Eating Cultures Photo Gallery

eatingcultures

A techie who likes his food much more than technology

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Vegan savoury french toast, can I call it that?

Sooji / rawa mixed in coconut milk and some spices. Applied on bread and toasted. Basically, a twist on the classic sooji toast, replacing sour curd with coconut milk.

I liked the look I got on it. Does not taste like the regular french toast but tastes nice in the vegan mode.

A question to all the vegans.... Is bread vegan?

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking
#veganbreakfast
#vegan #veganrecipes #savouryfrenchtoast #veganrecipe #brokenwheat #coconutmilk

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Poha it is today, with addition of corn kernels.
Along with poha are 2 beautiful nankhatais shared by a friend. The nankhatais were melt in mouth, with that buttery feeling and just perfect sweet. She has been making these for long but now started selling them too. Anyone interested to get a bite into those beauties, please DM me , I shall share the number.

It's a good start to the week. Have a great Monday everyone.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #poha #pohawithcorn #nankhatai #happymonday #corn

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Things that went missing during the last 3 months.

A pure punekar swears by the bakeries of Pune.
Hindustan, Green or New Poona all of them have this world famous product. Pattice or veg puffs is what the middle aged people (I am younger ) of Pune were waiting for.

I saw a bunch of old men having the pattice at 715 in the morning. Smiling and not really worried about the covid.
Hindustan bakery pattice is today's breakfast. Nice flaky puff with a spicy peas and potato filling.

Nice start to the Sunday.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #unlock #hindustanbakery #pune #chai #pudinachai #pattice

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I am trying to restart posting my breakfasts like I used to on a regular basis. The lockdown took away some steam due to a lot of work pressure(yes probably one of those rare specimens who kept working throughout weekdays and weekends). Trying hard to come back to this.

Multi grain dosa today. Although the larger content was of Moong daal, but there was, chana, udad, Matki a bit of massor too. So actually a multi grain dosa.

Let it ferment over night. Added some rice flour in the morning and some salt. It was ready to go.

It did not become as crispy as a dosa, possibly wrong quantities a bit. But turned well. Stuffed with finely chopped onions for the bite and coriander for the freshness. A good breakfast today.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #moongdalchilla #multigrain #healthybreakfast #breakfast #homechef

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This is a first for me. Raw mango chunda turning out to be so simple to make and excellent to taste.

I always thought that making all these things was a work of a master chef . Master chefs meaning mothers here.
Approval from @_.khushi3105 and my wife that they liked it, is in itself a complement.

After making this, now I realise how much I can play around with these flavours and provide the relevant twists and turns.

Took me a prep time of 15 mins grating the raw mangoes and another 8-10 mins cooking.

Sweet, sour, spicy combination in a mango. Can go with almost everything from rotis to parathas to sandwiches.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #rawmangoes #mangoes #chunda #sweetandsour

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Planning for a snack in the evening has gone beyond the regular bhel , tikkii and samosas.

Converting a chicken breast into a beautifully grilled piece. Marinated in soy sauce, crushed garlic and very little salt.

In the OTG for about 13-14 minutes. The chicken was moist, flavourful and ideal snack for the evening. Went well with the spicy schezwan chutney.
#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #grilledchicken #schezwan
#schezwanchutney #desichinese
#chickenbreast

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Tried my hands at a very different, never eaten (by me) combination. Chicken cooked with radish and the greens of radish.
Chicken meat works well with the pungency and its a very comforting combination. Minimal or no spices. Garlic, green chillies and salt. This much was enough for the radish to release water and cook the chicken in that water.

Lovely fragrance and excellent taste.
Food can be flavourful even when you use minimal ingredients.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #hatkecooking #chickenradish
#radishchicken #homechef #punechef #punefoodblogger #foodblogger

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This was missing from life for the last 3 months. The fast is broken with the one and only Garden wada pav!!! Got this from their nap stop shop. The lovely smell filled the car on the way back home.

Couldn't wait to open and eat but had to wait because I had work calls to finish.

So glad these shops are opening up. It's heartening to see people trying to stand up back on their feet. A lot amrutulyas have also opened up and people standing and drinking tea.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking
#wadapav #gardenwadapav #nalstop
#kothrud #unlocking #lockdownstories

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Everytime Dimple (my wife) cooks an egg for me!!! She always gets it right, although she herself is a vegetarian.
It's all in the hands and love in the heart which flows into the food.

#eatingcultures #eggsthatdontlisten
#beautifuleggs #sunnysideup #eggs #perfecteggs #rozkhaoande

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How many men following this handle, cook on a daily basis? No I am not trying to be a chauvinist, nor a feminist nor judgemental :). Everyone cooks in the Bhatia Clan, maybe not all on a daily basis. This was a spicy chicken number done by @bhatiavinay34 . My brother who dished out a red hot spicy chicken curry. The colour of the gravy or the tarri says it all.

Chicken curries and Sundays go so well together. The men try to give their women a break from the kitchen and take charge of the kitchen for just that one non vegetarian meal.
I know of so many friends who say that they cannot cook anything else but non vegetarian food, specifically a chicken or mutton curry.

Many who keep their can of beer next to them while cooking that Sunday brunch. A sip of the chilled brew and working on the onion till they sweat.

The wives take pride in whatever gets served as they get that one break in the week from cooking.
Many would happily say, "The mutton curry he makes is awesome. I have never tasted something like that" which actually translates into " Learn something more to cook, tired of mutton curries on Sundays"

There are a few types of men who cook.

1. The weekend non vegetarian cook
2. The one dish wonder who masters the art of cooking only that one dish
3. The quick fix cooks who fixes sandwiches and sometimes crosses the line to make pasta with ready sauces.
4. The one those cook daily with their heart and soul.

Any other types you can add?

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #mencancook #oldmencancook #punefoodblogger #foodblogger #chickencurry

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There were two cakes this time. Both of them turning out favourites for birthdays. This is from 31st May, my daughter's birthday
The first slightly funky one was a surprise and not planned. The cake was made by @vinitaphalak sent by the Joshi family. @akanksha_joshi @ashajoshi26 @joshya_theuncorkedstory .

The cake had all the elements that my daughter loves. Fell in love with the miniature wada pav eight at the center. It would have taken a lot of effort to make that and it sure was worth every minute spent on it.

The second was from @jyotshanashahparab . This was a delicate piece of work and lovely flavours of blueberry and chocolate. The colour, design and texture of the cake were all loved.

Both brilliant cake artistes and a touch of their own.

This 2020 birthdays are going to be special.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #birthdaycakes #cakeartistes #bakers #cakesinpune #homebakers

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Like the peacocks dance with the smell and sound of rain, the humans go into their kitchens to make kanda bhaji.

We are so programmed. As soon as you smell the first whiff of rain water meeting it's favourite mud somewhere, we robotically move to the kitchen or go to the nearest thela to buy a plate of kanda bhaji. If you happen to stand in the balcony, you can smell the warm oil and the noise of these crackers being fried.

The smiles that this fritter brings on the faces of people who devour it with so much pleasure. Eating them becomes meditation, where first you forget everything by the look of these beauties, and then you are hit by the smell and finally, when they land on your toungue the crispiness makes you forget everything in this world.

I am sure it is written in the vedas to eat kanda bhaji when it rains.
#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #kandabhaji #cyclonenisarga #nisarga #cyclone #monsoontreats #firstrains #lockdownfood #lockdownstories

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Apart from the cakes, she has been wanting to learn how to make mousse.

I have not made these before because always thought that we should leave it to the professionals who are really good at their art.

It was her birthday and what better occassion to add this as a dessert. There was one more dessert planned and ready but all chose to eat this. After this the shahi tukda would have been anyways avoided. I myself am a shahi tukda fan bigger than the mousse.

Simple mango mousse with fresh Alphonso pieces, some mint and chocolate shavings.

Lockdown is making me to do things I have never done before. What was that line from Star Trek show of the 80's?

#eatingcultures #lockdownbirthdays
#oldmancooking #lockdownstories #mangomousse
#freshalphonso #pune #homechef

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Is it necessary to get the shape of the medu vada right?
Birthday of the daughter started with the most tastiest home made medu vada with all the taam jham. Sambhar and a beautiful looking chutney too.

@_.khushi3105 more to come in the lunch. Enjoy your day today. God bless you.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #birthdayfood #lockdownbirthdays #birthdays
#southindianfood #sambhar
#coconut #coconutchutney #meduvada #meduwada

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That's my snack for the evening. @thefatlabradorcafe introduced chicken kheema pavs on their weekend menu.
When you visualize kheema, one mostly sees the red spicy and flavorful stuff that you get at the irani cafes.

This kheema was green. As soon as I picked up the parcel and opened it at home. The smell of the warm kheema with flavours of green chilli and coriander and ofcourse other spices hit me in a lovely manner.

I was planning to eat it for dinner originally. Changed the plan and made it a kind of evening snack because I just had to eat it else I wouldn't do justice to the person who cooked it.
I still feel the smell on my fingers while I type (I did was my hands) . Somethings leave that flavour on your toungue and hands just a way bit longer.

Love these guys what they do with their food and their coffees.

#eatingcultures #thefatlabradorcafe #kheemapav #chickenkheema #greenchicken #bavdhan #bavdhancafes

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Wadiun (in Sindhi) , Sandage (in Marathi); the content maybe slightly different but the concept remains the same.
Either lentils or grains ground to paste with a mix of masalas and dried and stored for future use. I have seen mom do that early on when we had huge space exposed to the sun, but after we shifted to the apartment styled living, she never used that skill of hers.

In the Sindhi and Punjabi wadi there is a good amount of whole black pepper. Made or moong or udad dal or even a mix of dals.

I cooked this as a matter of finishing of from the pantry and get new fresh ones, which should be available now with the summer about to end.

The gravy is the typical daag made in Sindhi cuisine. The daag is an onion based brown gravy but the difference comes from the garam masala which is used. The Sindhi garam masala is high on black pepper and cloves and a higher flavour of green cardamom too. This adds a sweet and spicy flavour to the mix.

Generally eaten with a chapatti or rice. I had it with left over idly and tastes almost as good.

What is this called in other states of the country?

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #sindhicuisine #sindhifood #wadiun #sandage #cstorefood #lockdownstories #lockdownfood #homechef

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How does one bust the stress built up by long working hours, weekend working etc.? One cooks and cooks something where there is an element of surprise inside. My first attempt at making Scotch eggs or Nargisi kebab.
I wanted the yolk to be runny but even this was fine. Should have boiled the egg a few mins less.

For a first attempt it really came out well.
Eid celebrated well in the lockdown.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #nargisikebab #scotcheggs #funwitheggs #eidmubarak #happyeid #lockdownstorieswithahaana #lockdownfood #homechef

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Going Bengali today.....Matar luchi. My first attempt at making a stuffed and fried Puri.

Minimum ingredients maximum flavours.

Had it with home made mawa which was topped with honey.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #luchi #matarluchi #peasluchi #bengalicuisine #puris #indianfood #punefoodblogger #lockdownstories #lockdownfood

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No elaborate cooking today. If I can call it the cooking block (think writer's block)

Toast and butter for two reasons.
1. That post a few days back by @native_species talking about Vohuman Cafe. It started a craving for toast butter.

2. The most important reason was that I don't feel like cooking anything today.
When the cooks were allowed to come in, I used to cook the breakfast and on weekends. A few weeks of lockdown and I am starting to get tired of these marathon cookings.
How many you feel the same and how often? What do you do when you don't feel like getting into the kitchen.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #nocookingday #cookingblock #homecooks #toastbutter #breadtoast

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The baker with her wares..... chocolate muffins on a Saturday afternoon with a cup of black coffee.

#eatingcultures #youngladycooking #weekendcooking #chocolate #darkchocolate #muffins #cadbury

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The art of cooking is to reach perfection everytime you are in the kitchen.

Keep cooking and innovating.
The bharli wangi I used to cook was typical of using goda masala, coconut, kanda lasun and peanuts. We had got used to enjoying that till ...... I changed it to make my own masala as per @shambhu.saran.9 recipe. It's a little bit of effort but makes a big amount of difference in the taste. The aroma of the roast and after blending, Marjaawan!!! Even the humble bharli wangi changes in taste from region to region in Maharashtra.

Trying to perfect the art of making dhodho / bhakri. Improving everyday on this. Also realised that the freshness of the flour also ensures that you get a good dough made.
#eatingcultures #bharliwangi
#oldmancooking
#bhakri #dhodho #homechef #maharashtrianfood #varhadimasala #varhadi

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Don't they look inviting? The yellow, the white the green and some glaze.
Sindhi Sao masalo or green masala is a favourite in day today food. Potatoes, fish, eggs, chicken can be cooked beautifully in this masala.
Mom would play around with this masala. Keeping the basics of fresh coriander, mint, green chillies. She experimented with the greens of the spring onion. Green garlic is also used in this which adds to the fragrance and freshness both. All in all the masala is as if you are pulling a few green leaves out of nature.

I have eaten dhaniya murg and other green gravies in restaurants. Love these bright leaves on my plate than the brown gravy. For example , love the freshness of paalak gosht, the flavour of mutton in the paalak or vice versa is amazing.
I have also been making a Palak and methi gravy, in which I cook mixed vegetables.

All in all greens do hit the right notes.

Enjoy your weekend

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #greeneggcurry #coloursonmyplate
#eggs #saomasalo #sindhicuisine #sindhifood #sindhistaple

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It's not about the Poha, one of my favourite breakfasts.

It's about the plate today. It's a neat looking plate / bowl. We use it for really a lot of things, Dal rice, cornflakes, poha, upma and so many other things. It saves on multiple usage of utensils and very easy to clean too as it's a ceramic plate.

Now, that ain't special. This is what everyone does at home. Reduce our work with less utensils to wash.

But, this plate has a special mention in my life. We stayed in Bahrain way back in 19823-1983 while father was working with Gulf Air. We liked the cheese balls which were newly introduced then. So with 4 kids, mom decided to buy wholesale of these packs because all kids loved it. With the large pack, we got a single bowl as gift.
Mom started collecting those bowls and I think we had 9 of them. Now left only with 2. The bowls have survived the test of time. Still look elegant and do their job well.

It's all about taking care of what you have and what you love.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #oldplates #veryoldplates #oldbowls #bowlhistory #plateswelove #familyhistory

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This was one of my favourites in my restaurant way back in 1997. An American fast food place of burgers and rolls with shakes.

The customer favourites used to be the chicken burger, I think we called it the original uncle Sam (don't remember why). Then we had a soya burger, which apart from the bun was the healthier one on the list.

Then the classic hot dog with mustard and red hot chilli sauces.

I still remember people coming and ordering the same burger every single time. It's a lovely feeling when people come to a restaurant and make something a favourite.

This is an open chilli dog on fresh sourdough bread baked by Gouri Dange.

#eatingcultures #openchillidog #hotdog
#sourdough #oldmancooking
#chickensausages

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A great chicken sandwich and a frappe from @thefatlabradorcafe after 1.5 mths.
The feeling of meeting people after so long and eating the lovely sandwiches and coffee they make.

I am so happy to see them start again, only takeaways and delivery for now but I am sure things will move ahead from here.

They are one of the great hosts I have met in this business and adding them to a concept started by @thefinelychopped called Foodocracy. They are one of the best cafes in Bavdhan.

Thanks @anaik.in and Smita.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #thefatlabradorcafe #foodocracy #pune #bavdhan #punefoodblogger

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Pizza pockets.....can I call them that?
Made pockets out of store bought pizza bread , stuffed it with processed cheese and herbs.
Put herbed butter around and toasted it for a while. The cheese melts and the pizza bread gets a nice golden colour. Looks like the weekend is near.

#eatingcultures #pizzapockets #cheddar #cheese #oldmancooking #homechef #fridaymorning #breakfasts #punefoodblogger #foodblogger #lockdownfood #lockdownfoodstories

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That was the spread for the lunch today. Apart from the boiled beetroot, everything else was of leftovers.

Palak sabji converted to tikkis, pumpkin chapati, masala (leftover) rice, sambhar and sabudana from earlier in the day. Finally the refrigerator is empty.

Neat use of leftovers. It's about innovatively using your left overs. I knew I was going to do a post on leftovers when I read one by @thefinelychopped, where he talks about being intelligent with leftovers.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #leftoverfood #leftovers #lockdownfood #innovatewithleftovers #homechef #homefood

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Love the way the sabudana khichdi turned out today.
Mom always said that spend time on sauteing the onions, if you hurry it up, it will not turn out the way you want it. My addition to that also is to visualise how you want the food to look like, then start cooking.

If you spend time cooking your food well the end results put a smile on whoever eats your food.

Keep cooking and enjoying the lockdown.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #sabudanakhichdi #punerisabudanakhichdi
#tupatlisabudanakhichdi #sago
#breakfast #puneribreakfast #homechef #thursdaymorning #lockdownfood #maharashtrianfood

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Finally conquered the fear of making a dhodho and as they say dar ke aage jeet hai.

Jowar dhodho (bhakri), gwar (cluster beans) and gajar ii khatam (carrot pickle in water). There would be no Sindhi who does not swear by this combination.
It's been a long time since we made this. Multiple reasons for not cooking, mom not there anymore, the cook who knows how to make dhodho on holiday, I was scared of making dhodhos.

I used may hands to make this bhakri. I wanted to follow the classic way used by mom and not the easy method of mixing the jowar flour in warm water and then just using the rolling pin.
Another flat bread mastery in my pocket.

#eatingcultures #dhodho #sindhifood #sindhicuisine #gwar #gajarkhatan #carrotpickle #oldmancooking

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The egg comes out just right. The yolk runny, the whites all done along with koki.

Nothing more to write.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #sunnysideupegg #eggs #eggsthatdontlisten #mischievouseggs

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When there is kairi, make bhel!!! I know it does not fit but family loves bites of raw mango in bhel.

Can this dish really have a recipe? It can be mix of anything and everything crispy that you can think of. Throw in some freshness using onions, tomatoes, green chillies and fresh coriander. Some sourness of lemons or raw mango.

I used puffed rice, aloo bhujia, fried some peanuts, onions, tomatoes, chillies, fresh coriander and chaat masala. Bang.....people keep asking for more.....so you have to keep refreshing that.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #bhel #ghajabmixture #heavenlymixofflavours #heavenlymix #streetfood

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I am missing mutton!!! So.....Rajma galouti kebab. Managed to get the texture just right.
Very very soft, melt in mouth. Good spice levels, sourness from the dry mango powder and some lemon juice.

Plate was over in a minute.
#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #lockdownstories #lockdownfood #galouti
#galoutikebab #veggaloutikebab #rajma

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Guess what the chutney is made of? No prizes for guessing though.
It was the classic onion uthappa. The chutney also is a classic but not very often made.
It is surely not your regular coconut and coriander chutney.

#eatingcultures #oldmancooking #chutneys #onionuthappa #chutneysoftheworld #healthytuesday #punefoodblogger #foodblogger #pune #lockdownstories #lockdownfood

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