Soulful Creations

for the itsy-bitsy, dainty golden beauties.     "I have no hostility to nature, but a child's love to it. I expand and live in the warm day like corn and melons"- Emerson The corn season arrives and I let out a sigh of relief. I wait eagerly for these months when I can go out to the store, smell the wet earth on fresh corn and obsess over which one, among the hundreds laid out, I should pick. I love corn- and I love all kinds of it. I am happy with just plain corn (sweet or otherwise) roasted on a stove. I saw the recipe here - by the way Mark Bittman rocks! Ingredients 2 tablespoons canola oil 3 ears corn, stripped of their kernels 1 small red onion, chopped 1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped 1 tsp chilli powder, like ancho Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 small can (15oz) black beans Juice of 2 limes 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves Method Put the oil in a pan and turn the heat to high. When the oil is very hot but not yet smok...

with juicy ripe mangoes, anyone? The ones in the picture are not juicy ripe mangoes- my dad thought the picture looked better with cut spicy mangoes. But the photo credit goes to him, as I amidst my mango devouring days in Chennai, I forgot all about the camera and this blog- now can ya blame me?   Of course, a quintessential Tam Bram (only when it comes to food though) that I am- I love my thayir sadam and; I love to have my thayir sadam with the golden beauties when they are in season. Something about sour yogurt and sweet mango combination- just feels right every time.   This time I had at least 4 different varieties- the ones in the picture are Haapoos or more lovingly known as alphonso, farm fresh and were being taken away for ripening. This was on our way back from Lavasa , Pune.  I had amrapali (mom bought them for me from Bhubaneswar), langda in Pune and one another varitey I do not remember the name- not that I care too much for names when I am eating them! ...

Yes, that is correct. The first time I saw this recipe here , I had mocked it and mocked it despite the fact that I love Sanjeev Kapoor's recipes. They are usually unbelievably simple and the outcome usually delicious. I should also confess that I did bookmark the page for one of those days that I would feel adventurous enough. So here is a very Indian-Thai tasting pasta recipe that was made by the wise guy- rest assured he/we did not follow the recipe to the T.   Ingredients 1 box dried rotini pasta  1 bag of frozen veggie mix that had broccoli, cauliflower and carrots 1 onion, sliced 2 tomatoes, chopped 1 tbsp garlic paste 1 tbsp ginger paste red chilli powder, to taste 2 green chilli, chopped 1 tbsp Garam masala (the wise guy used something called mutter paneer masala from parampara) 1 cup half and half salt, to taste 1 tbsp oil for frying Method Boil the pasta as per package instructions with salt and may be some olive oil. While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a pan. ...

...we could not have chaat for dinner.   Bhel puri, nothing fancy here and idli manchurian, the recipe inspired from here . Ingredients   Idlis 8-10 1/2 tsp Chilli powder 1 small  Onion, chopped into 1 inch pieces Zucchini, chopped into cubes, about 1 cup 1/2 bunch Spring Onions, chopped, white and green parts separated Green Chillies, chopped finely Ginger - 1 tsp, minced Garlic - 1/2 tsp, minced   Soysauce - 1 tbsp   3-4 tsp Chilli garlic sauce 1 tbsp Ketchup 1 tbsp Cornflour, mixed with 1/4 cup water Oil -for frying the veggies and enough to spray on idlis. Salt & Pepper - to taste Method   Preheat oven to 375F. Cut idlis into small pieces . Toss with some chilli powder and spread on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, spray cooking oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes or till golden and crispy. Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped green chillies, ginger, garlic, spring onion white part and onions. Cook till they are tran...

  My friend gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, I think she is a week old now!   This is for my friend who got married recently, well it is going to be their one year anniversary soon. And no, the family in the frame is not THEM!

Every time I have an aha moment about something ingenious that I concoct, I just have to type a few keywords from my concoction and behold...someone has already done it. This recipe today is also borne out of one of those humbling times- agreed I am not the most inventive cook but hey I cannot help it if other people think like I do, only they had done it ages ago! Here is a recipe for an really wonderful pesto with green peas and tuvar lilva (green pigeon peas), adapted from here Ingredients 2 cups frozen peas 1 cup frozen green pigeon peas (tuvar lilva, the skin is still on and that adds taste to the pesto) 2 cloves garlic 3-4 tbsp grated sharp white cheddar a handful of pine nuts, toasted 1 cup basil (roughly chopped) salt and pepper to taste 3 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp chilli-garlic paste. Method Process everything in a blender- I did not stream the olive oil in so the pesto was not all that emulsified. That is all- serve it on your favorite pasta or sandwich- I se...

  Wow, it is amazing how last minute things can get but lucky for me this daring baker's challenge was not only super fun, it was fairly easy (if you discount my 2 tries before this one-and I knew exactly what went wrong both times) and super delicious. The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake . Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri . For Cream Cheese-almond butter filling 1/2 cup softened cream cheese (I uesd whipped cream cheese) 1/2 almond butter 1/4 cup powdered sugar Mix these ingredients well and then fold in 1/3 cup whipped cream . Chill until it is ready to use For Nutella-Whipped cream filling Fold 2/3 cup whipped cream into 1/2 cup Nutella and chill until use For Pate a Choux (Yield: About 14) 1/2 cup all purpose flour 2 large eggs 1/4 cup +2 tbsp water 3 Tbsp Organic unsalted butter 1/8 Tsp salt 1/2 Tbsp s...