Cilantro (image courtesy: Simply recipes) I really wish I knew this all these years I have been throwing out dead coriander. Coriander happens to be probably my favorite herb. As usual Elise at Simply Recipes has explained the process beautifully.

We visited Pondicherry right on the year end. And one of the days was dedicated to visiting Auroville. Of course, we later found out that there isn’t much to do at Auroville if you are not part of the Auroville community. You can do a bit of shopping at their boutique shops and buy expensive organic and locally made stuff, and then you can go for a long walk and see the Matrimandir from a designated spot.

Cafe Max Right on 7th main Indiranagar, the road connecting ESI hospital to 100ft. Virtually next door to Daily Bread.They serve euro and lebanese food.Some of their food is presented innovatively. Like the bruschetta below. Bruschetta Their falafel was quite nice, even though I must confess that since I have had it only once before I don’t really know how authentic it is.

Our attempt at eggplant parmesan Our second attempt at eggplant Parmesan today. This time we got some basil from Namdhari’s and some fresh Italian mozzarella (as compared to the Britannia, Amul ones that we had earlier used) to make the dish. The mozzarella cheese was a revelation. For just less than Rs. 100 a ball, this cheese, branded as Vallombrosa, was as fresh as it gets. Turned out that it was being made practically in our neighborhood by a Benedictine monastery, and used by all well known continental restaurants in Bangalore including our favorite Herbs and Spice.

OTG I need to get a real oven. What passes off most commonly for an oven in India is what is known as OTG or Oven-Toaster-Grill. Needless to say, they way it is designed, the only thing it does best for me is toast. And sadly I already have a bread toaster, which we would rather use than this monstrosity. The OTG has two heat coils - one at the top and one at the bottom, and can, at least as documented, heat upto 300 degrees centigrade (572 degrees Fahrenheit).

Malai Kari recipe I tried this dish the other day, and my wife, who normally doesn’t like prawns too much, was raving about it. I used the regular Dabur cococut milk packet and frozen prawns. I did leave the prawns cooking at low heat for longer time than is mentioned in the recipe. Click here to go to Sunanda’s Kitchen for the full recipe.

Biryani Link: Biryani Orgy: Vir Sanghvi Vir and Imtiaz Quereshi visit Karim’s In Old Delhi to try out their biryani and don’t like it. Imtiaz cooks safed biryani - biryani with rice which though white, retain full flavor. He made it with olive oil! Mohammed Rais makes lasooni pulao and biryani from raan or leg of a goat. Vir says this is rare. Hmm. What part is used to make regular biryani then?