My Diverse Kitchen

05/24/2013 12:02 PM

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We Knead To Bake #5 : Bialys (Chewy Rolls Topped With Caramelised Onions)

L ast month’s bake for this group was a sweet one so I thought it would be a good change to make something savoury for this month so I picked Bialys from my to-bake list. The Bialy (pronounced bee-AH-lee) maybe thought of as a cousin to a Bagel but is quite different from it. For one thing, a Bialy is baked whereas a Bagel is boiled and then baked. A Bialy is round with a depressed middle,

My Diverse Kitchen

05/20/2013 09:19 AM

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Easy Banana Bread Pudding

T here are very few people who don’t like some kind of dessert and there are some who would happily have dessert for lunch or dinner if it’s something they really like. However too much of a good thing can be bad a lot of the time, especially when it comes to dessert! So I’ve tried to create some sort of balance between the good and bad of desserts whereby we do have dessert often enough not

My Diverse Kitchen

05/12/2013 01:48 PM

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Leek, Potato and Carrot Soup / Potage Bonne Femme (The Good Woman’s Soup)!

S oups and I, we’re just not very good friends. At the worst, we tend to give each other a very wide berth, and the best we try to tolerate each other as best as we can. I like to think of myself as a reasonably good cook but when it comes to soups, I’m cannot say so with any confidence. I’m really not a lover of soup and for some reason my experiences with soup making haven’t always been the

My Diverse Kitchen

05/07/2013 11:23 AM

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Custard Apple (Ramphal) Fool With Ginger-Lemongrass Syrup and Mangoes & The Winners Of The Basilur Tea Giveaway……

F or a very long time, I knew the “Sitaphal” was Custard Apple because that’s what we call the fruit in India. That was until I discovered that the rest of the world it Sugar Apple (Annona squamosa) and not Custard Apple! So then what is the real Custard Apple? It turns out that we have that in India too, and it’s known as “Ramphal”! This one also belongs to the Annona family of fruits (

My Diverse Kitchen

05/03/2013 12:59 AM

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Chocolate From The Cocoa Trees : A Review

C hocolate! That’s a word that is music to the ears of many I know, including myself. As I have said, I have rarely met a chocolate I don’t like unless it is filled with liquor or its too sweet. I know there some people who will wave away a chocolate without a second thought and I like to believe they’re in the minority. I don’t know who said “There are four basic food groups: milk chocolate,

My Diverse Kitchen

04/30/2013 01:14 AM

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Multi-Seed Buttermilk Rolls

I t’s no secret that I love to bake and think of myself more as a bread baker than any other kind even though I do bake cakes, cookies and other stuff. Baking bread gives me a satisfaction that no other kind of baking does. A lot of people like the kneading part of the process as they find it therapeutic, but I‘d rather let my food processor do that part of the job for me. But I do find the

My Diverse Kitchen

04/26/2013 11:24 PM

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Aamras (Creamy Puréed Mangoes) – Just The Thing For An Indian Summer & A Photography Challenge

S ummer’s here once again, and it’s hot but time for mangoes. I don’t think there’s an Indian (not the American kind) who is passionate about mangoes. I am yet to meet one who does not like this fruit. On the other hand, almost every Indian you meet is most likely to wax lyrical about mangoes, and possibly discuss at great length which variety is the better one, with everyone having their own

My Diverse Kitchen

04/24/2013 10:43 AM

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We Knead To Bake #4 : Torcettini di Saint Vincent (Sugar Crusted Twisted Cookies from the Valle d’Aosta)

T his group, We Knead To Bake, got together with the objective of baking a variety of yeasted breads through 2103. So this month’s choice migt come as a bit of a surprise because it is not bread! It’s a biscuit or what would be described as a cookie in the US. I had bookmarked this biscuit/ cookie called Torcettini di SaintVincent sometime back, when I first discovered on my wanderings through

My Diverse Kitchen

04/19/2013 01:15 PM

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Fruit Pachadi (Pineapple & Grapes In A Spiced Coconut and Yogurt Chutney)

I ’m going to keep this post sort and sweet, literally and figuratively. Literally, because this is a yogurt based chutney that is short (takes very little time and effort to put together) and sweet to taste. Figuratively, because my wrist is recovering from a rather painful sprain and though it feels much better, my wrist could do with the rest that comes from writing a short post. A Pachadi

My Diverse Kitchen

04/10/2013 01:34 PM

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Black And White Wednesday #78 - The Gallery!

I t’s been a week since I announced I was hosting this week’s Black and White Wednesday, and time to present this week’s gallery of photographs devoted to black and white food photography. My thanks to all who participated by sending in their photographs. May I present to you the photographs that adorn this week's gallery? Lemonade by Anisha Apple Smoothie by Cinzy

My Diverse Kitchen

04/09/2013 10:51 AM

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Exotic Teas From Basilur : A Review And A Giveaway!

I come from a community where people take immense pride in the coffee they drink, and they are understandably so. Anyone who has tried a steaming hot, frothy and aromatic cup of South Indian filter coffee will never forget the experience. While filter coffee does call out to me once in a while, for some strange reason, my brew of preference is tea. And I generally like my tea just the way

My Diverse Kitchen

04/04/2013 01:42 PM

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Announcing Black And White Wednesday #78

Y ou might know that I love Black and White photography, and especially food photography in Black and White. So it’s not surprising that I signed up to host Susan’s event dedicated to this. Black and White Wednesdays showcases black and white food photography from food blogs, and Cinzia has now taken over the mantle of seeing this event happen every week. Last week’s gallery is on view at

My Diverse Kitchen

04/02/2013 04:44 AM

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Does My Blog Look Good in This? March 2013 – The Winners!

M y apologies for the slight delay in posting the winners of last month’s Does My Blog Look Good in This? (DMBLGiT?) It’s just that with the Easter festivities and other things, my judges were a little busy. Despite all that, my panel of judges came through with the scores and I have to thank Radhika, Rosa,Harini, Sarka and Nashira for finding the time to fit this into their schedules, and

My Diverse Kitchen

03/30/2013 05:22 AM

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Ovos de Pascoa (Easy Easter Eggs - Goan Style)

A week back, I was talking to my neighbour about exploring Goan Catholic cuisine, especially desserts, when she lent me a couple of her cookbooks so that I could go through them at my leisure. One of the books was a much used thin volume of aboout 60 and odd pages filled with my neighbour’s notes in the margins. This book, called the Goan Cookbook by Joyce Fernandes, has mostly

My Diverse Kitchen

03/23/2013 02:47 PM

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We Knead To Bake #3 : Hokkaido Milk Bread With Tangzhong

A fter last month’s Classic Croissants which involved quite some effort in making laminated dough but almost fool-proof and flaky Croissants, this month’s bread is quite easy. I had bookmarked this bread not just for texture and height, but because of its slightly unusual method of making the dough. When I first came across it, I had never heard of the bread or the slightly unuual method of

My Diverse Kitchen

03/21/2013 01:00 PM

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Fondant Easter Eggs in Coconut-Chocolate Macaroon Nests

E aster is a big affair where I live but we don’t celebrate it. A few days before Easter, the stores feature medium sized to large egg confectionary and the choice I have is between chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate eggs! Much as I like chocolate, I somehow do not like the taste of the store bought chocolate eggs for some reason. Sometime last week, I came across some very pretty

My Diverse Kitchen

03/16/2013 02:16 PM

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The Gujarati Kitchen – A Review & Daal Dhokali (Indian Style Spiced Pasta In Split Pigeon Peas)

I ndia probably has the largest number and greatest variety of vegetarian dishes in the world. After my traditional cuisine and other South Indian vegetarian food, my next best vegetarian food is that of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Actually, I would have a tough time choosing between the two. So when Westland sent me a copy of The Gujarati Kitchen – Family Recipes for the Global Palate by Bhanu

My Diverse Kitchen

03/11/2013 01:43 PM

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Parippu Kanji (A Festive Lentil and Jaggery Porridge) And The Winner Of “The Vegan Kitchen-Bollywood Style!” Giveaway

W e just celebrated Shivarathri, a religious occasion that is almost synonymous with Parippu Kanji for us. Parippu Kanji (where “parippu” is lentils and “kanji” is gruel or porridge) is a much lighter version of the more festive and richer lentil and jaggery pudding (or kheer) that we call Parippu Pradhaman/ Payasam. Shivarathri (also Maha Shivarathri) or “the night of the Lord Shiva” as it

My Diverse Kitchen

03/08/2013 10:02 AM

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Announcing the March 2013 Edition Of "Does My Blog Look Good In This (DMBLGiT)?"

I am happy to be hosting the food blog photography event,” Does My Blog Look Good in This (DMBLGiT)?”, once again. Having hosted it twice before, I’m more than happy to have it here once more. As most of would know, DMBLGiT was started in 2005 by Andrew of SpitoonExtra, and is a monthly food (and drink) photography event open to all bloggers who have posted a food photograph on their

My Diverse Kitchen

03/06/2013 10:23 AM

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Persimmon & Paneer Salad With An Orange-Honey Dressing

I have had a few people tell me that they’ve seen my blog, and that I post a lot of rich food (a nicer way of saying calorie-heavy and unhealthy food, I presume) and then wonder what sort of meals we must be eating every day!. I honestly find it difficult to believe that people think we must be eating cake and desserts all the time!! I have to confess that our flour and butter consumption has

My Diverse Kitchen

03/03/2013 10:17 AM

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Nutty Magdalenas (Spanish Sponge Cakes)

T his post must one of the few I’ve done 4 days after baking the cupcakes. Most of the time, after I cook or bake something that I plan to blog about, and I get around to writing my post and editing the photographs its about 2 weeks at least! It was about 4 days back in the morning that I was wondering what to make for tea. When you have a growing and almost always hungry teenager in the house

My Diverse Kitchen

02/27/2013 09:54 AM

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Raincoast Crisps – Golden Raisin & Pecan/ Cranberries & Hazelnuts : Daring Bakers Challenge, February 2013

T his month’s hostess chose Raincoast Crisps and Crisp Flatbreads for us Daring Bakers to bake. Sarah from All Our Fingers in the Pie was our February 2013 Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to use our creativity in making our own Crisp Flatbreads and Crackers! I had never heard of Raincoast Crisps before. Apparently they are a gourmet crisp/ cracker snack, made in a variety of flavours

My Diverse Kitchen

02/23/2013 08:00 PM

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We Knead To Bake #2 : Classic Croissants

W hat do you think would be the ultimate croissant experience? Eating a croissant (or more) in Paris, perhaps? I wouldn’t know. I’m not an authority on croissants or things French, but I did eat my first ever croissant in Paris. This was ages ago while I was a teenager, with very little interest in food beyond knowing good food from bad food, and being frequently hungry and able to put away

My Diverse Kitchen

02/19/2013 12:37 PM

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The Vegan Kitchen: Bollywood Style! – A Book Review, A Giveaway & Boror Tenga (Assamese Tomato Curry With Lentil Dumplings)

E ating vegan in India is not an unusual thing especially if you are vegetarian. A large part of traditional Indian vegetarian cuisine is actually vegan. In fact, the traditionalcuisine of my community is vegan if you do not consider those recipes that use milk or ghee. Butter in our cooking, is mostly served on the side whenever it is used. Milk is mostly used in making sweets which are not

My Diverse Kitchen

02/14/2013 12:29 PM

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Pickled Jalapeños, Onions & Carrots & The Winner Of The Giveaway!

I know I have delayed announcing the winner of the giveaway of a copy of The PondicherryKitchen by Lourdes Tirouvanziam-Louis. This is a lovely cookbook with traditional recipes from Pondicherry cuisine. I'm happy to announce that the lucky winner of the book is Archana Vijay. I’ll be getting in touch with you soon so look out for an e-mail from me. Now that announced the winner, we’ll get

My Diverse Kitchen

02/10/2013 03:06 AM

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Eggless Chocolate Pots de Crème – An Easy, No-Bake Dessert

I n my books, it’s almost always a good time for chocolate but if there had to be a season for chocolate then it seems like it would be Valentine’s Day! As I’ve mentioned on this blog more than quite a few times, I don’t subscribe to the commerce that seems to drive every celebration these days. Get on the internet and every other food site or blog has something strawberry or chocolate or

My Diverse Kitchen

02/05/2013 01:26 PM

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A Sunday Morning At A Local Organic Farm

I sn’t it funny that despite all our advancements in various fields, sometimes we take a look back in time only to realise that the old ways were better than the new ones in many things? To me, this seems particularly so in matters relating to food – whether it is agricultural practises, chemical fertilizers, or in the food industry, to mention a few. Organic farming is the new mantra

My Diverse Kitchen

01/27/2013 01:06 PM

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An Eggless Gevulde Speculaas (Dutch Spiced Biscuit Filled With Almond Paste/ Speculaas Pie) : Daring Bakers Challenge, January 2013

T This is the second time I have baked with Speculaaskruiden in 45 daysand both times its been because someone else prompted me to do so! The first time I baked Speculaas/ Speculoos was because a friend sent me the beautiful wooden windmill shaped moulds that are traditionally used to bake these spiced biscuits. This second time was because it was the challenge of the month down at The Daring

My Diverse Kitchen

01/23/2013 07:00 PM

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We Knead To Bake #1 : Herb & Cheese Pull-Apart Bread Loaf

T here are a lot of recipes or food ideas that I have book marked because I have wanted to explore them further. Unfortunately, my list of bookmarks grows inversely proportional to the number of recipes/ ideas that I manage to take off that list! As I mentioned somewhere earlier, I don’t make New Year resolutions for 2 reasons. The first reason being that I don’t think one needs the New Year

My Diverse Kitchen

01/22/2013 12:39 PM

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An Easy Sweet & Savoury Tomato Jam

W hat do you do when life gives you ripe tomatoes, and then loads of it? Eat them raw (if they’re sweet, put them in salads, add them to curries, make a Marinara sauce or Salsa di Pomodorie e Mele, maybe ketchup or even a nice spicy jam, turn them into chutneys/ gojju and pickles, bake them, stuff them or swirl some into bread, soup (warm or chilled),……….. You get my drift. I have no

My Diverse Kitchen

01/19/2013 03:01 AM

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The Pondicherry Kitchen – A Review, A Recipe for Puducherry (Pondicherry) Sambhar & A Giveaway

I have often thought that if I were to win the lottery and lots of money, one thing I would do would be to tour the world. It is extremely unlikely that I would win anyway, since I don’t buy lottery tickets. There are however, a few places on my “must-see eventually” and they definitely don’t need me to win the lottery. One of them is Pondicherry (now known as Puducherry) which lies on the

My Diverse Kitchen

01/14/2013 09:52 AM

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Venn Pongal (South Indian Rice & Split Lentil Risotto) With A Simple Coconut Chutney & Tomato Gojju/ Ghotsu for Makara Sankrathi/ Thai Pongal

T oday is the 14th of January, 2013 and a very auspicious day that is much celebrated across most states of India. Depending on where it is celebrated, this festival is known as Lohri, Bihu, Makara Sankranthi and Thai Pongal. Astronomy and astrology is an intrinsic part of Hindu life and important astronomical events are woven into Hindu celebrations and festivities. This day, Makara

My Diverse Kitchen

01/09/2013 10:04 AM

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Paanakam (A Ginger & Cardamom Flavoured Jaggery Drink)

T his is my first post of the year and it’s about time I finally posted this. I had planned to enjoy the first week of the New Year and take a vacation from blogging. However, vacations, like all good things must come to an end. the worst part of a vacation has got to be getting back to routine; it’s not the getting down to the routine as much as getting started that’s the problem! So here I am

My Diverse Kitchen

12/31/2012 09:24 AM

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Ringing In The New Year With some “No-Egg” Nog!

T his last post of 2012, it should be a momentous one. As a blogger who is passionate about her blogging this post ought to be witty and have some brilliant writing so that you are all still talking about this mid-way through 2013. I wish, but then there's no point in kidding myself that I’m even close to doing something like that. I could have done a recap/ flashback of the year that 2012

My Diverse Kitchen

12/27/2012 06:53 AM

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Panettone – A Christmas Yeasted Fruit Bread/ Cake From Italy (Easy Version) : Daring Bakers Challenge , December 2012

I was destined to make Panettone this year! Every Christmas season, I look for something new to bake. You know, push my baking limits (well, not always) and explore bakes beyond my existing knowledge and this year one of the things I had decided to bake was a Panettone. And then I discovered that the Daring Bakers challenge for the month was also to bake a Panettone! The December 2012 Daring

My Diverse Kitchen

12/24/2012 08:34 AM

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When Santa Joined Us For Tea - Golden Santa Bread!

W ho doesn’t love the idea of Santa bringing you gifts while you sleep? And then the almost unbearable excitement of tearing open the gifts to see what being good for the whole year has translated into? There are a lot of things one loses when one grows up, and I think one of things that we have lost most is the child in us. The little joys like believing in a Santa Claus (or the equivalents of

My Diverse Kitchen

12/20/2012 12:46 PM

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Festive & Decorated Gingerbread Cookies

T his month on this blog has been all about festive and sweet bakes. It’s difficult to believe that I don’t have a sweet tooth and that I haven’t been eating much of the stuff I’ve baked so far, except to sneak the occasional thin slice of my fruit cake. The festive baking bug seems to have bitten me big time and so you’re going to be seeing some of those recipes here this month. Come January

My Diverse Kitchen

12/18/2012 08:35 AM

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A Light Alcohol-free Fruit Cake Decorated With Marzipan For Christmas & A Photography Exercise

W hat’s Christmas without fruitcake? For those who celebrate and make their own Christmas fruit cake, the excitement starts a month or two ahead with soaking all the dried fruit in alcohol. Steep the fruit this way ensures it will make an awesome fruit cake, but also ensures a long shelf-life once the cake is baked. Traditionally, once made, the fruit cake would be wrapped in cheesecloth

My Diverse Kitchen

12/14/2012 09:22 AM

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Lussekatter or St. Lucia Rolls (Swedish Saffron Yule Rolls)

T his time of the year is really a good time to bake, and I can think of so many reasons to do it (and a couple of very good reasons NOT to!). For one it is officially the “holiday season” though not for us since we don’t celebrate Christmas. But I have a lot of friends and neighbours who do, and magazines, food sites and food blogs are all about festive baking at this time of the year. Most of

My Diverse Kitchen

12/10/2012 12:44 PM

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Indian Style Fresh Turmeric & Ginger Pickle

H ave you ever tried to get some sort of kitchen garden going in a balcony on the 2nd floor or in half a dozen pots in an apology to a backyard? I have. I’m guilty of being an irregular gardener however, and don’t really lavish as much attention on my plants as they deserve. In fact, I tend to garden as when the mood takes me and have to confess that I’m guilty of often forgetting to even

My Diverse Kitchen

12/05/2012 01:21 PM

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Speculoos / Speculaas/ Spekulatius For Sinterclaas – Spiced Belgian/ Dutch Windmill Biscuits/ Cookies!

I n Belgium and the Netherlands (and some other parts of the world), Christmas comes early. They welcome Sinterklaas (Santa Claus)/ St. Nicholas, who also happens to be the patron saint of children, on the eve of the 5th/ morning of the 6th of December. According to traditional customs, children would leave wooden shoes near the chimney, filled with hay (and a carrot sometimes) for Santa

My Diverse Kitchen

11/30/2012 10:26 AM

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A Non-Alcoholic Hot Tea Toddy & A Photography Exercise

I t has been my experience, many a time, that good things come out of not-so-good situations. Both my food blog and my photography have been the results of times in my life when things could have been better. As most of you would know, I was in Chennai about 10 days back and I came back home from that trip carrying a lot of good memories of meeting family and good friends, my first

My Diverse Kitchen

11/27/2012 12:53 PM

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Food, Friends, Fun & Photography – My Food Photography Workshop In Chennai

I t’s been a while since I last posted here, and that’s mostly because I have been travelling a bit this month. I made 2 trips, a very short one back home to Kochi/ Cochin and another slightly longer one to Chennai. It’s been fun meeting family and good friends, shopping some, eating great food both at home and out, and conducting my first formal food photography workshop. I had earlier

My Diverse Kitchen

11/01/2012 12:25 AM

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Colouring The Season Orange - Persimmon (Amarphal) Mousse & A Photography Exercise

T he monsoons are long gone, and its now the time for the best part of the year climate-wise. While it is by no means even close to a winter, the days have cooled down and the nights are really pleasant (23C at night is a cool temperature for us!). It’s also the best part of the year for the sheer variety of vegetables and fruit at the local market. Right now persimmons are the flavour of the

My Diverse Kitchen

10/28/2012 02:14 PM

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A Spook-tacularly Boo-tiful Cake – An Easy Ganache Covered Chocolate Cake With Meringue Ghosts!

H alloween’s round the corner, and though we don’t celebrate it, I have been seeing some really interesting looking food on various food sites. I’ll give the gory stuff a wide berth because no matter how much they’re prettied up, I just cannot come to terms with blood shot eyeballs, dirty claw-like nail tipped fingers, brains and worms! I read somewhere, someone describing such food as

My Diverse Kitchen

10/25/2012 01:40 PM

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Gulabi Phirni/ Firni (Rose Flavoured Creamy Indian Rice Pudding)

P ink is really not one of my favourite colours, at least not the shade of pink we refer to at home as “mitai” pink. In Hindi, “Mitai/ Mithai” refers generally to Indian sweetmeats, but back home when someone mentions the word “mitai” they’re referring to boiled sugar sweets or candy. So “mitai” pink refers to a shade of bright, almost painful to look at candy pink! Sometimes, though pink can

My Diverse Kitchen

10/22/2012 02:09 PM

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Join Me For A Food Photography Workshop In Chennai !

I am happy to announce that I will be conducting a workshop on the “Basics of Food Photography” in Chennai next month. Nithya, who writes a food blog from Chennai, helped me organise the venue and help put things in place. The one day workshop will be held on Saturday, the 17th of November, 2012 at the Kettle, a Tea Café in Anna Nagar, Chennai. The Café owners have been kind enough to allow

My Diverse Kitchen

10/16/2012 01:16 PM

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Russian Rose Bread/ Russian Braid/ Caucasian Bread/Cinnamon Wreath – Baking for World Bread Day With The Babes!

E very year, World Bread Day is celebrated across the world on the 16th of October which happens to be today. Why is there a World Bread Day? Apparently somewhere on the late 1990s to the early 2000s, carbohydrates on the whole were getting a bad name in the more developed countries and a lot people there started a low carb-lifestyle. Commercial bread bakers in these countries saw a dramatic

My Diverse Kitchen

10/14/2012 02:05 PM

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A Vegetarian Empanada Gallega – An October Daring Baker Challenge Done In November!

I haven’t been very regular with my Daring Baker challenges and I might have missed more than the ones I’ve done this year. But when I saw the challenge for October, I knew I was going to make it. For one thing, it did not involve a lot of sugar butter or cream as it was savoury. For another thing, it was bread which is something I love to bake. Unfortunately, my new oven conked

My Diverse Kitchen

10/12/2012 06:47 AM

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Spider Web Cookies For Halloween

E very culture has its own customs, traditions and rituals to celebrate/ honour the memories of those who are no more. For someone who is new to them, many of these would seem quaint or even difficult to understand. I remember when I was still in school and we were in Nigeria, there was a lunch party going on a couple of doors away. People were dressed in their best, and there was a lot of

	My Diverse Kitchen
	A vegetarian blog from India featuring recipes and food photgraphy from my traditonal south Indian cuisine (mostly gluten-free) as well as the world over.

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