Trek to Prabhalgarh in the Western Ghats

My best friend of 11 years, Paro and I had been for a trek to Kalamati via Prabhalgarh over this weekend. The last trek we went to was last year the Himalayan Expedition to Sarpass organised by YHAI. It was last year we realised how much we loved trekking and the toned legs you get thanks to it, despite the terrible and unavoidable tan. 

Paro and I being our crazy selves

Trekking never gets old. You may have done 53 treks (a guy who was along with us had, without repeating a single one) or none, but the thrill of reaching your goal, the view and the fear that may at times grip you (it caught me this time) will always be there. 

We climbed up that to reach the pinnacle where we had our break fast of Bread, jam and cheese sandwiches.

The best part about being out in the nature is the food. The organisers or your guide will know about these wild fruits and berries you can find along the way and you get to munch on them while trekking. In our case an old man at the small village where we had lunch, gave us all a basket full of these wild berries which were a lot like blue berries. I wanted to bring some home to make a pie or jam, but knew that they would get crushed on the way back. 

Tokri full of wild berries

 Another thing about the food during treks, it always tastes good. We had a simple meal of rice, dal and aloo and barbatti beans ki subzi made by the villagers, which was extremely satisfying.

A picture of the remnants of the food. 

 Another amazing part about treks is, when you come back down it is hard to believe you actually went up to the hill or mountain which forms a part of your picturesque vision. Seriously 13000ft or 2300 ft you can never believe you did it, the only proof are the picutres, dirty clothes, a shoe without it's sole and the sore limbs.

See the two peaks? We up to there. 

So what did you all do during the weekend? And anymore trekkers out there?

21 cupcakes

I love Birthdays and parties. I am the unofficial party planner in my group of friends and also the unofficial baker. A friend of mine recently turned 21 and we celebrate all 21st's as surprises.

I surprised her with 21 cupcakes!

I know I am pretty awesome :p.

I decided to bake marble cupcakes for her using this recipe.

I love the swirly pattern that you can make with this cake.

Usually a marble cake is used as a tea cake and can be quite dry. You can use brown sugar instead of white sugar to add more moistness or just add some tablespoons of maple syrup to the batter to make it soft and moist.

The cake is covered with a chocolate ganache icing.

I find ganache very easy to make. I heated 600 ml of Amul Fresh cream on low heat till it started bubbling on the edges and turned off the heat. Then I added about 400 grams of chopped dark chocolate. I used a mixture of Cadbury Bournville (which is pretty decent) and Trader Joe's dark chocolate. You can vary the proportion of the cream to the chocolate depending on your resources.

the 21 cupcakes

There is also a picture of me with the cupcakes on my About Me Page.

What have you done for your friends on their birthdays?

Home-made Pizza with a Tomato Pizza sauce

About two years ago, I would never ever have considered making a pizza base at home. Whenever we wanted a home-made pizza we would buy the ready-made bases, which in retrospect just seem tasteless.

My Uncle had come to India about 2 years ago and we made one at home with pretty crazy toppings. He called it "gourmet pizza" because it did have carmelised onions, goat cheese and pumpkin (Yes, Pumpkin on a pizza tastes dee-licious). I was fascinated with how the dough grows and is practically a living thing. I am still awed.

So, when my friends came over for lunch I made pizza for them with a simple tomato sauce base and with peppers as toppings.

Pizza Base:
Ingredients:
1 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/8cup olive oil
3 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp dry yeast

Method:

• In 1/2 cup of water add the sugar and the yeast and leave for 15-20 minutes till the yeast rises completely
• Mix the above mixture in the flour, add rest of the ingredients and add water when necessary
• Cover with a cloth and let it rise for about an hour or two
• bake on 220C

This recipe makes around 10 inch bases. It can be refrigerated or frozen, but has to be thawed out completely before you use it. bake till the edges become golden. Cooking time varies with every oven. 

Pizza Sauce:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Tomato Paste

2-3 tbsp Tomato Ketchup

4-5 finely chopped pods of garlic

2-3 tbsp Olive Oil

2 tsp basil

4 tbsp water

Method:

• Heat the olive oil and add garlic and basil and saute till fragrant
• Add the tomato paste and ketchup and water to get the desired consistency
• Let it simmer till it cooks

The sauce it pretty versatile. If you reduce the amount of oil it can also be used for spaghetti. 

Make sure that you put in the base for 2 minutes in the oven so it rises before you all the sauce and the toppings. 

If the sauce it oily enough then you don't need to coat the base with Olive Oil (so that the sauce doesn't soak through).

Go crazy with the toppings and the sauce!

Mother's Day Special: Oreo Pie

Kraft buying Cadbury has to be a good thing. It has made Oreo cheap and widely available in India and I hope that they start producing other range of craft products here too.

My sister and I were obsessing over Oreo's since their recent launch. We would find just about any occasion to buy them. While thinking about making an Oreo inspired dessert, I thought of cheesecake, and while looking for recipes I found this by the Purple Foodie.

The recipe calls for Philadelphia cream cheese which is available in India (supermarkets like Hypercity) but costs a bomb (Rs.400 for 8 ounces). So I decided to make it for the big lunch I made for my friends and also thought it would be fit for mother's day.

Why Mother's Day? Well because after tasting it, my mother who was in a migraine induced half sleep stage, got up and came to me all bright eyed to tell me how awesome it was.

INGREDIENTS: 
Oreos: 45 (I ate 3-4 while preparing the dessert)
8 ounces/ 226gms Cream Cheese
200ml whipping cream
1/4cup melted butter
1/2 cup caster sugar

METHOD

• Crush around 28 cookies.( Make sure there aren't any big pieces left. Use a mixer is necessary.) Mix with butter and line the dish. 
• Beat the cream cheese with the sugar till it is fluffy
• Whip the whipping cream and add it
• Mix in the rest of the crushed cookies
• Pour in the dish and let it set for about 4-5 hours

Make sure you use Philly cream cheese as it gives a slight sour taste to the pie, which is just heavenly. 

Eat, serve and enjoy. Also, you will love the compliments which will come your way.

how we celebrate the end of exams.

The exams are over! I am almost a graduate now, with only a marksheet between me and my degree.

We girls went slightly mad post exams. And what do we do when we go mad? We eat.

Here is what I ate the last two days.

clockwise from left top: Sprouts and green salad with feta cheese at KGC; Homemade Pizza; Penne Pesto; Oreo Pie

The salad was at Kala Ghoda Cafe, which was brilliant! I loved the Feta cheese. 

The rest three I made at home for my girlfriends. Recipes to follow!  

Celebration: Devil's Food cakcupcakes with an Oreo icing

After an year of studying for and dreaming about my post-graduation I have finally managed to secure admission to MICA! I was am still ecstatic and can't believe I will be moving out in around 2 months.

I knew I had to celebrate, even though I am supposed to be studying for my exams. Celebration is equivalent to baking for me, and my new muffin tray was calling out to me to be used. Also the fact that Oreos are now cheaply available here, and have caught my recent fancy, meant that I just had to bake cupcakes with something Oreo.

I decided to bake a Devil's Food cake cupcake with a Butter Cream Oreo icing.

For my cupcakes I used my trusty-never-fail-go-to-guy, Sanjeev Kapoor. Here's the recipe from his site.

The baking time for cupcakes was around 20 minutes. It really depends on your oven. They were the softest cakes i have ever had/baked. they felt like cotton when I took them out. 

A good thing about them is that, post refrigeration they get your slightly dense cupcakes consistency. Also, I think if the cakes are so soft you can go ahead and add hidden surprises in the cupcakes, like mini-oreos, chocolates, chocolate chips without altering the recipe at all. 

I made the Butter Cream Oreo Icing myself. 

As you all can see I suck at icing. I couldn't find my piping bag and any ziplock bags, so had to be content with smearing icing onto them with a spatula. 

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients: 

7 oreos (or 1 small packet)

100 grams salted or unsalted butter (I used salted)

4 tbsps of icing sugar (I am sure normal powdered sugar will do just as well)

Method: 

• Cream the butter and sugar till they are creamy and light
• powder oreos in your mixer/food processor/beat them by hand to desired crumbliness
• Mix Oreo and butter mix 

TADA! 

It really is that simple. This icing is really rich. If you want a lighter one you can add egg whites to it. 

My family and friends gobbled them up in no time. 

I also got a big envelope (they couldn't find a bag) full of assorted chocolates from my friends. I guess they know what exams do to me. 

I can't wait for the farewell parties to begin. ;)

So, what are your recent food obsessions?

P.S: A shoutout to Siddhartha for the header. I will send a lot of cupcake love your way. 

Red, chai and chocolate covered digestives

This is going to be an apology post for this month. My exams start on the 18th. They aren't just any ordinary end of the year exams, but they are my final year university exams. So I have to study, which means less cooking, less blogging and more eating and cramming my head with eco stuff.

There are a few saving graces to my situation. The first I spotted while out grocery shopping with my mum.

These gorgeously red and plump chillies caught my eye and I just had  to buy them. They look like something out of Nigella's kitchen. I really don't know what to do with them. I know Nigella used them in an omlette once, but I feel they deserve a better fate. They can't be that hot, being so plump, I am open to any suggestions except pickling them. 

Being a coffee hating Tamilian (I know, also let me assure you I am not the only one. My Best Friend, Paro also happens to be one) I survive on tea. I am not addicted to it no, just like to have one or two huge mugs a day. After, my recent purchase of cinnamon powder, I have started adding it to my tea as well. 

Guess who is best friends with cinnamon tea? Digestives of course! I like Mcvite's much more than Brittania because of its crumbly texture. 

I am sure all fellow fans of Love Actually will remember Hugh Grant asking for chocolate biscuits. Well according to Vir Sanghvi he was asking for chocolate covered digestives (check a month or two old HT Brunch for confirmation). Now, I didn't know they even existed, not being a big fan of shopping at international stores because they make me want to buy everything, so I was pleasantly surprised. I proceeded to make my own chocolate covered digestives by melting dark chocolate in a double boiler with some butter. They are cooling in the fridge now. 

I also would like to leave you all with a list of things you can expect next month:

• culinary adventures in Coorg
• a post on the Irani cafes in Bombay
• the best chaat in Navi Mumbai

I will try to post more this month, but studies are priority. 

Don't forget to suggest what I should do with those chillies.