A Chikmanglur Account

There are days when waking up in the morning is a complete pandemonium,

And then there are certain days you wish you woke up to everyday of your life!

Staring into digital screens for prolonged hours is strain to your eyes,

And then there are things that you can gaze all day through and it only refreshes your eye!

The luscious greens, the winding coffee estates, the captivating valleys, the occasional glimpse of a galloping deer and a mesmerizing weather - Chikmanglur has it all! A place you wish you woke up everyday of your life and a view that can never tire your eyes. Chikmanglur is a hill station, part of the Western Ghats nestled at the foothills of Mullayanagiri range. Visitors swarm in from across Karnataka for a real feel of nature - ideal place for trekking and nature lovers, also close to hill stations like Kemmanagundi, Kudremukh making it a popular haunt for youngsters and families alike.

Our Chikmanglur saga here does not endorse any place of visit - we only explore an ideal staycation amidst a coffee estate and our mesmerizing journey. A vacation with my family was something I had in mind for very long - but somehow our annual leave time never seemed conducive for that. This time around we decided to incorporate a trip also into our schedule with certain conditions -
• Has to be within a maximum of 6 hours drive from Udupi ( that is where my family is)
• Looking for a staycation than roam around.
• Should include some in house activities
• Food has to include non- vegetarian items.

After days of deliberation we chose Coffee Bean Homestay .Nischith the owner of the home stay, right from the very beginning was very helpful guiding us on the route we ought to take. We set out at 7 am on a pleasant Friday morning in early February with our first stop at Hotel Seethanadi  on the banks of River Seetha for our breakfast. Then we journeyed up the Agumbe Ghats - thankfully the roads have been widened and did not seem scary as it once used to be. Agumbe Ghats with its dangerous hairpin bends was a known accident zone and I almost always held my breath till we finished navigating the bends. Despite the ever guiding presence of google maps we managed to miss the way and ended up on a road that seemed to either have some repair going on or roads that desperately screamed for maintenance!

Food is an integral part for a foodie family!! So our next stop was at the Bhadra Coffee Shop,Balehonnur and for coffee addict like Soumya (my sis)  this was definitely a must stop place. Bhadra coffee shop is aptly burrowed in the Bhadra coffee plantation and is by the side of the main road in Balehonnur. There are signs all over the place and you are sure to never miss it.

The board says it all

After a cup of coffee and gobbling down two platefuls of paddu and a very delightful chutney we continued our adventure till our GPS lost signal along the way and we decided to ask for the route at Aldur. A passerby directed us to a mud road. The look of the road was not very promising but he assured us that the mud road was only for 4 kilometers and the rest of the road was good. The mud road narrowed as we moved along almost making it impossible for a vehicle to overtake or cross us. To worsen the matters at hand the road turned rocky and began an ascent into the mountains with sharp turns at almost every 100-200 meters. We waited with bated breath and our experienced chauffeur (Oh , that is my Dad I am talking about ) navigated each bend wondering what we would do if our car broke down amid this 'nowhere' place.  We let a long sigh of relief as this terrain ended way beyond the said 4 km with not a single soul in sight and with our car still in one piece.

Our treacherous journey brought us to our destination a little later than we had anticipated. Nevertheless, it was an abode that was awaiting us and every pain in the journey was just worth it. We stepped foot into the beautiful homestay amid a luscious coffee plantation to be welcomed with a glass of cold and refreshing buttermilk. We settled into our stone walled, clean and cosy rooms and Nischith took us through a tour around the hundred year old heritage home and through the work area where the harvested coffee beans were being processed.

The cosy homestay

The Heritage Home

Processing of the Coffee Bean

Just a handful of coffee beans from where they were left to dry

Drying of the Coffee Beans

This homestay is also home to quite a varied breed of dogs - if you are a dog lover you can't ask for more. If you do not like them - they will stay away from you as well:) Adorable and pampered chihuahua - Chilli and a Vodafone pug - Lucky ( vodafone made pugs popular right!!) are always at your beck and call. A majestic St Bernard, a German Shepherd and a Golden Retriever who loved to be petted and the detached dachshund (who also walks as if he owns the property) are also a part of this household.  A tour around the property was followed by lunch and then a  quick nap before our trip to the sunset point. Oh, let me not forget to mention the lovely biscuits that came along with the chai.

Artefacts at the heritage house

The sunset from the top of the hill was definitely commendable but what made it more memorable was our ride up the dusty hill in an open Mahindra Jeep. Shibin, Soumya and I managed to stand up almost the entire way up the hill and we got Pappa to stand up for a while too - his smile explained it all that it was an experience for him as well. The ride wasn't all that smooth - it was quite bumpy with occasional tree branches threatening you and quite a bit of dodging to ensure that your head travels along with your body on your jeep than being held in the branches. The destination was not a tourist spot - we were the only ones up the hill and it was arranged by the homestay. We spent close to an hour taking in the serenity of nature. Till were our sights would reach out were beautiful hills, all adorned in green, something that eludes our city life. Absolutely nothing that was man's creation was in sight- only the wondrous work of God. As sun began its descent, the sky changed to a beautiful orange glow making the atmosphere even more mesmerising. We sat back in oblivion and watched the splendor of nature unfold before our eyes as the sun set beyond the hills and an orange glow engulfed the sky.

The dusty road up the hill!

The beautiful view atop the hill

The sun bids Adieu

It was getting colder and we were relatively quiet on our way back down the hill. After a cleansing ritual (of all the dust accumulated), we made our way to the restaurant area where a camp fire was arranged for us. We were the only ones at the homestay that night - but they were sweet enough to have the fire place lit just for us.

The Campfire

We had our food around the fire, got a bit into the dancing groove, shared stories and spent countless minutes gazing at the star studded sky. Shibin keeps wondering why the night sky in Dubai has more planes lighting the sky than stars:P.  It was only when the fire finally died out and the temperatures dropped further that we dragged ourselves to our bedrooms and fell asleep.

Our second day began quite early as we had to make it in time for the wildlife safari at Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary which was around twenty minutes by road from the homestay. I really do not wish to detail more of this trip as this was the biggest disappointment we had!! We sacrificed our sleep to get an early morning glimpse of these animals, we paid 400 rupees per head for the safari and all we got to see were a few peacocks. I know you need to be lucky to spot animals yet it is hard to overcome the disappointment of not even getting to spot one wild animal. Shibin was all geared up with his camera to click away tigers and we did not even spot a bison!!

Stream amidst the Safari

The futile Safari Trail

They were plenty in number

Back at the homestay, there were no dearth of activities - a snake and ladder board engraved on a tree trunk that formed a coffee table took a bit of our time as snakes kept swallowing us after every ladder we climbed. Soumya had her first chance to play carrom since high school and well off course she lost. We tried our hands at badminton but the winds were too heavy for the shuttlecocks, Then finally we settled in with a game of family cricket that had the entire family running behind the ball at times to batting and bowling opportunity for everyone. Funny wicket keepers and beautifully attempted catches - we had it all in a day. The rest of the time, we had the dogs to entertain us. The coffee estate also had a small lake were we were taken fishing by one of the staff - Santosh. We had a bait hooked on to the fishing rods and waited silently for our prey. The fishes were quite smart - they got the bait 9 out of 10 times without letting themselves fall prey.( looks like they were trained - why not?, we let them go back into their dwelling place after we caught them. They would have been repeatedly doing this for quite sometime and were accustomed) We managed to strike off fishing from our checklist, we wanted to try our luck for a while more but it was getting dark and the fishes were moving away from the shores. This was followed by yet another night of feasting on the Malenadu cuisine - I particularly loved the nulluputtu soaked in sweet coconut milk. Camp Fire too was again part of night and few other guests had joined in as well. The pug and the chihuahua along with a cat too joined us around the campfire as we watched the flames and soaked ourselves into calmness of the night.

The last day began with our trek around the coffee plantation guided by Nischith who not only told us about the coffee plantation but also quite a lot of interesting stories of the past. I can still recount a few interesting things. Snakes apparently are a rarity now which couple of years back would be found under any and every stone you lifted. This can be owed to the increasing number of peacocks who feast on the snakes. (That makes me happy as I love peacocks and snakes scare the hell out of me. But leaves you thinking if it is good for the ecosystem.) Nischith narrated to us a tiger attack about 11 years back where the tiger beat the wits out of the dog and dragged a cow out of a window that was quite high! He also showed us a video he had taken of a tiger staring into the camera lens and luckily did not attack him or his friends . They later discovered that it was a man eater on prowl! He told us of how coffee plants are cultivated, harvested and how untimely weather can prove disastrous. Chikmanglur has hardly seen any industrialization and coffee estate is till the highest source of income.

Coffee Plantation amidst the areca nuts or may be the other way round

The coffee berries

Coffee Blooms

It took about an hour and after lots of stories, we headed back to the breakfast table for our final meal before departing from Chikmanglur. I am a coffee lover - but definitely not the instant coffee that is so readily available. I like the locally produced grainy ones that need to be sieved. It reminds me of home and makes me happy:) So we got our coffee powder stock for a year and we purchased our filter coffee machine too ( if that can be called a machine)! On the way back we chose a longer but better route. Finally our dream of a family vacation came true and we hope we are able to fit one such trip into our every India vacation itinerary!

If you are in Karnataka and have not been to Chikmanglur yet - You are definitely missing something. So pack your bags and head out there soon - plenty of homestays to unwind, lot of places to visit and makes a perfect getaway for city dwellers. While you are there, do not miss trying out the Malenadu cuisines and their coffee of course:)

Happy vacationing!!

Avalose Podi ||Cooking with family and friends - #6||

My sister was a picky eater. I have no choice but say 'was' because this time around when she came to Dubai I saw the 'pickiness' ( not too sure there is even a word as such) changing. It was not just her being picky but she hardly ate. Her favorite was chapati with chicken gravy ( she never touched the chicken in it though) So my Dad thought there is one easy girl to manage not much expenses on her food. This was until she grew up and then all she wanted to eat was non-veg food:) The hungriest time of the day was the gap between rushing from school at 4.30 pm ( read after throwing the shoes one under the cot and another under table, socks on the dining table and school bag on the sofa) and the play time which started at 5. We always rejected the option of left over morning puttu ( steamed rice cakes) for evening snack time. But our mother had her way. She would sprinkle a generous amount of sugar, mash in the bananas and feed us. That did taste out of the world - a dish we did not want to dig our hands into tasted so great when she fed us with love. That is how I love puttu even today as for my sister this is how she eats puttu - sprinkle sugar on puttu, eat a handful of that and then take a bite of the banana. When asked about her new style of eating, she says that she mixes and eats it only when mom is around to mash the banana in for her and she doesn't want to dirty her hands doing it herself.

Today's recipe is a dish that is eaten in the exact same way as puttu - sprinkle some sugar and mash in the ripe banana. It is usually eaten as a snack but hey, you could make it a breakfast dish too when you really do not want to cook anything else in the morning. I have done that:)

This is my 6th post in the series of Cooking with Family and Friends - this time around with my mom. We made this during my vacation in October to India. Also makes me think it is high time I post something that Shibin and I cook together on this series:)

Ingredients

1. White Rice - 3 cups
2. Coconut Grated - 2.5 cups
3. Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp

Method

• Wash and soak the rice in warm water for 3 to 4 hours
• Drain off the water and spread the rice on a kitchen towel until it is completely dry. This takes about an hour
• Dry grind the rice to powder
• Add coconut and cumin seeds  to the rice powder and mix it thoroughly using your hands. 
• Press this down tightly and keep this covered for an hour
• Roast this in a wide pan until the color begins to turn to light brown. Roast in batches in case you do not have a wide pan.
• Always keep on low flame and using a spatula keep moving the mix around so that it cooks evenly and does not stick onto the bottom of the pan. This process may take about 30 to 40 minutes. ( bit of work for your hands but totally worth it)
• Let it cool and grind it to powder consistency. Sieve it and grind again until all the particles gain the same consistency
• Store in an air tight container. It lasts outside for a month to two and if refrigerated longer.
• Avalose podi is usually served with a sprinkle of sugar with banana mashed into it.

Minced Chicken Pulav

When the rest of the world battles with Monday morning blues, we over here in the gulf battle the very same blues but on a Sunday instead ( Yeah, well our weekends are Friday and Saturday). I took quite a while to get used to this fact when we moved here from India. Even now I end up mixing the days - Friday for a Saturday and Saturday for a Sunday! Nevertheless The beginning of the week is hard and energy peaks as you move towards the next weekend. Alas, we are humans ! We know work is worship but nothing can take away those lazy weekends idling on a couch with family or those fun get together, shopping and more that can happen only on weekends.

The theory that would apply to most of us for the beginning of the week is the one propagated by Newton - A body at rest tends to stay at rest unless and until acted upon by an external force which is why I had to drag myself out of bed this morning to Yoga class and post the class sit down to publish this post. Looks like I need a lot of external forces to accomplish every bit of work listed out for today in my diary ! Oh, I do that almost on a daily basis! But never do I even tick of 50% of the list as DONE! I hope that a day will soon arrive when I accomplish all that I have listed. Sometimes I do think that I only list things - simply cz I love writing and carrying a diary around makes me feel like a pro!

While I tick off the blog post from my To - Do list and tend to the other To-Dos, why don't you guys take a look at my new post - Minced Chicken Pulav.

Ingredients

1. Minced chicken - 400gms
2. Onion - 2 large chopped
3. Ginger - 1 tbsp chopped
4. Garlic - 1 tbsp chopped
5. Green Chilly - 1 tbsp chopped
6. Garam masala - 1 tsp
7. Pepper powder - 1 tsp
8. Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp
9. Coriander leaves - handful
10. Salt
11. Oil

For Rice

1. Basmati rice - 2 cups
2. Cinnamon - 1 inch 
3. Cardamom - 3
4. Cloves - 4
5. Bay Leaves - 2
6. Water - 7 cups
7. Ghee - 2 tbsp
8. Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp
9. Mint Leaves - 3 tbsp chopped

Method

• Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes. Wash till the water runs clear. Drain and keep aside.
• Boil 7 cups of water adding salt to this.
• Heat ghee in a deep bottomed pan and add cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves and cardamom. Let it sizzle for a minute before adding basmati rice. Let it splutter. Pour boiling water into this. Squeeze in a tablespoon of lemon juice. Keep it covered until cooked. Drain off the excess water using a colander and run it through cold water. At this point you may separate the whole spices, if you wish to.
• Crush together green chilly, ginger and garlic using a mortar and pestle.
• Heat oil in a separate pan, fry the onions for 7 to 8 minutes till translucent. Add the crushed chilly, ginger and garlic paste. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes. 
• Add minced chicken , salt and let it cook covered.Add pepper powder and garam masala. Squeeze in a tablespoon of lemon juice.Let this cook.
• Add corriander leaves.
• Mix the rice with the minced chicken mix and garnish with corriander leaves and mint.

Ulli Vada/ Onion Vada

Wishing you all a very Blessed New Year!

It is the 14th of the month and I hope you are still sticking to your resolutions that have a tendency to lose momentum as the month goes along! I have not made myself any strict resolutions but I hope to be better and do good more than I could in 2017. I have had a happy 2018 so far and I hope and pray that all of you did too:)

Having said that, certain things do not seem to be changing in 2018! It took me 14 days to get a post out for new year and a long pending post which was shot last March along with the Crispy Sweet Corn and was idling away in the drafts. It took a weekend get together were I made the ulli vada again that I got reminded of my pending post. So here we go with the post.  Its called Ulli Vada down south of India - it could be roughly translated as onion pakoda, onion fritter or onion bajji - depends on which part of the globe you are from! Some recipes call for the use of all purpose flour - I have used gram flour and added a bit of rice flour and baking soda to crisp it up. Baking soda is completely avoidable if you intend to stay clear of it.  

It is easy, quick and perfect for the weather Dubai has now!

Ingredients

1. Onions - 3 medium size ( thinly sliced)
2. Gram Flour - 1/4 cup
3. Rice Flour - 1 tsp
4. Chilly powder - 1 tsp
5. Coriander leaf - 2 tbsp finely chopped
6. Curry leaf - 1 tbsp finely chopped
7. Baking soda - 2 pinches
8. Water - as required.
9. Salt to taste
10. Oil for deep frying

Method

• Take the sliced onions, corriander leaves, curry leaves and salt in a bowl. Mix them well squishing the onions as you go to separate the strands and also release water.
• Add gram flour, rice flour, baking soda and chilly powder to this. Mix them well using your hand, the water released from the onions helps in binding the dry ingredients together. Add 3 to 5 tbsp of water as needed in the batter. The batter needs to be thick and not runny.
• Heat oil in a pan. Scoop out a small ball of the batter and flatten it on your palms before dropping it into the oil. Fry on both the sides till evenly browned.
• Transfer onto a tissue to drain off excess oil. Serve with hot tea.

You may also note

• When deep frying, it helps to keep flame on medium to medium high - absorbs lesser oil. 
• Always drop in the batter only when the oil has heated up. Test by dropping in a tiny drop of the batter.

Apple French Toast

This Christmas season has been a busy one. Lots of baking , mall hopping to see the Christmas decor, karaoke singing of Christmas carols to watching Christmas movies - we have done it all. With my sister in town to celebrate Christmas with us we have had quite a spike in our December activities.So while I sit down to relax before beginning the Christmas eve preparations, thought of sharing a quick recipe for your Christmas breakfast table.

Apple french toast is simply the addition of Green apples to your normal french toast and getting it baked. Scroll below to the recipe!!

Meanwhile, Have a holly jolly Christmas this year!!

A Joyous Christmas to all!

Ingredients

1. Green Apple – 1 big finely sliced
2. Butter – 2 to 3 tbsp
3. White bread – 10 pieces
4. Milk – 400 ml
5. Egg – 2 large
6. Sugar – 2 to 3 tbsp
7. Salt – ¼ tsp
8. Cinnamon  powder – ¼ tsp

Method

• Pre-heat the oven at 180 degree centigrade for 15 minutes
• Heat butter in a pan. Layer apples in the pan and cook until tender.
• Cut the bread into smaller pieces.
• Break open the eggs into a bowl. Whisk well and add milk, sugar, cinnamon powder and salt. Combine well.
• Layer the bottom of a baking pan with the cooked apple.
• Dip the bread pieces in the egg mix and layer this on top of the apples. Alternatively, layer the top with bread slices and pour the egg mix  on the top till the bread is soaked in the milk.
• Bake at 180 degree centigrade for 30 minutes to 40 minutes or until done.

Cranberry Cobbler Dump Cake

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, 

and behold, 

everything is softer and more beautiful. 

                        

                                     -Norman Vincent Peale

Dump it all together - there you have a dessert on your table!

Cranberry sauce, topped with cake mix and butter drizzled on top - that is the name of the dish deconstructed for you!

This is my first guest post and I am happy I got to do it with thebigsweettooth . Rafeeda of The Big Sweet Tooth is one of first bloggers I got introduced to through blogging. Her blog is a repository of recipes - a go to website for all your recipe needs. I am so glad I could add to her repository. Head over to her blog to check out my recipe for Cranberry Cobbler Dump Cake.

Kerala Mutton Stew

Christmas is a time that brings back so many memories. Some are funny as can be!

Good food comes with any celebration and Good food comes after so many failed attempts too! Christmas is no less.

Our first Christmas together was within a month of moving to Dubai. The cooking range oven and the griller were totally new to me. All that Shibin wanted for Christmas was 'Karangunna Chicken' - loosely translated rotating chicken. Don't whack your brains! He only meant to have those rotisserie grilled chicken :) I had my chicken marinated and for reason best known to no one I decided to place the marinated chicken in the freezer! We went out shopping got back a little late - just in time for dinner which was till in the freezer. I had no time to defrost. I placed it in the oven to melt the stubborn ice. After a while onto the rotisserie. The chicken was big and the marinade was all dripping down which is when I realised that I needed a dripping pan too. After all the trials , we still had an uncooked chicken two hours later and a messy oven. Then we did what we could do best. Cut the chicken and pan fried them. That is how we ended up eating our Christmas dinner at 12 am! Boy, I am glad we did not have any guests.

Moving onto the recipe. Whenever I hear mutton stew I cannot help but suppress a smile. Tell the same to my mother - she will have her volley of justifications. You will know why soon:) We were never very fond of mutton, so mutton was almost never bought at home. Once I happened to taste mutton stew with appam at a friends place for a wedding. I came home with a demand that it be mutton stew for Christmas morning instead of the usual chicken stew. Pappa bought mutton and Mamma set out to make it. The stew turned out fine but it tasted a wee bit different and had a sour taste. We went on to eat a stomach full. On her hunt for the curd she kept in glass mug to marinate the chicken for biriyani  (our Christmas lunch) did my mom realise that she had poured the curd into the stew instead of coconut milk that was in a similar cup! Nevertheless she says the stew turned out good and this how new things are discovered:) She is not going to spare me for this!

Here we go - 

Ingredients

1. Mutton  – 500 gms
2. Potato – 2 medium sliced
3. Onion – 1 big thickly cut lengthwise 
4. Green Chilly – 3-4 slit
5. Ginger – 1 tbsp finely chopped
6. Cardamom – 3 to 4
7. Cinnamon sticks – 2 sticks of 1 inch
8. Cloves – 3 to 4
9. Thin coconut milk – 2 cups
10. Thick coconut milk – ½ cup
11. Salt as needed
12. Water as needed
13. Coconut oil

For Tempering

1. Coconut oil – 2 tbsp
2. Curry leaf – 2 sprigs
3. Onion – 1 small sliced in cubes
4. Peppercorns – 3 to 4

Method

• Heat oil in a thick bottom pan. Add the whole spices and fry until aromatic.
• Next, add onions, ginger and green chilly. Saute until the ginger is cooked.
• Add mutton pieces and cook until the mutton is almost done. Pressure cook if need be.
• Add the potatoes and adjust salt.
• Add thin coconut milk and cook it covered until the mutton is done.
• Add thick milk and switch off the flame as soon as the stew begins to boil.
• For tempering, crush onion and pepper in a mortar and pestle.
• Heat oil in a pan, add the crushed onion and pepper along with curry leaves. Saute till done.
• Temper the stew with this mix. Keep it covered for a while.
• Serve hot with appam!