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Thank you all for the interest in my blog. This blog has been moved to

 

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Keep visiting for more yummy discussions!

In search of surprises in mangalore

One might think what would make me such an expert of food and the foodie hotspots . Well when one is of young blood and ready to invest time in the pursuit of that heavenly gastronomic experience and has been at it for 3 years you know you might have seen it all. Atleast in a place like Mangalore and you have friends who are just as committed to the cause:)

And when Mangalore was outgrown we moved to explore Bangalore, Mumbai and Goa in our weekender haunt for soul satisfying food.

Soul satisfying ? Yes this must be a new adjective to describe food and I must possibly copyright it. Anyways this soul satisfying funda of food is that food must not only taste good but also agree with our body and give you that feeling of contentedness and not the fiery after effects of excess oil,chilli powder and garam masala that normally kills the experience though once in a while even that can be a lovely phase. Yes even I have these cravings for spicy food that may liven up my tongue after all the tongue numbing bland food.

So when such cravings of fiery food wipe out all other thoughts I head to the Maharaja , Mangalore which has the best ghee roast in town. Ghee roast is a typical bunt gravy that is consist of 2 main ingredients: red chillies and ghee. And this is best had with the main ingredient chicken. But if that does not suit you there is paneer ghee roast on the menu. Paneer is a beautiful main ingredient for this dish too as it adds its milky sweetness which is a perfect balance for all that spiciness from the chillies. And this is another dish that is like a visually captivating with the milky white paneer and the fiery red gravy.

Here is a pic:

Here is the recipe that I tried at home from Revinas blog:http://rekhaaskitchen.blogspot.in/2013/06/paneer-ghee-roast.html

Monsoon brings a hidden pot of gold

Every year I await the monsoons excitedly not only because it brings out the green new blush on the earth but also because it brings with it its own gifts. And for me it is this hidden pot of gold that I relish. What I am referring to is a type of mushrooms that only grow at the first lightening. As this seems to be known only to the locals and is found only in heavily wooded land there does not seem to be much literature or images about it on the internet. They are called as kallu alembi in kannada/konkani and look like tiny eggs. They need to be dug out and are fully covered in dirt but once you wash it all off you see an ivory white membrane that is easily removable. Once this is removed what you get is a lovely white ball type mushroom which can make an exotic ingredient to cook with. Here is a snap of them:

A word of caution is that these mushrooms get spoiled immediately and sometimes are spoilt even when they are dug out. This must be because their lifetime must be 2 days. An indicator of this is if the mushroom is black  in color when you open it up or if its not solid but runny.

These mushrooms are available in udupi/mangalore but the prices rocket every year. But this is an ingredient no true blood konkani can live without :p

So now that we have cleaned them up what do we do with them? Well this is an versatile ingredient as it takes on the taste of the spices that it is cooked with. And I have tried making a chinese dish out of them which did turn out good but not as fabulously delicious like the typically curry we make out of them So here is the recipe:

Kallu Alembi Curry:

1 bowl of kallu alembi

1 cup grated coconut

4 red chillies

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 inch tamarind ball

2 pods garlic

1/2 tbsp coriander seeds

salt to taste

1 cup chopped onion

Recipe: Make a paste of the coconut,garlic,tamarind,coriander seeds,red chillies. Keep aside.

Keep  an utensil with enough capacity to hold the curry on medium flame. Pour the oil in it and add the chopped onions. Fry till they are translucent.

Onions are an important part of this curry as they add their sweetness to the curry and take it to the next level. Same goes for the coconut oil. Though we normally use refined oil for cooking there are occasions like this where only coconut oil will add its flavour to the dish and nothing else will do. More importantly it is this fragrance of the coconut oil frying which makes the curry smell more inviting.

When the onions are done add the mushrooms and saute for a minute. Now simply pour the coconut paste that we have prepared and add the salt. Let this curry come to a boil. You will know when the curry is done when you get this inviting fragrance of the curry and it  fills the room and your mouth starts watering:)

This is perfect when served with rice.

fish cravings

Sometimes you get bored of all the veg food and the hard core nonveg:p and thats when the good old fish comes to the rescue. And with fish there is no experimenting continental for me . A fish must be had the traditional way and nothing can taste better.

But what do you do when you are far from home and working in Mangalore and must have fish simple homemade style. Well there is just the place. It is Manjas in Car street Mangalore.  A hole in the wall place but that has never stopped me and when hygiene is guaranteed there are no other obstacles. The lovliest fish I had in a long time and all tasting homemade. Even the serving style is  traditional with a long bench with lots of seats. The place is so crowded that if you visit after 2pm it will be difficult to get a fish of your choice. But visit it at 12.30 and you have a variety to choose from with mackerel, promfret , prawns , bonzil ,surmai  to choose from. And it is divine. And to top it off there is a glass of buttermilk which is just made right and so hard to find in good  old Mangalore.

A home away from home for me when I have fish cravings.

A must try is the bonzil fry though the others are also irresistible.

The cost per plate is somewhere around 100 bucks depending on choice of fish.

 

 

Egg recipe

My love of ” good food” is like a cliched romance movie where the actress never really realizes she loves the actor till she has to live away from him. And there begins the search , always on a look out to find her love somewhere on the street as she walks by or somewhere in a mall as she shops.Well that is me. Always checking out new spots that open up and looking for the first excuse to sample them, always scanning the newspapers and magazines for reviews. It has turned out to be something of an obsession but what true love is not part obsession I say.

This obsession makes me google for recipes and their variations before I cook anything and there are lots of food blogs out there and lots of recipes for a particular dish and that is why this blog will not go into the known territory.Whimsytummy will follow her cooking instincts and add a little this and little that and will post her own dishes that turned out to be easy to make and yummy to eat .  Whimsytummy will try to keep its own signature look and I am hoping you will help make it stay that way.

Let me begin my 1st post with a dish that is easy to make and has been saved me from starvation when I have to cook and I was just a beginner. A lot of friends find cooking to be a complex task but believe me girls  this recipe of a mine is a keeper like the ace under your sleeve.

Lets call it the panned egg:) Funny name you say:p Well that is what my mum called it when a little whimsytummy asked her what was the dish called. And when you make it you will see why!

Panned egg recipe:

Ingredients:

This will serve 4.

2 large tomatoes

2 large onions

1 inch ginger finely chopped

1 tsp sugar

salt to taste(1 tsp)

1 tsp chilli powder

4 eggs

coriander leaves for garnish

oil 1/2 tbsp

Procedure:

Take a utensil with a wide area like a wok/kadai or a pan that is deep enough to hold the gravy. We need this to drop in the eggs at the last minute of the recipe.

Ever since I can remember this dish has been a favorite of mine because of the way the eggs are cooked. Routine bores me and boiled egg,scrambled egg and omlettes can be boring and this way of cooking and presenting an egg fascinated me.

Back to the recipe:

Please maintain a low flame. Pour the oil in kadai.  Add the ginger and let it release its flavour into the oil. Now add the onions and saute them till they are transluscent. Now add the tomatoes and saute. Now is the time to add salt and chilli powder,sugar. Why sugar? Because this balances the flavours of the dish.Mix well. Pour enough water to just cover the onions and tomatoes. Now for the fun part. Take an egg at hold it right over he kadai ,crack it and dop it all in. Repeat the same for all eggs but make sure there is enough space between the eggs as when they are dropped in like that the egg white spreads abd may get joined to that of other eggs.

Now cover with a lid and let cook till the eggs are looking solid and are not runny. Garnish with chopped coriander. This dish goes well with bread,rice, chapathi.

So there you are girls..so more cooking tensions its as easy as that!

What i love about this dish is that it looks like a sunny painting with the reds from the tomatoes and the eggs which when dropped in like that most of the time ends up with the sunny side up which adds the happy yellow color to the dish. We kids normally end up calling dibs for the sunny side up eggs at home:) And whats more no complex spice bags need be dug out from the kitchen cupboards!

 

 

Intro

Yet another food blog on wordpress! Well after all one must eat to survive. And if one MUST eat then why not eat what is “Tongue approved”. There! I finally I let my feelings out after pretending to be a weight-concious girl.

What we will do in this space? We will think food ,discuss food ,dream of yummy food and then plan to make yummy food. And if that is not enough (which it is not!) we will discuss where to find food that seduces you and food that is like an everlasting love you need to keep going back to.

In short this will be  like the girls dorm where we meet and discuss our love interests and how we are dying to devour them!