So, I had an awesome 4th of July weekend. We went to the Grand Canyon. Spent the night in Sedona. Had a day trip to Flagstaff. Watched a Bollywood movie and thoroughly enjoyed it. Saw Transformers: Dark Side of the moon. Weren’t too impressed by it. On our way back home, got caught in a major dust storm and thunder showers. Overall, a tiring but fun weekend.
The weekend started with a night out with my girlfriends.
Now, the thing about me is that I just can’t hold my alcohol. My drinking capacity on most days is just a glass of wine. On certain days its a little more. But, most of the days its just one glass. When my body is a little brave, I can hold in 2-3 glasses. But, some god-forsaken days, I try to be braver than usual. And those days are followed the next day by a very horrible, sickening feeling called a hangover! The girls’ night out was one such day- where not only was I braver than usual, I was trying to be smart as well and mixed my drinks! Now, mixing drinks is a no-no especially if you want to avoid really bad hangovers. But, that night I tried to act too smart with my alcohol. And like anyone who tries to act too smart but actually isn’t- I fell down real bad the next day.
*Update August 12, 2012*:The picture just above of these aloo puffs was taken almost two years back with a point and shoot camera. The picture above that was taken two days back with a DSLR. There is still a long way to go to improve my photography (also note that the first picture was taken in a rush as my guests were about to come and I still had some stuff to take care of) but it has surely improved. But the thing to note here is that the puffs made two years back were made from homemade puff pastry while the smaller sized puffs I made two days back were made from store bought frozen puff pastry sheets. Notice any difference? I found the homemade ones better but its always such a pain to make homemade puff pastry, that the convenience of store bought pastry draws me into buying it!
Updated June 18, 2016: The post has been updated with newer pictures. These aloo puffs (spicy potato filled puff pastry) make a great dish to take for a pot luck, or for brunch, or a evening snack. I took them recently to a get together and these were devoured. I love that they taste like a samosa, but with a flakier crust and without spending time in the kitchen frying. The reason I am keeping the old pictures is so that you can see how my photography has evolved, and how it still keeps evolving.
Original post dated Jan 2011:
I did not blog for one day but feel that its been ages since I blogged last. Weird! I wanted to blog about the aloo puffs (Stuffed puffs with a spicy potato filling) I made on Sunday but could not do so till today. There are two reasons for the delay.
One, my computer – it got infected by a virus and I could not access anything! Luckily, I was able to switch on my computer in Safe mode and delete the root cause file. Then, I installed MalwareBytes, and that too deleted some infected files and when I restarted, my computer was back with me! What a relief! But it did give me a scare!
Two, yesterday I was busy mapping out what all I have in my pantry and the refrigerator. The thing is, in two weeks time I am leaving for India on a looooong vacation. 🙂 🙂 So, I have two weeks to finish the frozen blueberries, cranberries and the other stuff I have in the refrigerator that I am sure V will not use. (Yes, V is not coming along :(!). And, yesterday was spent figuring out how I would do that without throwing it all in the dustbin!
Well, now, the list is made and each day, for the next two weeks, I have some experiment lined up. Its going to be real busy in the kitchen till I leave. For today, I had Indian styled chowmein and a raspberry cake on the list. Tomorrow, it is okra and chilli paneer and of course, Office Thursday!
On Sunday, I used the leftover puff pastry dough (from the time I made the apple turnovers) to make some puffs stuffed with a spicy potato filling. These puffs are very popular in Indian bakeries and a famous to-go for tea parties at home. One of my friends had made these puffs as a snack for us on our trip to Vegas. So, while thinking of ways to use up the leftover pastry dough- I though this was the perfect way to use them.
V loved them. I mean he loves everything I make (I think he is just nice) but these puffs- he really did love them. Even looking at the pictures now while I was writing my blog, he was like- I want more! 🙂 The pastry puffed up beautifully and the filling was perfect for Sunday breakfast!
Yesterday it rained and with it my plans to go for a run were washed away. Instead V and I went out for dinner. Since I had overeaten at the Christmas party, and my running plans didn’t materialize, my order consisted of garden salad, fish, corn cob, dinner rolls and wild rice. It was pretty filling. But, you won’t believe it at 3 in the morning I had hunger pangs. My stomach was growling. I was mumbling in my sleep- I am hungry, I want food! Gosh! What’s wrong with me?? I mean I ate a lot. In fact at dinner, it was so embarrassing because while my plate was clean as a whistle, V had just managed to eat only 1/4th of his dish- the rest he took as to-go! So at 3 am in the morning I was wondering to myself- seriously what’s wrong with me?? Why am I such a glutton?? Do I have worms??? But, then if that was the case, I would be really thin. Then, do I have a really really fast metabolic rate? But, then again that being the case, it would still mean a very slim me! But, then neither am I slim nor am I anywhere close to it. (I checked my weight yesterday, and it wasn’t a pretty site 🙁 !) Am I compulsive eater then? Or were the hunger pangs a result of what I was thinking about before I fell off to sleep (a.k.a the Black Forest Cake I am planning to make- I know glutton!). Anyways some how I slept again.
That was yesterday and today is a new day. I had some leftover samosa filling from the samosas I had made to take for the Christmas party. And I thought along with that some spicy chickpea curry would be perfect for lunch. (It’s almost like my mind blocked the memory of seeing my alarming weight- here I am planning to eat some more deep fried stuff! Glutton!)
Now Samosas, to explain in english, are like savory turnovers with a spicy potato and pea filling, deep fried (yes, deep fried) in oil. They are a very popular Indian snack served with mint and tamarind chutneys. When I was in India I would eat my samosa with a little curd and chutney. I always found the filling too spicy and the curd helped in balancing the flavors for my palate.
My dad is crazy about all stuff fried, all stuff sweet, actually all stuff fattening (I think that’s how I developed my love for food- from my dad). He once took me to this small shop in Panchkuian Road, near Connought Place, Delhi, called Frontier Stall to try their spicy samosa with chhole (a hot chickpea curry). Ah! Sweet fried goodness! It was mouth watering delicious! (By the way I found this link for things to definitely try when in Delhi- I could check only 6 out of 12) So when I decided to make Samosas for the Christmas party, I had already made a mental note to myself that with the Samosas left I would try recreating that chaat. Unfortunately, there were non left (secretly, I was happy because that proved that they were good!) but fortunately, I was left with some of the filling.
The only thing I would change the next time I make them is to make the filling more spicy. Both times I have made Samosas, I have made with the purpose of serving it to my foreign friends who are not used to too spicy food. Though perfect for people who prefer less spice, to make it more spicy add some red chilli powder to the dough and in the filling, add the green chillies with the seeds. You can also check Harini’s version (I found this site today so haven’t tried the recipe but to make a spicier version I’ll definitely give this a try too)
