What I got from India and OneLifeToEat’s first Giveaway
Hello folks! After over a week of trying to recover from my trip to India, I have finally caught my breath to get on with regular business. I use the word ‘recover’ because of many reasons. Firstly, and obviously, it takes time to recover from the over 24 hour journey (with stopovers and delays) from Mumbai, not to mention the jetlag that comes with traveling across multiple timezones. One also needs some time to recover from the gluttonous eating that people like me indulge in when they visit home. I’m not exaggerating here folks. I’m on a strict high-fiber, purely veggie diet for at least a few weeks to ease my body out of the sinfully delicious food I had the pure pleasure and fortune of treating myself with 😀
Apart from eating, I also did some amazing shopping in Mumbai and in Delhi. I wasn’t able to take pictures of everything I bought, but here’s a sample of some fabrics I picked up for my home. All of them are from an amazing store I have been in love with for years, called FabIndia.
Home fabrics from Fabindia
Aren’t they pretty? Despite the jetlag, I eagerly put up all the new table runners, cushion covers and curtains I bought all over my home. It feels so wonderful to make my home look a little more ‘Indian’ 🙂 I also picked up some pretty leather slippers, lots of cotton tunics from my favorite Indo-western clothing store W, and lots of other trinkets for the home and my jewelery box.
In all my greedy, irresponsible shoveling-of-food-in-the-mouth and indulgent shopping, I never, for a moment forgot you. I got an amazing stash of home made spices and spice mixes with me that my mother uses pretty regularly and I have tried myself as well. I’m a big lover of spice mixes once in a while when I want to make something special and I scouted around for good spice mixes when I was home. Below are 5 I brought along. And the best part is – I’m giving it all away!
The Giveaway stash
TWO very very lucky winners in the US will get everything you see in the picture above. The stash includes:
1. Home-made Garam Masala – This is the best part of my spice stash – the star of Indian cooking. Made using authentic Indian spices such as cloves, cumin seeds, bay leaves, cinnamon and peppercorn, Garam Masala has many uses in Indian cooking. Search for Garam Masala on my blog and you’ll get a list of recipes you can use it in. Manufactured by Royal spices in Mumbai.
2. Ready-made curry paste (Red Chilli Garlic & Jeera (cumin) paste) – My mother uses this paste to whip up quick curries and marinades when she’s pressed for time. It is pre-packaged and manufactured by Aatash foods in India and is purely vegetarian. You can read more about the paste and how to use it here.
3. Home made Milk Masala (the 2 small packets above) – This is a widely used spice mix in India and is added to warm milk to form a fragrant, rich drink. Made using almonds, cashews and cardamom, this makes the ideal, healthful drink for our cold Midwestern winters. Milk masala can also be used in ice creams and rice puddings.
The following 2 spice mixes, although made for non-vegetarian dishes, can also be used to make vegetarian dishes as the spice mixes are 100% vegetarian.
4. Goan Fish Curry Masala – This masala can be used to make an authentic Goan Fish curry. Goan food is a unique Indian cuisine that involves the usage of coconut and tamarind among other local ingredients. Most of their dishes are made using seafood and this masala will give you the authentic Goan fish curry flavor. Manufactured by Goana foods.
5. Xacuti Curry Masala – I wrote about this poultry based Goan curry in my Iron Chef post. This is a rich Goan curry made on special occasions. Also manufactured by Goana foods.
So here’s how you can win!
- A comment on this post qualifies you to enter but I’d also love any suggestions you may have for my blog. Are there any specific Indian recipes you’ve been looking for and can’t find on the web? Do you want me to share more info on a particular Indian ingredient? Shout it out!
- Comments will close on Sunday Jan 30th at 10 AM Central US time.
- I will randomly choose two winners from those leaving comments and announce them on Monday Jan 31st
- The giveaway is only open to US residents. The winners will have a week to send me a US address so that I can mail out the spices.
Legal Disclaimer: While all the spices do not contain egg, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, wheat or dairy products, they may have been prepared in a kitchen where these products are used. Please do not participate in this giveaway if you may be allergic to any of these ingredients.
FTC Disclosure: I received no fees for hosting this giveaway. I will provide the winner with the prize free of charge. I do not endorse the companies mentioned above.
I’m back! New Year and New Beginnings
Motif at the Qutub Minar complex in New Delhi, India
Hello my lovely readers! I have never relished typing out a post more than I do right now; I never thought I’d miss blogging here at OneLifeToEat so much! How have you all been? Some initial browsing through my favorite blogs tells me I have much to catch up on. A special shoutout to Jenn of The Whole Kitchen who recently lost her dog Turbo… Love, hugs and condolences to you dear Jenn.
This post will be short as I have lots to do before the weekend and a traditional post with a recipe and Indian food trivia is something I will do early next week. What I would love to share with you is some great news – I will be starting grad school shortly and will be doing the Master of Business Communication program at the University of St. Thomas here in MN. I’ve been working on pursuing further studies for a little less than a year and in the last few weeks, everything seems to have fallen in place. I am really excited about this wonderful new chapter in my life.
My trip to India the last month has been eventful, enjoyable and incredibly emotional. Visiting family after being away from them for 2 years gave me tons of perspective. It told me how far I’ve come and how much I’ve changed.
I will leave you with a few photographs from my trip. Be sure to read the descriptions on the food photos.
Happy Weekend!
Easy Potato curry and Goodbye for a month
Yes, I will not be blogging for about a month, so today’s post is the last you’ll see for a while here at OneLifeToEat. If you’re new to this blog or to Indian cooking, be sure to read the About page as well as some of my posts under Indian Cooking Basics, to understand how to start out with Indian cooking.
Last week I shared the recipe for a dish that I made to use up some extra vegetables in my home that I didn’t want to waste. This week’s recipe is in the same spirit, and is also one that can be prepared in under 30 minutes.
This easy potato curry is a staple in my home mainly because of its versatility. Flavored with simple, earthy ingredients such as cumin seeds, mustard seeds and curry leaves, it goes with almost any kind of bread, Indian or otherwise, any rice dish and can even be used to make a delicious, spicy sandwich, if you have a panini maker at home. This was one of the first vegetable preparations that I taught myself to make when I had just got married and needed to prepare something simple and idiot-proof for the first dinner with my husband in our tiny apartment. It seems like it happened a lifetime ago!
I am also reminded of the spicy grilled potato sandwiches that are so popular amongst penny-pinching students in Mumbai, India. Cheap and delicious, a potato curry-stuffed sandwich was all I ate for lunch on a busy day at college. Ahh… memories 🙂
Ingredients (for 2 adults for a meal):
- 2 large potatoes, boiled until cooked but not mushy
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 small green chili, slit lengthwise (this doesn’t lend a lot of heat to the dish. It does however add an interesting aroma to the curry)
- 2 curry leaves
- 1/4 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 large tomato, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 2 large cloves garlic – sliced
- 1/2 tsp ginger and garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp Coriander & Cumin powder (available as a blend in Indian grocery stores)
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- fresh chopped cilantro and lemon juice for garnishing
Method:
- Dice the boiled potatoes and keep aside
- In a pot, heat the oil and add the curry leaves (these will splutter so stand back after throwing them in the pot), cumin seeds, mustard seeds and green chili
- When everything crackles, add the onion and sliced garlic, and cook on medium heat until soft. Once well cooked, add the ginger and garlic paste
- Then add the tomatoes, cook until mushy. Also add the tomato ketchup along with the powdered spices and salt. Mix well and allow to turn into a mushy paste
- Finally add the potatoes, envelop them in the spice mixture. Garnish with chopped cilantro and lemon juice and serve hot with Roti’s or Rice and daal.
I will sorely miss the blogging as well as interaction with all you wonderful readers and fellow bloggers while I am away. Hope to be in touch with some of you during my travels.
Adios and Happy Holidays!
One Life to Eat 