Unusual Combination

Few weekends back we were invited for dinner at my hubby's friends place. It was a perfect evening with wine, good food and good company. The highlight being the dessert served. The hostess had made my all time favourite gulab jamuns!!! Though i dont have a sweet tooth, this is one exception i really relish. Infact its always being associated with all birthdays and anniversaries at my mom's house. We had a very interesting ritual wherein all of us would be up till midnight, the day before such a occassion. Mom would lovingly make the most amazing gulab jamuns. Then at the stroke of 12, she would feed the celebrity(s) of the day, all of us would sing wishes, gobble down a few gulab jamuns and retire for the night. Ive had some beautiful memories associated with this ritual.

Anyways coming back to this the dinner party, the hostess had prepared amazing gulab jamuns with the right texture n sweetness level. But what amazed me was the style of serving. She had served the gulab jamuns topped with Vanilla ice cream!! Though im a die hard fan of the tradional serving style, i must say this was a very interesting and tasty combination. The creaminess of the ice cream attached a special touch to the gulab jamuns. This is definetly worth a try!!!

Also another interesting combo hosted on rediff.com caught my eye. These gulab jamuns were really intoxicating. They were dipped in a mixture of sugar syrup and alcohol. Wow!!! Im not sure how that would taste, but sure sounds interesting!!!. Anybody willing to try??? Will let you know the outcome if i ever do try it.

My First Experiment

Though ive been a food lover and an IT professional for a long time, i had no idea about food blogs till few months back. Ever since ive been browsing thru and experimenting various recipes. Its been a very enriching experience and i feel obliged to share a few of my successful experiments with you.
I married into a bengali family almost 3 yrs ago, but never had a chance to learn about their food and recipes. Last weekend my hubby's uncle paid us a visit. Being a food freak himself, he offered to teach me a few bengali recipes.
Bengali women have been known to slave for hours over their stove. Maybe one of the reason which kept me off their cuisine since im an instant cook. But this recipe surprisingly is a easy and fast meal. Also it made me realise that recipes without onion garlic and tomatoes can also taste great. This is one such recipe. Also the subtle use of ghee n ground spices is a refreshing break to my apetite and nasal senses. Here it goes...

Squash Dalna
1 squash - peeled and cut into cubes
1-2 potatoes - peeled and cut into cubes
1 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 bay leaves
1 tsp Turmeric pdr
1 tsp red chilli pdr
1 tsp Ghee
1 tsp freshly ground garam masala - cloves, cinnamon, cardamon.
1/2 cup water

Procedure:
Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and bay leaves. Saute till aromatic.
Add the squash n potato pieces.Saute till potatoes change colour
Add the turmeric and chilli pdr. Add enough water to cook the vegetables.
After they have cooked. Add the ghee and ground spices. Mix well and cover. Switch the gas now.
The ghee and ground spices will flavour the vegetables.

Serve with steamed rice and dal.