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FOOD, now celebrated with a Tops Selfie Contest

FOOD, now celebrated with a Tops Selfie Contest

Baked, fried, toasted, roasted, boiled, steamed, raw and fresh or prepared and preserved with the harmonious mix of love and culinary talents. If this is how you prefer your taste buds to be treated, then you fall under the hearty category of “Foodies”. Not for nothing has such a love for food been celebrated daily by thousands of people around the world.  Welcome onboard the journey to the centre of the heart – food!

Taking into account the eccentricities of the health conscious, the mid-night bingers, those with a nose for the junk and even the plain old homely food lovers; there’s something for everyone. There’s a dedicated platform for Foodies, a social network connecting people for the love of food. Foodiye.com is a unique online space that allows food-lovers to connect, share and express their mutual affection for scrumptious, delectable and tempting savours.

Connect and contribute to this amazing food archive in an exciting contest that assures the winners fun and happening prizes and hampers. The #TopsSelfieContest became the ultimate contest for food lovers that needed the participants to click a selfie with their favourite Tops Pickles and upload it on Foodiye.com. With several enthusiastic participants posing with their choice of Tops pickle (there's a wide range of flavours to choose from), the contest soon gathered pace with a hoard of pickle selfies flooding the food-social-network. Better still, the winners of this fun and simple contest were treated with exciting gift hampers and prizes.

This story expedition of spreading smiles, and creating a space in the hearts and kitchens of foodies across the world have been a long-borne journey for the now-revered brand, Tops. Over a period of three decades, the well-known FMCG brand has spread its wings not only across the length and breadth of India, but also in as many as 25 countries around the world. And all this, under the skilled and visionary guidance of its founder, Brij M. Seth. The dream of acquiring the position of popular provider of high-quality processed food was fulfilled marvellously over this tenure of evolution and progress by Tops.

Apart from supplementing most of Indian homes and eateries with its savoury pickles (the varieties include 21 delightful flavours), Tops has been smart in its product choices. Today, this food-giant supplies several other processed foods like Jams, Jelly, Tomato Ketchup, Instant Mixes, Custard Powder, Vermicelli, Culinary Sauces among others. In the truest terms, Tops has sufficed every need of a modern household to become the most-preferred brand providing convenience food.

As Shaw proclaimed that there is no sincerer love than the love for food; remember to have fun and make merry on your next eating experience. Who knows, another exciting contest could be waiting for you foodies? Having said so, on your next trip to that favourite restaurant of yours, do not forget to click beautiful pictures of those savoury dishes you try. Till then, happy eating!

My Recipe is in a Book now !!!!

Hooray!!! My post on Kanda Poha got selected as one of 100 unique, simple and easy recipes for the 100 Kids Lunchbox Recipes event hosted by Indus Ladies.com. Please do have a look at the book..looks lovely.

The link for downloading the Book is below -

Recipe Book - http://www.indusladies.com/food/kids-lunch-box-recipes/

The cover of the book . 

Kanda Poha

A Little Read Up about the Main Ingredients - 

The main ingredient is flattened rice or beaten rice. Dehusked rice is parboiled, rolled, flattened and dried into flakes. It is fat-free and a good source of 11 vitamins and minerals including iron. Poha is easily digestible and easy to cook. There are different varieties of Poha; fine and medium flakes. Jada Poha  (the medium variety) is usually used for Kanda Poha.  

Kanda Poha or onion poha is a popular Maharashtrian breakfast recipe. (I also make it for my 4 year old's tiffin during the mid-morning break), but without the onions as it might smell odd when he opens his tiffin box. So its more like a Batata or Potato Poha. You may also add peas, carrots etc. to the Poha. It is a simple and tasty snack.

If the potatoes are boiled first, it speeds up the process. Also, the potatoes do not stick to each other. 

Ingredients to Measure - 

Jada Poha - 2 cups
Cooking oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds / rye (optional)  - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 5 pinched 
2 medium onion - chopped fine
1 large/2 medium potatoes cubed - boiled or raw
Tomatoes - 1 small (optional) I add this as I find the Poha too dry otherwise. 
Handful of roasted peanuts. Peel off the skin.
1/4 tsp - haldi / turmeric powder
Juice of 1/2 a lime - optional 
Salt to taste 
Chopped coriander to garnish

 http://www.indusladies.com/food/kids-lunch-box-recipes


Method - 

Wash the Poha under running water in a strainer or sieve for 1 minute and set aside to drain. 

Heat oil and fry potatoes till golden brown. 

Roast peanuts on a tawa  and keep aside to cool. Peel the skins.

Once the potatoes are done, set aside on a plate. Then add mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chillies. Once done, add chopped onions. Turn off the flame. 

Drain the Poha well and add to the seasoning in the frying pan. Add haldi powder and mix well. Then light the stove. 

Add salt to taste. Sprinkle water all over the Poha and cover with a lid on a low flame. 

Once done, garnish with coriander leaves and squeeze lemon juice. 

Serve hot. 

Sabudana Khichiri

A well known , most popular food during fasting in Maharashtra; the main ingredients are Sabudana / Sago, fried potatoes and ground peanuts.

A Little Read Out About the Ingredients -

Sago / Sabudana is a food product made from the milk of the tapioca root, which is then converted into small globules, using a special machine. Sago is nearly pure carbohydrate which is a great energy booster which can be combined with peanuts, groundnuts, vegetables, milk etc.

Peanuts - The addition of peanuts in Sabudana Khichiri adds protein, making it a balanced meal. Also, works like magic in keeping the Sabudana globules separate and therefore does not become a sticky, gluey mass which is impossible to separate.

When cooked, Sabudana turns translucent and becomes soft and spongy. Every pearl of sago has to be separate so its essential it is not soaked in water for too long. It can't be fried in hot oil or ghee. Instead fold carefully into warm seasoned oil after the pan has cooled a bit.

                                     
http://www.indusladies.com/food/kids-lunch-box-recipes


Ingredients to Measure - 

Sabudana / Sago - 2 cups
Water - 1/2 cup
Potatoes - 1 large/2 medium
Peanuts - 2 handfuls or to taste
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste (optional)
Lemon juice - 3 to 4 tsp  (optional)
Jeera Seeds - 1/2 tsp or a pinch (depends how much you love jeera or don't)
Oil - a little and enough to season.
Green chillies - to taste, finely chopped
Coriander leaves - a handful

Method - 

1) Wash the Sabudana in a colander under running water for a couple of times. Then empty out into a flat dish and soak overnight or for anytime between 2 - 8 hours. Small globules require 1 - 2 hrs only whereas the large globules require 3-4 or 6 - 8 hours of overnight soaking. Keep fluffing the sago with a fork at intervals.
Very Imp - The water should be enough to just about cover the Sabudana.
Drain well after soaking. Press between your fingers to see if they mash well. If they still have a hard center, then sprinkle some water and leave for 30 mins. Fluff them again.

2) Roast the peanuts in a microwave for 2 -3 minutes or dry roast on a chapati tawa till they become crisp. Please don't use oil. Keep aside to cool and peel off the skins. Coarsely powder the peanuts in a dry grinder.

3) Heat oil in a pan or wok (karahi). I use the frying pan as I like to use less oil but my maid prefers the karahi.  Sprinkle the jeera (cumin) seeds, curry leaves and green chillies (optional). Fry well. Now add chopped boiled potatoes and saute till golden brown.  Turn off the flame so that you give enough time for the oil can cool down to fold in your Sabudana later.

4) Peel and boil the potatoes in a microwaveable dish with enough water to cover the potatoes and microwave for 3 minutes or boil in a dish on the stove or in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles. Chop into small cubes. Boiling tends to speed up the process . You can also fry the raw cubed potatoes in oil .

4) Fluff up the Sabudana globules one last time and add salt and ground peanuts. Some people add sugar (optional) too and lemon juice. This is entirely up to you .

5) Now fold in the Sabudana mixture into the cooled oil and mix thoroughly. Saute lightly on a low flame for a little bit and turn off the stove before it turns into a gooey mass.

You can garnish with coriander leaves.

Surprising !!!!

My fellow Anglo - Indians... not a single post / picture / articles / recipe has come in and it has been a week...

Please do share your Sunday lunch recipes..... which I am sure are strictly AI cuisine.

Please do share your thoughts and memories too.

Looking forward to it...

Everything Anglo Indian ........

Hi !!! I am back after a long time. But my Flavours & Aromas was always with me though I couldn't post anything.

Something has been in my mind for a long time and I decided to pull up my sleeves and get down to it ultimately.

I realised that there wasn't a comprehensive record of Anglo-Indian cuisine, the kind my grandmother and mother makes and which has been passed onto me ... the Railway Mutton curry, Pork Vindaloo, Yellow Rice and Meatball curry etc. etc.

There are so many stories too which our older generation keep sharing with us. They are so interesting at times that I feel they should be documented.

So this is an invitation to all my Anglo - Indian friends all over the world to send in your recipes, anecdotes, articles, pictures, snaps, photographs, travel experiences to predominantly AI places/clusters. ...... basically anything AI....  Please send to marie8106@gmail.com

I will post all this in a separate blog which I will name Sparkles !

Please do share this with all you know so that we have a lovely documentation.

So Cheers to a lovely start. 

Party Shopping

Just before my son's first birthday, I was scouting for party suppplies, return gifts, party cutlery etc all over Mumbai. I did get a few things from the lanes behind Crawford Market. But my list was long and what I could get from there hardly made an impression on my list. I went to places like the The Party Shop (above Badshah's), the Sutar Chawl lane but couldn't get much.


So I went on to Google and started browsing for places where I might get the Party supplies and discovered several sites where I managed to buy a lot of things. I had a Disney theme planned for him and I managed to get Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse glasses, plates, plastic tablecloths.

Read more at  "CARNIVAL SHOPPING"  http://carnivalshopping.blogspot.com/