Bloggers' ConClay at Club Mahindra Kanatal

The view from our room in Club Mahindra - Kanatal

Many of you might have spotted my tweets on #ConClay and #kanatal last month, and I was asked by quite a few as to what that was about. Here's the story-

Early in October, when Club Mahindra approached me if I would like to be a part of the Bloggers' 'Unconference' at Kanatal, I had two simultaneous reactions instantly- 

1. How wonderful!
2. Need to Google Kanatal NOW

It was supposed to be a meet-up of travel bloggers mainly. I was wondering what would be my role as a food blogger in the whole scheme of things. But then what is travel without food. Some places like Italy are utterly inseparable from their glorious cuisine and some places like Japan become a point of survival for vegetarians. Food is indeed integral to travel. 

Do read my post "Top ten reasons why I love Kanatal" on the Club Mahindra blog - Clay, among other superb travel pieces.

Day 1 

I met Lakshmiat the chaotic Bangalore airport in the wee hours of Sunday morning. We were to meet the other bloggers at Delhi airport by mid morning and board a flight to Dehradun from there.  It was a fun flight, catching up with Lakshmi, whom I knew from earlier. We had an interesting co-passenger, Chris, originally from Australia but on his way to Kabul where he was working. We met with Deepak, Manish, Nisha, the other participants & Akshat and Arun Nair from Club Mahindra.

The flight to Dehradun was much delayed but the upside was that we all got talking and observing random interesting people (and their tattoos) at the airport, like this holy man with ruby studded gold wedges. What better way to get to know each other!

Well heeled, literally!

It was my first trip to the North of India, beyond Delhi and I was much excited thinking about what lay in store. After a short flight from Delhi to Dehradun, we had a 80 km drive to Kanatal via winding mountainous roads fabulously maintained by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

Pretty Garhwali women

We stopped midway to sip some strong sweet ginger tea at a little tea shop overlooking a beautiful valley and two beautiful Garhwali women knitting woollens for the oncoming winter.

We reached the resort at Kanatal around 4.30 pm, having travelled 2000 km in exactly 12 hours from my home in Bangalore that morning and it felt like a whole new universe. I could sense that the skies were preparing for a spectacular sunset, which I later realised is a common occurrence in this part of the world.

Sigh-worthy Sunsets

At the resort, we met Mariellen, a travel blogger from Canada, totally in love with India, dividing her time between Toronto and Delhi, she had taken the road from Rishikesh to Kanatal and reached the resort well ahead of us.

We briefly checked into our cozy rooms that gave the feel of being in a log cabin in the hills, each one with a glorious view of the Garhwali mountains. Our agenda to visit the Surkunda Devi temple that evening was thwarted because of our late arrival into the resort and the fact that there was a 1.5 km climb to and from the temple in the darkness. 

The manager at the resort showed us around the beautiful property, including the spa. The hydrotherapy session was specially tempting but the spa was closed for the day. After refuelling on the delicious dinner spread that included a mixed-pulses dal called Dal Kabili, we decided to exercise our vocal cords at the Karaoke session. I realised while I may be a decent singer, I was quite hopeless in following the karaoke lyrics. Eating together and singing together is a great way of getting closer to people you have just met and we felt like a close knit group ready for the Conclay presentations which were to begin the following morning.

Day 2

I love to start my Monday mornings with a good cardio workout and this cold Kanatal morning was trying hard to keep me under the thick quilt in the comfortable bed. Nevertheless, I stuck to my resolve and got the staff to open the gym room early for me. This was the best view I have ever seen from a gym, which had glass walls all around to allow us to feast our eyes on the magnificence of the mountains while on the treadmill.

Even at breakfast time, I made sure I didn’t let go of the mountains. I took the sunny spot overlooking the tall deodars that covered the mountain ranges. The rest of the day was dedicated to the presentations by each of us participants. 

Do read Mariellen Ward's write up summarising the essence of each of our talks on her blog 

Day 3

The presentations done, our final day in Kanatal was all about sightseeing and some touristy fun. After yet another delicious breakfast, we headed out to Tehri Dam, which is the highest earth and rockfill dam in the Asian region. It is an architectural marvel and one couldn't help but gape in awe at its beauty from the point where we stopped to take many a shot.

Tehri Dam

That afternoon, post lunch, I was introduced to Chef Gurbir who is responsible for setting up many of the Club Mahindra resort kitchens, staff and menus. We chatted about local Garhwali cuisine and he even taught me to make a local specialty called Aloo ki Techwani, made using fresh mountain potatoes. The making of this dish should be out soon and I'll be happy to share it with you. 

Chef Gurbir teaching me a Garhwali specialty dish

Later, our gang left for Dhanaulti, as the eco park was listed as a tourist spot. Sadly, apart from the towering Deodars, there was nothing much of note here. We quickly made tracks to Mussoorie. After 2 days of utter peace and quiet at Kanatal, the hustle bustle of Mussoorie was quite welcome. Just as soon as we got out at the car park, the chilly breeze made me buy a monkey-cap for myself, at a bargain price of a 100 bucks :)

At the Mussoorie Sweet shop - Fresh Gulab Jamoon - SLURP

The mall road was dotted with shops selling woolens, trinkets, little eateries, sweetmeat shops and a country liquor shop. 

The Espresso Counter at Chick Chocolate, Mussoorie

We rounded up our Mussoorie trip in a quirky cafe called Chick Chocolate, which is known for their coffee, hot chocolate, handmade chocolates and potato wedges, among other things. 

Day 4

After drinking in the last beautiful sunrise of the mountains, we had to pack up and leave early morning, to get the flight out from Dehradun airport to Delhi and there onwards to our respective cities.

In all, it was a beautiful time spent in pristine surroundings, enjoying the warm hospitality of Club Mahindra, the company of some of the most wonderful people. 

L-R: Manish Kumar, Akshat Kant, Deepak Amembal, Nandita Iyer, Mariellen Ward, Nisha Jha, Arun Nair, Lakshmi Sharath

A brief introduction to all the participants:

Deepak Amembal has been blogging since 2007, and you can visit his blog about the magic of travel in India at Magic Travels.

Lakshmi Sharath quit her corporate job in the media to travel around the world and to write stories. Her travel blog of an Indian Backpacker  on the web since 2005, covers her journeys around India, and the world. 

Manish Kumar is one of the earliest Hindi bloggers. He describes himself as a technocrat by profession and travel and music enthusiast by heart, has been blogging since 2006. His Hindi travel blog is called Musafir Hoon Yaaron.

Mariellen Ward is author of Breathedreamgo, the India-inspired, meaningful adventure travel blog. She came to India for 6 months in 2005 for the first time, and since then she's been back here many times. 

Nisha Jha has been blogging since 2009. Her blog Le Monde - A Poetic Travail, is about sweet & sour memories of journeys around the globe. She is one of the few Indian women who travels solo around the world. 

Arun Nair joined our group as the social media representative of Club Mahindra. His blog Indianeye.org is on social media, digital and travel (occasionally). He has been writing since 2007 and he is considered an authority in the digital, social media domain.

Read More...

Chai Spiced Mini Pumpkin Mini Bundts with glaze - #bundtamonth

This Diwali, I didn't get down to making any of the traditional goodies. And I managed to find a valid excuse. Being down with the worst cough episode of the year during the festive season is such a dampener. But when loving neighbours get you home-made goodies, you can't help but muster some enthusiasm and make some stuff that you can share with them. 

Since I've been eyeing these pumpkin-spice loaves for quite sometime, I decided to make them into mini-Bundts with a glaze that will go with these flavours. The Wilton Mini-Bundt tray is the cutest baking accessory, generously given to me by my friend, Preethi, and it always makes the prettiest little cakes. 

Pumpkin and the spices that go into making Chai Masala make a lovely pair. The fragrance and heat from the spices like ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon add a lovely dimension to the bland sweetness of pumpkin. Use the darkest golden colour pumpkin you can find for this recipe. Remove skin, dice into small cubes and boil in some water till soft. Drain and blend in a mixer till you get a fine puree. This can be refrigerated until use. Use in cakes, muffins for moist cakes with minimal use of oil / butter. This recipe uses just 2 tbsp of oil and yet the cakes are extremely moist.

Recipe for Chai Spiced Pumpkin Mini Bundts

Makes 12 - 16 mini bundt cakes

Adapted from : An Edible Mosaic 

Ingredients

3/4 Cup pumpkin puree (explained above)

3/4 Cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp oil

1 1/4 C all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp dried ginger powder

For glaze

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp milk plus some more if required

1/2 tsp cardamom essence or vanilla extract or orange extract

1 tsp Cointreau (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 175 C.
2. Using oil, grease the cavities of a mini-bundt pan or two mini loaf pans or a 7" round tin.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, brown sugar, eggs and oil.
4. In another bowl, with a whisk mix together all dry ingredients.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in two batches. Incorporate well to make a smooth batter.
6. Fill 2 heaped teaspoonfuls per cavity or 3/4 filling each.
7. Bake mini bundts for 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
8. Mini loaf pans may take around 30 minutes and round cake tin around 45-50 minutes. Once golden brown on the top and a tester comes out clean, they are ready to come out of the oven.
9. Mix all ingredients for glaze with a spoon until it is of drizzling consistency. Add a few drops more milk if required.
10. When the cakes are still warm, drizzle over them.
11. Serve warm.

Wishing you and your dear ones a very Happy Diwali

I'm sharing this with Lora and Anuradha for their #BundtAMonth challenge Spicy November.

You can check the other lovely Bundts on their blogs.

Read More...

My Diwali Gift to you : Triple Decker Brownies

I was looking for something blow-your-socks off sinful to make this Diwali to take to a friends' place tonight and also for the kids in my complex for the Diwali Party. And thank you, Pinterest, for leading me to the right place. I found this piece of awesomeness on this blog and one look at her pictures is enough to set you drooling. 

I've baked brownies tons of times and they are the two go-to recipes you'll find on my blog. But this one is from another planet. Bottom layer of cookie dough, middle layer of Choco Cream cookies (Oreo / Dark Fantasy / Bourbon) and top layer of brownie. So, while this looks complicated, if you've baked cookies and any sort of cake or brownie, you can do this. All you need is to buy a few packets of Oreos or any other rich cream filled biscuits.

Recipe for Triple Decker Brownies / Oreo Brownies / Cookie - Fudge Brownies

Makes 16 pieces

Time taken : Prep time around 30 minutes, Baking time : 35 minutes

Recipe Source : What's Gaby Cooking

Ingredients

For the Brownie Layer:

150 grams unsalted butter (left on counter top or straight from fridge is also fine)

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp coffee liquor or decoction

On medium heat, in a big saucepan, melt butter. Once slightly melted, take off heat and stir to melt it fully. Add cocoa powder, sugar and whisk well till incorporated.

Remove from the stove, it should not be too hot. Whisk in eggs quickly along with vanilla.

Finally add flour and salt, coffee liquor, whisk well - for 3-4 minutes and keep aside.

For Cookie Dough Layer :

100 grams softened unsalted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar or powdered jaggery

3/4 cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

In a large bowl, using hand mixer, cream butter and sugars for 3-4 minutes.

Add vanilla extract, egg and whisk again for a minute or so.

Add the flour, salt and fold in with a silicon spatula.

In the end fold in the chocolate chips.

Oreo Layer : 

Roughly 20 Oreo or Dark Fantasy cookies, if you get double stuffed Oreos, choose those, with the Vanilla filling as the white stands out in the dark brownie. I used a mix of choco filled and vanilla filled cookies, but next time will stick to vanilla alone.

Assembly

1. Line a 9X9 inch pan with parchment or aluminium foil. Butter or grease with oil.
2. For Cookie Layer : Put the cookie dough on the greased lining of the tin and spread it well to the corners, in a uniform layer.
3. Oreo Layer : Place the cookies side by side covering the cookie dough entirely. Break the cookie in half, if you want to cover a little bit of extra space.
4. Brownie Layer : Top the Oreos with the Brownie batter smoothening it out right upto the edges with a silicon spatula.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until tester comes out clean.
6. Remove from over and cool outside removing it along with parchment / foil on a cooling rack - for one hour.
7. Cut into 16 squares.
8. Serve as it is, slightly warm or with vanilla ice cream.

If you liked this post, you could follow the Saffrontrail Facebook page for more frequent updates and pictures.

Read More...

The perfect lunchbox and recipe for Spinach Pesarattu

On my Facebook page (Saffrontrail on Facebook) I decided to do a month long series of logging my kid's lunch box and a brief recipe for each of the things. It turned out to be very well received, much more than what I had expected. Taking that cue, I did a column on lunch-boxes for my monthly column in Sunday DNA. Here, I am sharing the same for those who missed it in the papers. I shall be happy to answer your queries in the comment section. 

Whether it is for adults, or kids, the lunchbox presents many dilemmas. What to pack, how much time to spend on preparing it, what will taste good a few hours after packing, what can be made ahead – these are the top questions about packing a proper lunchbox.

A packed lunch should be a portable, less-elaborate version of a lunch you would have at home and by that I mean, well balanced, hygienic and tasty.

Carbohydrates form the base of any meal. One can choose from wholegrain bread, rotis, pita bread, cooked unpolished rice, broken wheat, semolina, pasta, potato etc. Younger kids can do with white sandwich bread as too much fibre can fill them up quickly before they can consume the required calories. Wholegrain sandwiches, stuffed pita bread, fried rice with vegetables or chicken, broken wheat patties, semolina upma, pasta tossed with vegetables or in a salad, boiled potato or potato patties are some of the ways to build the carbohydrate component.

The box needs to have a protein component too. You could choose from chicken, eggs, beans, lentils, cheese, tofu, paneer, yogurt and nuts. Shredded lean chicken can be a part of wraps, sandwiches or pasta. A whole boiled egg, sliced in half and sprinkled with a pinch of salt and pepper makes the perfect addition to a kid’s lunchbox, and the eggs can be boiled the previous night. 

Cooked beans like chickpeas, black-eyed peas, dried peas, rajma can be mashed and added to vegetable patties or made into hummus for sandwiches. Cheese cubes by themselves or in sandwiches are a most popular protein option for kids. Tofu or paneer can be added to dry vegetable curries that can be used to stuff rotis to make a roll. Yogurt can be set in one of the smaller boxes and put in the fridge overnight to be carried in the lunchbox. This makes a good accompaniment to rice and broken wheat based dishes, if the commute is not too long and the workplace / school has a refrigerator. 

Nuts are a great snacking option, rich in a variety of vital nutrients – add this to your kid’s muffins or cookies and to your salad. Taking it in the lunch box is the best way to eat nuts while exercising portion control. Nut butters are good for spreading in sandwiches.

Since both adults and kids need to get five to nine servings of vegetables and fruit, it is important that the lunchbox has a couple of servings from this group. Whatever food is going into the lunchbox, make sure it is fortified with some vegetables (other than potatoes, which are starch component) – for example, green beans and peas in rice, cucumber and carrot sticks with hummus, red bell pepper and zucchini in pasta. Add some pomegranate pearls to raita or curd-rice, grated apples and pears in muffins, sliced banana in peanut butter sandwich.

Once in a while, surprise your kid with a homemade goodie like a cookie or any other treat.

Some sample lunchboxes:

·      Egg Salad Sandwich and watermelon cubes

·      Broken wheat vegetable pulao with plain yogurt or raita

·      Pita bread stuffed with shredded chicken with salad and apple

·      Buttermilk semolina upma with peas and almonds

·      Pasta with spinach and cheese or paneer and orange

·      Vegetable idlis with tomato-onion chutney and a boiled egg

Recipe for Baby Pesarattu with spinach

1. Soak 1 cup of whole green moong overnight. 
2. Drain the soaked moong and grind it with a cup of washed and cleaned raw spinach leaves, a small piece of ginger and ½ tsp of salt. This does not require to be fermented. Pesarattu can be made immediately after the batter is ready.
3. On a lightly greased non-stick tava, spoon out tablespoon full of batter with a little space in between the pesarattu, add a few drops of ghee or oil along the sides and flip when one side is cooked. 
4. You can sprinkle sesame seeds on one side while the other is cooking. 
5. Cook the other side similarly and serve with chutney or ketchup. 
6. If this dish is for adults, you could add a couple of green chillies while grinding the batter.

[originally published in the Sunday DNA - September 23, 2012]

If you liked this post, you could follow the Saffrontrail Facebook page for more frequent updates and pictures.

Read More...