Chef at Large

So I watched Kung Fu Panda today and I must say I loved the movie. Unexpectedly I saw so much noodle soup in the movie that I started hankering for the same. Came home and decided to make some Noodle Soup. While I was thinking about what to add and what to make I saw [...]

Every so often I wonder if I wasn’t a pastry chef would I be working in the corporate world sitting staring at the computer and look at the prices of shares go up and down? But right now am apprehensive - shall I add more sugar to my dessert, or not?
I have a photo shoot [...]

During my stay at Hollingwood Hall, I had a few opportunities to cook for my housemates. The first of these meals comprised of an elaborate pork dish that was stewed in coconut milk and a bunch of spices, simple potatoes flavored with cumin seed, a salad, rice and some wine. I’m quite used to people [...]

Right, so all I’m writing about is Zainab’s food - I know.
I’ve tried cooking here and nearly always wind up with disastrous results. The problem is that when you’re not in your own kitchen, you almost never have the ‘right’ implements or spices and there are so many stuffed in various nooks and crannies of [...]

Ashwin (of MentorLink fame) took us out to an Afghani restaurant yesterday.A foodie himself, Ashwin likes finding restaurants and places to eat in little known places. “Before they start dishing out commercial crap”, are his words on the subject.
Anyhow, more of an eating house than a restaurant the way we all expect it, Afghan is [...]

Hello and welcome to another Mothers Day. Its May 11 and time to put in place the things you’ve thought of for your mum, hand over the baubles you’ve purchased or post that card you picked up.
Some of the things I can remember most vividly is the food I’ve grown up with. An army officers [...]

Vermicelli is a popular breakfast food in South India. Cooked in sesame oil with chopped onions turmeric, salt, chilli, black mustard seeds and curry leaves, it tastes wonderful. Even better if you have a little mullagapudi - a hot concoction of spices that is mixed with oil and used as a condiment. Also called ‘gunpowder’ [...]

Here’s a contribution from my mother:
There’s nothing more invigorating than a hearty breakfast. There was a time when breakfasts in my mother’s home were huge and wholesome. Fried, poached or boiled eggs, thick slices of toast, butter, marmalade, chutney, rashers of bacon, fried tomatoes and thick slices of roast potatoes and that wasn’t all! There [...]

This dish has uncertain origins but I do know it is made by Hindus and Muslims on special occassions. The Hindus call it ‘Meethe Chawal’ or sweet rice and the Muslims call it Zarda. Aamir, a friend at work, brought some from home and was nice enough to share it with all of us.
It is [...]

The nutmegs Myristica are a genus of evergreen trees indigenous to tropical southeast Asia and Australasia. They are important for two spices derived from the fruit, nutmeg and mace.
Nutmeg is the actual seed of the tree, roughly egg-shaped and about 1 inch (20 - 30 mm) long and 3/4 inch (15 - 18 mm) wide, [...]