Pictures & Twitter

We have uploaded pictures from our wonderful Florida Trip in Picasa which you can access here or from the slideshow in the right pane of this blog. Also you can follow me @sankykrec in Twitter for more updates

Spring Break in Florida

Shankar and I got to spend five days of my much needed spring break in Florida - at the Everglades and Miami. Going from 35 degrees to 75 degrees was exactly what we needed after five long months of winter!

Nikko by Nikon

Introducing our new Nikon D90!

Farmer's Market Fresh Lunch

On Sunday, Shankar and I spent some time at the farmer's market in Oshkosh. Though we have quite a bit of produce from our garden, I couldn't pass up a chance to try other vegetables that are farm fresh. So, here is what we had for lunch - long beans stir fried with coconut, Kohlrabi in a coconut - buttermilk gravy and mint & lentils chutney. Overall, a very green lunch :)

The coconut - buttermilk gravy works with a lot of vegetables and is very simple to make. A handful of shredded coconut, is pureed with some chili peppers (I used jalapenos in the above version), cumin, salt, curry leaves and buttermilk. Sour cream is a good alternative to buttermilk. This mixture is poured over the vegetable boiled with some salt, and cooked for a few minutes. A garnish with tempered mustard seeds, cumin and urad dal round up this few-ingredients dish.

Tamarind @ Chicago

Tamarind - an asian restaurant in the South Loop has become one of our favorite Chicago restaurants. They have a wide array of Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and now Indian cuisines in a beautiful setting. We had been there last November when Shankar attended the AME conference. We went to Chicago in August to show Shankar's parents the big city, and went to Tamarind after a long day downtown.

We stared the dinner with some Avocado rolls and deep-fried Tofu. This is the first time I had Tofu garnished with ginger and toasted Nori. Both of them were excellent.

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Shankar loves his fruit drinks with bobo and Tamarind has a selection of fresh fruits, from which you can choose up to three for a blended drink. We had a Melon trifecta - with water melon, cantaloupe and honey dews.

Shankar's parents had vegetable fried rice and we had a Cashew and Vegetables in a brown sauce with Tofu. This was a perfect meal for us. We noticed that they add a slice of cucumber to their water jars - a refreshing touch!

The staff were very friendly and we also got to talk to the owner. She promised us dessert, but after such a big meal we just couldn't order anything more. Tamarind is very reasonably priced, actually I would venture to say they are in-expensive for the quallity of food and their location. A must-go to restaurant in Chicago!

Random: Bison

A Bison at the Konza Prairie Biological Station, near Manhattan, Kansas. This picture was taken in March 2004 when my friend Ramya was visiting us. Konza is a tall grass prairie biological station and it is also a long-term ecological research (LTER) site located in the flint hills region of Kansas. The Bison population on Konza is managed, and are studied for the role of grazing on the prairie. For more information, visit: Konza Prairie

Fancy Lunch

Today's lunch was Quinoa grains garnished with rosemary, sage and thyme in butter, and stir fried vegetables from our garden - Green peppers, Broccoli, Zucchini, Potatoes, and left-over Tempeh. Now that's what I call a gourmet meal :)

Fried Green Tomatoes

Tomatoes are a success in our garden this year and seeing so many of them, I decided to pluck some of the unripe ones to try some South Indian gravies. Fried Green Tomatoes have been on my mind since our South Trip, as we didn't get to eat them and they took precedence over South Indian dishes this time.

I sliced the tomatoes - a little thick, dredged them in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, dipped in a beaten egg, then dredged in cracker crumbs. I used olive-black pepper crackers. Then shallow fried them till brown and served with Maggi's Oriental Hot Sauce. Next time I think I will try deep-frying the tomatoes for more authenticity.