Author Archives: Lakshmi Rajan
Fried Modak (sukhiyan) – Recipe
In the previous post, we saw how to make modak, here let’s see how to make a fried variation of the popular modakam sweet dish. While the steamed modak is made with rice as the base variant, we use maida for the fried modak. Fried modak is called sukhiyan in Kerala. Ofcourse, each region might have their own slight variations to the dish, what I am dishing out here is how we make it at our home.
Ingredients to make fried modak or Sukhiyan:
- Maida – 150 gm
- Jaggery – 1 1/4 cup (shredded)
- Chana dal – 200 gm
- Dry ginger powder (for flavour)
- Cardamom – 5 or 6
How to make the filling for fried modak
The filling for the fried modak is very similar to what we make for modak.
Step 1: Soak the chana dal for 30 minutes
Step 2: Pressure cook the soaked channa dal and drain the excess water if any.
Step 3: Shred the jaggery.
Step 5: In a pan mix both the cooked channa dal and jaggery and heat it medium flame.Add dry ginger powder, elachi (cardamon).
The jaggery would melt and the contents thicken.
Step 6: Remove the thick filling from the stove. At this consistency, it would be easy to make dumplings
Step 7: Made round balls out of the filling as show in pic below. Keep the filling balls aside and now lets made the outer covering for the modak.
Making of fried modak (Sukiyan)
Step 8: Take maida in a pan
Step 9: Add water to maida and make a batter, dilute enough to dip the filling and fry it. If it is too diluted, it might not coat the filling ball properly.
Step 10: Add the filling balls into the batter.
Step 11: Deep fry in oil
And delicious fried modak or sukhiyan is ready to be served!
Modak – Recipe
Modak is a rice based sweet dumpling that is popular in Southern and Western India. It is called modak in modhaka or vellai kozhukattai in Tamil, modak in Marathi / Konkani, kudumu in Telugu and kadubu in Kannada. It is considered Lord Ganesha’s favourite dish and finds a place in Ganesh Chaturthi puja offerings.
Each region adds a slight variations to the modak, though the basics remain the same. Here is a recipe of Modak the way we prepare at our home. Yes, the dumplings vary in shape too, though at our home is simple ball in shape.
Ingredients to make modak
- Rice flour – 1 1/4 cup
- Chana dal – 200 gm
- Jaggery (shredded) – 1 cup
- Dry ginger powder (for flavour)
- Cardamom – 5-6
- Sugar – 1-2 tsp
- Salt – a pinch
- Gheer – 2 tsp
How to make the filling for Modak
Step 1: Soak the chana dal for 30 minutes
Step 2: Pressure cook the soaked channa dal and drain the excess water if any.
Step 3: Shred the jaggery.
Step 5: In a pan mix both the cooked channa dal and jaggery and heat it medium flame.Add dry ginger powder, elachi (cardamon).
The jaggery would melt and the contents thicken.
Step 6: Remove the thick filling from the stove. At this consistency, it would be easy to make dumplings
Step 7: Made round balls out of the filling as show in pic below. Keep the filling balls aside and now lets made the outer covering for the modak.
Making of Modak
Step 8:
Take the rice flour in a pan and add 1 or 2 tsp of sugar, pinch of salt and 2 tsp of ghee.
Add hot water into the flour and mix it immediately to the consistency of roti dough.
Step 9:
Make rice balls out of the dough.
Step 10:
Flatten the rice ball.
Keep the filling in the centre.
Wrap it into a dumpling.
Step 11: Modak balls are ready to be steamed.
Step 12: Steam cook the modaks.
Delicious modak is ready to be served.
Barfi – Review
Anurag Basu’s Barfi has a lot in common with classic poetry. Everyone would agree classic poetries like say, Shakespeare’s poems are brilliant. But if you give a book of classic poetry to a common man to read, most probably he would get bored in a while, though he would never deny or question the brilliance of the book. It requires a frame of mind, an acquired taste to get lost in classic poetry. Barfi requires it to enjoy the undiluted, pure cinematic pleasure without any compromises for the mainstream pulls and demands. Undeniably, it’s a brilliant movie where silence speaks a lot through the performance of the characters, the poetic canvas captured on-screen, celebration of life in spite of the burden heaped upon, the simple of joys of life told in a chaplinesque style.
Of all the contemporary actors, Ranbir shows a rare strain of acting DNA who can perform various shades of roles with ease. Ofcourse acting runs in his genes but amongst all the star kids, he is a talent personified. Barfi is yet another proof for his acting prowess. Effortlessly he gets into the chaplin mode of performance reminding his grandfather Raj Kappor alongside. As a deaf and mute guy named Barfi, he is speaks a lot in silence with his expressions.
If Ranbir immerses you in an explosion of joy and happiness in silence, Priyanka as Jilmil suffering from autism moves us with a flawless performance and lives as the character. Devoid of any glamour hers is a controlled, admirable performance. You don’t see the usual Piggy chops but only Jilmil.
The other lead lady of the story, Ileana D’Cruz makes her debut in Bollywood but then she is no new-comer for acting, she is the in-demand, most sought leading heroine in Telugu film industry. In Barfi, she makes a strong performance.
It’s not just the leading characters but the rest of the characters also leave their imprints. Finally it comes to the pied piper, Anurag Basu who had woven the poetry on celluloid. Laidback and in lost in his own world in his orchestration of characters and scenes. For pure cinematic pleasure Barfi gives, you can forgive and forget his previous debacle Kites.
Finally, will you like Barfi? Is it worth your two and half hours? It depends on what kind of cini-lover you are. It also depends on with what frame of mind you are watching the movie. As I mentioned earlier, Barfi is a cinematic poetry, it requires patience, a taste to appreciate it. It is simplified in its soul, forget few flaws but it shines in its performance and undiluted orchestration of script in a classic, chaplinesque style.
Movie Review: Raaz 3
The Bhatt brother’s banner Vishesh films is back with the third installment of Raaz directed by one of their favourite director, Vikram Bhatt. Incidentally Vikram also directed the first Raaz. It also brings back Bipasha Basu to the horror series along with Bhatt camp’s favourite serial kisser Emraan Hashmi. Interestingly, Emraan entered Bollywood in the 2002 release Raaz as an assistant director.
A fading actress, Shanaya (Bipasha Basu) who refuses to see her stardom crumbling is jealous of the up- coming actress Sanjana (Esha Gupta). So typical of the Bollywood, Sanjana also happens to be Shanaya’s haf-sister out of a different mother. Prompted by her deep hatred for Sanjana and the inability to accept the fact that her stardom is waning, she takes route to black magic to negate Sanjana’s career. For that she utilizes her boyfriend-director, Aditya (Emraan Hashmi), who complies to her devious plan initially but falls in love with Sanjana later. With Shanaya playing into the hands of Shaitan what happens to Sanjana and the love triangle between the three makes the movie along with the regular diet of sleaze, few moments of chillness and passionate kisses with Emraan getting to kiss both the ladies in the movie!
The hero of the movie is undoubtedly Bipasha Basu who overshadows Emraan. Though she gets copious screen space for skin show, its her acting as insecure, frustrated and scheming actress that scores the brownie points while Esha Gupta is just average in her role.
Shagufta Rafique’s story manages to pull off the first half of the movie rather well but the second half falters and the climax? well it reminds of Vikram Bhatt’s other horror flick Haunted and has a lame end to the devil’s ploy. With Ganesh chaturthi round the corner, Vikram has chosen Him as the saviour this time. As far the horror show in itself, the shaitan looks draped in some cheap Halloween costume, no wonder the camera refrains from showing the closeup of the devil. On horror quotient as expected there are few chilling moments that can race your heartbeats.
On a final note, Raaz 3 works good on the first half with its own chill moments and the story weaving into the frustration of a fading star in spite of the script’s inherent weakness but the second half? Well it spirals into an eclectic mixture of shrill, unintended laughter, ridiculous tantra mantra and ends in a dud climax.
Should you watch it or not? Expect the expected from the Bhatt camp, the movie follows their now predictable film cottage industry formula of sequels and Indian horror. You can sit through comfortably in the first half and in the second you can visit the loo or the cafeteria and sail through.
Review: Philips Air Fryer
So the other day we were walking around a mall and a black box looking quiet similar to coffee maker caught our attention. We went and enquired about it and were told its Philips AirFryer. Having a weakness for fried food items, it immediately grabbed my attention.
When it comes to fried foods, my taste buds vouch for the deep oil fries in spite of all the health talks and gyaans i get, read and talk. Still, I have compromised of late taking recourse to microwave cooking for selected recipes and simply limiting the fried food intake. So when the guy who was explaining me about the AirFryer told me it uses a ‘Rapid Air technology that fries the tastiest food without the oil‘, I decided to check it right away excitedly.
It is quiet an uncomplicated setup. In the front you got a temperature controller which reads up to 200 degrees and a timer control knob that sets it up for maximum 30 minutes. You also have an on/off light indicators to the side of the temperature knob, the LED turns from green to red as soon as the desired temperature is achieved.
Pull the handle that you find below the temperature control knob and it releases the container tray with a meshed bottom. You place your fresh potato fingers or cutlets or chicken legs in this tray just with a fraction of oil. I was told all you need is less than a spoonful of oil to make your favourite french fries! Even something like cutlet needs to be just smeared with a bit of oil and its ready to be fried. For the health-conscious it does sound a perfect affair!
Ok my cutlet is getting fried. So place the cutlet in the tray, smear oil and close the tray. Set the temperature and let the air do the frying! In between cooking you can always open the compartment to check the food and flip it over if needed.
Once ready you simply remove the compartment out and transfer it.
Philips says
Airfryer’s patented Rapid Air technology enables you to fry the tastiest crispy fries that contain up to 80% less fat than a conventional fryer! Its unique combination of fast circulating hot air and a grill element allows you to fry a variety of delicious fried food, snacks, chicken, meat and more in a fast and easy way. Since you only fry with air it provides less smell and vapours than traditional frying, is easy to clean and safe and economical for daily use.
All sounds good and tempting but what about the real taste of the Air fried food?
Here is our cutlet.
I felt it has to be fried a few more minutes but it had a lovely golden hue!
Ok here is the other scape-goat, Sanjiv tasting it.
For just a small dab of oil required to fry this cutler, it does taste fairly good and definitely healthy deal. For lack of time and the resource in the demo area, I could not get chance to try out various other items but it does seem promising.
Want to cook two items at the same time? Philips Airfryer comes with a food separator that allows you to cook two separate dishes at the same time.
Though I noticed that the cooking compartment volume is quiet small.
Finally it boils fries down to the price. Philips AirFryer is priced at Rs 14,995.
Most good things in life comes at a premium price ha! But if you are a health freak and wants to indulge in some good guilt free oil-free (ok technically speaking sparse usage of oil) cooking, do check this out.
Movie Review: Joker
After watching Joker I am seriously biting into this conspiracy theory. Farah Khan and her husband-director Shirish Kunder were on a hidden mission and with Tees Maar Khan and Joker, they got their mission accomplished by making a joke out of Akshay Kumar.
When you put together Bollywood and Alien sci-fi movies, you know it is a disastourous recipe. So when I came to know Joker was a desi sci-fi subject I was bit skeptical but then there was also Hrithik Roshan starrer Koi Mil Gaya as an exception, which deftly handled our own home-grown alien ‘Jadoo’ and packaged it rather well without over-exposing the alien element. So I still had a faint hope that Shirish could pull an alien out of his hat to undo the mistake his wife did for Akki in the memorably disastrous movie Tees Maar Khan.
Two possibilities. Either Shirish is a master story-teller who could convince Akshay Kumar to sign the movie or Akki is a weak decision maker who chooses movies influenced by emotions and friendly obligations. Whatever the truth be, ultimately this Friday witnessed a movie that is a joke at everyone’s expense!
I am sure most of you are going to skip the movie so let me out the story. Akshay is a top scientist who is on a mission to establish conduct with Aliens! He is backed by a corporation who have invested heavily onto his project. After two years and no result, they give him a final one month to prove or else it would be handed over to his rival scientist. This is the first few minutes of intro on Akshay’s character.
If you think so far so good wait, behold and be prepared for flight to Pagalpur! Yes, it is Akshay’s native village back in India. His wife, Sonakshi who is blissfully aware of his past receives a call from India asking Akshay to visit his supposedly ailing father. So they set back to karma bhoomi and the karma bhoomi here is a hamlet that is literally non-existent in official records of India! While the entire inhabitants including Akshay’s kith and kin as the name of the village suggests are sheer idiots! They are ridiculously stupid that even the neighbouring villagers don’t step in. Err? Well, all is fair in bollywood and stupidity. So don’t faint!
Just don’t ask how Akshay was an exception and became a scientist though he explains this his wife though we have really given up on any logic at this stage. The villager’s existence is threatened by the nearby dam construction. When Akshay realizes there is no help coming forward from government since his village is almost non-existent as per records. He decides to pull a joke and bring the world’s attention to his village. So the Alien story unfolds and the bucks stop in the climax with a real Alien landing and doing its own bit of joking around! Holy Aliens!
The movie is directionless, clueless to whether to make it a kid-centric movie or a jab on the political class and story hungry media.
The plus point of the movie it is only one hour and fourty minutes or so. Small mercies. The minus is everything. Bad scripting, bad editing, bad direction and a big meh! Should be the lamest, dumbest movie of the decade.
Joker is one joke of a film. If Farah made TMK, its hubby Shirish’s turn to complement it with Joker. Poor Akshay! No wonder he seems to be visibly upset and disowned the film like everyone else.
Four Seasons Wine – A Live Cookout @ Royal Orchid
When I got the invite for a live cooking event organised by Four Seasons Wine, the foodie in me got excited. When you have live cooking, wine pairing and have some wonderful bloggers around on a Sunday noon, you know it is going to be a laid back and engaging noon and it turned out to be one king of good times! After all it has to be since Four Seasons Wine is part of UB group.
So last sunday myself and my partner-in-wine-and-dine, Sanjiv managed to push our lazybones to arrive at the venue at Royal Orchids Hotel. That the event was being held at the roof top with a good city view and a pool on the side cheered our senses much before the wines and food set in and the warm Bangalore weather was perfect for such lazy noon.
Shamita Singha, Ex-Miss India-Miss Earth and brand ambassador of Four Seasons Wine kickstarted the event with a brief wine talk that included introduction to Four Seasons Wine, various wines in their portfolio and briefly delving into food and wine pairing. Unlike some other celebrity brand ambassadors this lady sure knows what she talks and was quiet engaging in her informal talk.
The ‘chaiwala’ duo with Shamita…
Then it was time for Shamita to leave us with the Master chef to engage in live cooking. From Thai Veg curry based on pea aubergine to grills and chicken breast barbeques, the open air kitchen was engaging and fun activity. Few of us even got our hands on cooking under the chef’s hawk eyes and all was fun with wine, food and talk!
Overall it was a wonderful noon with loads of fun, food and wine amidst endless talks! And my pick of the wine? Four Seasons’s Sauvignon Blanc.
Check out some of the pictures shot during the event.
Samsung Galaxy S3 – Find out the User Experience [Video]
Samsung’s latest flagship offering, Samsung Galaxy S3 is one super smart phone loaded with lots of surprises and tricks! We went around town and spotted Galaxy S3 users and asked them their user experience.
Check it out in this video.
Happy Independence Day, Dear India!
India celebrates 66th Independence Day today and though we have enough reasons to worry and introspect, let’s remind ourselves Independence comes with self-responsibilty. So lets make our nation proud, let’s be honest to ourselves and the nation. Happy Independence day to all, yes the road ahead is rough and tough but together we can build a better road for our future generations. Jai Hind!
When you see an editorial picture shoot, you know Sanjiv Vakharia is on a roll. Yes, he pulled out a shoot in last minute inspite of our hectic schedules. I wonder where he gets all this energy from! Its a secret he is yet to share with me.
Photo credits:
Models: Warren, Sharath, Shiv Prasad, Aditya
Photographer: Ashok
Shoot conceived & co-ordinated by: Sanjiv Vakharia
Cherish Friendship day with a bottle of Wine
“What is the definition of a good wine? It should start and end with a smile.”
And this friendship day, If you are a wine lover lighten the mood, bring the smiles and engage in good conversations with your friends along with fine wine and pairing it with sumptuous food.
Picking up a right wine is always a challenge and especially in India where the art of good wine and dine is still a nascent concept and novelty for many but with the changing lifestyle more and more Indians are toasting their glass of wine.
If you are looking for a good wine at reasonable price, you don’t have to look beyond Four Seasons, a part of UB Group of companies offering a good choice of wines of different varietals, styles and price points. Four Seasons Wines Limited produces wines from selected choice of grapes grown around Sahyadri valley in Maharashtra, India and at its state-of-the-art Four Seasons winery near Baramati, around 65 kms from Pune.
As the brand name indicates, Four Seasons captures the the colors and moods of the four seasons, with three reds (Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Merlot); three whites (Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc and Viognier); and, a Rosé (Blush). For those wh o want to indulge on premium offerings, sip the Barrique Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and Barrique Reserve Shiraz from their wine portfolio. Sticking to the traditions, these wines are aged in imported French oak barrels for 9 months before being bottled. Sounds perfect isn’t it? You would agree when you swirl the wine and taste it.
I had an oppurtunity to interact with Mr. Abhay Kewadkar, Chief Winemaker and Business Head – Wines of Four Seasons who shared with us interesting insights into wines and pairing it with food, an interesting topic that I would share with you another day but for this Friendship day, celebrate with your choice of Four Seasons Wine.
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