Okonomiyaki or "As you like" - Japanese Pizza

Featured in Foodgawker.com on 20th Nov 2012

Featured in Tasteologie.notcot.org on 20th Nov 12

Featured in BitchinKitchen's Twitter feed on 28th Nov 12

I must confess, I had never heard of this thing till my trip to Stuttgart this summer. I know Stuttgart and Japan are miles apart, but the story starts there. The co-resident’s friends, let’s call then D and E decided to make Okonomiyaki for dinner. Now E had travelled to Japan for her summer break and fell in love with this dish.

The dish being a savory omlette/ frittata/ pizza made out of flour, eggs, cabbage, veggies and pork and topped off with mayo, sweet sauce, fish flakes and seaweed. It’s so popular in Japan that there are more than 30,000 specialized Okonomiyaki restaurants. The restaurant provides you with ready okomomiyaki batter and you add in whatever your heart desires and proceed to grill it on the grill pan in front of you. Then you decorate it with the condiments of your choice and proceed to polish off your Japanese pizza! Unfortunately there are less than 100 restaurants outside Japan that serve this, so if you want to eat it, you’ve got to make it yourself!

So when E and D made this for me, I was intrigued but not entirely convinced of its merit. When I ate it though, I was hooked! Trust me the ingredient list might sound kooky but it tastes incredible! Now E is a converted vegetarian, so her version does not include pork or seafood but feel free to add it if you please. Literally, that’s what Okonomi means - “as you like” :)

P.S. A friend told me Harima in Bangalore serves a mean Okonomiyaki… must try it out!

A Bloggers Meet and Four Seasons Wine Tasting

What is a good way to spend a Sunday? Couple of friends sharing a good meal over some great wine by the poolside on a cheery afternoon - pretty much hits the spot! So that’s what I did, this Sunday. I was invited to a Bloggers Meet at the Royal Orchid which was hosted by Four Seasons Wine. The invite promised a live cooking demo, wine tasting and food pairing and a chance to catch up with fellow bloggers. What’s not to like?

Quick Hummus for Easy Entertaining...

Featured in Tastespotting.com on 26th Sep 12

While the quickest Hummus would be a store bought variety, it’s not essentially the tastiest. At the other end of the spectrum is the completely home made Hummus which is super yuumy but so time consuming (with the overnight soaking of the chickpea and then boiling blah blah blah), that it takes the joy out of entertaining. Ok, I’m exaggerating, but I’ve never been a fan of being a slave to the kitchen. Give me quick, easy and tasty any day! So I’ve found a happy median with this recipe. I use canned chickpea and tahini paste and blend the rest of the ingredients in! It’s super simple and tastes 100% better than the store bought one. And I also have the satisfaction that I churned it out myself. (At least MOST of it)! J

PanchPhoran Dal (Five Spice Lentils) - Comfort food at it's Best!

I know I’ve said many times that making regular dal and rice bores me. That dosen’t mean I don’t make it. No week is complete without Dal being made atleast twice. It’s what we grew up on and it’s what I crave when I come back from a long trip to unfamiliar places. Eating dal and rice with a veggie on the side and a smattering of pickle is nothing short of a homecoming! The fact that it’s such a commoner on the dinner table and gets made so often, I’ve actually never written down a recipe for dal. So this was my first attempt at documenting the precise quantities. I kept a little sheet of paper next to me and kept jotting down what I threw into the pan. Now I finally have a dal recipe that I can pass to the co-resident and ask him to attempt it when am too bored to move a muscle J We use mustard seeds and curry leaves to temper the dal. However, this one uses a five spice mix called Panchphoran that is unique to the eastern parts of India – West Bengal and Orissa. The mix is equal parts of brown mustard seeds, Nigella (kalonji/ onion) seeds, fenugreek (methi) seeds, cumin (jeera) seeds and fennel (saunf) seeds. This totally rocks the Dal into a different universe. I almost feel like I’m eating super sattvic temple food …God bless the humble Dal!

Ultimate Chocolate Banana Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

Oh Man! There’s so much chocolate in this recipe and its soo moist and googey and yummy. I kid you not! It’s now my TOP chocolate cake. Ok, I know it says banana in the title, but don’t let that scare you away. All the banana does is make it unbelievably moist (just like a fantastic patisserie bought cake) and add a faint banana sweetness. I realized that banana in a chocolate cake is not such an odd combo. I ordered a slice of royal banana chocolate cake at the California Pizza Kitchen and was totally transported to heaven. So I looked high and low for a similar recipe and finally found a Joy of Baking one that looked and sounded delicious. The recipe is super rich and makes a huge cake for 12 people. This means not only do I have a fail safe recipe, but one that tastes un-freaking-believable, and feeds a lot of people at the same time…I am really in cake bliss! I balanced the sweetness of the cake with a dark chocolate ganache frosting. Again super easy to make, so don’t sweat it and don’t leave the frosting bit out. I’m telling you it totally elevates the cake. So I’m gonna beg you to make this cake… no really… I am... it’s that good!

Savoury Breakfast Muffins to wake you up!

It’s nice to have a good savory muffin in one’s repertoire. (Not that I would ever tire of cupcakes!). But some mornings need a nice wake-me-up-punch and if I load myself with sugary delights, I know I’m going to crash by midday! So this one’s a lovely cheddar and spinach muffin with the red chilli adding the right amount of spice. It feels really healthy because its got veggies and milk and just 3 gms of butter per muffin! (Almost felt like a subway advert there – less than 6 gms of fat!). It’s also really easy to make – just combine the wet and dry ingredients and bake! I would suggest eating these warm (not hot) so that you can still feel the gooey cheese. I like to throw on some Tabasco on top, because I’m crazy! Good Morning darlings… I’m sure going to have one!

Third times a Charm... Happy Birthday Food for Swaps!

Food for Swaps turned three on 24th of July. I had just gotten back from holiday and had massive withdrawal symptoms! That coupled with a lost wallet and pending work load of 20 days had me walking a tightrope! So you can see how the idea of putting pen down to paper (or rather finger to keyboard) was far from my mind. Actually it was like this invisible boulder on my shoulder (i'm rhyming!) that I chose to ignore for 3 days. But I can't any longer - my little blog has become such a comfortable part of my daily routine that turning three just seemed like the inevitable. And I owe it to my blog to say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOOD FOR SWAPS"! Thanks for making my days more enjoyable and my meal times more creative and my pictures more lustworthy ! And I thank you guys for hanging around and taking this food journey with me! Like they say "Third times a Charm" and "Three's a crowd" and a jolly good one we have right now!!

I picked my top recipes of the past year for you guys. Now these are my personal favorites, the ones that, if I had a recipe book I would put a big gold star on! Hope you have fun! Love Always ... Food for Swaps.

In no particular order.....

We're all going on a Summer Holiday....

Away in Barcelona... Catch up with you soon!

P.S. This place is a foodie delight!!

Singapore Black Pepper Prawns

Singapore’s most famous dish is undoubtedly the Chili Crab and the Black Pepper Prawns. When you walk down Clark Quay or Boat Quay you will find innumerable restaurants and street café’s serving up these super fiery dishes. The Chili crab is generally made with huge Sri Lankan crabs. If you put both your palms together, the crab will probably be larger than that! I’ve spent quite a bit of money on many many nights in Singapore digging into these critters! Another one of my favorites is the Black Pepper Prawns – buttery, peppery, hot awesomeness! They generally use Tiger Prawns for this with the tails (and sometimes the head on.) You yank the head off and start slurping down the sauce and the prawn meat, then finish by digging out whatever else in left in the tail. At the end of the night you have steam coming out of your ears and are sticking your tongue out and downing litres of beer but you can’t stop smiling, because it was so awesome! So here’s my little imitation black pepper prawns. I used medium prawns with the head and tail off. I cooked them skewered on a bamboo stick. This way it makes for an excellent appetizer or cocktail snack. Don’t expect your guests to behave themselves and eat just one skewer… they are irresistible!

Mango Lassi and Opportunism

Mango season is almost getting over and I am downing mangoes by the dozens! There’s a frantic need for me to consume as much as I can before I walk out one day and realize the mangoes are gone (for this year at least!). Now Frooti (it’s the largest selling mango drink in India) will have you believe that you can have fresh mango juice throughout the year… but we all know anything that’s stretched to make it live out of season is, well… bullshit. Opportunism is defined as the practice of taking advantage of circumstances with little regard for consequences. So my need to hoard in season, is justified I think! However, this drive to consume more mangoes than I possibly should, has some very visible repercussions – a couple of extra kilos! (Luckily a flowy summer top will hide most of the abnormalities :P). I digress as usual, but the point of this whole post was to tell you eat as many mangoes as you can before it’s too late!