i-PROBONO AND A NUTELLA CAPPUCCINO

“While we do our good works let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary.”
― Chinua Achebe, Anthills of the Savannah

 

I know a lot of corporate lawyers who are looking for a chance to help out but aren't sure where to start. i-Probono is a great way to dip your toes into the pro bono world.

"i-Probono is a non-profit online network connecting organisations in need of legal assistance with lawyers and students who want to use their legal skills for the public good. The network's global outreach enables people to engage in projects from around the world and allows organisations to source assistance across jurisdictions. This is the first website of its kind for the international pro bono community, bringing people and projects together to give organisations the support they need and volunteers the experience they want. Organisations working for the public good, such as charities, social enterprises, NGOs and advocacy groups often need help with legal matters, but legal expertise is an expensive resource that often requires pro bono assistance." (From the i-Probono website).

The process is simple, just sign up and create a profile setting out your practice areas/ areas of expertise and they'll match you up with organizations that require your services. Check out their website here (http://www.i-probono.com/).

The perfect start to any work day, pro bono or billable, is this decadent chocolate-coffee blended Nutella Cappuccino.  
 

Serves 2

Recipe adapted from Alyssa and Carla

 

What you’ll need:

2 cups of milk

3 -4 tbsp Nutella (put more in if you like)
½ tbsp espresso powder (or more if you want it stronger)

 How to:

1. Pop milk into a saucepan and let it simmer.

2. Pour milk into a blender with the rest of the ingredients and blend. Pour most of the drink into cups.  

3. Blend the remaining milk at high to froth it up and top up your mugs with the froth.

 

PRODUCT REVIEW: COCOATEASE - CHOCOLATES AND CAKES

 

I don't know how to recommend these guys - I realize their website is desperately amateur and their facebook page is largely neglected but the chocolates they make are divine. This is not like every other plug for home made chocolates that proliferate lifestyle magazines and blogs these days. My favorites are the Dark English Chocolate, two layers of milk chocolate with a crispy, praline filling, studded all over with chunks of almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts and the equally perfect White English Chocolate and I'm not even a fan of white chocolate.

These guys do a lot of corporate gifting and I first came across their confections last Diwali when I ate through half a box. They're a little tough to get a hold of but if you're overwhelmed by the crazy number of advertisements for chocolatiers these days, try Cocoa Tease. They are, in fact, incredible.

Try their website here (http://www.cocoatease.com/chocolates.php) or facebook page here (https://www.facebook.com/cocoatease).

FANTASTIC FRIENDICOES AND AN UNEXPECTED STRAWBERRY SALAD

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”
― John Bunyan

Friendicoes began in 1979 in a tiny room with a curtain for a fourth wall, no electricity or water. Within a week they had 27 dogs and 12 cats in residence. Today, the city shelter is triple its original size and they have a country sanctuary to house animals who need lifetime care while also running 4 spay / neuter clinics to help control the stray dog population in Delhi and Gurgaon. There are ambulances on call for emergencies, a hospital for strays in Delhi, a well-equipped clinic /path lab for pets and a mobile equine clinic for working horses and donkeys. They also look after and find homes for abandoned and rescued animals.

All of this adds up to a ton of work to help out the animals that we often forget we share this city with and these guys can use all the help we can give them. Along with fundraising events, you can check out their website (http://www.friendicoes.org/ or their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/friendicoesindia ) and volunteer, foster, adopt or sponsor an animal. Also helpful would be fundraising activities or donation drives (for old newspapers, furniture, mattresses, wheat and dal) to help this incredible cause. Just because your schedule or lifestyle doesn’t allow you to keep a pet doesn’t mean you can’t help make a four legged furry out there really happy.

Happiness like the best food is usually just that simple. This super simple strawberry salad, is an explosion of happy tastes, sweet, salt, tart and peppery.

Serves 1

Recipe adapted from Good Food Magazine

 

What you’ll need:

 Handful of strawberries (chopped into bits)

Salt
Pepper
Juice of one lemon

How to:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Serve chilled.

INCREDIBLE IDIA AND A BOWL OF PEA SOUP

 

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

― Martin Luther King Jr.  

 

The idea of IDIA (Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access) was started by Shamnad Basheer (ex-Professor of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS)) as a movement to eliminate inequities in access to higher education. Statistics show there's a shocking dearth of diversity amongst the students clearing entrance tests for most national law universities, the IDIA team was set up to help change these statistics. Their main aim is to provide access to resources required to crack the CLAT to students from marginalized communities and regions, who wouldn't be able to get through the exam otherwise.

 

Local IDIA Chapters have been set up across the country which have started an intensive training programme for students who are interested in pursuing law as a career. IDIA also selects students for the training program through its exam called IDIA National Aptitude Test which is held every year in several centres across the country. Contact Diptoshree Basu (INAT Coordinator) at dbasu3@gmail.com to find out how you can contribute, that is through donations, volunteering or maybe even mentoring some of the students that IDIA is trying to help.

 

 

I thought an appropriate pairing for the inspiring work being done by IDIA was this nourishing but simple Pea Soup - they're both good for you and good for your soul.

 

Serves 2

 

Recipe Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

What you’ll need:

 

1 cup shelled peas

 

2 onions (sliced)

 

2.5 cups vegetable stock

Note: I usually melt Maggi cubes into hot water for this but I’ve heard they may contain MSG. Explore other brands of stock cubes to find one you like.

2 tbsp olive oil

 

1 tsp salt

 

1 lemon (juiced)

 

Red chilli powder to taste

 

Oregano/Thyme/ Rosemary/ Parsley or whatever seasoning you prefer

 

 

How to:

 

1. Pop olive oil into the container you’ll be using. Heat the oil a bit and then add the onions, stir while they soften and caramelize.

 

2. Add the peas and stir till soft. Add the stock and the rest of the ingredients (except the lemon juice) and let cook for about 15 – 20 mins.

 

3. Puree the mix and check the seasoning. Adjust as per taste.

 

4. Add a squirt or two of lemon juice and serve.  



THE GOOD PEOPLE AT GOONJ AND MEXICAN MOCHA CRINKLE COOKIES

“No one has ever become poor by giving.”
― Anne Frank, diary of Anne Frank

 

I think we all want to do good. I believe most people would like to leave the world a better place than they found it. Sometimes this life we're trying to better gets in the way of our efforts at improvement. Our good intentions can get buried under smaller but more numerous daily distractions. Unfortunately the world we live in makes ordering pajamas from a different country easier than helping the one we live in. Thankfully, people like the ones behind Goonj can inspire and remind us to do better.

Instead of throwing out your old stuff check out the Goonj website for the donations they accept and considering passing these things on to the people who need it more. They do excellent work reusing old clothes through their donation and Cloth For Work programs. They're also working to collect relief material for those struck by floods in Assam, Bihar and West Bengal and trying to forge long term strategic relationships between well off urban schools and rural schools. You can read more about their exceptional work at their website (http://goonj.org/).

Whether you just want to donate some things or some money, do reach out to this outstanding organization to see how you can help. One of the easiest but most effective things to do is organize a clothes drive to collect old clothes from our friends and acquaintances - me and my friend have tried this with enormous success.

Remind yourself of how much good we can all do if we put our minds to it and bake yourself these celebratory cookies once you're done. They're lovely, crunchy, sticky, spicy and chocolatey all at the same time and very, very easy to make.

 

Makes about 20 fat cookies

Recipe adapted from A Spicy Perspective

What you’ll need:

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup powdered sugar
2 cups flour
1 ¼ granulated sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp instant coffee granules
4 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla essence
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 pinch red chilli powder

How to:

1. Whisk together the cocoa, granulated sugar, coffee, cinnamon, red chilli powder, baking powder and salt. Add the oil and mix together.

2. Add the vanilla and eggs - beating the batter till smooth. Refrigerate for an hour or 2 to firm up the batter.

3. Preheat the oven to about 170°C. Pull out 1 or 1 ½ inch balls of the batter, roll into balls and then roll the balls in a plate of powdered sugar.

Note: This rolling into balls business is not going to be as easy as it seems. This is the problem with most recipes. People just write stuff like “roll into cookies and bake” like it’s simple without telling you that this is going to be a fudgy mess that refuses to hold any kind of shape and destroys your manicure. So the best way to go about it will be to flour your hands lightly, use a spoon to scoop out the quantity you want (a heaping teaspoon is about right) and to use your fingers to scrape the batter off the teaspoon and into the powdered sugar. At this point use the sugar to give you traction and roll the dough into a ball.

4. Plonk on a greased baking tray and bake for 10 mins. Let the cookies cool completely before trying to scrape them off or eat them.

COOKBOOK REVIEW: TRAVELLING DIVA BY RITU DALMIA

A man at a dinner table with friends and family never really gets old - Italian Proverb quoted from Ritu Dalmia's Travelling Diva

 

I walked into Bahri Sons in Khan Market looking for Ritu Dalmia's Italian Khana but they only had Travelling Diva so I bought it instead. Published by Hachette in 2012 Travelling Diva is Ms. Dalmia's fifth cookbook and covers her favorite recipes from her travels across the world. The result is an unexpected collection of recipes from Bhindi Bhojpuri to Potato Roesti to Tzatziki. While Ms. Dalmia's wide range of recipes are a lot of fun, what you don't end up with is a coherent anthology of choices within one type of cuisine, making it hard to plan a whole meal with just this book. The recipes span between beginner to mid level proficiency and don't require much in the way of pantry paraphernalia.

 

Ms. Dalmia shines when adding a twist to classics, such as her glorious Prawn Biryani and Beet Raita or when combining exciting ingredients together like in her Summer Chicken with Coffee Glaze. On the other hand some of the recipes lack luster and are almost too simplistic like Watermelon and Feta Skewers or Frozen Mango and Yoghurt Cubes (puree mango, mix with yoghurt, freeze in ice tray doesn't qualify as a recipe).

 

Lovely, classic Almond Biscotti in my baking tray

I loved the personal travel experience Ms. Dalmia puts in before each recipe and only wish she'd shared more. Also very helpful is the section titled "My Perfect Kitchen" in which she talks about must have ingredients and other pantry essentials. Unfortunately while Ms. Dalmia includes many garnishes I loved, including some handwritten recipes, there are some basics which could have been improved on. For example not every dish has a photo, something that can really discourage a novice cook. The photos are a bit dark and the food not as well styled as I would have expected. Another major inconvenience is the way ingredient measurements are set out sometimes in grams and other times in cup measures within the same recipe needing me to pull out my scale and my cup measures for each recipe.

 

While trying some of the recipes I found more success with the savoury dishes than the sweet, the Italian Apple Ring Cake was hard and chewy, the Red Velvet dry and the Orange Chocolate Pots didn't really have enough orange flavor despite my using more orange than the recipe called for. On the other hand, the following went off incredibly well and I've covered each (with my own inputs and in my own words) on this blog:

 

Summer Chicken with Coffee Glaze and Hung Yoghurt Sauce

Prawns with Spinach and Raisins

Prawn Biryani

Beetroot Raita

Almond Biscotti (coming up soon!)

Carrot Cake

 

All in all, Travelling Diva is worth purchasing at INR 499, the recipes are relatively easy and cover an exciting range for someone looking to experiment. Ms. Dalmia's voice is light, her personal anecdotes charming and the format very pleasant. I've got Chicken Balls with Tamarind Glaze, Prawn with Orange and Basil Marinade, Chicken with Lime and Thyme and Fried Salmon Patties on my personal "to cook" list and will be trying them out as soon as I get a chance.

 

Yeah. These Orange Chocolate Pots just didn't work out.

THE RELUCTANT CHEF'S GUIDE TO CHEESE PLATTERS

Cheese is milk's leap towards immortality - I forget who said this.

 

 

I love cheese and I think a well put together cheese platter is such a great accompaniment for when you're serving wine. I wouldn't bother with it if there are going to be a lot of cocktail drinkers, it just won't pair as well, but if you want to host something which is just a little bit more grown up or you're just a fan of wine and cheese like me, keep reading.

 

It turns out my obsession with cheese platters isn't a new thing and I've already covered the Beautiful Mess' notes on it here. But I really wanted to try it myself and if you follow the Reluctant Chef on facebook you'll see I've been collecting material on it all week (you can find all that here). After some reading and research I do what I usually do with my ideas, panic and give up on it. Then I saw this message on Priyanka Chopra's Instagram feed and was inspired :

 

Yes, I follow Priyanka Chopra on Instagram. Also Sonam Kapoor. Don't ask.

I find that when I'm planning to start a new project I usually overthink it and get overwhelmed. Or my imagination runs away with me and I don't know how to implement my ideas. To counter this, I make lists. I liked this one so much I thought I'd just put the whole thing up:

 

Beautiful Cumin Gouda from Flanders Dairy

 

To Do	My thoughts
Step 1: Planning your Platter
A. How many people do you plan to invite?	From my reading I understand you should portion about 30 to 40 gms of cheese for each person.
B. Do you think your guests will be experimental or would prefer to play it safe in terms of flavors?	I love stinky cheeses but don’t go overboard with Blue Cheese if you think your guests will be happier with gouda, cheddar (flavors they’re familiar with)
C. When are you going to serve the cheese platter? After the meal as a cheese course or as an appetizer?	Presumably you’ll need less cheese after a meal since people would already have eaten.
D. What's your budget?	A great way to stay within a reasonable budget (while serving up great quality) is to stick to local cheeses and seasonal fruits. Imported fruits and cheese are more expensive and not as fresh.
Step 2: Getting your shit together
A. Find a large enough platter	The dish you’re using should have enough room on it for a bunch of people to paw at but shouldn’t look empty either.
B. Pick your cheeses	These days you get every kind of imported cheese in fancy grocery stores but I much prefer buying locally produced cheese.   Not only are they much more affordable, I feel better knowing that they haven’t travelled hundreds and thousands of miles and I don’t need to pay customs duty on them. I usually turn to Flanders for all my cheese needs and have never been disappointed, you can find out if they retail near you here.   For my platter I chose a really strong and slightly smushy Smoked Scamorza, a slab of spicy, playful Cumin Gouda and a big chunk of Smoked Gouda.   Try to get in a mix of strong, plain, soft and hard cheeses to cater to every taste.
C. Pick your vehicles	You can pair cheese with - ·         Seasonal fruits (I used apple, pear and pomegranate – grapes are of course a classic); ·         Dried fruits (consider almonds and walnuts); ·         Crackers (I used plain whole wheat crackers); ·         Cold cuts; ·         Slices of baguette; ·         Figs, apricots, prunes, dried cranberries; ·         Jams, sauces, pestos, dips; ·         Olives; ·         Slices of tomato and cucumber You’re good if you’ve managed to get a combination of sweet, salt and crunchy.
D. Pick your wines	The stronger the cheese, the sweeter the wine. Dessert wines will overpower Gouda or other simpler cheeses. Usually people pair cheese with white wine or a rose but at the end of the day, drink whatever you like best.
3. Platter Presentation
A. Organize your cheese from strongest in flavor to mildest	This is traditionally the way a platter should be served. I would go with a "what looks prettiest" perspective myself.
B. Make labels to indicate which cheeses you’re presenting	This is really helpful for your guests - and make it easier for them to discover what they like and don't.
C. Use an unconventional platter like a chalkboard or slab of wood to show the cheese and pairings off	I particularly like rustic looking platters like slabs of wood or wooden trays but this depends on you.
4. Some last thoughts
A. Keep small plates and cocktail napkins handy for people	Technically you should have little forks and a cheese knife too but don't go nuts over it.
B. Keep enough stock on hand that you can replenish the platter if you run out of any one ingredient	Not necessary if you're going to be serving other food also. This applies if you're doing only a wine and cheese evening.

 

Smoked Scamorza from Flanders Dairy

GOLDEN RAISIN SCONES

"“Hot scones,” said George, lifting the lid off a dish. “I never thought I’d like hot scones on a summer’s day, but these look heavenly. Running with butter! Just how I like them!”

The four looked at the home-made buns and biscuits and the great fruit cake. They stared at the dishes of home-made jam, and the big plate of ripe plums. Then they looked at Mrs. Philpot, sitting behind a very big teapot, pouring out cups of tea."

- Enid Blyton

 

When I was younger, my dream was to read every single Enid Blyton book. It was a complicated dream because if I accomplished this, there would be no more Enid Blyton books to read and what would I do then? Very Catch 22. This kind of stuff played on my mind a lot when I was a kid.

My solution was to spend a lot of time praying for her longevity so I would always have new things to read. My morbid fascination for crime, crime fiction and police procedurals might also have its genesis in my early exposure to the Famous Five, Secret Seven and Five Findouters. Maybe, my current obsession with food writing has the same roots?

You can't talk about Enid Blyton without talking about the elaborate picnics and celebratory dinners populating her books. A testament to her ability to reach and move a reader, even if only towards the kitchen, shows in her ability to make a finicky, little girl growing up in rural Andhra Pradesh salivate over descriptions of food she had never even seen. I still can't understand how I was tempted by descriptions of food so completely unfamiliar. And what on earth is blancmange?

Sometimes the meals were very elaborate:

" 'Cold ham and tongue, cold baked beans, beetroot, crisp lettuce straight from the garden, heaps of tomatoes, cucumber, hard boiled eggs!' recited Anne in glee.

'Just the kind of meal I like,' said Dick, sitting down. 'What's for pudding?'

'There it is on the sideboard,' said Anne. 'Wobbly blancmange, fresh fruit salad and jelly.' I'm glad I'm hungry"

Now I'm hungry.

And there were a lot of picnics. Another love that transferred over. Eloquent picnic basket descriptions where  really simple foods, salad leaves, bread, butter and eggs, sound so so good:

"Soon they were all sitting on the rocky ledge, which was still warm, watching the sun go down into the lake. It was the most beautiful evening, with the lake as blue as a cornflower and the sky flecked with rosy clouds. They held their hard-boiled eggs in one hand and a piece of bread and butter in the other, munching happily. There was a dish of salt for everyone to dip their eggs into.

‘I don’t know why, but the meals we have on picnics always taste so much nicer than the ones we have indoors,’ said George."

But my favourite were the crazy confections she dreamed up in the Faraway Tree and her other more magic oriented stories:

Silky was pleased. She sat there brushing her beautiful, golden hair and ate sandwiches with them. She brought out a tin of Pop Cakes, which were lovely. As soon as you bit into them they went pop! and you suddenly found your mouth filled with new honey from the middle of the little cakes. Frannie took seven, one after the other, for she was rather greedy.

While looking up these quotes I saw there are tons of articles out there on Enid Blyton and the importance of food in her stories and everyone from child psychologists to stay at home moms have an opinion they want to share. If you're a fan though, I recommend you skip reading those, find your battered copy of your favourite Enid Blyton book and enjoy it with these gorgeous golden raisin scones. Running with butter or with pots of jam, of course.

Makes about 12

Adapted from Martha Stewart

What you’ll need:
 

4 tbsp butter (cold) + a little more for buttering the baking tray

2 large eggs

¼ cup milk

1 1/3 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

3 tbsp sugar

1/3 cup golden raisings

¼ tsp salt
 

How to:
 

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Lightly butter a baking sheet and set aside.
 

2. In a bowl, whisk together the egg and milk. Set aside a little bit for an egg wash.

 

3. In another bowl throw in the flour and cold butter (cut into cubes). Using your fingers lightly work the butter into the flour till you have a course mixture. Add in the sugar, salt and raisins.
 

4. Gradually stir in the eggs till a sticky dough forms.
 

Note: Add a little more flour if you find the dough too sticky to work with.
 

5. Roll out the dough a ¾ inch slab and cut into the shapes you want – transfer to baking sheet.
 

Note: Mine are slightly more *ahem* rustic looking because I couldn’t be bothered to do all the rolling and cutting so I just shaped them into rough squares and plunked them on to the baking sheet.
 

6. Brush with the egg wash you have on the side and put it into the oven.
 

7. Bake till golden – should be about 15 minutes.