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Showing posts from 2007

Caramelized Cheesecake

If you like Dulce de Leche and Cheesecake, then you'll love this one.. I have made cheesecakes before, and real good ones. I usually follow a really nice recipe from one of my friend's step mom, who's a baker. But, I came up with this recipe absolutely accidentally. I was trying to use up ricotta and cream cheese that had been in my fridge forever. I wanted to make a cheesecake, but I didn't have graham crackers, or even eggs. But I decided to go ahead anyways (which is a little unlike me..I don't like to mess up baking recipes too much). So I used emeril's lemon ricotta cheesecake recipe. Used egg substitute, instead of real eggs, and eliminated the crust altogether. I also added some heavy cream (remember, cleaning up the fridge). I just wanted to see what happens. What happened was something I can't call cheesecake by any stretch of imagination. But it's also something that you could jazz up a little with good garnish and serve in an upscale restauran

Thanksgiving Feast...on the go..

Thanksgiving is here, and the whole of the US is thinking about food...I'm not really hosting a dinner, nor am I going to one, but I'm visiting L. and don't want to spend all the time in the kitchen, so I'm carrying a feast with me. Ok, the meal is not even remotely related the thanksgiving, but I'll blog the recipes anyways. There is also the guilt of not being able to do anything for Diwali, so some of these recipes are just trying to make up for it. Here are some of the components. Paneer Tikki Fresh crumbled Paneer - 1/2 cup Chickpea flour (Besan) - 2 tbsp. Ghee - 1 tsp. Freshly ground fennel seeds - 1 tbsp. Freshly ground Anaardana - 1 tbsp. Ground cumin-corriander powder - 1 tbsp. Dry Mango Powder (Amchoor) - 1 tbsp. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp. Finely minced green chilly - 1 small Cashewnut pieces - 2 tbsp. Raisins - a few salt to taste. Oil to fry. Roast the Besan in ghee on a medium flame till light brown. Let cool. Mix all the ingredients, except cashewnuts, r

A new beginning

This post is about a new beginning in more ways than one. I'm finally going to start blogging about recipes now (hello...it's a food blog..what was I thinking so far?), and the first recipe is about a new beginning in my life. My parents have consented to my decision about my marriage. I'm sure there are plenty of Indian girls out there, who understand exactly what a huge relief this is. I came up with this recipe to celebrate this wonderful milestone with L. I was visiting L. for the first time on the weekend following Dashera, a week after my parents broke the news to me. So this had to be something really special. There are several different inspirations for this recipe. I love mangoes, so I had to make something with Mangoes. My eldest Masi taught me how to make chocolate walnut fudge (similar to the one sold by Cooper's in Lonavala). So, I decided to make Mango fudge, and felt that Cashews would go well with Mango. So, it's a Mango - Cashew Fudge. The decorati

Getting there..but not quite

Here 's an article on CNN about emerging healthy food habits... It seems like it's going in the right direction...but still doesn't get to the heart of all the real issues. How does it affect the families? What does it mean for working women? Do we always have to wait for long term research studies conducted over two generations before changing our habits? Can't we think for ourselves, for a change?

Whose cuisine reigns supreme?

I don't like food competitions. I do watch them (and sometimes get addicted too), but I just don't think it's right. Isn't food supposed to be something that nourishes the body and the soul? Isn't every person's palet as unique as the individual? I agree that cooking is an art form too, but that's all the more reason why it should not be so competitive. I guess it started off as a friendly activity in the oriental palaces to encourage creativity of the chefs, but in its modern avatar, it does get pretty ugly sometimes. I understand that these shows are popular, and even fun, but what does it really say about the society that fosters more and more use of food fights as entertainment? There was a time when people believed that one man's food is another man's poison. It let people embrace diversity. I like my food sweet, you like it salty...what's the big fight? And what's the rush of preparing five fancy dishes under sixty minutes. Really..what

Slow food nation

I haven't read it yet. I'm not in any ways involved in the movement, nor do I completely agree with everything yet, but it's great to find people who think about food and how it affects our entire life. Check out this fantastic and thought provoking video of a lecture by Carlo Petrini. http://www.princeton.edu/WebMedia/lectures/ http://realserver.princeton.edu:8080/ramgen/lectures/20070517petriniVN350K.rm How can people interested in food not be interested in this stuff?

Ruth Reichl

My friend Anu gifted me "Comfort me with Apples" by Ruth Reichl (with a note saying, "to the best cook I've known after my mom"). I loved it. I recently stubled upon this video of her lecture at Princeton, titled "Watch what you eat". http://realserver.princeton.edu:8080/ramgen/lectures/20070306reichlVN350K.rm Although there was a lot of focus on meat eating, to me it was very intersting how she talked about food and what that says about the society that consumes it. The talk and the question answer session brought out a lot of issues that I have been thinking about too. In fact, there are so many interesting aspects that I'll need a couple of posts to write about them! But I must say, I'm really starting to admire her.

Four women and a future

FOUR WOMEN: Woman one: The Lambaadi woman mentioned in the previous post. Profession: construction worker Why her? Cause she was my mom's role model Background and a typical day: Road construction work going on in some suburb of Mumbai. She belongs to the Lambadi tribe, which means she's a nomad and doesn't really belong to any place. She wears all her jewallary all the time. She lives in a temporary hut created near the construction site. Her day starts with hoping to be selected for work today. It's a good day. In the afternoon, she breast feeds her three month old who otherwise keeps staring from a temporary cloth hammock between two trees. In the evening evening, after a very hard day of physical work, she and her husband consolidate their day's earnings. They go to the local grocer and buy 20 ml oil (it was indeed a good day), 10 gms packs of (No, I'm not exaggerating) cumin seeds, musturd seeds, chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. They also buy some p

Food - the essence of our existance?

This is supposed to be a food blog. There are supposed to be recipes here...really...and pictures of the moltan lava chocolate cake that I made yesterday. This is definitely not a philosophy blabber blog...that would be my other blog. But I really can't help this..... Basically, I'm your regular girl-next-door food enthusiast. I'm not big on health foods...or any of the other food fads that you might know of...I cook and eat everything that interests me...from around the world and that falls into the ovolactovegetarian category. I like sweets like a lot of people...and I miss my mom's cooking...I experiement...read recipe books like novels...search for recipes online...these days also read other food blogs...watch reruns of food shows...buy cooking tools....take lessons from professionals to learn new techniques...host big fancy parties for a homesick crowd of friends...cook special meals for my loved ones....always appreciate a compliment about my cooking. I'm just

About the title

So I finally gave in to the temptation of creating a food blog. 'Rasaswad' is the name of a Gujarati cookbook I read many years ago. 'Rasa' is found in all different kinds of art forms, but I think that cooking involves the most primitive and the most refined forms of 'Rasa'. On one level, 'Rasaswad' means enjoying the essence of life through senses. In many philosophies, you need to go beyond the senses to attain ultimate knowledge of the universe. Till I reach that level, I'm happy immersing myself in the 'Rasa' of life. Although 'Rasaswad' is central to food and cooking, to me, food is also a great way to bring people together. To share joys and to bridge the differences between cultures. To connect with one's own insticts. I hope this blog helps the process...