Follow the same instructions but skip these ingredients.

As a result, I have been cooking and experimenting at home but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to post anything for the past few months. I feel a little selfish at this point so I definitely owe you all an apology. Many of you have been supportive over these past few months of silence – either by checking on me or by just by being connected through images that I have been posting on my facebook page (http://facebook.com/sublimepalate). A big thank you for that and sorry for being MIA.

So, I have decided to give that perfectionist in me a sorta break..  And post recipes and stories .. even though sometimes the pictures may not be perfect.. the recipes may…  – NO,  be rest assured – there will be no compromise on that front!:-) These photos are taken from my phone, so please excuse me if they aren’t nice enough.

So, starting off again, here’s a recipe of a healthy snack, I read on one of my favorite blogs, sinfully spicy.  This is a great snack for kids and adults alike! I took a portion of the tikki mix to make 3 tikkis for V. To the remaining portion, I added finely chopped green chillies.It is inspired by Tanvi’s beetroot tikkis. Ever since I saw that, I just had to make it! So for Tanvi’s recipe, check : http://sinfullyspicy.com/2012/06/27/beetroot-tikki/

Thank you Tanvi for this amazing snack!

Here’s how I made it:

MAKES 8 tikkis / cutlet:

You’ll need:

Beetroot: 1 medium sized
Potato: 1 small sized
Peas: 1 cup. Boil if using fresh. I used frozen peas and microwaved with a tiny pinch of salt for 2-3 mins to soften it so that it’s easy to mash.
Onion: 1 small size (or roughly 1/2 a cup of finely chopped onion)
Ginger: 1 small pc (adjust to your taste)
Garlic: 1-2 cloves
Green chillies – 2-3
Black pepper powder – 1 tsp (preferably coarsely powdered)
Bread crumbs – 4 heaped tbsp. (If you don’t have bread crumbs, use a slice of bread. Gently soften it by sprinkling a little water and mashing it separately first and then adding it to the mix).
Semolina (Suji) – 3 tbsp or more for coating the tikkis.
Oil – 1-2 tbsp.

Preparation:

1. Boil the potato so that they are cooked but firm. A little undercooked is fine but mushy potatoes may not bind the mix that well.
2. Finely chop onions, ginger, garlic and the green chillies.
3. Finely grate beetroots. Squeeze out the juice by hand. Drink the juice (It was yum .. I strained it and had it without adding anything. But I think a squeeze of lime should go very well). Anyhow, coming back to the grated beetroots, keep it in aside and move on.
4. Peel and finely grate the boiled potato. If you are brave, try grating it while it is hot! Just kidding – DON’T ! I almost burnt my palm. The inside of the potato retains a lot of heat so it’s advisable to take a little break and grate them when they have cooled off.
5. Mash the softened peas.
6. Start working on the next step (mixing) only before you need to make the tikkis. The salt releases a lot more moisture and makes it difficult to bind.
7. In a mixing bowl, add the grated potatoes, beets, mashed peas, onions, ginger, garlic, bread crumbs, black pepper powder, chaat masala & finally the salt. Gently combine this mix without mixing it too much! The more you mix, the more moisture gets released and your tikkis won’t hold together.
8. Make small cutlets / tikkis with this mix (oval or round shape can work). With this quantity, I ended up with 8 tikkis.
9. In a flat plate, keep the semolina. Very gently press the tikki on the semolina mix to coat the tikki with the semolina.
10. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a non-stick pan. I fried about 3 per batch in a small non-stick pan. Add more oil when frying the next batch, if needed. Make sure the oil is hot before you add the tikkis. On low heat, fry the tikkis for a few minutes on each side until crisp on the outside. Be gentle when turning the tikkis. If the heat is low, cook for a little longer to get a crispy outside while making sure the inside is cooked.
11. I had these with my go-to green chutney!

Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Submitting this image to Black and White Wednesdays #42 conceptualized by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and hosted by Roma at Roma’s space.

“The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you.” - B.B.King.

Learning is such an enriching experience. It never stops. The more you learn, the more you want to learn. I truly believe that it’s never too late to learn something new. What matters most is passion and an open mind!

Until a year ago, I was a part of the corporate world. Rather, it was a part of me. For almost 10 years. I was in a job that paid me enough to pay my bills and satisfy my retail therapy needs once in a while. It all seemed like one happy story with great opportunities to travel, meet new people and to do all the things that come along with it.

But there was something burning inside me all these years. A voice in me which reminded me every now and then that I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. I was born to do something entirely different. It took me many years of deliberation to finally make up my mind and take the plunge. I decided that I wasn’t going to do what doesn’t give me true happiness. It wasn’t a single-handed decision. I have my family to thank – For being there and giving me the opportunity to dream and explore my interests.

Through the birth of this blog, I embarked on a journey of self-discovery. This became a platform for me to explore my love for food, photography, writing and travel. It has become a place for meeting other like-minded people who share the same passion. Be inspired. Learn from others, share knowledge and hopefully, inspire someone along the way. After all, everyone needs a little inspiration, a gentle push from time to time. It always feels inspiring to see or know others who have been in a similar situation and have dared to dream, the once impossible dream. They have achieved it. With the right attitude, so will you!

That’s just a little bit more about me.. Thank you for reading!:)

On the topic of learning, I must tell you that I am no avid baker. I am learning as I go along and would love to bake more and innovate in the near future. Perhaps, one day, I will. I am inspired by so many bloggers around me who bake some really interesting and beautiful cakes and cookies! I first tried baking a loaf when I saw this really interesting recipe of a Rosemary Walnut Loaf by Kankana of Sunshine and Smile.

After my first attempt with a simple walnut loaf, I got a little more confident to attempt a request from my husband – a raisin bread. The two men in my house love it! I, on the other hand, stay far from it. Well, most of the time But, I love cooking for them! My go to book for baking is this book by Nigella Lawson. The Banana Bread recipe from Nigella has a good amount of raisins in it and that made it the perfect contender. As luck would have it, I also had some bananas that were very ripe and needed to be consumed immediately. And off I started baking, on a relaxing Sunday evening!

As the book says, this is a perfect recipe for anyone who is new to baking. The result was fabulous and loved by family and friends! The banana bread had a beautiful texture. It was moist and full of flavor at the same time. The alcohol in the raisin evaporates in the cooking and baking process. You will find a taste of rum but it isn’t alcoholic at all. In fact, in her book, Nigella says that this is safe for children to consume as the alcohol doesn’t pervade into the cake.

If you are anything like me in terms of baking, you should really try this recipe. It’s simple enough and totally worth the effort

Banana Raisin Bread:
For a printer-friendly version of the recipe, please click here.

Serves: about 10 slices

Ingredients:

Golden raisins: ½ cup
Dark rum: 6 tbsp
All-purpose flour: 1 cup + 2 tbsp
Baking powder: 2 tsp
Baking soda: ½ tsp
Salt: ½ tsp
Unsalted Butter: ½ cup
Sugar: ½ cup
Eggs: 2 big
Bananas: 4 Dole (small) very ripe and mashed
Walnuts: 1/4 heaped cup
Vanilla extract: 1 tsp
Loaf Pan: 9 x 5” lined with a paper insert or parchment paper

How I did it:

1. In a pan, bring the raisins and rum to boil. Turn off and leave it for 1 hour to soak up the liquid. Strain the excess liquid.
2. Pre-heat oven to 170 deg C.
3. In a bowl, put the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Sieve through once to ensure they are combined well.
4. Warm up the butter enough to get it melting. Don’t overheat.
5. Add the butter and sugar to a large steel mixing bowl. Beat this mixture well until it is thoroughly blended. The color will turn pale. I did this using an electric beater for about 15 mins. The time will vary, depending on the equipment used.
6. Break the eggs and beat it in the sugar+butter mixing bowl above – one by one.
7. Now beat in the mashed bananas.
8. Using a wooden spoon, combine the raisins, walnuts and the vanilla extract.
9. Next, add the flour mixture in 1/3^rd portions, combining it well after every addition.
10. Now pour this mixture into the prepared loaf pan.
11. Place the loaf pan in the centre of the oven, with both heat sources on. I placed the loaf pan closer to the top heat source.
12. Bake for 1 hour. The original recipe says it should take anywhere between 1 hour to 1 hour 15 mins. It depends on your oven. Mine took exactly 1 hour. It is advisable to check at the 50 min mark. If it is done, an inserted toothpick will come out clean.
13. As soon as it is done, using your mittens, place the loaf pan out to cool. Do not take out the banana bread out of the pan until it has cooled down.
14. Once cool, cut into slices and enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea, as you prefer.

Notes:

1. Use eggs that are at room temperature and not straight out of the fridge.
2. Same goes for butter, keep the butter out to come down to room temperature a couple of hours before baking.
3. Place the loaf in the middle level, though, closer to the top heat source than the bottom heat source.
4. The original recipe says that even though it rum is used, it is safe for kids to consume as the alcohol doesn’t pervade through.

Wine and company

Submitting these images to Black and White Wednesdays #40 conceptualized by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and hosted by Anusha of Tomato Blues. She will be doing the roundup of BWW #40 on 11th July, 2012.