Not Quite Bananas

You know how folks say "My Grandma taught me and I do it the same way she did," implying that Grandma always knew best. Well, maybe not. At least not when it came to prepping banana blossom.

Everyone I talked to told me that banana blossoms are a pain to prep and clean. That the sap stains everything it touches, and blackened fingers are an indication of a family satiated on banana blossoms. To avoid these stains, they said, you must rub oil all over your hands before you touch a banana blossom. Or, in modern times, the suggestion is to wear thin food-safe gloves.

The very first time I prepped banana blossom, I rubbed a little bit of oil on my finger tips, but only because I didn't know what to expect. The next few times I knew what I had to do and didn't bother with any oil. Yes, it's true; you don't need to oil your hands or wear gloves when you're prepping banana blossoms.

All you need is the following: a sharp knife, and a medium pot half-filled with water and the juice of half a lemon.

Read on...

A Pet Peeve and A Handy Tip

So much has happened in the first ten days of the new year that I feel that things can only get better from here on. We've been sick, with Medha being the worse of the two of us. Add to it the sadness of having to put down our kitty-by-proxy when her humans were away on vacation. She was about 20 years old and she went into a sudden decline. It is the hardest thing to have to do, more so when it is someone else's pet. Luckily, we were all in agreement and the vet had kind soulful eyes that filled with tears as he spoke about options. Very sad. So I thought I'd bring out a pet peeve to cheer us all up!

<pet peeve>
Curry leaves are an essential ingredient in an Indian curry.
Curry leaves impart a genuine curry flavor to Indian food.

Dear God! Please! No!

Read on...

To Bay or Not to Bay

It's taken everything and more to get me to focus on this post. In my mind, it was due two weeks but fate decreed otherwise. I think we are all still in shock, reaching out to one another to seek solace and comfort, hugging our families as much as possible.

Charming Ellen of Helliemaes Salt Caramels put some spunk back in life by sending me a box of her new Chili Palmer Caramels. It served as more than a thoughtful pick-me-up as it ripped through my nasal and sinus congestion to remind me that I still had taste-buds. Whoa! These babies pack a punch! Of course, I promptly brewed a cup of tea to increase the burn.

Thank you, my lovely friend, these hit the spot!

The rest of this post is a PSA. Not a pet peeve, because then you would think of me as only being about pet peeves. I promise you, there is more to me than pet peeves!

Read on...

Handy Tip: Storing Ginger

<pet peeve>

It's Ginger. Not Ginger Root.

Ginger is a rhizome or an underground stem.

That means that it cannot be a root.

</pet peeve>

4 weeks old

I need at least one small knob of ginger in my refrigerator at all times. Over the years, I've tried different methods of getting it to last without turning bluish-green and moldy on me. Freeze it, they said. Make a paste and store it in an air-tight container in your refrigerator, exhorted another. I tried both, even a combination of both, and rued the loss of flavor.

Read on...

How to Fry Batata Vadas Without Getting Your Hands Dirty

I am a serious believer in God made hands before man made cutlery. I use my hands a lot when I cook: to mix, to scoop, to feel. As can be evidenced here.

Fork it

Even so, I do stop to listen when friends like Jen show me how to keep my hands clean and make deep fried goodies, like batata vada.

Read on...

Handy with Best Intentions

Beautiful bracelets of handwoven nickel-free pewter on reindeer leather, finished with an antler button, were not exactly what I expected to find at the Louisville Street Faire.

Lapland bracelets, a Swedish tradition

Anita Grönstedt who learned this Nordic art in Sweden as a teen, is now based in Superior, right next to Louisville. She says a bracelet can take her anywhere from a few hours to half a day to complete. Her work is so neat and precise that I stood there in awe! I was attracted to these bracelets because no metal touches the skin as the pewter is mounted on reindeer leather, which ages beautifully into mottled dark shades.

Anita Grönstedt explains her technique

They run from $45 to $125 for a bracelet. If you're local and want to have a look-see and feel-touch, Anita lists the events where she will have her own booth on the homepage of her Grönstedt Designs web site.

Isn't it amazing how much talent there is out there?

Read on...

Make your green chillies last longer

Bhaiyya, ek rupaiyya ka masala chahiye.

And depending on how often you bought from him or how well you knew him, the masala-wala, whose name was always Raju, would hand you some green chillies, kadipatta, cilantro, a small piece of ginger and if you haggled enough, he might throw in a limboo. I always got more cilantro or kadipatta, in addition to a limboo, as a reward for my loyalty. And I bought from him almost on a daily basis.

No Raju in the Indian grocery store. Just open bins with produce. No mix and match either. I don't shop there every week either. So my green chillies need to last between 3 to 4 weeks. I don't like to freeze green chillies as I feel they lose their flavor. I have in the past relied on packaged frozen green chillies but not only do I not get those anymore, I prefer the fresh green chilli.

Green chillies are known to have bacteria around the stem. This leads to early spoilage. When you bring them home, snap off and discard the stems, wrap them in paper towels, put them in a ziploc and only then refrigerate them. Now watch how long they last now! By the beginning of the 4th week, I do have some browning and spoilage but I no longer waste as many chillies as I did earlier. I can also go up to 3 weeks between each visit to the Indian store because I make my cilantro last longer, too!

Indian Dolls and Making your Herbs Last Longer

My sister has the unenviable task of finding an Indian doll. Not just any Indian doll. A doll who is just like Shanti from Jungle Book 2. My daughter wants one. Apparently the Barbie invasion has been successful. Whenever she’s asked for an Indian doll, she’s been shown the Indian likeness of Barbie. Need I mention that my sister lives in Bombay, India?!

I know I promised more Handy Tips, so here is the next one that has saved me a lot of heart-ache.

Handy Tip #2: Keeping your herbs fresh longer

Ever since I moved to the US, I’ve always choked on the prices of herbs. A measly bunch of limp cilantro for 79 cents or about 15 sprigs of mint for over $2.50. To make matters worse, the herbs didn’t last very long. I thought Devon Street was my answer. I got 4 plump bunches of cilantro for a dollar. I got three times as much mint for half the price. But guess what, it didn’t last too long either. A trip to Devon was not such a frequent occurrence either. As I fretted, a vase of rich pink gladioli caught my eye. These glads which were a product of my feeble attempts at gardening lasted over 3-4 weeks in a vase. Yup. You got it.

Put those babies in a tall container or glass that is half-filled with water, throw a grocery bag loosely over the leaves and tie it around the container and refrigerate. Every time you pull it out to use some of those fresh luscious leaves, make it a point to change the water.

I now have fresh cilantro and fresh mint in my refrigerator for weeks!

Update: I decided to research a little bit on Keeping Herbs Fresh and came up with the following documents:

Caring for Fresh Herbs

The exception is fresh basil, which may blacken in the refrigerator; instead, store it in the same way, but do not refrigerate.

Herb Helper has a great alternative: Wrap in a barely damp paper towel and place in a baggie. What I loved in this article was:

The best way to have a steady supply of fresh herbs is, of course, to grow them yourself.

Cleaning and Storing Fresh Herbs has some neat tips on how to wash your herbs although the author does not think it's a great idea to stand them in water and refrigerate.

Herbs

How long can you expect to keep those fresh herbs
fresh? Basil will last on the counter top for up to
31 days. In the refrigerator, chervil stays fresh for
8 days, chives for 9, cilantro up to 14, dill for 9,
parsley up to 21, and tarragon for up to 17 days.

I've had my mint going for over 3 weeks now with no loss of flavor. I pluck the leaves at the first sign of any blackening and change the water as soon as the color changes. I use cilantro and mint at least every other day so it's not a big deal to clean it up before it goes back into the refrigerator. I've had cilantro last for over 4 weeks. I use fairly stable wide-based plastic containers - like the large Country Crock tubs or the 32oz Dannon containers. I usually store mint in smaller containers. I have never had a spill thus far and it's rare for my refrigerator to be anywhere near empty.

Update: I made Spicy Jeera Chicken yesterday with chicken tenders. It was delicious. I’ve updated my Spicy Jeera Chicken page with a picture of it.

Memories of Versova and Handy Tip #1

I don't remember how I found this site but stumble upon it I did...It's so odd. The pictures are my memories but the pictures are not mine. Strange. But then again not so strange. Every sixth person in the world is an Indian! Here is the web site I am so enthralled by: The Bombay Travels Scrapbook

Kudos to Ramona and Noel for their beautiful web site capturing the very essence of Bombay. And, Pune. Amazing but Pune University is also etched in my memories!! As are Chitale Bandhu!!

Some Handy Tips
That Your Mother Did Not Tell You

Handy Tip #1: Optimizing a can of Tomato Paste
Ever needed to use just a couple of spoonfuls of that super thick tomato paste? Like from the small Contadina Tomato Paste cans? Then stored the can as is in the 'figelator', forgotten about it and discovered it only on the next garbage day when it is looking so sorry that you don't even want to touch it again?

For those few spoonfuls, you end up throwing away almost all of the can of tomato paste??

I know I used to. Most of my friends did, too. No more!

All you have to do now is use the quantity you need and then spoon the rest of the paste onto a plate in large blobs about an inch in diameter, if you can get them to be round! Put the plate in the freezer till you are done cooking whatever you needed the tomato paste for. Make it a habit to do this as soon as possible otherwise the can will end up in the refrigerator with an ad-hoc lid. The blobs will be frozen by the time you are done cooking. Save them in freezer bags and use one or more blobs as and when you need them. You will waste less tomato paste. You will also buy fewer cans of tomato paste as one tomato can will go much farther than it did before.

This is America, who cares? I do. Wasting food is criminal. I cringe when I go to Denny's on Tuesdays and the waitress tells me I can order whatever I want for my daughter; after all, it's 'Kids Eat Free on Tuesdays' and I won't have to worry about having spent hard-earned $$ on food she did not want to eat. I wonder how many people order stuff their kids don't really want or need. I wonder how much of it goes from the kitchen to the table to the trash-can. I wonder how many starving children it would have fed.

If you still remember what this post was about, I will be adding more Handy Tips as I go along.

Handy Tip#2: Making Your Herbs Last Longer