Whats cooking, Good Looking?
This issue is raining recipes. It is befitting the weather. To be honest it has been planned to be so. We wanted to bring you food that one enjoys during the monsoons.
A hearty breakfast of eggs on a rainy morning (11 recipes) piping hot rasam on a rain-soaked afternoon (13 recipes), made lovingly by 75-year-old amma in her well-organised kitchen, lined with stainless steel boxes and Horlicks glass jars given to her by her mother when she married over 50 years ago.
From my own kitchen, cooked by me and simultaneously shot by me, painstakingly washing my hands dozens of times in between the two chores, we bring you the most classic rainy day lunch; dal chawal accompanied by the humble dry bombil, the Bombay Duck, in two kinds of masala, red and green. Most people don’t know how to make Bombay Duck, fresh or dry. In the process, losing out on one of the most super dishes that true-blue foodies enjoy.
Dinner has to be some Rajasthani jungli maas, incorporating only four ingredients, slow-cooked to perfection along with some saffron rice, on a wet indulgent night when you surely don’t want to venture out of your home.
But if you do venture out, head straight for Bawri at BKC (Bandra Kurla Complex), where my friend and favourite chef, Amninder will welcome you with honest Indian food, robust and oh so tasty, you won’t mind getting wet to get there. Or if you are heading to New York, drop in at Saga! If Kerala is too wet for you right now, lie back and savour Dr Nishant Kumar’s rather in-depth and indulgent writing on restaurants around Cochin. Kochi, if you prefer.
We have for you, the most amazing coffee, too. Not one that you have to prepare yourself, but something you just have to order. Iyengar’s Kaapi is a revolution! And Ramesh Iyengar is a genius. An ex-advertising honcho from Trikaya, he gave in to his passion and entered the world of food, three years ago. He did not just devise a perfect decoction but also the most perfect system to deliver hot coffee to your home or office in a perfectly engineered flask that does not drip a drop of coffee and keeps hot for six hours. Try it, you can thank us later. Hope it rains buckets when you are sipping on this delectable hot stuff.
Abhijit Saha from Bangalore, the chef extraordinaire responsible for restaurants such as Ammakase in Singapore and Lyfe in Bangalore, has also jumped into the fray. He sends us five of his most favourite recipes using healthy ingredients.
Last but not the least, we have recipes galore from Amrita Raichand, our cover girl whose main purpose in life is to cook and feed friends and guests. And teach the world cooking through various digital platforms. Here is one easy-breezy woman with a smile on her face, always laughing and making it seem like the easiest thing in the world is to be able to cook. Perhaps it is, with the simplicity of her recipes. We bring you facets of Amrita, which until now were generally unknown.
Food is the forte of UpperCrust. This is the 99th issue of our beautiful magazine. We close the double digit innings by bringing to your kitchen, the unusual black garlic. Did you know about it, its nutrients? Ever used it in your cooking? Turn to Know More About on pg 166 and get updated! Seven recipes!
Irfan Pabaney also contributes. He may not be at hand at Sassy Spoon anymore where I first tasted his Prawn in Lemony Couscous, and became a convert, but, I learnt how to make it in his own home kitchen! Now you can rustle it up in yours!
Bringing up the rear is Seema and Jaideep Mehrotra in Celebrity Bites. Jaideep is as good a cook as painter and a real foodie, too.
Now get ready for our 100th issue, InShaAllah!