DMBLGiT Nov 2011 - The Winners

This has been a short short month for me. I had to go on a couple of short yet intensive work trips and an assortment of social events and a holiday party that has left me drained and dreading my hair iron. I am sorry for the delay in posting the results of the November 2011 DMBLGiT photo contest. The judges did a great job and for the most part we were pretty consistent in our scoring. So much so that a couple of categories actually tied up and I had to do a quick round 2 to make the final decision.

Enough of my yada-yada. Here are the winners!

Overall Winners

First place: Soma of eCurry with her Strawberry Basil Ice-Cream. She is way ahead of everyone else in terms of her scores and also scored high for originality.

Second place: Chang Pick Yin of PickYin's Place with her Chicken with Rice and Mushrooms. 

Third place: there's a tie!

Pamela of Unodedos with her Cherry Tomato, Mozzarella, and Zucchini Pie

and Vidya of Kurry Leaves with her Prawns and Drumstick Curry

We also picked one winner from each of the individual categories used for judging - Edibility, Originality, and Aesthetics. The winners in this category are chosen outside of the overall winners above. 

Winner of Edibility Category

Jasenka of Sweet Corner with her Pumpkin Cheesecake

Winner of Originality Category

Claude-Olivier of 1001 Recettes with her image titled "Autumn is coming..."

Winner of Aesthetics Category

Karen of Citrus and Candy with her Vietnamese Chicken Salad

If you want to take a peek at all the entries, here's the Picasa Gallery. Huge thanks to the judges once again, and also to Andrew for giving me the opportunity to host DMBLGiT this month. It was fun and totally worth all the spreadsheet and excel-crunching I had to do! If you are interesting in being a host of a future edition of DMBLGiT, find details here on how to go about it. 

DMBLGiT December 2011 Edition will be hosted by Arundhuti of My Saffron Kitchen. 

My Favourite Measuring Spoons - Endurance Measuring Spoons

When you get started on baking, one of the first things you need to buy is a good set of measuring spoons and cups. I used the basic set of 5 from Ikea before I came across these.

Now, it may not look like much but these are amazing! The biggest advantage is their smart design. Since the spoon heads are elongated, they get easily into even the narrowest spice bottles and baking powder tins. Before I got this, I realised I was tapping my baking powder into the measuring spoon and spilling some in the process, not to mention measuring somewhat inaccurately. These are steel so using and cleaning is a breeze too. They are also quite heavy and sturdy so I am guessing they will last forever.

sorry for the wrong watermark on this pic! oops :D

Measuring spoons are definitely among the top 10 things you should buy when you just start baking. Here's a handy post I did for beginner bakers who are just getting started with baking. I have listed a few items that you should go and get first to get started on baking the most basic cakes and cookies.

If you are a beginner baker and have any question on how to get started baking (especially in India), do leave a comment and I will try my best to help.

I bought these Endurance Measuring Spoons from cooking.com but Amazon seems to have them too.

Note: Not a paid post. Just sharing a kitchen tool I really like!

Zucchini Besan Sabji (No Onion No Garlic) - Jain Friendly Recipes

Confession: for the longest time, I thought zucchini was another type of cucumber that's only used in raita and salads. I didn't even know the Indian name for zucchini, having never seen this vegetable in Kerala or even Hyderabad.

It seems it's actually a fruit, not a vegetable, and is closely related to ridge gourd (torai or tura in Hindi) and beerakay in telugu.

Anyway, I wanted try an Indian recipe with Zucchini and went with the easiest option - a quick and simple sabji with besan. Also check out Indian potato fry (no onion, no garlic), yam fry, and sesame tofu recipe.

This is a no-onion no-garlic recipe.

Zucchini Besan Sabji
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
2 zucchini, peeled, washed and cut into small cubes
3 tbsp of besan / Bengal gram flour
1 tsp of red chilli powder
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
1/8 tsp of hing / asafoetida
1 tsp of rice flour (optional)
Salt to taste
1-2 tbsp of oil
1 tsp of cumin seeds / jeera
1/4 tsp of mustard seeds
2 strands of curry leaves

Instructions:

1. Add the besan, salt, chilli powder, turmeric, rice flour (if using), and hing to the cubed zucchini. Mix well with fingertips until the zucchini pieces are well coated in the mixture. Set aside.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and jeera. When they mustard pops and the jeera sizzles, add the curry leaves and the zucchini mixture.

3. Mix well until the zucchini pieces are coated in oil. Cook on low flame, stirring occasionally, until the pieces are cooked and pulpy. If you don't peel the zucchini, the pieces will hold their shape and will be firmer, so it's up to you how you want it to turn out.

That's it!

Serve hot with steamed rice or chapatis / rotis. How do you cook Zucchinis the Indian way? Share your recipes if any!

6 Must-Try Kerala Christmas Recipes

Having grown up in a Christian-dominated society, I grew up with a lot of influence from the religion. I studied in a Christian School (no matter what the headmistress says now, it was a Christian School, we sang hymns at Monday assembly and said "Our Father" every morning before classes), almost all of my parents' friends were Catholics, I used to find more peace in Kurisupally, a church that was closer to my home than Thirunakkara Sivan Temple. This is not to say I favour one religion over the other, I ended up turning agnostic. Ironic, I know.

Anyway, this post was not to talk about my religious preferences, but to talk about Swapna Chechy and her blog - Swapna's Cuisine. Swapna Chechy is a childhood friend of my sister's. She is probably familiar to most of you since she has been an avid food blogger for the past couple years. Her cooking distinctly reminds me of my childhood, of sneaking in homemade wine when I was 8, eating bitter, rum-soaked raisins by the fistful at 10, and the sugar rush from all the Christmas cakes, both homemade and otherwise, that would flood into our home starting the first week of December well into the New Year.

Here are 6 Christmas Recipes from Swapna's Cuisine that I highly recommend. Check out my version of Kerala plum cake recipe if you'd like.

Milk Liquer

Chicken Balls

Vellayappam (or Paalappam if you prefer that)

Meat Ball Curry

Vegetable Stew (Ishtoo)

Kerala Plum Cake (Christmas Fruit Cake)

Not sure if I will have time this year to make any Christmas cookies and cakes but I will be home at the time so I am sure there will be no shortage of Christmas Fruit Cake!