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Sunday 24 March 2013

Fryum like snacks for the children

 For want of a better description/words, I've called these Fryum like snacks. Fryums were our treat on Saturday afternoons when we were little.
These cost Rs10 a packet from Bombay - which is around 12pence :)
First picture is stars.
Second picture is alphabets - my daughter spelt out pooh, couldnt find her initials.
Third picture is meant to be tennis rackets but the oil was too hot so they split in the middle.

Meant to be an afternoon snack in the upheaval of moving and trying to clear out cupboards. More than the children, our elderly neighbours, who
 popped in, enjoyed them!

Friday 22 March 2013

Woodchip and avocado tiles

So much of work has been done in our new house since we got the keys a few weeks ago.
The pink glossy woodchip has gone.
The avocado green bathroom has gone.
The dirty green carpet in the hall has gone.
The vinyl on the kitchen floor and yellow cupboards have gone.
Instead, there is paint we like on the walls and everything looks so different. We will hopefully move in sometime soon, meanwhile, the boxes are piling up in our current house, half filled by the children.
Having decorators, bathfitters, electricians and carpet fitters in the house is an experience. Fortunately, we haven't been living there to interrupt their working too much.
Our decorator is lovely, very sweet and a good worker, doing his full 8 hours plus of work after drinking until 3am! For now, he's busy removing the dreaded woodchip and the abundance of pink gloss.

Saturday 16 March 2013

Natco Pani Puri kit - our Dahi Puri version

Pic says it all really, a £3.99 Pani Puri kit with the works - boondi, tamarind chutney, green chutney and the puris in an egglike plastic case..... this is Dahi Puri done by my husband in a few minutes!!!
I love Pani Puri or Golgappas as we used to call them growing up in North India......pity there is nowhere here you buy them freshly made.....for now, nothing comes close to the Rs35 ones at Elco Arcade in Mumbai.

Thursday 14 March 2013

My vegetarian fry up Mother's Day breakfast

Twice a year, my husband goes downstairs with the children and gives them breakfast - my birthday and Mother's Day. Of course, with a few exceptions!
This year, with the 'processed meat is harmful' news coming the day before, he decided to do the vegetarian option for breakfast.
We'd ordered vegetarian bacon from Ocado a few years ago, can't remember much - it was forgettable.
This time round, it was Tesco's Lincolnshire sausages, which tasted like potato and cheese cutlets, and the bacon was like bacon, but artificial and cardboardy. I thought it was passable but the children were looking puzzled and wondered what sort of mutated food they were being given. One of them asked if these were the kind of sausages and bacon we were going to have to eat for ever.....
Its nice if you want to feel good about not eating loads of sodium nitrite etc but I miss my proper pork sausages.......

Friday 8 March 2013

My 8 year old's Chocolate Cake with oil

Children came home from school wanting to 'cook'. No ingredients for their usual salads, the oven was on for dinner, and the usual bulk Costco eggs so decided to let the kitchen get messy.
Prepared myself for lots of clearing up later, gave them the weighing scales, flour, sugar etc and then realised there was a tablespoon of butter in the fridge. Cue quick searching on google for butter free recipes and came up with oil as a substitute. Fortunately had veg oil (going to make puris this weekend) so plan back on track. I had visions of butter free bread passing off as cake. Apparently, oil needs liquid like milk or water to get as close to butter in a cake?
 Thankfully it worked, the chocolate cake was a bit dense, the vanilla cake surprisingly good. Not much chocolate cake in our house, husband cannot have anything chocolatey.
This is what I used - bits from various recipes and my standard sponge cake recipe;
200gms self raising flour
150ml oil
150 gms sugar
250 ml milk
2 eggs
pinch of soda bicarb and vanilla extract (soda don't think essential but I added just in case the oil flopped)
3 tbsps cocoa powder.
Baked for 45 mins at 170......
This morning, the icing, again, no fondant icing like my daughter wanted. Mixed icing sugar and water for a poor substitute. Cut a few pieces to take for her teachers/assistants. My toddler extremely worried his strawberries were not going into his tummy and to someone else.....

Saturday 2 March 2013

Non restaurant Indian food in Birmingham - good and bad

My stock of goodies from India has vanished in less than a month of being here, other than the masalas. Back to the shops for some more supplies. Luckily, Birmingham has many many Indian shops, Pakistani/Bangladeshi etc. We tend to go to Soho Road in Handsworth, although Tesco/Asda closer stock a surprisingly large range of stuff. What we like and don't like:
1) Cofresh chakri sticks (around 99p to £1.50) - lovely, highly recommend. Not the standard butter chaklis but great tasting.
2) Natco chana - 700 gms for £2 plus. Usually buy the unpeeled. Too many hard unpeelable ones, the Mahabaleshwar ones much better quality, think its East End.
3) Gits Idli and Sambar - 79-89p- good old standbys, the Idli mix is lovely, the Sambar a bit artificial but I cannot make it from scratch and get it right, this does the job.
4) Natco Kala Namak - lovely flavour to salad etc for 49p.
5) Sunny's Masala Sev - 99p - nicely spiced.
6) Patak's Hot Mango Picke (£1.49 usually) - huge hit with everyone we know and 2 bottles in the house at most time. Must try. Know someone who used to take it back to India (unbelievable I know!)
7) The rest of Patak's pickles are good, the Lime and Brinjal are on offer for 99p at times.
8) Patak's curry pastes - £1.79 - my secret quickfix to party food! Says it all really, must try. All of them.
9)  Natco and East End Alphonso Mango Pulp 99p -fantastic for mango lassi or mango mousse - quick fixes for guests.
10) Cofresh Potato whirls - 50p each on offer - sharply flavoured, ok.
11) Laziza Biryani Masala - 99p - has added a wow element to many meals I have served at parties. Fabulous and another must try. This is made in Pakistan but available at certain places in Soho Road. Lots in Sparkbrook/Ladypool Road. also seen at a couple of shops in Bombay!
12) Indian shop yogurt - Henna I think. Very cheap and not very nice at all. Watery and tasteless.
13) Cofresh frozen Punjabi samosas -£2.99- must try, keep a stock in the freezer for guests or a snack. They aren't as large as the fresh ones but very nice and crispy, flavourful etc.
14) Ahmed's pickles - 79p last time we bought some - do not recommend at all. We have bought them around 6-7 times and they are rancid/lots of seed in the mango one etc. Probably all old stock.
15) Natco Red Lentils- £2 per kg - Found the cheapest in Costco of all places!  Good to buy a big bag and easy to cook, doesn't need as much soaking as I've seen people in India do.
I could go on forever, lots of other stuff like the lovely marinated masala fresh meat at Tesco, will reserve for a later post!