I can't believe how fast the summer went! There is still some warm weather yet to be enjoyed and the abundant September produce to look forward to, but there are signs everywhere that autumn is on the way. The kids are back in school, the lawn is a tad browner, the garden is looking a little scraggly, and Dining with the Bloggers is back!
This year promises to be an exciting one for Dining with the Bloggers, but I can't tell you why just yet. For now you'll have to be content to read about the delicious dishes that Zarah and I have sampled from the wide, wide world of food blogs.
I have been interested in cooking Indian food for some time now. I have long been reading and drooling over my numerous cookbooks on the subject, but only recently have I finally given it a try. As a a true novice, I am glad to have found that there are a number of food blogs that focus on Indian cuisine and that provide wonderful recipes and helpful tips.
At Mahanandi, Indira has a beautiful blog with many tempting recipes and gorgeous photos. In addition to traditional recipes, Indira also posts recipes that make use of vegetables that she can buy where she now lives - here in the US.
This week I tried two of Indira's recipes: tomato rasam and Guggullu. Because I didn't make it to the farmers market this week and couldn't find any really ripe tomatoes in the grocery store, I used canned tomatoes for the tomato rasam. It was very good - not as clear as what I've had in my local Indian restaurant (probably because my canned tomatoes were packed in puree) and sweeter than I remember, but spicy and delicious. Its spiciness took me by surprise - I don't normally think of black pepper as packing a punch like that!
The Guggullu was wonderful as well. A beautiful mixture of black-eyed peas, chili pepper, tomato, red onion and corn that is seasoned with turmeric and lime juice. Although Indira provided this recipe as an example of her "yogi diet", with its filling beans and corn, that burst of lime, and definite eye appeal, this dish will not leave you feeling deprived in any way.
I have no idea what Zarah has up her sleeve this week, so you'll just have to stop by and find out for yourself!
8 comments:
I just stumbled upon your blog tonight via Food Porn Watch. Looks great! :) I'll be back!
Cathy, as someone who really enjoys trying other bloggers recipes, I think that this feature is.
I miss, however, the fact that you guys do not post pictures of the recipes you make. Yes, the originator most of the times also has a picture, but it would be nice to see what your rendition would look like. Even if we don't post the recipe, to have another picture os the dish to look make a difference.
Hi Cathy,
Sounds interesting. I really like Indian food and rarely cook it at home. After reading some of the Indian food blogs, the recipes sound easy enough that I might want to try some of them at home.
Yay!! Glad to see that Dining with the Bloggers is back. I missed this over the summer.
Cathy, I am getting lot of traffic from your site today. Thanks for your kind words about my blog. I am glad you tried those two recipes, they are my favorite too, particularly the tomato rasam.
Being new to food blogging and food terms, I hope my measurements for ingredients worked out ok for you.
What should one do, if they want to join in this dinner party? Try out other bloggers recipes? I hope it's not an exclusive or invitation only party. I would love to join in the fun.
Thanks again.
I'm glad to see it's back, too, Cathy. I love Dining with Bloggers.
Hi Beth - thanks! I see you have a brand new blog - it looks great!
Hi Ana - you have persuaded me to give up on my Dining with the Bloggers photo ban. When Zarah joined up with me on this she was also very much in favor of including photos, but I insisted that we should be encouraging people to click on over to the original posting. I thought by not having a photo we would do that, but you're right - they would still need to go to the original post for the recipe. Photos definitely draw people in!
Hi Reid! I agree - the recipes on the Indian food blogs very often seem more approachable than those in cookbooks. I don't know if it's the recipes themselves or the knowledge that you can always leave a comment or send an email asking for advice!
Thanks Alice!
Hi Indira! You're very welcome - I really do like your blog very much! I think the way you've written your recipes is perfect. I particularly like seeing photos of the ingredients. It lets me see what kind of tomato or how big, how much, etc. Dining with the Bloggers is a joint project of Zarah's (at Food and Thoughts) and mine - sort of like the Posts of the Week postings that several other bloggers have, but we highlight recipes that we've tried from other blogs. We took a little break for the summer and just started up again this week. In the past we selected a different theme for each week, which required close coordination between us and didn't really make it feasible to include others. This year we've decided to abandon the themed approach for the most part, so you or anyone else is welcome to join in if you choose or you could do something similar on your own schedule.
Hi Nic - Thanks!
Hello. I just wanted to give a quick greeting and tell you I enjoyed reading your material.
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