Saturday, August 24, 2013


Lifting the lid off her passion

Swati Thakur, TNN | Aug 24, 2013, 06.16 AM IST
READ MORE Italian try-outs|healthy food|Chinese poha
LUDHIANA: For most of us, cooking is something we do because we have to. But Jyotsana Jain enjoys doing it and looks forward to opportunities that hone her culinary skills. Without her realizing, slowly yet surely, the smart chef carved her way out into this creative zone. What really makes her different from others is her ability of creating wonders from small things.

'Cooking is not just about exotic spices and expensive ingredients. A good cook is the one who knows how to effectively use those little things in your kitchen to make something that you have never tasted before,' she says. The thought is supported by the recipe book she has in her hand. 'I have maintained this diary for a very long time and every time I create something new, I write it down in there,' she adds.

Conceptualization is Jyotsana's forte and her dishes are a fine example of her creativity. 'From Chinese poha and poha kheer to Italian try-outs, I try to make ordinary healthy food into delicious cuisines,' she says. Unlike many who develop a taste towards this skill while helping out their mothers in the kitchen, Jyotsana inherited her passion for cooking from her father, who, she says, is still a pro at making cocktail drinks and jams. For someone who has such an expertise in cooking, it is easy to assume that it is a childhood passion. However, Jyotsana was inclined towards cooking only after marriage.

Married to a senior police official, Anil Prabhat Jain, Jyotsana says her husband's transferable job acted as a catalyst to discover her passion. 'When we moved to Jammu, many friends and relatives would come to visit us. As I was unfamiliar with the markets, I used to find it difficult to shop. One day when a friend visited us, I tried my hands at a new recipe with the things available at home. I haven't looked back since then.' Appreciation and compliments, she says, have helped her reach this position.

However, pride comes from the fact that her children never insist on eating out. 'I avoid ordering stuff from outside. I think the biggest challenge these days is to help your kids stick to healthy food and not get swayed by the junk available in the market', she says.
Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, August 10, 2013


Global Goa: The world on a plate

Vivek Menezes, TNN | Aug 10, 2013, 01.18 AM IST
READ MORE South America|Octavio Paz
PANAJI: Try to imagine Indian food without chilies. We produce, consume and export far more than any other country — more than 30% of global supply — but the fact is chilies were unknown in the subcontinent until they first introduced from South America just over four centuries ago. Entering via Goa along with potatoes, corn, guavas, chickoos, in a stream of dozens of other plants and fruits from the "New World" of the Americas, these imports created a revolutionary and permanent shift in Indian diets and palates.

Another example: British colonialists annexed Upper Assam specifically in order to replaced its fabled old-growth forests with vast tea plantations. Up to that point, the only Indians familiar with the beverage were a few tribals in what is now Arunachal Pradesh. But it took just 100 years for chai to become our national drink, today Assam alone produces 11% of the world's tea crop.

These and myriad other examples demonstrate that whatever its attendant complications, there can be no doubt globalization has always delivered a culinary bonanza. Besides ingredients, there's also been a profound dispersal of new techniques, that led to entirely new ways of thinking about food.

In Bengal, the Portuguese first horrified locals by splitting milk to make cottage cheese (there called 'chhana'). But what was first considered an abomination immediately became the central ingredient of a whole range of sweets, including sandesh and rossogulla. Today, these are the very epitome of Bengali culinary identity. The process works in both directions equally effectively: the brilliant Mexican Nobel Prize winner, Octavio Paz has recounted how a nun from India wound up inventing one of Mexico's most iconic dishes, Mole Poblano.

Even more than other places, Goan food has greatly benefited from our homeland's historic role as a melting pot of cultures. After all, we experienced one of the earliest crucibles of what is now touted as globalization.

So it is impossible to imagine our most cherished dishes without the influence of the outside world, even while remembering the great Goan artist and gourmand, Francis Newton Souza's constant refrain - "our versions are always better than the originals!"

Thus, our sorpotel is a much more soulful, fiery version of the Portuguese original. Our bebinca is a considerably more sophisticated confection than the South East Asian sweet it is based on. And no Brazilian has ever distilled anything nearly as fine as feni from the cashew, despite the plant being native to that country (the word 'caju' is itself an import from an Amazonian language).

Despite attendant pressures and anxieties, we must note that Goa still remains one of India's most profound cultural crossroads. We now host tens of thousands of permanently resident neo-Goans from across the world, as well as unending numbers of Indian migrants. Many of our villages are every bit as multinational as Bangalore, with even small schools often including dozens of nationalities in their student bodies.

This 21st century churn has just as much foodie excitement as centuries past. Goa might be a fraction of the size of its neighbours, our population laughably tiny when compared the cities sprawling within an hour or two's flying distance. But very few places feature such an extraordinary variety of food available in our markets and restaurants, globalized demand has delivered the world onto our plates.

It is notable that much of the best "international food" available in Goa is made from local ingredients, right here in-state. Italians are making mozzarella, Frenchmen bake baguettes and croissants. The famous British butcher of Arpora turns out hundreds of kilos of what food guru Karen Anand (herself a Goan) describes as the "best bangers in India".

Today, the village of Anjuna by itself produces yummy Mexican corn chips, silken Russian-style sour cream, and truly superb French Dijon mustard, among a huge range of other artisanal produce. You can expect these fine proucts to go nationwide in short order, you simply can't beat the quality anywhere in India.

Goa's burgeoning food revolution has nothing to do with government efforts. In fact, mamy entrepreneurs and chefs who contribute efforts in this sector report harassment and extortion. And like everyone else in the state, they suffer from astronomical inflation, and an extraordinarily poor supply chain.

But make no mistake, huge changes to what we eat in Goa are underway again, just as in the 16th and 17th centuries. The results may be unpredictable, but I am certain they will be delicious.
Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, August 3, 2013


Macaroons edge cupcakes out of the plate

, TNN | Aug 4, 2013, 06.20 AM IST
READ MORE YES|Monkey|champagne|cake|wispy confectionary
Dainty, crispy, delicate, elegant - these are just some of the adjectives used to describe macarons. And these fragile bits of wispy confectionary are edging out another faddy dessert that was responsible for floating a thousand home-bakers' careers - the cupcake.

Yes, the with-it turn up their noses at cupcakes these days while taking tiny bites out of this biscuit-like product that belongs to the meringue family. A macaron (also spelt as 'macaroon' ) is a crisp meringue shell made essentially with three things: almond flour, egg white and icing sugar. Usually, two macaron shells are sandwiched together with a filling, which can range from the humble buttercream to exotic concoctions such as wasabi-and-white chocolate.

"The meringue does lend itself to a lot of experimentation with the fillings. We are even creating some savoury macarons that will be more salty than sweet," says chef Tanmoy Savardekar of The Winking Macaron on Mosque Road. Savardekar used to be pastry chef at Olive Beach and Monkey Bar before he quit to start his own patisserie, and his macarons have created quite a buzz. Savardekar does macarons with several exciting fillings such as dark chocolate and star anise, peanut butter, vanilla caviar and salted caramel. The Winking Macaron also serves up other desserts but the macarons are the go-to option for most customers. The patisserie sells around 150 macarons every day.

Chef Girish Nayak, the current pastry chef at Olive Beach, is quite sure that macarons are poised to become the latest sweet craze. "At Olive, we have been doing macarons for four to five years and the demand is definitely growing. It is a versatile confection that can be consumed by itself, with a variety of fillings, with plated desserts as a substitute for biscuits, or with ice-cream," says Nayak. He has experimented with savoury macarons as well, filling them with foie gras and creating an especially la-di-dah one with a vanilla and champagne filling.

Venkatesh Raghu and Prasanth Shadakshari are so convinced of the macaron's imminent superstardom in the world of desserts that they have set up a factory to churn them out in large numbers in Basavangudi. Their venture, Amande Patisserie, is a year old and the two are set to open their first retail outlet at Hypercity in Brookefield, though they have been supplying macarons and other desserts to restaurants and bakeries. Why macarons? "My co-owner Prasanth is a Le Cordon Blue-trained chef and we were flatmates in Sydney. When we decided start our own venture in Bangalore, the macaron craze was just taking off in the West and we thought we would make it our primary product as well," says Venkatesh, who fell in love with macarons during his honeymoon in Paris. Amande also plans to introduce Bangalore to other delicate French confections such as profiteroles and millefeuilles, which are mainly available at fivestar cake shops today.
Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, July 28, 2013


5 delicacies bangalore is feasting on

TNN | Jul 28, 2013, 03.18 AM IST
READ MORE samosa|ramzan|basmati rice
THEETHAR: Bird meat marinated in ginger-garlic paste and curd, and fried in refined oil. A big hit among city foodies. Following the big demand, theethar (partridge) are raised in farms. Theethar, at Rs 80 a piece, cost less than chicken. A couple of food joints on the Bangalore-Mysore road draw big crowds which dig into roasted and fried theethar.

Pathar Gosht: Shredded mutton fried on a big stone slab placed on top of coal fire. The process is time-consuming, taking into account the big slab takes more than two hours to heat and the coal fire needs to burn from evening to late night. Made only during Ramzan. Mughlai cuisine perfected by Pathani cooks. Must on the list of all communities.

Bangalore Biryani: Dum Biryani cooked with basmati rice and tender meat, steamed in spices. This delicacy is only cooked with young goat meat. Bangalore Biryani has no potatoes and sheep meat is a strict no-no. Mutton biryani costs Rs 160, while chicken biryani is sold at Rs 120.

Kheema-Anda Roti: A fast-food type snack favoured by Muslims breaking their fast. Wheat roti laced with beaten egg and stuffed with spicy mince meat. Nominally priced at Rs 12, demand is next only to samosas. More than 100 Kheema-Anda Roti stalls are put up in Shivajinagar and City Market as Ramzan draws to a close.

Samosa: More than 5 lakh samosas are sold each day during Ramzan. The onion samosa, nominally priced at Rs 6, and the kheema samosa at Rs 8, are favourites among school and college students. While a couple of stalls cook their own samosas, most source it from Muslim families in the samosa trade.

Paya: Lamb legs first roasted and cooked with a lot of spices for more than four hours. Paya is served with Semiyan. Tops the list both at Sehri and Iftaar.

Kadi Gosht: A stick pierced through Breast chicken pasted with spicy masala and deep fried.

Coconut Nan: A speciality of the Bangalore bakers. Made only in Bangalore with coconut, sugar, cashew and plums. The mixture is roasted and fried before stuffing into the nan made out of Maida. Albert bakery is the hot spot for Cocunut nan.

Semiyan: Made from rice flour much like the steamed Idli. Semiyan and Paya and Semiyan and Pathar Gosht are the crowd favourites.

Handi Kheer: A sweet dish made from Soji and milk and served with dry fruit toppings.
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, July 25, 2013


Burger with lab-grown meat is ready to eat

, TNN | Jul 26, 2013, 05.07 AM IST
READ MORE London|laboratory-grown hamburger|bovine muscle stem cells
LONDON: The first laboratory-grown hamburger developed using bovine muscle stem cells would be unveiled in London next week. Professor Mark Post of Maastricht University in Netherlands has utilized existing technology for growing muscle cells and used 3,000 cell strands to create enough meat for a single hamburger.

Scientists say cultured beef will greatly reduced need for livestock and address the increasing global demand for food.

"The project could also be the answer that feeds the world, saves the environment and spares the lives of millions of animals. It will lead the way to environmentally friendly meat production, sustainable meat sources and cruelty-free meat production ,'' the scientists involved in the project said in a statement. It said meat and other staple foods are likely to become luxury items thanks to the increased demand for crops for meat production unless a sustainable alternative is found.

Post said current livestock meat production is not sustainable from an ecological point of view or in terms of volume. "Right now we are using more than 50% of all our agricultural land for livestock. It's simple maths. We have to come up with alternatives. If we don't do anything meat will become a luxury food and be very, very expensive."

Experts say cultured beef will allow scientists to eradicate human disease contracted from livestock and control the level of fat content of meat products. It would also be ecofriendly as keeping livestock for food produces 39% of all emitted methane and 5% of carbon dioxide.

Further, pigs and cows transform only 15% of vegetable proteins into edible animal proteins, but occupy more than 70% of all arable land. Currently to produce 1 kg of beef requires up to 15,000 litres of water, according to UN figures.
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, July 15, 2013


Humble tallo replaces tamso, modso, bangdo on dinner plate

Suraj P Kaisuvker, TNN | Jul 16, 2013, 01.56 AM IST
READ MORE SGHRAO|sardines|mackerels

PONDA/PANAJI/MARGAO/MAPUSA: With mackerels selling at Rs 40 a piece in many fish markets across the state, Goans are digging deep into their pockets to relish some sea food to go with their daily meal and even then some are opting for varieties they would otherwise overlook.

"I now purchase good quality fish only once a week and we prefer buying cheaper varieties like sardines (tallo), which we would avoid earlier," Ponda resident Santosh Fadte told TOI.

Fadte is not the only one to be hit by the rise in fish prices. After 45 days of the ban on trawler fishing, skyrocketing prices have many fish-loving Goans only dreaming about savouring the choicest fish and restaurateurs are offering cheaper varieties to their customers.

A portion of fish may still cost Rs 50, but the quantity for that price is making the common man groan in despair, while varieties sold by weight-such as prawns at Rs 300 a kg and lady fish at Rs 500 per kg-are not cheering them up any and sending them looking for alternatives.

Ponda resident Hanumant Chopdekar said he cannot afford to purchase fish regularly and has switched to chicken. "A small fish of less than 500 gm costs about Rs 200, while we get chicken at Rs 180 a kg," he said.

Though prices of some fish varieties have remained unchanged, better fish qualities have gone beyond the reach of even the middle class families. Kingfish (visvon) which would cost Rs 400 a fortnight ago is now sold at Rs 550, giant sea perch (chonak) has gone up to Rs 500 as compared to Rs 400, mangrove red snapper (tamso) Rs 400 as against Rs 300.

Prices have risen as fish is now being sourced from outside the state. Panaji trader Suresh Agarwal said, "The price of kingfish and lemon fish have gone up in the past week. Due to the fishing ban in Kerala and Karwar, we now bank on Chennai, Kanyakumari and Vishakhapatnam for supplies."

Other fish varieties, such as Indian salmon, lady fish, silver belly (Velli) and prawns are sourced locally and their prices have remained largely constant.

Margao wholesale fish merchant Ibrahim Musa said fish prices fluctuate during the monsoon depending on the quantum of stock available on a given day. "During the monsoon, fish is brought from the east coast states like Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. While we face shortage of fish sometimes, on other days there is plenty of fish. These days we have sardines, mackerels and silver belly arriving in adequate quantities," he said.

Ponda fish vendor Chandrakant Gaude conceded that the shortage of fresh fish is becoming more acute with the fishing ban still on, though supply is maintained with fish from other states.

"The rates have doubled or even tripled. Those reluctant to purchase about 25-30 sardines for Rs 20 in the past are now forced to buy hardly ten sardines for Rs 50," Ponda restaurateur Teja Gaude said. She said the shortage of quality fish has affected her business and the number of customers is declining.

Small and up market restaurateurs, who banked on quality fish to lure diners are compelled to rely on lower quality fish to cut costs and a few restaurants in some towns have been forced to take better quality of fish off their menus.

Ponda restaurant owner Surendra Dhulapkar said he had stopped serving king fish, pomfret, mackerels and prawns and replaced it with sardines or even eggs. "We charge Rs 50 for a plate and using quality fish is not affordable to small hoteliers like us," Dhulapkar said.

This was echoed by Niraj Naik of Margao who said, "It's extremely difficult to offer delectable fish dishes to our customers at such exorbitant rates. When the thali (lunch plate) is priced at Rs 50, we cannot afford to buy sardines which are sold at Rs 10 a piece."

Some Pernem and Bardez restaurateurs have played it smart by keeping the rate of their rice plates flexible, depending on the rate of the fish they purchase on a particular day. The rice plates are sold between Rs 60 and Rs 120 in these two talukas.

South Goa Hotel and Restaurant Owners' Association ( SGHRAO) president C P Jaggi, who runs a fast food joint in Margao has taken off three fish items-fried fish and chips, fish fillet burger and fish fingers-from his menu.

"Short supply of fish apart, what is available in the market is fish stored in deep freezers for a very long period which affects the quality and taste of the fish. As Goans are real fish eaters, they can judge the quality of fish just by looking at it. So I decided to strike out the three fish items from my menu," Jaggi said.

Ponda resident Navnath Parkar said fish from Karwar or Maharashtra cannot compete with the taste of Goan sea food. He admitted that the scarcity of Goan fish at Ponda market, forced him to buy fish from neighbouring states.

Ponda market fish seller Varsha Fadte said she brings fish caught by using traditional fishing methods. "The price of the local fish remains very high, but the customer who values quality is willing to pay this price."

With inputs from Govind Kamat Maad in Margao, Keshav Naik in Mapusa and Surabhi Kamat in Panaji
Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Bio-food now in vogue at weddings, luncheons


CHENNAI: It's not every wedding that dishes out its guests a brief bio of the food they're served. But then, not every wedding lays out an organic spread. If you're at a reception catered by 25-year-old Raja Murugan, you'll be introduced to each item as the server comes around with it. The dosas will be pointed out for the jowar they're made of; the grain will be identified as bamboo rice, and the kodo millet in the bisibele bath will be spoken for. By the way, that's foxtail millet in your pongal.

Murugan steers a one-man catering outfit called NallaSoaru (Good Food) that only works with organic ingredients - grain, millets, fruit and greens. He set up the business two-and-a-half years ago, as an extension of his association with the organic farming collective, Nalla Keerai (Good Greens). "We're out to promote healthy living," says Murugan.

There's a growing interest in living right, as the number of organic stores, both online and off, suggest. While Chennai's interest in the organic way hasn't yet scaled the high bar of a city's commitment to clean cultivation - an all-organic restaurant - the demand for it is gradually growing beyond the domestic dinner plate. People who care about their own health and that of the environment, and buy into the principles of chemical-free cultivation, are making their dietary vote known to friends and family by throwing organic parties and 'health' luncheons and even supplementing wedding and anniversary reception menus with ingredients that have never known a synthetic supplement.

Samir Singla, who runs the catering company Uncle Sam's Kitchen with wife Guneet, says they provide organic buffets on order at least twice a month. "People inquire about it all the time, but it's only the ones who are truly convinced of the virtues of organic food who serve it at their parties," says Samir (aka Uncle Sam). It's not its provenance alone that sets this food apart, but also the manner in which it is cooked. "You want the taste of the organic ingredients to come through, so you cook in ways that preserve flavour - grilled and steamed instead of deep-fried," he says. His offerings include broken wheat and fresh orange custard, millet and mushroom pilaf, soya pancakes with fresh herb salsa and roasted grain and dates granola with banana and yoghurt. Sam doesn't charge his clients a premium even though he may be paying his suppliers a surcharge because he wants to create business opportunities for them.

Murugan, who charges between Rs 100 and Rs 200 a head, points out that unlike ordinary catering an organic offering depends on what the local fields throw up. It would defeat the organic purpose to ship food in from afar. Murugan now receives about four to five commissions a month, including NGO lunches, house parties, IT gatherings and weddings.

At a mass meal organised this January by the environmental non-profit, Poovulagim Nambargil (Friends of the Earth), Murugan catered to a crowd of 1,350 on Loyola College grounds. "We conducted a workshop on the importance of eco-living and followed it with a paid dinner," says Dr G Sivaraman, an activist. "The entire menu of 16 dishes comprised of millets and organic vegetables. I was apprehensive about its reception, but people even tried to replicate those dishes at home," he says, adding that recipes were also handed out at the dinner.

Whether it's a humble house party or a super-sized shindig, a repeat order will materialise only if the customer is convinced of the goods. Sunil Varghese, director of The Dune, an eco resort en route to Puducherry, believes it may be one of the reasons people return to the resort to host a small wedding or a corporate affair. The food offered here is almost entirely organic, sourced from the hotel's farms in Kodaikanal and Puducherry. "Due to our limited resources, we wouldn't cater to a crowd over 200," says Verghese, adding Christian Dior's global launch of their perfume Escale a Pondicherry four years ago was an all-organic affair at The Dune.

As Shrikant Ram, owner of Eco Nut Health Food Shop, an organic store in Besant Nagar, observes, it's not just the moneyed who are setting up organic suppers. "I've lately witnessed a wider cross-section of clients shopping organic," he says. "There is a growing awareness of the merits of organic food, aided by the media." With more acreage added to the organic green pool in Tamil Nadu, perhaps the time for organic to large-scale is finally ripe.

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)