CERTIFIED FOODIE.......

Foodie is a term used to describe someone who has a special interest in food and drink. The word was coined for the first time in 1984 by Paul Levy and Ann Barr who used it in the title of their book - The Official Foodie Handbook. Foodie represents someone who shows a lot of interest in all things that revolve around food.

A great cook may not be a foodie. Also foodie is different from a Gourmet. A gourmet's tastes are very refined and they may not be interested in ordinary food. But for a foodie any good food is something of interest. A foodie will go through a lot of effort and trouble to find that one little joint that sells the best pani poori in Kolkatta, for example. Or the best Vada pav in Mumbai, or the best sundal on the beaches of Chennai.

I am a certified FOODIE. I love to cook, experiment with new food combinations, eat in good restaurants, shop for specific ingredients, scout local markets for food inspirations, watch cooking shows, flip through cook books in a book store, browse the net for authentic recipes and dream about food. I take pleasure in meeting other foodies and in sharing valuable information on where to buy what and where to eat in my town and when I travel.

For instance, I have travelled many kilometers from the confines of a resort in Kumarakom to a popular toddy shop that I once read about to try their local speciality - Karimeen Polichathu. I have travelled many a times in rickshaws in Kolkatta to savor the different chaats in different locales. I have made many trips to find places where they serve delicious non-fussy organic meals in lovely little spaces. Every quest to find good food has been an adventure. The food may be disappointing at times but the journey has always been satisfying.

There are many ways to find information on good food. There are food guides for most big cities these days. Trip advisor and other websites help in narrowing down your search based on reviews. Also food blogs give a good picture of the food scenario in many cities. It also helps when you talk to friends who travel and to the natives while traveling.

Food ingredient shopping is another fabulous experience. I love to visit local markets and ethinic food stores to source ingredients that are not available in regular departmental stores. Sometimes I discover new and fascinating ingredients which I try to incorporate in appropriate dishes. I remember how chatting with a fellow cooking class student once led me to finding an ingredient - Kaachum puli (coorgi) - I had been searching for many months. There was also a time during a market tour in Paris, we stepped into a grain store and found Celery salt which comes in handy while making bloody marys.

Any foodie will have many memorable stories to share with a fellow foodie. It was fun sharing some of my food adventures with you. I hope it inspires you to set out on your own food adventures.

BUSTING THE OONDIYOON MYTH.........

I have always been fascinated with dishes that contain a mixture of vegetables. It’s probably the same reason why I am a big fan of salads. In Malabar cuisine, Avial is a very popular dish and a well-made Avial is very tasty. In Chettinad cuisine there are kootus which usually involve more than one vegetable.

Oondiyoon is a very common dish in Gujarati cuisine. Although I have heard about it many times, I have had the privelege to eat it only twice. It’s been so long ago that I can hardly recollect the flavour or textures from that dish.

One fine evening when I was pondering over what to cook for a vegetarian dinner, a friend of mine offered me a rough recipe for Oondiyoon. I have always resisted cooking Oondiyoon in my kitchen for two main reasons. One, it involves deep-frying the motiyas and two, it’s a very lengthy and time-consuming procedure. I try my best to keep deep-frying to a minimum in my kitchen for obvious health reasons. Motiyas are generally deep-fried (sometimes they are steamed or boiled to add to gravies) balls of roasted gram flour (besan) with a mixture of spices.

Anyways, I was running out of ideas for a good vegetarian, north-Indian vegetable dish that’ll go well with chappathi and a dal. So I decided to try out my friend’s recipe for Oondiyoon. I first made the motiyas and then went on to cook the vegetables and toss it all together. When I tasted one of the motiyas right after I finished making them, I knew that the final dish was going to taste spectacular.

Oondiyoon consists of roasted vegetables, mashed motiyas and whole motiyas. Motiyas are a vital part of the dish and I was excited that I got that part right. Also the vegetables used for Oondiyoon are mostly the country-type. Yams, gourds, country-variety of beans, etc play centre-stage in this dish.

And as it turned out, it was not a very difficult dish to cook. Also the motiyas were not very oily. We savoured every morsel of the final dish. If you ever come across a decent recipe for Oondiyoon, do not hesitate to try it out. It’ll make a great vegetarian side dish for a simple meal, as well as a festive meal for friends and family.

THE ART OF FOOD PRESENTATION

First impression is the best impression when it comes to most things in life. Food presentation is a very important part of entertaining and dining. Food should satisfy all your senses. Very often you look at the food first before you smell or taste it. So it is very important to make a good first impression with a creative presentation.

I love browsing through cookbooks in a bookstore just to look at all the lovely and colourful pictures of food in them. The more pictures, the better it is. The dishes are generally presented in a very artistic and creative way these days. I hardly buy cookbooks that have no pictures or not so great pictures in them. Good pictures in a cookbook inspire me to try out specific recipes.

Next time you cook a special meal for your family or friends do make an extra effort to present it in a very appealing way. Your guests will love the meal even before they taste it. Here are some pointers to make your meal look extra-special.

• The dish you serve the food in should look great. Mix white bowls and platters with a few colourful ones.

• Garnishes can make the food look appealing and fresh. We usually sprinkle chopped coriander leaves on most Indian food items. Try garnishing with sprigs of coriander or mint for a change. Slivered nuts make for an interesting garnish.


• Swirls of cream, oil or sauces look great on soups and gravies.

• For chocolate desserts, try sprinkling cocoa powder or icing sugar on top just before serving. Slice cooking chocolate using a bread knife to obtain beautiful shards of chocolate that can be sprinkled on a mousse.

• For desserts with fruits, garnish with slivers of fresh fruit on top. Mint sprigs look and taste great with fruity desserts.

• If you are serving food as individual servings, you can plate up each course with an attractive lay out.

• Some of the vegetable dishes can be arranged as individual servings on a large platter. It’ll look good and be easy for the guests to help themselves.

• A lovely centre-piece in the middle of the dining table is a good idea if you have the time to put together something after cooking an elaborate meal. Try and be creative and use non-floral items too in your centre-piece. Spices, vegetables, shells, candles, pebbles and pinecones are just a few examples.

These are just a few tips that can go a long way in making a lunch or dinner spread look amazing.

CAULIFLOWER KHORMA

The vegetarian readers are going to love this recipe!!! I had this Khorma for lunch today and I just couldn't have enough. I had an extra cup of Khorma after finishing the chapathis!!!

Here's the recipe.........

Ingredients:

2" piece Cinnamon
6 Garlic cloves
1/2" piece Ginger
2 Red chillies
1 tbsp Poppy seeds (khus khus)
1 1/2 tbsp Roasted channa dal (pottu kadalai)
1 tsp Fennel seeds (saunf)
1 Big Onion, sliced
1 Tomato, sliced
3 cups Cauliflower florets
1 1/2 cups thick Coconut milk
3 cups thin Coconut milk
1 - 2 tsp Ghee
2" piece Cinnamon
2 sprigs Curry leaves

Grind the Cinnamon, garlic, ginger, red chillies, khus khus, roasted channa dal and fennel seeds into a fine paste. Dissolve this ground paste into the thin coconut milk. Add the sliced onion, tomato and the cauliflower florets to the coconut milk mixture. Pour this mixture into a pan and put it on a medium flame. Once this comes to a boil simmer it for about 15 minutes until the cauliflowers florets are cooked and tender.

Now in a small pan, heat the ghee and add the cinnamon and curry leaves. Pour this into the pan with the cauliflower khorma. Add the thick coconut milk and bring the khorma to a boil and remove from flame. Serve hot with chappathis.

This is a great Khorma and is a good vegetarian gravy to serve with chappathis while entertaining guests. Your guests are sure to love it.

KING'S CLIFF, OOTY

King's Cliff is an old colonial house that has been revamped into a charming little hotel with an old-world ambiance. The old trees along the driveway and well manicured garden add to the charm of the hotel. A leisurely lunch in the glass house or a relaxed evening by one of their fireplaces is an excellent option for a meal out in Ooty. Families with children will thoroughly enjoy this place as there is ample space and good service to go with it.



Earl's Secret, the restaurant at King's Cliff offers a wide range of dishes spanning Indian, continental and Asian cuisines. The During my first few visits to the King's Cliff I was hesitant to experiment with different cuisines and mainly ordered only Indian dishes. The kebabs are excellent especially the ones involving chicken. Rotis were soft and the gravies were mild and tasty (without oil floating on the surface). When I did try the continental dishes, I was not very satisfied and have refrained myself from ordering continental food from then on.



Over many visits to King's Cliff we have come to enjoy and relish a few dishes in particular like the Butter chicken masala, Vegetarian Thai red curry, Chicken Reshmi kebab and the simple Chicken hakka noodles. My son in particular is very fond of the Butter chicken masala and was talking about it even a day before we could visit King's cliff during our last trip to Ooty. I am sure he dreamt about it in sleep that night! And he thoroughly enjoyed it when we did order the dish the next day.

The management at King's Cliff is very friendly and efficient and would be happy to organise a bar-be-que for your family and friends in the evening. Lounging around the fireplace is also a fantastic option in the evenings. Since they do not take reservations for the seats around the fireplace it is better to get there early in the evenings. Over the weekends they have a one-man band playing music mostly from the 60's and 70's which seems to pair well with the setting and mood around the place.

SHINKOWS, OOTY

Anybody who has been to Ooty more than a couple of times will know about Shinkows and its food. And those that were in boarding school in Ooty have fond memories of eating in Shinkows during their outings. Shinkows is an institution in itself.

Although I have never been to China myself I feel its the closest thing you can get to real chinese food in this part of the country. Most of the food thats served in chinese restaurants are desi-chinese. Only the star hotels in big metros seem to serve authentic asian food in their specialised restaurants. A trip to Ooty is never complete for me without a meal in Shinkows.

Shinkows has been around in Ooty for over 30 years or so (may be longer, I am not so sure). Its been run by the same person all these years and most of the people who work there have been around for years. Service can be better and the place definitely has a lot of scope for improvement when it comes to cleanliness. The food there has been consistently good that a lot of people tend to overlook these setbacks. The menu is reasonably simple and straight-forward.

My favourites there are Young Chow Fried noodles, Chicken with pineapple and Chilly Beef. The Young Chow fried noodles is very similar to an American Chopsuey except the sauce on top is very mild (not sweet and sour) and is loaded with vegetables. The chicken with pineapples is again a very mild dish with loads of onions and pineapple in a mild sauce with chicken (which is not deep-fried). Most chicken dishes on the menu are very similar except for chilly chicken. They all come with a mild gravy, loads of onion and the vegetable the dish is named after.

The chilly beef is a deep-fried spicy dish. The other beef dishes are again similar to the chicken dishes, mild gravy with onion and the vegetable the dish is named after. The quality of beef is very good, always soft and cut very thin. The pork dishes are subject to availability and I have never had the chance to try any. Vegetarians will find limited options on the menu and may not be as satisfied as the meat-eaters.

Another aspect what I really like about the restaurant is the little vegetable plot they have in the same premises where they grow a few greens thats consumed in the restaurant itself. Its a really small area but I like the idea that they trying to grow whatever is possible for their own consumption.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI FLOWERS

About 10 years ago, a friend of mine told me about her excitement in finding Zucchini in one of the restaurants in Chennai. And I had no clue what a Zucchini looked like or tasted like. My first experiences with Zucchini were when I lived in the US for 2 years. My neighbour and I used to rent little plots from the university and grow vegetables in it during the summer months. I could hardly get anything out of my plot while my neighbour managed a big harvest of Zucchinis. She was using her Zucchinis in Indian-style subzis and hence I tried to use it the same way in Indian cooking according to her recommendations.

Over the years of watching a zillion shows on food and reading a few books on cooking, I have come across fried Zucchini flowers. They are meant to be a delicacy in Italy and its really hard to come across Zucchini flowers here in India, atleast for me. They looked quite delicate and I assumed that they don't travel well.

I was in Coonoor, Nilgiris, visiting an organic farm yesterday. And I could see Zucchini growing in little shrubs. When I asked my farm guide about Zucchini flowers, he wanted to know whether I wanted the male or the female flowers. I had no clue what he was talking about. The female flowers are the ones that go on to develop into Zucchinis. The male flowers just wither and fall after a while. So my son and I decided to pick only the male flowers and managed to collect about a dozen and bring it home.

Heres the recipe to what I made with the Zucchini flowers:

Ingredients:

8 Zucchini flowers
30 gms Mozarella Cheese
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup drinking soda
1/2 tsp oil
and oil to deep fry

Gently open out the petals of the Zucchini flowers and remove the filaments from the inside. Cut the cheese into thin slivers that'll fit into the flowers. Stuff the cheese in to the zucchini flowers and secure the petals around it. Make a batter out of the flour, salt, egg, oil and soda. Immediately dip the zucchini flowers into the batter and drop them into heated oil in a pan. Fry until golden brown and drain on absorbant paper. Serve hot.

And as you can see even my 2-year old couldn't keep his hands off it. The melted cheese, crispy batter and the delicate flower made a wonderful combination. This recipe is a must-try if you can lay your hands on fresh, organic Zucchini flowers.