Cooking in 2020

We are in the third week of lockdown. Today, even our locality was sealed. Information is always sparse. But, one good thing of this lockdown has been that we have been forced to do our household chores, especially daily cooking. My cooking has always been an experimental one. Some of the experiments were tried earlier this year. So, I thought I would share some of these.


Pani Puri and Papdi chat

Toh hua yun, I signed up for a stall for Choti Holi celebration in the apartment. My stall was to be for Pani Puri and Papdi chaat. But, that did not materialize. Still, the plan went in full swing to make it at home. I made so much that I even carried some to Divya's wedding to Chennai.

Cleaning mint and corianter

Pani in preparation with Tamarind pulp

Me making Papdi Chaat

And if you have the raw materials, you get to make it multiple times.

The Pani puri pani was made in two flavors - one with raw mango pulp and another one using tamarind. Both were good. The shells were of market made atta shells. We also fried some at home from the shell chips that now come. I also wanted to make the Suji shells but that did not materialize.

Murugan style podi Uttapam

Kanishka has become our resident expert of dosas and Utthapam. In this one pic below, she made Podi Uttapam where we bought Podi from the Murugan Idli shop while coming back from Chennai. This was super delicious. 

French Toast with Fruits

I have always been a fan of a well made french toast. In BLR, Smoke House Deli ones are very well done. So, I thought to give it a try. Mine was ok, the trick is to get the right bread for it. The regular daily use bread do not is ok during lockdown times

 Wine sautéed veggies
I think usage of wine in Indian cooking is non-existent. It opens up a whole different range of flavors plus such a veggie is very easy to cook. I used Zucchini, Red bell peppers, Paneer for this.

Pav Bhaji

While going for bread shopping, Kanishka also got Pav and that triggered this. The Bhaji in Pav Bhaji is the main one to get right. Mine was ok. I did not have Pav Bhaji masala at home, so had to improvise. Plus, I am a big fan of street Pav Bhaji masala because they get the butter right. We do not have the heart to put that much butter in our cooking. 

Pasta with Orange Squash

Pasta was made by Kanishka. I hooked up the orange sauce. 

Banana Loaf bread

I heard that homemade recipes of Banana loaf bread is trending a lot since lockdown. Kanishka also put this in practice. I think bread is a misnomer here, it is actually a cake. THe whole thing was finished in less than 36 hrs.  Delightfully yummy!

Bajre ki roti with Rajma and cucumber lettuce salad

It is very difficult to get Rajma right. It has to have the right texture, right tanginess and right garam masala. Whenever I have made, it I would not rate my self beyond 3 out of 5. But with Bajre ki roti, this is a great one to have. 

 Maggi
No cooking at home list should be complete without a maggi photo

Chole Tikki Chaat

When you have made chole, do make chole tikki chat. Making Alu tikki is little bit extra effort but it is worth. Plus, there should be more than one ways to do carb loading in these times. 

This green chutney was done right, it had that khurdura texture and had raw mango. 

The chole were borderline disaster because of my usage of lemon salt. Lemon salt is not salt with slight tinge of lemon. Instead it is cryastallized lemon with slight salt. My usage of lemon salt as a substittute of salt back-fired immensely. But with curd, it was ok.

Also, as you can see the Kanishka's plate, it has no chole just so that tikki taste is not compromised. 

A normal lunch

Baigan ki sabji

Methi ka paratha

Dal palak 

All made at home both by Kanishka and myself.  I like my preparation of Dal Palak very much. 

Some experiments without photos - 

- Mint Hummus - Hummus with lots of mint, gets a nice green color to hummus. Ok taste. Also, I used less oil 

- Beans Thoran - This is a very normal dish in Kerala. For me, it was a first time to grate coconut at home. Freshly grated coconut makes all the difference. Some effort to make but very good ROI.

- Parippu Kaya Curry - Recipe from http://cookingwithlena.blogspot.com/2011/08/parippu-kaya-curry-raw-banana-dal-curry.html 

Mine did not look like this. Also, with lack of chillies, it was tasting little bland so I added slight mango and it made it very good. 

- Home made bloody mary drink - Bloody mary sachets are available now to be mixed with Vodka. It was a good attempt, especially when you are at home. 

- Dal fry - Made dhaba style Dal fry but without ghee. It is pretty good.