blog - Kali Mirch

Masale Bhaat (Maharashtrian Spicy Rice Preparation)

July 11, 2015 by Smita Singh 1 Comment

This time of the year, monsoon gradually spreads across the India and summer lazily packs its bag and lingers around as if it is in no rush to leave the scene. It is akin to that reluctant kid who has been asked to leave but he just hangs around in case if he would be asked to come back in. However, with the end of summer season it is also the end of wedding season in India. In India when every small task is done within the shubh muhurat (auspicious time to perform a ceremony), every job change, house warming, job interview is done as per shubh muhurat, and then it should be no surprise that every wedding is also fixed for a sacred time. In India there are primarily two seasons for wedding summer and winter.

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How to Make Goda Masala

July 8, 2015 by Smita Singh 5 Comments

Spices, to define them technically, are dried seeds, fruits, root, bark or vegetable substance that is used as a flavoring, thickening, and preserving agent. If I have to define them philosophically, they are the heart and soul of Indian cooking. They have always been an integral part of Indian culture and play an important role in enhancing the richness of this ancient civilization along with our music, art, clothes. You would find mention of spices in ancient Hindu scriptures like Rigveda. Spices have been part of Indian cuisine since time immemorial. Many of these spices like pepper, cloves, cinnamon originated in India, while others like star anise, sesame, saffron were introduced later as trades were setup, new kingdoms were established, older kingdoms destroyed.

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Bakheer/ Gud-Chawal ki kheer/ Jaggery Rice Pudding

July 2, 2015 by Pranay Singh 3 Comments

I was born in Mumbai and grew up in the city. I ended up romanticizing the city for anything and everything that it had to offer me. My parents however would often miss their rural roots. They would narrate me and my sister several funny anecdotes of the village where they were born, they grew up, where they shared laughs and grief with their cousins and uncles and aunts, and which they left with heavy heart for the city of Mumbai in search of better opportunities. I still remember, though not as clearly, but my memory still is fresh in parts, my first trip through the dusty bylanes on an open jeep leading to my ancestral home in a small village in Uttar Pradesh.

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Phanasachi Bhaji (Unripe Jackfruit dry masala preparation)

June 28, 2015 by Smita Singh 6 Comments

What happens, when a Konkani visits Kerala for vacation? Well, it is like a home coming which is what I experienced when I took a vacation to Kerala last year. The breath taking beauty of coastlines, canvas of beaches, houses built of laterite stones and the striking resemblance of food items used in the cuisines. The list includes fishes, coconuts and many more food items. However, in today’s blog I would like to discuss about a fruit that is also a vegetable. You must have guessed it by now that I am referring to jackfruit.

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Spicy Masala Peanuts

June 24, 2015 by Pranay Singh Leave a Comment

While posting this recipe, I must make a candid admission. I have a mixed bag of feelings while sharing this recipe. I am usually very cheerful and excited as I share my recipes with you dear readers. It is the happiness of making something new in my kitchen, and excitement of unknown. I wait for the comments and feedback that my readers share on my blogs and the videos. However, with this recipe, I have a bittersweet feeling, happy for sharing a savory snack recipe with you and heartbroken over the shocking series defeat that India encountered against Bangladesh.

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Mutton Curry- A Delicacy from Uttar Pradesh- Bhojpur cuisine

June 21, 2015 by Pranay Singh 7 Comments

Folks, this weekend we continue with our gastronomic excursion of Uttar Pradesh food. We are in particular, making some recipes that we have grown up eating, and it is very difficult to find some restaurants serving these preparations. So we decided to delve into our recipe diary, made some frantic calls to our aunts asking them about their secret recipes and came up with this delicious recipe preparation. I feel it is very important for us to document such recipes from Indian regional cuisines which are very poorly documented till now, and only exists in the memory lanes of our mom, granny and aunts.

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Chana Dal Ki Bharwan Namkeen Poori

June 17, 2015 by Smita Singh 1 Comment

This week we decided to head back to North Indian cuisine and explore something from kitchen of Uttar Pradesh. The motivation behind this exploration is my MIL. She has come to stay with us this month. So we decided to leverage this opportunity and prepare some authentic recipes from Rasois (kitchen) of UP and since Paranthas and pooris are my favorite part, I thought it would be more apt for us to try some stuffed paranthas.

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