Food that looks good, tastes better!

That combination of gold and white. Steaming little yellow cubes or even circles on white rice. That aroma which fills the room and make you asking for more. That taste that cannot be replicated and should be had only on special occasions. Such is the power of one of my grandma’s signature dish. Shorshe or Bhapa Chhana or Paneer in Mustard Sauce is what we call it. Yes, one of her many signature dishes that not even the best cooks and Mom can recreate.

Cooking is an art and you need to develop that skill and talent to cook the best food. It is not easy to get that right amount when someone asks you to add pinch of salt to the food or according to your taste, or even the spoon sizes don’t match when they talk about adding masalas to your food. But for my grandma, these didn’t matter. Practice and long years of cooking with love and care made her perfect. No wonder she was the ultimate decision maker when it came to kitchen and what everyone in the family will eat. Although everything she cooked tasted out of the world, her signature dishes were only meant to be cooked on special occasions such as birthdays of her sons and daughter, grandchildren and Jamai Shashti. Bowls of different vegetarian curries along with rice and dal will be put in front of the special person.

Being a vegetarian family, we have successfully replaced the non-vegetarian versions of dishes with vegetarian ones. Shorshe Paneer or Bhapa Chhana is one such example. For non-vegetarians, it is the shorshe ilish or shorshe chicken. For us, it is this delicious version.

When I received the mail from #IndiBlogger regarding this contest My Beautiful Food! from Borosil, I was thrilled. Although I am not a food blogger yet, I have been toying with the idea from the time I have started cooking and trying out new recipes. Participating in this contest is only my way of embarking on this new journey. Since this is part of Round 1: Alphabet Soup of #BeautifulFood and requires posting of no images, I am only sharing the recipe that we follow.

You can make Shorshe Paneer this way:

• You need to prepare 2 tablespoons of mustard paste by mixing mustard powder in water and keeping it for 10 minutes or by making a paste with soaked mustard seeds for 10-20 minutes and mixing it in a mixer. In the meantime, chop paneer into cubes (about 20-25 pieces).
• To the mustard paste, add salt according to taste, 3 tablespoons of curd and 2-3 green chillies and mix well.
• Keep the paneer for marinating in the mustard paste and leave aside for a while.
• In a non-stick or heavy bottomed wok which has a fitting lid, add 2.5 tablespoons mustard oil and heat it up properly.
• Add the marinated paneer and stir properly. Bring the heat down to low heat level and keep the wok covered with lid for 4-5 minutes.
• Open the lid and check the water that has been released from the curd. Stir the paneer again and add salt, if you feel is required. Cover the wok once again for about 3-4 minutes.
• Open the lid and cook for about 1-2 minutes and stir to mix the paneer properly. Turn off the heat and serve in a beautiful glass serving dish from Borosil. Serve with hot plain white rice.

PS: Serving is as crucial as cooking the food. You can check out different kitchen glassware from Borosil here. 

Pure bliss is Davangere Benne Dosa & Thatte Idli on a Sunday morning!

Wake up on a Sunday morning and the thought that crosses your mind is a good and tasty breakfast. Wish you had the super mom/ super woman who prepares every kind of breakfast that her family wishes on that MTR advertisement? At least I wish sometimes. The feeling of a yummy breakfast going to your stomach is enough to lift your mood and let you plan an entertaining Sunday ahead. In my two and half years in Bangalore, experiments with food in my own kitchen has been many. The same also goes for hearing out suggestions of trying out different kinds of traditional Karnataka cuisine at the most obvious places. So, this time, us friends, decided to wake a little early and have breakfast that our minds could also relish. We zeroed upon having Benne Dosa and Thatte Idli this time!

Originating from the city of Davangere, Karnataka, Benne Dosa is also referred to as Butter Dosa. The uniqueness of Benne Dosa is that it is made up by adding butter while preparing a normal dosa. It is similar to other usual and regular types of dosa, the masala or the sada or the set dosa, but is comparatively smaller in size. These dosas are made of rice batter and heaps (read, lots) of butter. A liberal spoon of butter is sprinkled before serving that adds to flavour and enhances the aroma of the dosa.

Photo credit: scribidomagazine.com

 You can try out varieties such as Benne Khali Dosa, Benne Open Dosa and Benne Masala Dosa. I had a plate of Benne Masala Dosa (the masala was boiled and mashed potato with butter and salt) and to be honest, the butter was too tempting to keep my mind shut for a moment and not think about calories that day!

Photo Credit: The Hindu

When it came to trying out Thatte Idli, the mere view of the soft round giant idli on the plate took my breath away. It was also served with a dollop of butter on its soft surface that melted and made it a buttery idli to be eaten with sambar and coconut chutney. This awesome steam-cooked delicacy is a must have if you are ever willing to try out the cuisine of Karnataka. Thatte means plate in Kannada and the advantage of using plates for preparing this type of idlis is the control over use of batter to make idlis according to an eater’s preference.

Photo Credit: Commons.wikimedia.org

If you want to indulge on Benne Dosa and Thatte idlis without traveling to Davangere, you can find it in many of the well-deserved traditional Karnataka cuisine restaurants in Bangalore itself. And if you’re abroad, especially USA and Singapore, you may be lucky enough to find these listed there as well.

Well, we had our share of pure bliss on a bright Sunday morning here:

Davangere Benne Dosa is located at 118, 13^th Main, 4^th Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore and a meal for two will pinch as much as Rs. 50 in your pocket. You may want to try this on the coming Sunday! :D

PS: It is a pure vegetarian dosa joint.

How I got introduced to a whole new world of shopping!

You know what? I have always wanted daughters. They are precious and they make you shine and glow like you are in love with life forever. Such are my cute little daughters, Renee and Alisah. They are not my replicas but little individuals who make me a complete woman that I have always wanted to be since childhood. You know, there's a certain charm when you live your life with your daughters. It brings back your memories of being a daughter, little girls who love to dress up, put on a little make up and walk around the house as the family's little princesses.

The same feeling came back when I see Renee and Alisah. My princesses! And when they are a beauty queen's daughters, it is quite evident that they will be looking their best and get dressed up in the prettiest attires and accessories. And, it is not the former beauty queen who's saying it, but their mom, I just shopping for them! No matter what!

Photo Courtesy: childhood-images.blogspot.com

Renee is a grown-up girl now. She knows what looks good on her and what should she wear at different occasions. And the doting elder sister that she is, she sometimes takes me by awe when she suggests what Alisah will wear to look prettier than her. On one of the many occasions that we were having one afternoon before a social gathering which we all were invited to attend, Renee suggested that we shop online to save time and energy. I wasn't that comfortable with the idea because I am not sure about the sizes of the products, the fitting and most importantly, quality of the products. How do I know if they were genuine products from the brands that we choose from? What if the products are not of the best quality? Nothing matters than the safety. I was apprehensive but Renee wasn't. Her confidence and the twinkle in her eyes made me listen and give it a go. And there she ran to get her iPad and give me a feel of online shopping. What followed next was completely unexpected!

Renee logged in to Baggout.com which is a product aggregation and cashback website developed for the crazy online shoppers (read, Renee!). With over 500 online retailers like Myntra, Jovi, Flipkart and many more, this turned out to be a one-stop shopping destination which had so many products from different brands. I was awestruck to see all kinds of products that we needed simply listed out and giving us the opportunity to buy from wherever we felt was good. Some great products and accessories to buy now and save for later buy. Well, Renee had already made a list of her own and I just had to give a assertive nod. With each product, the description was available along with necessary details. We could do a filtering search and find the clothes, shoes, and accessories that we wanted for all three of us. All we needed to do then was to click on buy and fill in our details. These retailers made sure that there's a return policy if the products are not good and fitting properly. To top this experience, a cashback coupon was issued in our names and we got the same refunded in the next 48 hours. I must say, quite impressive!

Photo Courtesy: Getty Images

Renee isn't a beautiful daughter only; her intellect and inner beauty is what makes her a wonderful human being. She introduced me to this impressive website and I am now completely glued to it. Yes, I also have a list of my own now.

Shopping relaxes you and when you can do it so conveniently, it is all the more good. I bet all the new age mothers and women are loving it and it's time, that I introduce my mom to Baggout.com now.

Do share your experiences of shopping through Baggout.com!

~ Sushmita Sen

[This is a work of fiction and an entry for the Baggout.com blog contest]