Kids say the darndest things

Kids say the darndest things - Coconut Popcorn

Inspiration comes from the most unexpected of sources, it's up to the individual to use and interpret the signal and filter it from the surrounding noise. Call it signal processing or an interpretation of the Bhagvad Geeta or simply neural transmission and the brain processing the sounds it hears and making sense of it. you know its a winner of an idea if something constructive comes of it.

Yesterday, it was a random babble session with my 6 year old, she came up to me insisting that we had to make some coconut popcorn - when I asked her who told her that she invoked a character from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. It seemed such a cute conversation that I shared it simultaneously on Facebook. I was rather clueless about what she wanted, since her palate is extremely restricted, Rice and Pasta to be precise. And sure enough, my friends rallied with possible interpretations.

Knowing how much my kid does NOT care for anything sweet that I make (told you she keeps me grounded, I have to work to get her culinary approval), the first thing I could think of was the traditional coconut rice prepared South Indian style. In the meantime, she had already pulled out the popcorn air popper and an open bag of kernels, and was all set to make a batch. I had no time to think about any other suggestions and went with my first instinct - and I could not ask for a better 'Panfusine' finale for the year 2015.

South Indian Style coconut popcorn (Makes ~ 4 cups)

4 cups air popped popcorn
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon Urad dal
1/2 cup broken cashewnuts
1 - 2 birds eye chile, finely chopped or 1 broken Arbol Chile
1 sprig torn curry leaves
Salt to taste
1 pinch asafetida (optional)

Heat the coconut oil in cast iron skillet and add the mustard and urad dal. When the mustard pops and Urad dal turns a light brown, add the cashew nuts, chilies, curry leaves and salt. Allow these to bloom and emit their signature aromas and flavor. Toss in the shredded coconut, and then empty the entire the contents of the skillet into the bowl holding the popcorn. Fold with a spatula to evenly disperse the coconut tempering throughout the popcorn. Serve immediately.

Now, get yourself a nice chick flick or masala movie over Netflix or your DVD, a nice cup of tea, sit back and look forward to a fantastic New year 2016!

Wishing everyone of you, my precious readers a wonderful New year. Thank you so much for all the support during this past year.

Unusual Ingredients - Unripe Blueberry Achar

T'was just another Summer afternoon, The kids were home for the summer holidays, getting bored, there's only so much summer reading you can force them to do, and the Indian mommy in me could no longer caution them against going out in the afternoon (I've solemnly refused to use that horrid excuse of 'You'll get a dark tan if you stay out in the mid day sun'), and so we decided to head out to Terhune orchards for the blueberry picking. The kids never say no to outings to the orchard, they LOVE the trip there, the cute yellow dogs and the cats, the chocolate crinkle and Snickerdoodle cookies, and they positively trip over grabbing buckets and heading joyfully towards the berry bushes... ... And there it ends, the younger one loses herself in her delightful imaginary worlds where she probably thinks she's hacking her way through virgin Amazon jungle, sighing at every branch that brushes against her legs, picks 2 or 3 berries as if they were a new as

Sputtering back....

I seriously feel like this scene from the movie 3 idiots .. remember this one? The way I kept racking up drafts and eventually stopped doing that as well. Lulled into complacence by the quick high from Instagram posts. Recipe measurements hastily scribbled into a Moleskine notebook faithfully depending upon my moods. The truth is that I keep over thinking the backstories needed to make the post more interesting while in reality the truth is that ideas and inspirations just occur spontaneously (like little itches , sneezes or twitches) whenever the opportunity happens to strike. Some really cool ideas that scare the beejeezus out of me and yet prove to be utterly delightful and simple in the end. Others, that seem so trivial that I feel it wouldn't be worth crowing about -- even if there are enough other recipes in that genre that get so much publicity simply because the author happens to have the right marketing knack. So in the past 4 years that I've been

Product Review: Ninja Mega Kitchen system and a recipe for Masala Dosa

One of the biggest reasons for attending conferences is the priceless experience of meeting fellow bloggers and get an invaluable exposure to all things culinary. This includes vendors with new products to savor and get inspiration from. I had no complaints about whatever appliances I had for making traditional Dosa (Traditional South Indian rice & lentil crepes) batter, a sturdy tabletop stone grinder that you could add the Urad dal, turn the timer on , and 30 minutes later, come back to a container full of fluffy, batter with the consistency of whipped egg whites. The The cons of this is the cleaning up, of the various parts, the roller, the grinding bin, the multiple trays on which the rollers need to be placed while transferring the rice & lentil batter, the invariable drips of thick batter on the counter.... you get the point, It takes quite a bit of time. I was pleasantly surprised when the appliance company, Ninja asked me if I'd like to try any of their

UnknownApril 28, 2016 at 6:05 PM
Namaskara,
I just found your great blog thanks to FOOD 52.

Years ago I went to college in Mysore and miss all the delicious South Indian vegetarian food. I can't wait to try this popcorn, your masala dosa recipe and other goodies.
Do you have a recipe for Bhel Poori? Or for Payasam? I am sure there are many variations. Just two dishes I enjoyed....
Cheers,
Anne

Panfusine

Search This Blog