DEEP FRIEDay – A weekend series – Extreme Chilli Jumbo Tiger Prawns

I am starting a new series from today J. It’s gona be called Deep FRIEDay…we have heard of wordless Wednesdays, silent Sundays. In my part of the world, weekend begins on Friday…..yup! Friday and Saturday, we work on Sundays!

At home, fried food is a very occasional treat and when its bound to happened, it always pops up on a Friday! There are certain Fridays when I just have to make something fried…lol…I know it sounds strange but on these ‘typical’ Fridays, Aj- the usually extra health conscious, high fitness regime husband transforms into an eat, sleep, laze around man…Have to admit, I love this limited edition of him J …lol….(although, he usually gets terribly guilty for doing nothing when he bounces out of his lazy spell…hehehe)

On these Fridays, he loves all the extra buttery, extra oily, extra cheesey, extra unhealthy stuff (so now, u realize why I love this part of him J)….That’s when I usually end up serving a deep fried dish!

All that explanation because this is the first post of the series called DEEP FRIEDday. Next time onwards, I will only post the recipe….simply because, like everybody else, I too wish to keep it short for weekends…J

So here goes the first DEEP FRIEDay Post- Extreme Spicy Jumbo Tiger Prawns!

WHOLE MEAL CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH FLAX SEEDS & CHOCOLATE GANACHE- HEALTHY BUT HEAVENLY on Cardamom Hill’s 3rd B’Day!!

So finally, I did some real baking for you guys J….Yes! For those of you who have known me…I have not yet posted cakes or any real baked goodies...though I do make ‘em sometimes....I usually don’t come up with anything of my own while baking, just follow the recipe! But this cake is especially  to celebrate the 3rd birthday of "Cardamom Hills" and a big thank you to all my foodie friends n family who came along and always motivated me to keep going!

BUT this recipe is all mine…only mine J I can’t believe I actually came up with a good cake of my own…lol….actually, I always felt I made a terrible baker….the first time I tried to make a cake…it all went horribly wrong…..I was not aware of the basic ratios and rules of the art….Since, then I always kept away.

STACKED ENCHILADAS WITH BEEF AND HOME MADE CHIPOTLE SAUCE

It’s been a Mexican spree last week for me…. Actually, I have a soft spot for Mexican cuisine…..their food, all the snackish stuff, salsas, avocados, meat and especially the chillies J

The thing about Mexican food is that it has got so much of variety. Right from the north to south, there are so many dishes that vary with the local ingredients available. And then we have the international and americanised versions of Mexican dishes, which also are just as tasty.

Lets talk about some interesting Mexican food facts…there would definitely be at least one you dint know.

Did you know that traditionally in Mexico, tacos are soft breads served with meat fillings? And not the crispy kind served in the modernized version!

Enchiladas usually don’t have cheese in them. If they do, then it’s the traditional Mexican cheese varieties called Queso fresco, Requesón, Queso Oaxaca (which is kind of similar to mozzarella and used in quesadilla) etc. In fact none of the authentic Mexican dishes have Monterey Jack or Colby…J

Mexican Empanadas are usually served with sweet fillings.

Maya civilization (that existed in southern Mexico historically) discovered the cacao tree.

Aztecs civilization (central Mexican historically) used cacao beans as money for buying goods! Trading using chocolate….wow! I like the sound of that. J

Maybe, we should talk more about the chocolate facts in my upcoming chocolate post… Hehehe…yup, I have something very, very chocolaty and comfortingly healthy too coming up soon…so watch out J

OATS POTPOURRI- STIR FRIED WHOLE OATS, BROCCOLI STEM & CHICKEN

Recently, I happen to encounter a new product called ‘Oats for Rice’ by Quaker. They advertise it as oats that can be cooked with rice. Actually, I found it when I was hunting for white rice at the grocery stores. This product is placed with the rice items and not where all the other oat products are stashed. I felt that was a strange place for it to be. But nevertheless I took a pack since I had seen the product on their website and knew it would be a healthy addition to my kitchen.

It’s whole oats which is not rolled. Tried making some oats in stir-fried rice style. It turned out wholesome and very tasty. A healthy and delicious substitute for white rice with loads of fibre.  I also tried adding it to couple of my rice dishes in 1:2 quantity and even made some soup. All of it came out good. That’s the story of my potpourri.

TEA EN CAPAS- MASALA CHAI

Hi guys!! So, I have been cooking all week to bring the best out from my kitchen for my foodie buddies J (sounds nice, right?) Well, inspiration is where it all begins…be it anything. So even today I have a story that inspired me to create the Tea en Capas.

During one of our regular restaurant outings, Aj ordered a “Special Tea”. I was like, what’s that? When the order was served: there was a huge glass tumbler that had 2 layers- one tea and above that a layer of milk n froth. He stirred it up with the spoon and it was just normal chai! That caught my fascination and lingered in the back of my mind. But what really pushed me into trying this was an article about a guy who created 7-layered tea! A man named Romesh Ram Gour from Bangladesh. You can read more about him and see a picture of his tea here. Well, thanks to Mr.Gour I actually managed to create 4 layers…happy me, considering it took him 10 years to 7 layers!!! Hehehe…..I managed 4 in one morning…actually 6, if you count the “invisible to the naked eye” layer and the froth on top…… hahaJ