Luv Thy Farmer and Mosambi Cake

Mosambi (Sweet Lime) Cake

I noticed a post on Facebook where a friend was making an effort to help a fruit farmer get a decent price for his produce (mosambis or sweet limes) by selling it via the social network. The usual route for farmers to the retail customers is through multiple middlemen which means the farmer gets paid a fraction of what you and me, the end users, actually pay for produce. In Mr Gaikwad's case he was getting roughly INR 12- 15 per kilo while we were paying around INR 70 per kilo. My friend Ranjit decided to try to bridge this enormous price gap and thus Luv Thy Farmer was born.

I bought a 5 kilo bag of mosambis for INR 300 - that's INR 60 per kilo for mosambis which turned out to be far better than the ones I'd bought from my online grocery store, and cheaper too. I did juice quite a few of them but these fruits were so fragrant I wanted to make something more than just juice. A cake was the most obvious thing that came to my mind and I set about looking at a few recipes to see what I could do.

I liked this recipe for Moist Lemon Bundt Cake on a blog called Amy Kay's Kitchen and I adapted it to include mosambis instead of lemons. I have also reduced the sweet elements that make up this cake. Here's what I did -

Mosambi Cake

2 1/4 cups maida, sifted
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups castor  sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 2 large mosambis
1 1/4 cup milk
150 gms butter

Preheat the oven to 180C. Prepare a baking tin, either a Bundt pan or any regular shaped cake tin, by coating the inside with butter. I used a pastry brush to spread the butter evenly.

In a large bowl combine the sifted maida, salt and baking powder and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer crack the four eggs and mix on medium speed till thickened. The eggs should turn a pale lemon colour. Add the sugar in small amounts beating continuously.

Add the zest and the vanilla extract and continue to mix.

Slowly add the dry flour mix, a little at a time incorporating completely into the egg mix.

Heat the milk and add the butter to it. Stir to mix and let the butter melt. Remove from heat. The milk shouldn't get too hot or boil.

Slowly add the milk-butter mix into the batter and let it all combine. You will get a runny batter.

Pour batter into the prepared cake tin and set it in the oven to bake for 30 to 35 minutes. A cake skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean.

You can drizzle the cake with a mosambi juice and icing sugar glaze if you like. I didn't because we are now a house full of diabetics and this cake is stretching the limits as it is! I just sprinkled some extra mosambi zest on top of the cake. The fresh burst of flavour from that zest was just superb.

2015 - Why I'm Looking Forward to It

Father and child. B&W Photo Challenge on Facebook.

It's been an eventful 2014 and there are a few things I've done well this year. At the top of the list is the fact that I have found a renewed enthusiasm and enjoyment in blogging.

I had become quite jaded with things and was a little bored of restaurant reviews and events. I would attend them but I rarely blogged about them. I ended up feeling a mix of guilt for not 'giving back', stress because I felt I should be writing about events I attended (I was being hosted after all), and boredom because one event seemed to blend into the next and the next - they all felt like the same thing. The urge to write seemed to be completely dead. I needed to change something somewhere or this blog was going to be dead very soon.

After a good deal of thought I decided to stop going to these orchestrated events. There's nothing wrong with them per se, they serve a purpose and fulfill needs of brands, businesses, P R companies and yes, bloggers too. But it wasn't something that worked for me.

It's been a refreshing year and I have actually blogged the most this year, averaging a blog post a week. A huge support system and motivation has been the Marathon Bloggers group on Facebook. We started the Marathon Bloggers Project 52 at the start of 2014 and have nagged each other, encouraged each other, come up with blogging exercises and online events, all of which helped me write more, write better, and write a little more regularly.

I also started a Facebook page for the blog and that has had its own positive results. More interactions with readers and more motivation for me.

The best part of this year has been that I have not lacked for things to write about. Recipes, dining experiences, and personal thoughts and feelings have filled my blog. It has truly become a window into my world for the rest of the world to peep in to.

Photography has also kept me occupied this year and I have learned a lot, and I hope I have progressed and improved too! Having a food blog is a great advantage because it gives me a ready made space to display my photos. It's a win win situation. I participated in a few photo challenges on Facebook too - these are great exercises which can make you think and push your creative boundaries. The photograph in this post is the result of one such challenge.

In 2015 I plan to continue in the same vein. 2014 has boosted my confidence greatly. I have signed up for a photography challenge and will be doing stuff with the Marathon Bloggers for sure. The monthly breads at We Knead to Bake will also continue and I'm hoping to join a couple of more diverse group blogging activities or challenges that will keep the creative juices flowing.

Blogging is one of my most satisfying activities and I am thankful that I got my groove back. Here's wishing everyone a fulfilling 2015!

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

Euphorhea - The Blog. On Facebook and Why

Recently a bunch of bloggers in Mumbai got together just to connect with each other, to see the faces behind familiar blogs , and to discuss ways to improve and grow as bloggers. Many issues, some basic and some complicated were discussed and the interactions encouraged and invigorated the participants into doing blog related stuff that were not getting done.

Some went home and wrote new posts and I pondered about the pros and cons of creating a Facebook page for my blog. I was already sharing links to my posts on Twitter and on Facebook on my personal page, and on a couple of selected food-centric groups there. I wondered if I would be overdoing it by creating a page, yet another space to post links. So I posted my question on the Mumbai Food Bloggers group to ask what the other bloggers thought.

The response was singular - go for it! There was not a single con, it seemed to be just a long list of pros. And they all made sense. The biggest advantage was that the page gave the blogger a platform to connect with readers.  All of us bloggers have realized that we don't get much of a chance to connect or interact with readers on the blog itself. On Facebook you can have a full conversation. Keeping in mind the fact that I spend so many hours plugged in to Facebook anyway, it seemed to me that a page for this blog was just logical.

So, here it is! https://www.facebook.com/euphorheatheblog

I hold the comments left on the blog itself closest to my heart. I still feel that little thrill every time I see a new one. But, it's time to move with the times so whether you want to connect here (hit the Join this Site button) or through Facebook, I'll be waiting to hear from you :)

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

The 10 Books Challenge

There's a 10 Books Challenge of sorts doing the rounds on Facebook where people list 10 books that left an impression and then tag a few friends to list theirs. My friend Monika chose to write her list on her blog and I thought that's a great idea. I'd like to come back to this list too and what better place than on my blog?

So here's my list of 10 random books that I won't forget easily.

1. The Help. by Kathryn Stockett
I don't think I have devoured many books the way I devoured this one. It wasn't just the story that held me, it was also the telling of it.

2. How to be a Domestic Goddess. by Nigella Lawson
One of my favorite books that is incidentally also a cook book, this is one I often take to bed to rifle through the pages, drool at the pictures, and plan for the next thing I'm going to cook from it. Confession - I have drooled and rifled more than I have cooked.

3. Jorasanko. by Aruna Chakravarti.
A glimpse into the lives of the women of the Tagore household, this was a window into a world that is so different from mine, and yet is such a part of my history as a Bengali. I saw glimpses of the older women of my family in this book.

4. Georgette Heyer. Not a book, but the author herself. I have all the romance novels she wrote and I go back to them and read them over and over again. These books made me fall in love with the English language and I return to them on a regular basis for the sheer pleasure of reading a master excelling at her craft.

5. Julia Quinn. Again an author. She picks up where Georgette Heyer stops. A skilled writer who weaves her plots well and has characters you won't forget, her books are engaging and to me they're like Georgette Heyer's novels with some sex thrown in.

6. Pork & Sons. by Stephane Reynaud.
A pig butcher and farmer family's chronicles of their life with pictures, recipes and anecdotes. The little detailed cartoons that pepper the borders of the pages are just brilliant.

7. The Adventures of Asterix. by Goscinny and Uderzo.
This needs no explanation or description or anything.

8. Bangla Amish - Niramish Ranna. by Pragya Sundari Debi. (in Bengali)
This is one of the first Bengali cook books that my mother bought for me when I expressed an interest in reading cook books written in Bengali. An absolute treasure house of information right from setting up a kitchen, hiring servants, managing the budget, to detailed recipes of Bengali and European dishes, this two volume tome was published more than a century ago.  

9 The Little Black Dress books.
These are the modern day Mills & Boons. Confident, independent modern girls trawling through the hazards of daily life looking for love - what's not to like?!

10. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. by Douglas Adams
This iconic book just didn't do it for me. I have never understood the humour nor do I get the cult following this book enjoys. Since the hubby is a devotee as are his close buddies I am privy to most of the gems from this book including the World's Worst Poem, and the towel. I still don't get it. Aaaaaarrrgghh!

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

Gajar ka Halwa - Indian Carrot and Milk Pudding

It started towards the end of October - as the weather cooled in the north I saw picture after picture of the delicious red carrots flooding every food group board on Facebook and more often than not, people were making gajar ka halwa with those carrots. 

I have always disliked Gajar ka Halwa. Once again I have a seemingly stupid reason for my dislike. My dad liked to cook and as most men, especially in those days, he was not into making mundane daal, bhaat, torkari, but liked to cook up the fancy and complicated stuff. The fact that slave labour (me) was available inhouse was an added benefit, I'm sure! And so gajar ka halwa featured often. 

I would be duly sent upstairs to our neighbour's house to get their grater. It was a big red plastic bowl with a white grater that fitted on as a lid. 30 years ago it was unusual and uber cool. Anyway, I hated that grater because I'd be the one stuck grating that mountain of carrots. Okay. Honestly, it was probably just a kilo of carrots but to a 9 year old it was a mountain. I'm not surprised that I remember nothing about the process of making the halwa apart from the grating. I seem to have deleted it all out of my memories! 

Well I am past 40 now and I like to think I have grown up enough to get over the trauma of grating those mountains of carrots. And so I set out to make gajar ka halwa myself. No. I didn't grate any carrots - I got my cook to do that part of the job ;)

Having seen tons of Gajar ka Halwa posts on Chef at Large on Facebook I asked for a recipe. The answers were instantaneous and I had a whole load of fool proof recipes to choose from. Ultimately the Hubby selected one that he felt was the most authentic one and it appealed to me too because it had no short cuts.I like to do a recipe the correct way the first time and only after that pare down the method for an easier version for future use. 

Thank you Harpreet Bedi Chadha for sharing your recipe. 

Gajar ka Halwa (with my own tweaks)

2 kg Red carrots, grated

2 lts full fat buffalo milk

5 green cardamom, seeds removed and reserved. 

Pure ghee, as required

Sugar - roughly 1 cup. Use more or less according to how sweet you want the halwa to be

15 blanched and halved almonds

20 raisins and 10 cashew nuts for garnishing. 

Take a thick bottomed largish vessel to make the halwa. 

Put in the grated carrots and the full fat milk and bring both to a boil. Pound the cardamom seeds gently in a mortar and pestle or under a rolling pin and add them to the boiling carrot and milk. Reduce the flame and let the milk get absorbed into the carrots and reduce. 

Stir every few minutes ensuring that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the vessel. This is going to take a few hours so there is no option but to be patient. Keep stirring every five minutes or so.

In the mean time you can peel the blanched almonds and halve them. Put them aside. Heat a little ghee in a separate pan and fry the almonds very lightly. If you're using raisins or cashews, fry them too. Drain out the excess ghee and leave these aside. 

Eventually the milk in the carrot-milk mix will reduce and you will get to the final stages of the halwa. 

Add the sugar and stir well. The sugar will dissolve and the halwa will get watery again. 

Stir away patiently till the halwa reaches a nice thick halwa-like consistency. If you like you can add a few of the raisins and a few nuts (chopped) to the halwa. Pour in the ghee too. Mix well and your halwa is ready. 

Remove to a pretty bowl and decorate with the remaining nuts and raisins. 

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

Pork Shops in Mumbai - well, some of them

I love pork. I love it so much I started a group, The Porkaholics, on Facebook just to connect with other pork-mad people and drool over porkalicious pictures, photos, recipes and exchange information.

Many, many months ago I thought of doing a round of pork shops in Mumbai and simply putting together a list in one place, on this blog. However, I took the lazy way out and simply created a document on The Porkaholics page and left it at that. That was a good thing because many members added information and we have contributions not just from Mumbai but from all over the country!

Still, the blog post was due and here it finally is. The entire credit for all the research on this one goes to my friend Jubal who happily drove me around the city and helped me locate as many shops as we could. In fact, he'd sat with his Dad and Mum and compiled a list of shops and where to find them before we set out.

This list is far from complete but it was such fun wandering around Bombay, locating shops in alleys and by lanes, driving around from New Bombay till Mazgaon, and seeing much more than just the pork shops themselves.

The first shop we went to is the one where Jubal and his family regularly shop at, called Himalaya Cold Storage. This one's on Nahur road in Mulund.

This is the list of goodies available

And this is the man in charge, Mr. Kishore

I asked Mr. Kishore about other pork shops and he mentioned his brother's shop in Vikhroli. Another brother runs a shop in Vashi and that one is called Hilton and is very well known in all of New Bombay. An interesting thing that Mr. Kishore told us was that his family was in the pork business with many shops all over the place including one in Dahisar. The family shops can be recognised by the shop names - all of them begin with 'Hi' after his grandfather's name (which unfortunately I have forgotten)

The Vashi shop, Hilton Cold Storage is in sector 17. The phone number is 27880899 and the address is Shop no. 34, Raikar Bhawan, Sector 17, Plot 9, Vashi.

For those in Navi Mumbai Hypercity in the Inorbit Mall stocks a few imported cold cuts and a good selection of frozen pork products like Sumeru ham, bacon, sausages, and some other brands too. If you're in Nerul there's an excellent shop just outside the railway station called Modern Cold Storage. Tel - 27701582. This shop stocks fresh pork along with a good range of frozen and processed meats.

In Kharghar there is Jambon Stores in Sector 20.

Hilltop Cold Storage is in Vikhroli.

Jubal and I drove to Vikhroli and found D'souza Cold Storage which is bang opposite the church. Hilltop, pictured above, is just around the corner.

Jubal's Dad had highly recommended a shop in Sakinaka on the Pipe road. We hunted high and low and finally found the shop. The only tragedy was that it was no longer a pork shop but was selling Tshirts instead. Fortunately Jubal is the persistent type and he asked around in the neighbouring shops if there was a pork shop nearby and we hit gold!

After walking through an old wada like building we came upon a village neatly tucked in the heart of the crowded Saki Naka area. In this little village was the St.Anthony Pork and Meat Shop.

After our little adventure in Saki Naka we drove on towards south Bombay. It was afternoon and many of the shops on our list were closed. They would reopen in the evening.

We found the Wadala shop open. Poona Farm Products is another wonderful shop that stocks not only fresh pork and a variety of frozen pork products, they also sell pork vindaloo, sorpotel and a few other cooked goodies.

Further south at Dockyard Road we discovered a municipal market that houses a massive fish section, and separate mutton, beef and pork sections! Unfortunately the shops were closed for the afternoon. The place looked quite clean so if you're in the area or nearby don't hesitate to go there. Just ask anyone in the area and they will be happy to show you where the market is. It is across the BPT road that is parallel to P D'Mello road.

We doubled back and went to Kalina to nail down another pork shop. Modern Fresh Meat.

There are many, many more shops all over the city. Quite a few of them are listed here on this document that I have created on The Porkaholics page.

Marathon Bloggers Project 52