What my Friends are drinking this Christmas eve

By Frank Krishner

Traditional Egg Nog
It's cold, and when guests arrive on a chill December night a- shivering at your door, it's a good idea to bring out the Glass of good cheer.
Warning for Indian readers ... this is the adult version, for those who are capable of 'consent' if you get my drift.

Here are the Traditional Eggnog Ingredients

12 eggs, separated [Hope you have been watching Masterchef Ausralia .. this means you get the yolks and the white in separate dishes.

6 cups milk

2 cups heavy/ thickened cream [ I usually shop for Amul cream and it does nicely]

2 cups bourbon [or use  whatever is available , a couple of cups of Genesis whisky is a good substitute, but if you're using the cheaper stuff like Officer's Choice, you'll get an edgy flavour, but that's okay if you like 'strong' stuff. 

1+ 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup brandy [ Honeybee, Golconda are popular in India]

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

Traditional Eggnog Directions

Six hours before the party:

In a large bowl and using a mixer, beat the egg yolks together with the sugar for approx 10 minutes (you want the mixture to be firm and the colour of butter).

Very slowly, add in the bourbon and brandy - just a little at a time.

When you have added the bourbon and brandy, allow the mixture to cool in the fridge (for up to 6 hours, depending on how long before your party you're making the eggnog).

30 minutes before your guests arrive, stir the milk into the chilled yolk mixture.

Stir in 1+ 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg.

In a separate bowl, beat the cream with a mixer on high speed until the cream forms stiff peaks.

In yet another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture.

Gently fold the cream into the egg mixture.

After ladling into cups, garnish with the remainder of the ground nutmeg.

Serves: 8.

What I'm cooking this Christmas

By Frank Krishner

I haven't posted anything here for quite some time and it's shameful!
Now this is the season of good cheer and I'm going to keep myself cheerful cooking up some home made simple Christmas fare in my bachelor kitchen tonight.
Deep fried doughnuts 
 The Sisters of Notre Dame in Patna were famous for their doughnuts, and they were always a special treat for kids of every age.
Here's my recipe for my version of deep fried doughnuts [donuts]

Fried Doughnuts

Time : 15 minutes.  Serves 36

Ingredients

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 cups all-purpose flour [I use Pilbury's, but I have got excellent results with fine Maida, and also with 1 and a half cup maida + half cup atta. The maida-atta option is more nutritious.

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of salt

a teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

4 tbsp oil [ About 50 grams of Amul Butter is also an option]

1/4 cup milk

oil for deep frying

Here's How I  make it

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sift flour and baking powder in a large bowl. 

Add sugar and salt and mix it well.

In another bowl, lightly beat egg and fold in the oil or melted butter.

Mix in flour mixture until its crumbly.

Stir in the milk.

With floured hands, lightly knead the dough until smooth (If too sticky, 

add some flour).

Leave the dough in the mixing bowl in a warm place for about 2 hours.

Roll out the dough into 1/4 inch thickness on a floured surface.

Dip doughnut cutter in flour. Use to cut-out doughnuts. If you don't have a cutter, no problem. 

Use a small sharp edged stainless steel katora for the outer edge and cut a hole with  sauce bottle cap or a soft drink bottle cap.

Heat oil for deep frying.

Carefully drop doughnuts into hot oil, only a few at a time.

Fry, turning once, for about 3 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oil and drain on paper.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar or cinnamon-sugar mixture, if you like.

Food, Glorious Food

By Frank Krishner

Food is fundamental to life itself. And, the quality of life is directly proportional to the quality of the food that touches your palate.

This blog is taking some time to set up, and every time you visit it, you may see that it looks a bit different. Essentially, this is going to be about food.
It's also going to be about cooking, eating, understanding, and loving food.

I am a food adventurer, and there's nothing more exciting than trying out a new preparation, of inhaling the aroma of an exquisitely arranged culinary creation. No, let me amend that. Creating a sensational and surreal work of art that tantalises the tastebuds is definitely more exciting. nothing can get the adrenalin pumping when waiting for a 'first time flavour' to pass the test of the critics: your friends and family!

There's much more to food than just presentation and fancy cutlery. It's the rough and rugged rural flavours that get the juices flowing. Bamboo shoot and dog meat,  rat and rabbit, pork and pigeon, and duck and dandelion wine, stewed apples and blanched apricots, a saute full of grasshoppers, I've relished them all.

I aim to share some of those adventures here as well.

Here's to life!

Brinjal Avial

By Frank Krishner

Aviyal is a dish that has a unique place in a typical Kerala and Tamil cuisine.


It is a thick mixture of a lot vegetables, curd and coconut.  In fact, my friend Dhanesh Nair's mother says that the word "aviyal" is used to denote an assortment or a mixture!
Aviyal  is seasoned with coconut oil and curry leaves. .Vegetables commonly used in aviyal are yam, plantain, pumpkin, carrots, beans, brinjal and avarai. Some people prefer to substitute raw mango or tamarind pulp for the curd. Aviyal can be made into a gravy and eaten with rice or be made into a semi-solid side dish. .

Here's how I make Brinjal Aviyal. Bachelor style. It's Quick. A ten-minute dish.
First get out to the market and shop for
green brinjals, if not available, the purple ones are fine. So we have brinjal (small eggplant) - about 4, a couple of green bananas or plantains,
two large onions, two medium sized tomatoes.
two or three green chillies, a quarter cup of dessicated coconut or of you wish you can grate fresh coconut.
I use both curd and tamarind: about three tablespoons of curd and  a tablespoon of tamarind paste [ready made]. You would also like to have three tiny onions, a little haldi or turmeric powder [a small teaspoon], one tablespoon cooking oil of your choice.
mustard seeds, vendhayam, salt, curry leaves (don't forget these) and a couple of dried red chillies

I usually chop up the onion, brinjal, tomatoes in longish bits and slit the green chillies.

I use  the mixer-grinder to blend the small onion, coconut, dried red chillies, turmeric powder into a masala paste. Then I mix the tamarind with the curd.

Heat oil and add mustard seeds, vendhayam and curry leaves.Wait till the seeds crackle and then add the copped things: onion, tomato, brinjal and green chillies and fry for about a minute. Then pop in the tamarind- curd mix. Cook tillt he vegetables get tender, sprinkling a bit of water ocasionally to avoid 'burning'.

When the  veggies get tender, add the blended mixture and keep stirring.

After two minutes the brinjal avial is ready .

It tastes good when teamed up with with curd rice

Let BT Bai-gans be Bygone

By Frank Krishner

India is regarded as the original home of the Brinjal or Eggplant. Brinjal has been cultivated in India for the past 4000 years. It is grown all over the country, year-round and is one of our most popular vegetables. The area under cultivation is around 5 lakh hectares. The production stands at around 82 lakh metric tonnes. It is mainly grown in small plots. The average yields of Brinjal in India are reported to be around 200 to 350 quintals per hectare. The main growing areas are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

There are many brinjal  varieties in India, in addition to improved varieties and hybrids. Some  improved varieties include Pusa Kranthi, Pusa Purple Cluster, Syamala etc. Hybrids include Arka Navneet, Pusa Hybrid 6, Utkarsha, Pusa Hybrid 5 and so on.

The Shoot & Fruit Borer in brinjal [which has been the major pest for the past two decades or so] causes from 50 to 70%  damage, and in economic terms, it is estimated to be around $221 millions. It is to lend tolerance to this pest primarily that the Bt Brinjal has been developed.
 
However, most people seem to agree that the BT Brinjal is a bd idea.
Several studies on Bt crops in particular and GM crops in general show that there are many potential health hazards in bio-engineered foods . GM-fed animals in various studies have shown  problems with growth, organ development and damage, immune responsiveness and so on. With Bt crops, a recent study from Madhya Pradesh shows adverse human health impacts in farm and factory workers with allergies caused by Bt Cotton. Itching skin, eruptions on the body, swollen faces etc., were also reported, correlated with levels of exposure to Bt Cotton.

A study from Phillippines shows that people living next to Bt Corn crop fields had developed many mysterious symptoms, especially during pollination time.

Studies elsewhere show that genes inserted into GM food survive digestive processes and are transferred into the human body. They have transferred themselves into intestinal bacteria too. Bt toxin had caused powerful immune responses and abnormal cell growth in mice.

I plan to share some of my favourite Brinjal, eggpant, aubergine recipes with you soon.

Krafty Cadbury Snaffle Cheeses me off!

The story of Cadbury Dairy Milk started way back in 1905 at Bournville, U.K., but the journey with chocolate lovers in India began in 1948.

After 186 years, Cadbury's one of Britain's best loved brands, has succumbed to a takeover by US cheese maker Kraft.

John Cadbury, a Quaker started a shop in Bourneville, Birmingham that sold tea, coffee, and hot

chocolate as an alternative to drinking booze. Cadbury's has classics that continue to fill the shelves even after 100 years, such as the Dairy Milk bar that first appeared on shelves in 1905.

Yesterday came the news that Cadbury has agreed to an £11.9 billion (about $19 billion) takeover by American company Kraft. While acquisitions are common in the corporate world, this one has quite a few

people riled up. Many Brits are worried about job losses. And indeed, in an interview with the BBC, Cadbury chairman Roger Carr acknowledged that cuts would be an "inevitability," though Kraft has said it plans to invest in Cadbury's U.K. factories.

Personally, I'm horrified at the thought of American Kraft taking over this British institution with a proud, independent 186-year history. In recent days, signs have cropped up outside Cadbury's Birmingham
headquarters, festooned with British flags and reading "Kraft Go to Hell." Kraft's is really good at
making "plastic cheese" and God Forbid that Cadbury's iconic, rich, creamy Dairy Milk bars, will be
replaced by 'plastic chocolate'.


Debt-laden Kraft borrowed money to finance the takeover, so spending cuts will be on the new company's
balance sheet. But will production methods change? There are already international variations in Cadbury's products: For examplein the U.S., Cadbury chocolates are manufactured by Hershey's, in a licensing agreement with the American version tasting sweeter and less creamy.


This difference is partly accounted for by variations in local laws: In the U.K., milk chocolate must contain at least 20 percent cocoa solids, while in the U.S. the percentage can be as low as ten. Hershey's claims it tailors its Cadbury recipes to American tastes for a sweeter product.

With local preferences so ensconced on both sides of the Atlantic, it seems unlikely that Kraft would risk tinkering with so popular a product. However the temptation to cut costs by substituting cheaper ingredients (such as vegetable oil for cocoa butter) is also easy to see.


I'm very bothered by the Kraft takeover of Cadbury. I love chocolate, Brit style.
Now, excuse me as I reach for my Bournville, I believe I've earned it!

What's on the Menu?

Food, glorious food!
All kinds
All types
All colours
All sizes.
It's all about food!!!