(I am so happy now that all the packing, moving, unpacking is all done; internet is setup at the new place and I am finally back in the blogging and the cooking world! I know I missed a lot of excellent posts but I am going to try to catch up with everything that has been happening in the next week or two!)
Can you imagine what would happen if suddenly all of your secrets were out in the open? No, not the real big secrets just some small little things that we all would rather keep to ourselves. This is exactly what happened to Emma from 'Can you keep a secret?' book by Sophie Kinsell. This was my first read of Simran's book-club. This month's pick was a chik-flic about Emma who happens to blurt out all of her everyday secrets to a complete stranger on a turbulent air-plane ride only to discover that the stranger is none other than the big boss of the firm she works at! One thing leads to another and suddenly all her secrets are out in the open... are secrets ever 'secrets'? Thats the question we all get to ponder as we trace through Emma's hilarious encounters around her secrets and her boss.
Can you imagine what would happen if suddenly all of your secrets were out in the open? No, not the real big secrets just some small little things that we all would rather keep to ourselves. This is exactly what happened to Emma from 'Can you keep a secret?' book by Sophie Kinsell. This was my first read of Simran's book-club. This month's pick was a chik-flic about Emma who happens to blurt out all of her everyday secrets to a complete stranger on a turbulent air-plane ride only to discover that the stranger is none other than the big boss of the firm she works at! One thing leads to another and suddenly all her secrets are out in the open... are secrets ever 'secrets'? Thats the question we all get to ponder as we trace through Emma's hilarious encounters around her secrets and her boss.
This is a delightful light romantic comedy, reminded me a lot of Bridget Jones' Diary. Lucky for me the bookclub couldn't have picked a better book this month because I read this book during some of the most dis-heartening days of the last few month and through the despair around me I was able to manage a late-night smile or two while reading this :)
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Now, as part of the bookclub we have to cook a dish inspired by the book we read. When I think about sharing secrets, the image that comes to my mind is a few of my best girlfriends chatting around in my room upstairs in India nibbling over some delicious snack with a hot cup of chai sharing some of the best kept school secrets! So, in the same theme I am sharing today one of my favorite childhood snacks - Suralichi wadi.
This is a Marathi snack made from chickpea flour and yogurt with a coconut based stuffing inside. I had always shied away from making Suralichi wadi at home because of its reputation of being really finicky and tricky to get right. Through a chance Googling I hit upon this Nupur's recipe and as the source was so reliable I thought of giving it a try and the copycat theme sure worked here perfectly because the dish was an instant hit! I think I found a winner recipe here for a snack that I always shied away from making at home, thanks Nupur!
Recipe: I am jotting down a quick photo post here. For the complete recipe and some extremely useful tips, check out the original post from One Hot Stove.
Prepare a stuffing of frozen, thawed grated coconut, chopped coriander, chili flakes and salt. Set aside.
Mix 1/2C chickpea flour (besan) with 1C + 1/4C buttermilk (diluted yogurt), pinch of turmeric and salt.
Microwave in 20sec bursts for a couple of mins until done (mixture rolls easily)
Spread batter on a flat stainless steel dish. Add some stuffing like so:
Let cool completely. Cut into smaller stripes. Roll each stripe to make a wadi.
Enjoy either as is or with some tadka of oil and mustard seeds!
Recipe: I am jotting down a quick photo post here. For the complete recipe and some extremely useful tips, check out the original post from One Hot Stove.
Prepare a stuffing of frozen, thawed grated coconut, chopped coriander, chili flakes and salt. Set aside.
Mix 1/2C chickpea flour (besan) with 1C + 1/4C buttermilk (diluted yogurt), pinch of turmeric and salt.
Microwave in 20sec bursts for a couple of mins until done (mixture rolls easily)
Spread batter on a flat stainless steel dish. Add some stuffing like so:
Let cool completely. Cut into smaller stripes. Roll each stripe to make a wadi.
I am sending this to One Hot Stove's blog-bites #2 copycat edition.