Moist Lemon Cake with Blackberry Cream Frosting

"Maa" she says, "my other mommy says that lemons are good for you. You should eat them ALL the time."
Yes, normal kids have an imaginary friend or maybe an imaginary pet? My daughter doesn't like normal, so she just took the liberty of creating an imaginary mommy. A mommy who lets her eat ALL the candies in the whole wide world, because candies make you strong. A mommy who buys her ALL the sparkly things in this whole wide world. A top of the line mommy she is. In short the "other mommy" is everything that this mommy is not!
So like every morning after waving and kissing everyone at home for a good 15 minutes and after promising that we will see each other soon, we left for school. She and I. With my hands gently yet firmly wrapped around her tender and pillowy ones, we started walking. Down the sidewalk, kicking every single stone on our way and cuddling with every passerby dog, we kept moving.

Then like every day we crossed this lemon tree outside of a house down the street. As usual we stopped under the tree, looked up and counted the lemons. Only this time the "other mommy" had a news for me and only this time she was right.
"Lets pick some Maa" she then said. "We can make yummy lemon cake". A very intelligent girl I have.

People say and with a very heavy heart I agree that she has taken everything after her dad. The way she looks, the way she reacts at situations and even the way she folds her hands when asleep.
On the other hand one can count in fingers the things she and I have in common. Our love for anything lemon is one of them.
So hearing her suggestion my heart yearned to just lift a hand, reach out and pick some of those unbelievably aromatic and juicy little devils. But "its not nice to take things without the owners permission". I had to go by that principle, at least in front of her.
"How about I buy a big bag of lemons before you get back from school?", was what I said instead. Squeezing her eyes and with a faint smile, just like her dad, she shook her head in agreement. We moved forward.

Sure enough as soon as the garage door opened in the evening and she plunged out of the car her first question was, "did you buy a big bag of lemons for a yummy lemon cake, Maa?". "Yes, lets wash our hands and make the cake!".
We washed our hands, and got straight to measuring, cracking, melting and stirring. "Let's drop some blackberries in there too", she suggested in between munching on them and so we did.

By the end there was flour all over my kitchen floor and she ate more sugar than what went into the cake. But the cake that came out was definitely the best cake in this whole wide world!
We have saved some for our Mothers Day celebration. A day to celebrate the best title I can ever have and a day to celebrate our love for anything lemon.

This recipe was my inspiration for the lemon cake. Although I adjusted the sweetness according to our liking and made a few tweaks. Also the original recipe is that of a cupcake and does not ask for a frosting. But the cupcake recipe by The Alchemist is a winner too if you wanna give it a try.

Ingredients:

For the Lemon Cake: Makes 2 (6 inches) cake. Recipe from The Alchemist's cupcake recipe, with slight changes.
1 cup butter
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs (beaten)
1/2 cup thick yogurt
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour (all purpose)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 baking soda
15-18 blackberries (about 3/4 cup)

For the Blackberry Whipped Cream Frosting:
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup blackberries

Method:
For the Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F
Butter and dust two 6 inches cake pans and set aside.
Drop the cold butter into a large sauce pan. Over low heat melt the butter. Remove from heat as soon as the butter is melted. Mix lemon juice and water in a bowl. Pour it into the saucepan with melted butter. Mix. Throw in the sugar too. Stir. Whisk in the beaten eggs. Once everything is mixed set the saucepan aside.
In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking soda.
In a slow and constant speed pour the liquid mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients while whisking continuously. Prevent any lumps from forming.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.
Drop the blackberries equally into both the pans. Spread them out evenly to keep them separate.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake. My oven acts funny sometimes and heats up faster than normal so please adjust the baking time according to your oven and keep an eye.
Once the cake is one pull them out. Let the pans cool for 10 minutes. Transfer them to a cooling rack and let it cool for at least 30 minutes before putting the frosting on.

For the Blackberry Whipped Cream Frosting:

Using a fork mash all the blackberries. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer whip up the frosting on a medium high speed. Once the cream is whipped half way add sugar and continue whisking until it forms firm peaks.
Combine mashed blackberries into the whipped cream and carefully fold it in until just combined. Go easy while folding the whipped cream, heavy hand can pull the soft whip down.
Frost your cake and enjoy with your honey!

Chicken Curry

My brother - he is mummy's favorite kid. She never admits to that and always gives me that, "what on earth are you talking about?" look every time I say this to her, but I know. He is the gentler of us two (at least on the outside!), doesn't leave back any trail of his crimes AND he ate his greens. Me, quite the contrary! But still the quieter him and crazy me, together managed to keep mummy on her toes all the time. She was either in the kitchen cooking for us, making rounds to our school explaining for us, pulling us apart while we try to kill each other or in her mandir (temple) praying for us. On her toes all the time!

But Sundays were different. Sunday was the day she looked forward to the whole week. Sunday was when we, the kids would behave. Sunday was when I ate my greens with no whining in the vicinity. Sunday was when Papa was home and he took over from Mummy, the kitchen, the chores and the kids.



So our Sunday morning would start with the sound of mummy reciting her prayers in the prayer room and to the smell of chai simmering away in the copper pot my grandma gave to her. Papa would come in our room, move the curtain for the sun to glare right at our faces, pull away our blankets, plant a big fat kiss on both of our cheeks and lift us in his strong muscular arms taking us straight to the bathroom. By the time we could snap out of our sleep, our teeth would already be brushed and we would be in our running shoes all set for our morning run. Well, Papa's morning run and our- "dragging the feet behind Papa" run! I remember him running towards the sun with the rays falling on his face and the two of us running behind him, hiding in his shadow to save our sleepy eyes from the shine. We would run past the nearby mandir, some local shops, wave hello to half the town and be back home for breakfast.



The hours after breakfast was what we looked forward to more. It was Sunday so it was a chicken curry day! We knew Papa would get us ready, load us on his scooter, one kid standing in front and other sitting on the back seat, wrapping our two arms around his waist tightly and we would go to the Sunday haat (farmer's market). Carrying our jholas (bags) we would stop at every vendor looking for the plumpest tomatoes, choosing the freshest greens and bargaining for the best deal on potatoes and onions. Last stop would be the butcher shop located at the end of the haat. While waiting for the butcher to get our chicken ready, we would enjoy our ice creams or savor a glass of sweet sugarcane juice. Then head home.



At home everything from the haat would be washed, twice. Then we would sneak out in the backyard and Papa would get in the kitchen to make his world famous chicken curry. It took him at least two hours to make that chicken curry. The process would start with onion, ginger, garlic paste prepared using a stone grinder. Whole spices ground along until everything turns into a smooth paste. Then his loyal pressure cooker would be pulled out, which by the way was used just on Sundays, just for the chicken curry. The process would begin and the aroma of masala floating in the backyard would get strong and stronger.

Two hours later we would lay newspaper on the floor, put or plates on it and lunch would be served. There would just be chicken curry, steaming hot rotis and a simple salad on the side. But that is still and will ever be the best meal one could ever serve to me. So today when I thought of sharing a couple of exciting news with you, I could not think of a better recipe and images to go with the post. Photos here might not be the best ones, but they carry boatloads of memories. Some happy moments we spent with my family during our last visit to India and another golden opportunity where we relished Papa's world famous Chicken Curry.



Now the happy news. Because of all the love and support you show to Indian Simmer, it has been nominated again for this year's Best Food Blog Awards hosted by SAVEUR Magazine. The nominations are now open for voting till Friday, April 19th. So if you think an Indian food blog deserves to win this year, then please vote for Indian Simmer in the Best Regional Cuisine Category. Every vote counts so please take two minutes and vote. Other than that, I am really excited to be featured on some amazingly popular websites like Refinery 29 and Edamam.com. Feeling so honored right now!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds whole chicken (cleaned and cut into 16- 18 pieces)
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
3-4 cloves of garlic
2 inches ginger root
2-3 hot green chili peppers (adjust according to how much heat you can handle)
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup lemon juice + 1/2 teaspoon salt +1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper (marinade)
2-3 bay leaves (dried)
1 1/2 cinnamon stick
3-4 whole black cardamom
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
5-6 cloves
2 1/2 tablespoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
1/2 cup mustard oil (can substitute with vegetable or olive oil)
1 1/2 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter) 
Salt to taste
Handful of chopped cilatro

Method:
Mix the marinade (lemon juice + salt + pepper) well to washed chicken. Set aside for 30 minutes.
In the meantime grind onion, ginger, garlic and green chili into a thick paste. Set aside.
Heat oil in a thick bottom pan with slightly higher sides. A pressure cooker or wok would be a great alternative. Roughly pound the whole spices - bay leaves, cinnamon stick, black cardamom, cumin and cloves. Add to the hot oil. Stir as they sputter.
Add turmeric. Stir and add the onion paste prepared before. Turn the heat to medium and cook while stirring occasionally until all the liquid has evaporated and the paste is reduced to a dense, golden brown paste.
Add salt, coriander powder and chopped tomato. Turn the heat to medium high and cook, stirring occasionally. Slowly the tomato will begin to melt and then it will all turn into a slightly smooth and loose paste. Wait till oil begins to separate.
Add garam masala, stir in the chicken and mix everything very well. Reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and cook, uncovering and stirring occasionally. Initially chicken will lose a lot of water but after cooking for 15-20 minutes on medium heat the water will begin reducing. At this point you can either uncover and cook, stirring occasionally or put on the pressure cooker.
If proceeding with the pressure cooker then cover, lock and wait for two whistles and then turn the heat off leaving covered for another 15 minutes.
I prefer the slow cooking so I turn the heat to medium low and let the chicken simmer for another 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked well and the gravy is reduced to a nice thick consistency.
Once the chicken is cooked add ghee and cilatro. Stir well. Cover and let it rest for 15 more minutes before serving with your choice of bread or rice.

Chai and A Giveaway

Summer afternoons would be commonly spent with the uncles crowded around the television watching cricket matches and aunties busy in the kitchen gossiping and sending out pots and pots of chai and glucose biscuits. We kids would only get to eat the biscuits. On a lucky day, a kind aunty would fry us some samosas or pakoras. But chai? Nope! "Kids don't drink chai" mummy would reply with a gentle tap on the back of our head. That's the memory that chai brings for me or sometimes it takes me back to those monsoons.
The ones where we would be sitting under a tin shade in front of the tea stall outside our college building. Rain would be pouring and we would all be half drenched in water, shivering with cold. A glass of hot masala chai tucked tightly between our palms, breathing in the aroma of cardamom and ginger we would slowly be sipping away that chai warming ourselves from inside. Chemistry practicals, latest fashion, secret crushes and disastrous dates, everything would be discussed over "one cutting" (a term commonly referred to half a cup of chai in India). For Indians chai isn’t just a beverage; it’s also a way of cherishing the simple things in life, and an excuse to bring people together and celebrate the present.

Chai commonly served in Indian homes is not as milky as the ones you find at the coffee shops across North America, popularly known as "chai tea" or "chai latte". There's an interesting article Manisha Pandit wrote on chai and titled it as "Drop the Tea; its already there in your Chai". This post made me giggle and talks about a few misconceptions people have about their greatly loved Indian chai. Give it a read!
Masala chai is an essential part of life in India, where having a cup or two (or maybe three) of chai in the morning is akin to brushing your teeth every day. I still think there is still no "recipe" to a right chai masala, in order to make a masala chai. Chai masala, Masala chai?! Confused? Well, Chai masala is a blend of spices used to make a spiced tea which is called Masala chai in Hindi.
The spice preference in a masala chai recipe varies from family to family and from person to person, but some of the most common spices used in a masala chai are ginger, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, fennel, black pepper and nutmeg. Either mix all these spices in equal quantity, adjust the amount according to your taste or just pick a few of your choice. I personally like mine with ginger only and sometimes with cardamom. Towards the end of this blog post I have shared a recipe to my favorite Ginger and Cardamom Chai. 

 

But before that I have to tell you about a company called Gitadini. Its a small company started by a husband wife duo who design and sell original housewares, home decor and furnishings. As a food blogger you are approached by companies and brands on a daily basis with offers to try their product and talk about them. I am normally very hesitant at saying yes because I have a strict set of rules that I follow, one of which being not talking to my readers about things that I don't stand behind 100%. So a couple of months back when nice people at Gitadini approached me you might understand why I was reluctant. After being assured that there's no commitment I agreed to try their product. I tried, tested and have been using them for the past two months and I think now I am at a place where I can say that yes I am happy with all the products.

Along with home decor and furnishing, Gitadini also has a small but interesting line of kitchenware. I was impressed by their modern take on the traditional Indian kitchen quintessential and also at their usability. I made sure I used all the products enough before I talk about them. I can say by their usability that it shows it has been designed by someone who has been in and around Indian kitchen for a while. I personally loved the ones displayed here in this post.

Gitadini was kind enough to giveaway any featured product of their choice to one lucky reader of Indian Simmer. In the comments section below please tell me which product you would want to try. Choose from Rotito Rolling Board Set,  Medium Saucepan or Yin Yang Storage Bin. This giveaway is open till April 1st 11:59 pm PST. On April 2nd I will randomly select a winner and announce on the blog.

Alright lets get to the recipe for Ginger Cardamom Chai, the kind that I make in my kitchen.

Ingredients: serves 4
3 cups water
3/4 cup milk (whole or 2%)
3 teaspoons loose darjeeling black tea (or can also use 3-4 black tea bags)
4-5 teaspoons sugar (the family prefers dark brown sugar and I like honey.)
3/4-1 tablespoon tablespoon fresh grated or crushed ginger
2 smashed cardamom pods

Method:
In a medium sized saucepan heat water on stove top.
Add sugar and tea. Let the water come to a boil. Then turn the heat to medium and add milk.
Let it cook for 3-5 minutes or until the white froth of milk on top settles down.
Add ginger and cardamom. Cover the saucepan with a tight lid, turn the heat off and let the flavors steep into the chai for 3-5 minutes
Using a strainer strain out the tea, ginger and cardamom out of your chai.
Transfer into tea cups and serve steaming hot with some glucose biscuits!

Entry to this giveaway has been closed.

Gosht Shorba- Guest Post for Spices And Aroma

I am not a phone person. I never was, not even in my teenage, when its supposed to be one of your daily rituals to glue your ears to the phone for at least a few hours a day. No, not even then! I can find a 100 reasons not to be able to pick up the phone and call someone. It has always been like that. I guess I believe more in eye to eye and face to face conversations than long chats over an electronic device while staring at the ceiling or wandering around?
Then I never remember special days of friends and family. I always call a week after birthdays of friends and act to have remembered a wrong date. I over commit and then try to work night and days to keep the commitments. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I do not. These are all bad habits, I know but that’s who I am. I have lost touch with friends due of this, but those who understood, stuck around.

I cannot say that I was ever the most popular kid in the class. Not in school, nor in college and not even after that but I have always been lucky to have friends. Many good ones who even after calling me for the nth time still call to check on me and also complain in the end that I don’t call. Ones who call me on their birthdays and remind me to wish them. Ones who know what my “problem” is, (I know that they do because they have told me several times) but still make sure I do not fall flat on my face because of that.

Vijitha or Vij as I call her has become one such friend. Someone I met with a couple other blogger friends at a coffee shop an year and a half back and thought what a chatterbox this girl is. And now she has become one of the reasons why I am thankful for starting a food blog. She isn’t used to me saying so many nice things about her, all at the same time so I will stop right here.

Now even before my book came out Vij had asked for a signed copy of the book so that we can give it away to one of the loyal readers of her blog. So after many reminders and then a few threatening emails and personal  home visits I finally sat down today and worked this post up for her. The recipe I am sharing  today is one of the traditional ways goat meat is cooked in North India. You can find this and many other slow cooker recipes on my cookbook “The Everything Indian Slow Cooker Cookbookt” which you also have a chance to win today.
So head over to Spices And Aroma for my guest post and recipe. Also do not forget to surf around her wonderful blog. If you are someone who has or knows someone with gestational diabetes or thinking of following South Beach Diet or simply trying to watch your waist and love Indian food then this trip to her blog might turn out to be a treat for you. Enjoy!

Pulled Lamb Sandwich With Caramelized Onions and Chipotle Garlic Aioli

She checked the clock twice in a minute to make sure it was still working. Checked her phone to see if there were any calls that she had missed. Rushed to the sound of a passing car and she peaked out the window hoping it was him. Then disappointed went back to the couch rubbing her sweaty palms against each other, sat down and began shaking the legs again.

He promised he will be home from work by 8 and it was almost midnight. No phone calls, no messages and no news of him being well. He never does that, then why today? Something must have gone terribly wrong. An accident or maybe that back of his? Worst things come to mind at times like this.



Then trying not to concentrate on her pacing heartbeat she picked up her favorite book. While turning to the page she had last left, she heard something. Maybe the sound of footsteps approaching, which were being faded by that pouring rain outside of her apartment. A ring of the doorbell and she shook with excitement. This might be the best sound she had ever heard. She ran to the door, opened it and there he was. Drenched in rain but a smile on face.



Before she could complain his hand holding flowers appeared from behind. "Why do you have to like red tulips?" he complained " I thought I'd pick some for you but then they always run out of them?" She couldn't hold the tears back anymore so let it all out but accompanied with a big laugh. "What's for dinner?" he asked. "Sandwiches", she said. "Alright, then lets have a picnic in our living room tonight!". He entered the house and just like that everything just brightened up.

Thanks to American Lamb for sending some really good all-natural lamb for me to try for this recipe! I will be sending this recipe to the Lamb Lover's Photo Contest.

Ingredients: Makes 4-5 Sandwiches

For Slow Cooker Pulled Lamb:
1 1/2 - 2 lbs boneless leg of lamb
3/4 chicken stock
1 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves of garlic (smashed)
1 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

For Caramelized Onion: (Slow Cooker version in "The Book")
4 cups thinly sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil (or butter)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

For the Chipotle Garlic Aioli: Makes 1 cup
I followed this recipe for garlic aioli on David Lebovitz's blog, tweaked just a little. Just omit the garlic from this recipe and add chipotle garlic paste instead.

2 tablespoons Chipotle and Roasted Garlic Paste
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1/2 cup (250ml) extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup pure olive oil  
You'd be surprised to notice that I use two kinds of olive oils. I once read a chef  mixing half of pure live oil to the quantity of extra virgin olive oil to cut on the strong taste of oil in the aioli. I tried and it works for me. If you'd rather use 1 cup extra virgin then go ahead. You will not be breaking any rules.

Remaining ingredients I used for the sandwich. You can always play around here!
Baguette bread (you can use your choice of hard crusted bread)
Some greens (arugula or baby spinach go well with this)
Sliced tomatoes
Sliced avacado

Method:
Preparing Lamb:-
In a mason jar add all the ingredients except for the lamb and chicken stock. Close the lid and shake vigorously for 5 seconds. (This is how I make my vinaigrette)
Pour the vinaigrette to a ziplock bag. Add the lamb. Seal the bag and squish it so that all the vinaigrette is coated well around the lamb. Let it sit for 30 minutes.
Take the lamb out of the Ziplock back. Heat a cast iron skillet. Transfer the lamb to the skillet and cook on each side for 3-4 minutes.
Pour chicken stock to the slow cooker. Transfer the lamb to the slow cooker discarding all excess fat.
Cover and cook on low for low for 6-7 hours.

For Caramelized Onion:
Use a wide thick bottom saute pan (I use a cast iron skillet). Heat oil/butter
Add sliced onion. Stir well to coat the onion with oil/butter. Turn the heat to medium and let it cook on its own, stirring occasionally.
As the onion turns brown and looses its water it will stick to the bottom. Let it stick a little but keep an eye so that you do not burn them and keep stirring occasionally.
Towards the end the onions might all come together and begin to stick more to the bottom. Try adding a couple tablespoons of water to deglaze the pan. Turn the heat off and let it sit in the hot pan for 10 minutes before you move it to dish.

For the Aioli:
I followed the recipe as on David's blog. Its explained well there and always works for me. Just substitute garlic with Chipotle and Roasted Garlic Paste.

Putting the sandwich together:
Take the leg of lamb out of the slow cooker. Using two forks shred the meat. I always reduce the remaining liquid in the slow cooker and pour it over my meat. So I did the same here.
On a bed of greens over sliced baguette put some pulled leg of lamb, add caramelized onion, tomato and avacado. Smother some aioli on the other half of the baguette. Place it on top and enjoy with a glass of cold beer and your honey! 

Chipotle And Roasted Garlic Paste

I like putting the butterfly to bed. The whole house is nice and quiet. Sitting in a dark room next to her, holding her soft chubby hand and running fingers through her hair. Listening to the tick tock of the clock, then being disturbed by the whooshing sound of a strange car passing by the house every once in a while. Its nice AND quiet! If you live in a house with a very curious butterfly whose only job during day is to fly around the house in circles until the whole house comes down with her, you know how golden that "nice and quiet" is!

I barely get a second in my day where I can just sit, close my eyes and think. That nice and quiet is my opportunity when I do nothing but think and get transported to some other place for a while. Yesterday it was a trip to Mexico that we went on an year back. To the stuffy, noisy but colorful streets of Old Puerto Vallarta.

It was our third day in the city when we finally decided we've had enough sun bathing for our Indian skin so we pulled ourselves out of the beach, strapped the kid to her car seat in our tiny rental and headed to the old town. The hotel employees warned us that the we might find a little too much culture that a tourist can take but we were relentless. Later we were glad that we were. Because I am quite sure that we could never have got a better tasting pork tacos, creamier avocados and more refreshing Piña Coladas than anywhere else.

Cars hustling on the streets along with pedestrians, tiny shops lined in a row selling everything from pillows to bird cages, old historic church with tall clock tower whose bell would go off every hour to tell us how fast the time is passing. So much color and so much life everywhere.

And then I saw something which made me jump. I might have shrieked, I am not sure and my family is still too embarrassed to admit. I saw a spice shop! Not your spices-boxed-in-fancy-little-colored-jars kind of a spice shop but the I-can-smell-the-place-from-a-mile kind of spice shop. It was tiny but overflowing with a zillion kinds of spices, half of which I had no idea what they were. I went nuts and bought a little of this, a little of that and couldn't stop until the "better half" gave a stare. I managed to buy some dried chipotle pepper as well. The smokey-and-sweet-yet-carrying-a-punch kind.

So holding her chubby hands with my eyes closed and brushing her hair with my fingers yesterday, I was thinking of those chipotle peppers. Thinking of ways how I could use them this time. I thought of that chili garlic paste that mummy would always keep in her kitchen just to add an extra punch to any sad dish. I thought why not do it with chipotle pepper and mix them with garlic to make a smokey chipotle garlic paste. Now I do not know about you but there's something about roasted garlic that I love. It must be the aroma or the depth it adds to any dish but there is something.

So next morning soon after waking up I got busy with the peppers. Cut them, cleaned them, toasted them, rehydrated them and then pulled out my mortar and pestle. Threw in some roasted garlic with those peppers. Then with a little love and lot more muscle a beauty came out. You can use this paste to spice up any bland dish from a creamy pasta sauce to a simple vegetable stir fry. It also adds so much flavor to meat.Add a little bit of salt to your taste and this can act as a good spread for any bread.
I referred this amazing tutorial by Gourmet food editor Chef Ian to educate myself more about peppers and how to use them.

Ingredients:
16-18 dried chipotle pepper
1 garlic head (bulb)
1/3 cup olive oil +1 teaspoon
4-5 cups water (to rehydrate the peppers)

Method:
Using this video as a reference, I cleaned and prepped my Chipotle peppers. Check it out, you might learn something new about peppers. I know I did.
In order to roast garlic, preheat the oven to 400 deg. F.
To prep the garlic you can either chop about a 1/4" of its top just enough to expose the garlic or cut it into two across its circumference like I did.  I do not think it makes any difference.
Place the exposed side up on a piece of aluminum foil. Pour 1 teaspoon olive oil over it. Bring the two exposed sides back to their place. Tightly wrap the foil making a ball. Place it in the oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until the garlic is soft.
Take it out of the oven. Let it cool for 10 minutes and then either pinch the cloves out of the skin or take it out using a fork.
Now to make a paste you can either use a mortar and pestle or to make things easier you can use your food processor.
Place the garlic and peppers together and grind them into a paste.
Olive oil here is used only for preserving purpose so you can add it after grinding or if using a food processor add it while grinding to help the blades move smoothly.
Place in an air tight container and store in your refrigerator.

Do not forget to check out the giveaway running on the blog. You still have a few days to enter.

How To Make Ghee In A Slow Cooker From "The Book" and A Giveaway

Is it still allowed to wish someone a Happy New Year because "technically" the year is not exactly new anymore. But since we are still holding on to the first month of the year by its tail let me just go ahead and send you all my warm and loving new year wishes. Hope you had a fabulous 2012, kissed it a farewell with smile and wish you have a much much better 2013!

I can call my 2012 "eventful"! I know it wasn't as eventful on the blog as you and I would have wanted it to be but it definitely was behind the scenes. There were some very interesting writing and photography gigs that I was offered which kept me busy, The Book being one of them. Then there were some hospital and emergency room visits that were not as pleasing as those gigs but they sure kept me busy as well. You did not get to hear about them on the blog because I just did not feel very comfortable talking about it. But then as they say, "all's well if it ends well!". So it all ended well and the doctors have given a green signal now. Waiting for that green signal was boring though so we thought we'd celebrate ourselves in the meantime and took off for some quiet and hassle free time with family in India. Spent a refreshing few weeks there and now we are back home. Back to the routine, back to work and back to the blog and you!

I spent a huge part of the past year writing my first cookbook- The Everything Indian Slow Cooker Cookbook. Developed many new recipes, modified some shared by friends (whom I cannot thank enough!) and tested countless number of them, several of which failed and which didn't made it to the book. You can find 300 of my favorite Indian slow cooker recipes in the book. Probably the part of the book that I like most is the chapter named "Indian Slow Cooker Foundation Recipes". In this chapter I have shared some very basic recipes like how to make rice in a slow cooker, how to make yogurt and curry paste in your slow cooker. And one of my favorites is making ghee using a slow cooker. This recipe will make your life so much easier that you will never go back to your store bought ghee again.

All you need is some good quality, organic butter and you are good to go!

The slow cooker in this picture is a little big but if you have a 3 quart one then that would be perfect. Place 8 sticks of butter in the slow cooker. Set the slow cooker on low and cover with a lid propping it open just enough for the steam to escape. I use a chopstick or my mini spatula for that. Cook for 8-10 hours.

In the end you will get 2 cups of clear golden ghee. Scum will be floating on the top; spoon it off and discard it. Burnt milk solids will stick to the walls of the slow cooker. Do not scrape the sides or bottom! Let the ghee come to room temperature and then filter it using a strainer or cloth.

Store in airtight bottles and use it for cooking curries, making stir fries or just add a dollop on fresh warm bread or rice.

I would love to giveaway a few copies of The Everything Indian Slow Cooker Cookbook for you to take a closer look. So please drop a line in the comments section below if you'd like to participate in the giveaway (or even if you do not!). On Feb 10th I will randomly choose three lucky winners who will receive a copy of my cookbook.
Looking forward to seeing what you think about it!

We have winners! And their names are....
Ramona
Dena Testa Bray
Megan@What'sMeganMaking
Congratulations people! Please drop me an email with your addresses so that I can send your copy of Everything Indian Slow Cooker Cookbook.

Entry to this giveaway is closed.