Lemons & Rinds

At Lemons and Rinds, I try to keep things as fuss free as possible. Hence, making things from scratch or rather, creating them myself makes it easy for me to work with them. For instance, I used to buy paneer from Indian grocery stores. Each brand had its own varied texture, making it a, experiment for me, everytime I bought it. So, thanks to Youtube and all the freeby channels, I started making my own paneer (not that was a complete duhhh at it, but) needed some headstart and confidence to make my own thing. So, thats how DIY paneer was born. It has been more than three years now that I have been making home made paneer. Also, another point to be noted is that my son (oh, yes, I am getting used to putting his excuse for every new venture) relishes the soft wholemilk Paneer all by itself. The store bought ones (I dnt even know what milk they use, cow, goat, 4%, 2%..no clue!) are super tough to begin with. So eating a cube all by itself is not a possibility.  Palak Paneer  

I know of friends and folks that call their mom's for recipes, even I do seldomly. However, I am lucky to have been asked for recipes by my mother and cousins. That is with regards to modern recipes or DIY foods like paneer. My mother is a cooks traditional Maharashtrian, with Malvani/Konkani take on dishes. Coconut is the key ingredient in everything, no matter my parents be diagonised with Cholestrol problem or Diabetes. Coconut is the king. This same principle does not apply to me. I put our health first and than tradition, though for 28 years of my life I devoured my mom's food. Anyways, back to the point of calling for recipes. The other day my mother and I were discussing Vangyache Bharit, or Baingan Bharta as called in the north of India. In Maharashtra, there are several ways of cooking Eggplant Bharit. The eggplant is first charred over open fire and than raw ingredients are added like in a grilled salad, raw onion and crushed peanut being the main ones. This is a pe

It is a must have in a snack cabinet. it is popular among kids because of all the good things added to it. Kopra slices, raisins, cashews and above all roasted peanuts, make the wonderful sweet and delectable Poha Chivda. It is staple in my mom's house. She roasts the Rice flakes in hot sun for one full day and immediately makes the Chivda, and of course thats what buils the texture. I take a short cut and roast in the ove. Easy, but may be I loose something somewhere. However, my spring time Chivda cannot expect a sun bath right???? After enormous trial and errors in the last five years, I can now make this treat in my deepest sleep as well. However, I still hold no authority to give out any recipes on the board, but I can vow to make it perfect everytime.  If you can get the Tadka right, and add the right ingredients, there is no way anyone can go wrong.   The finished product!!!