Well the real Mccoy, as described here -and as it came back to me, when I read the recipe on various websites, since I have in fact eaten the more authentic version in the past – has lots more going on by way of flavors and taste.

But I was glad I had the variation that evening in the restaurant with the microbrewery, this is a soup I will definitely be making soon for the girls, they’re sure to love it.

This is one of our regular, everyday subzis, one that I’ve written the recipe of here. It is simple enough that I thought I could let Indira try her hand at it – since she says so often that she wants me to let her cook all by herself -without her needing me to help her more than just a little.

And a very good job she’s done, too ! It was sort of a nice feeling, to see her quite comfortably handle the large frying pan and it’s heavy glass lid, and turn the gobhi just the right way each time. Well done, Indira !

She was saying that because I’d told them earlier today that when I made it many years ago in France, I can’t remember any of them eating it with too much enthusiasm. But I’ve held on to the recipe, copied on a single sheet of part from the internet long ago, all these years because i remember that I’d liked it more than a little; it has a full taste with just the tiniest hint of the sweetness of the honey that goes in to it.

I’m really glad that both of them like this tonight, it will be a handy option for their breakfast and lunch boxes for school every once in a while. And it is SO quick to make too.

Honey-Oat Bread

For 1 small loaf or Boule de Pain (that latter is the shape I aimed for today and was so pleased that it worked out !) -

1 cup of rolled oats, ground in the blender of a food processor (I don’t think it is necessary to grind the cereal too fine; leaving it just a little rough makes for bread with a nice, grainy texture)

1 cup of whole wheat flour

2 level teaspoons of baking powder (if the cup you use is of 200-250 ml measure. else, make that 1.5 teaspoons as I did because the cup I use is a 180ml measure)

1/2 a teaspoon of salt

1 and a 1/2 tablespoons of honey

1 cup of milk

1 tablespoon of oil

Combine the two flours, and mix in the salt and baking powder. In another bowl, combine the milk, the oil and the honey. Now stir this in to the flour mixture and and knead till the dough is formed. Shape it (you may need to oil your hands a little to handle the dough) to give it the form of a flat -rather than high- loaf or boule, then place on an oiled baking sheet. Pre-heat the oven to 230 degrees C (though I baked the bread today at 200 degrees C because I use Samsung’s “Speedcook” oven these days. This model typically cooks everything at about 20 degrees lower than the temperature mentioned in any standard recipe, and usually in much less time than is advised, as well), and then bake the bread till the top is an even brown and the bottom sounds hollow when knocked. This should take about 20-30 minutes.

Leave the bread to dry (else the inside will be moist) – and this may need at least an hour -before serving. Cut thin slices just before eating, and drizzle olive oil or spread some softened butter over each.

As I said, there’s just that hint of sweetness here, and a very satisfying, full taste. Nice

and thereby hangs a tale…

Suffice to say that this cake brings back so many memories of of those years in Pilani. Even so, it is still a surprise to me to see on FB – from all the discussions after Sukhie posted pictures when she baked this cake at home some weeks back -  just how many BITSians of my graduating class – and some from the year before and after – seem to associate it with me.  I guess I baked it more often than I remember myself !

Oddly, this is one cake I’ve rarely baked after I left the campus in Pilani. Perhaps because soon after moving to France, I discovered all those wonderful recipes in the book of baking recipes that Nadia gifted me. The delicious carrot/date/banana/poppy seed and all the other varieties of cake I started to bake after that meant that I never thought to make this old favorite again.

Until recently, when Sukhie visited at the start of this year and told the girls all about how I used to make it all the time in college, and how much everyone loved it. Their incredulous reaction-”YOU know how to make a pineapple upside-down?!” – was  both amusing and revealing, as I had no idea that the the girls were familiar with this cake, nor that they liked it a lot.

As I cast about in my mind for the recipe from long ago, I remembered suddenly the only time I made it in France. It was  in my kitchen in the little studio we rented in the village square of Valbonne. Erin had come over to play a game of scrabble and had just eaten a slice and asked how I’d made it. When I told her the ingredients and the quantities, she said, “Well that’s like a pound cake, then.” And that’s how I found out that what we used to make so often in Pilani was basically what’s known as a pound cake (a pound-or any equal quantities- each of eggs,butter,sugar and flour) in England and a quatre-quarts in French, with the caramelized sugar and pineapple the metaphorical icing on the cake .

So that is how, although it’s been the longest time since I made this cake, I baked it yesterday to the complete satisfaction of Indira and Noor. Thank you, Dear Erin, for that little piece of education 14 years ago !

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Whip 3 eggs (150 gms) in a mixing bowl till they are frothy. Blend in 150 gms of sugar, 150 gms of softened butter and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix 1 teaspoon of baking powder in to 150 gms of flour (I used whole wheat and the cake tastes as good). Stir these dry ingredients in to the egg-butter-sugar mixture till the batter is smooth.

Spread about two tablespoons of sugar evenly in a baking pan, and caramelize the sugar (taking care not to blacken or burn it) in the oven. This will take a few minutes. Now place pineapple slices (the canned variety are better for this purpose,IMO) over the caramel, pour the batter over the slices, shake the pan a little  to spread the batter evenly, then bake till done.

Let the cake cool in the pan, then turn it out and invert carefully to the oohs and aahs of your audience.

Et voila, behold a cake that is quite a pretty sight.

And later the next day…

The nicest reactions came  today from the girls. Noor said, as I packed a couple of slices for her morning break in school – “this cake is now officially my favorite cake !!” And when I asked Indira this evening if she’d shared some with her friends in school – they all seem to enjoy the cakes I make – she said, “this is one of my most favorite cakes from all the ones you’ve made so far so I didn’t share any of it today”. Sweet and amusing, that.

They’re both sleeping now, as I write this and think that I must do this – listening with them to music -  more often.

Dada had told me a long time ago that the shell comes off easily if the fruit is roasted, so I did that today, and made the chutney in the way that Atto told me to on the phone last week. Must say that it is a really delicious chutney, and so quick and easy to make too. Luckily there were some pakoras left over from the lot that the cook fried for tonight’s kadhi, and I’ve enjoyed eating those with the chutney !

Wood Apple Chutney

Wood Apple 1

2 tsp of cumin powder

1/2 tsp of red chilli powder

3 tbsp of jaggery granules

Roast the fruit over a flame till the shell is cracked all over. Scoop the flesh out and once it’s cooled, grind all the ingredients with some salt and water in a mixer till the chutney has the right consistency.

And that’s it !

To my surprise, I’ve realized, on reading about it, that this fruit is most likely the same as  bel, with which Ma used to make sharbat in the summer. Except that I seem to remember a larger sized fruit when I think of bel, or perhaps the fruit is allowed to grow larger before it is used to make sharbat. Either way, I going to  find out from Ma about how to make the sharbat, it is just such a delicious treat on a hot summer day.

The icing on that metaphorical cake was the reaction, as in the title of this post, from Indira when I asked the girls to taste the pasta I’ve just finished making for their school lunch for tomorrow. Noor likes it a lot too, so I am relieved and delighted that I went with my gut feel and decided to follow the impulsive idea I had this evening that it was time to try a completely new pasta recipe.

I ordered a head of broccoli from the local grocer yesterday, with the vague idea of using it in a salad. But I’m quite bored now of the usual broccoli-corn-tomato/carrot/red bell-pepper salad that I make most of the time to eat on the side with pasta, so decided instead, on a whim, to search online for a recipe for pasta sauce that would use broccoli and cream. I’m not sure why I thought of cream, maybe it was because it’s been on my mind for some weeks to use the sun-dried tomatoes that have been sitting in the fridge for what feels like forever, and I have a vague memory of having eaten, long ago, pasta in a nice sauce that seemed to involve sun-dried tomatoes and cream.

The sauce I made tonight is a variation on a recipe I found here.

My version is as follows -

approx 300 gms of pasta, cooked in boiled and salted water

1 large head of broccoli, cut in to florets and steamed until just tender

3-4 tbsp of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped fine

5-6 cloves of garlic, sliced fine

1 large onion, chopped fine

2 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of oil

125 ml of fresh cream

Heat the oil and butter over a low flame till the butter just begins to soften, in the same pan in which you will have boiled the pasta. Add the garlic and the chopped onion and saute until  soft. Stir in the tomatoes, heat for a minute, then add the broccoli, season with sea salt, mix everything together and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Now add the cream, heat the mixture thoroughly, then add the pasta and toss well for 2-3 minutes so that it is well-coated with the sauce.

This is going to be a heavy dish, I can tell from the taste, but yummy too

I’ve taken to making a couple of basic kinds at home now – pesto, tomato and basil – and rarely buy pasta sauce any more. So this one will be a great addition to that repertoire.

The girls will love it, I’m sure. They like their pasta kept simple any way, and like it with just some olive oil. Their tolerance for chilli has gone up in recent times too.  And they watched an episode of Master Chef Australia – that show is their current favorite thing to watch on TV -some time back that featured Antonio Carulccio so it is sure to interest them that this is his recipe.

Here’s how he tells it -

Spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino (spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli)

Serves 2

This is probably one of the most popular recipes for native Italians. They like to eat it at any time, but it’s probably the prime dish to be eaten for a midnight feast, when they arrive home late and hungry. It takes only about 6 to 7 minutes to cook the pasta, while the “sauce” is ready in less than half that time. You don’t even have to grate any Parmesan, as the pasta is better without.

Salt
180g/6oz spaghetti or linguine
6 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 small chilli (the strength is up to you), finely chopped, with seeds

Put plenty of water in a saucepan, add salt, bring to boil and throw in the pasta. Stir, then cook for about 5 to 6 minutes, until nearly done.

Now start the sauce by heating the olive oil gently in a deep frying pan.

Fry the garlic and chilli for a few seconds, or until the garlic starts to change colour, taking care not to burn it.

The pasta will be ready and al dente in those few minutes. Drain it well and put in the pan with the “sauce”, adding a little salt and perhaps 1 to 2 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water. Stir a couple of times and serve (without Parmesan).

For those who think this is too simple, you could add a further burst of flavour by including a couple of anchovy fillets. Fry them along with the garlic and chilli, and they will melt into the oil. You could add a teaspoon of tiny capers too, if you like, or some very finely cubed green olives. Or, at the end, you could grate some bottarga (dried and salted tuna or grey mullet roe) over the top of each portion.

It’s not my way with kids,in any case, but more so because I never wanted Indira to feel that I favored Noor over her in any way because Noor is younger- which is a feeling I’ve often seen many older siblings harbor about their parents dealings with their children.

But perhaps the younger one just knows.

Indira, bless her heart, always indulges her sister anyway because she’s got an almost little-mother air about her sometimes, with Noor.

But there’s been more than one occasion recently when Noor has said or done something with such a responsible, mature attitude that I found myself thinking, with a pang in my heart, “the baby’s growing up too…”

Sometimes it’s when she hangs around me to help in the kitchen or to lay the table, sometimes it is something she says with a very grown-up, understanding, thoughtful air. Then there was this last Sunday morning, when I saw her in the balcony, browsing through the weekend section of the newspaper. Even though the section that seemed to be holding her interest was the very tabloid-ish Pune Times, it was a striking sight anyway because I haven’t seen any part of the newspaper be her reading material of choice before this.

Oh well….they must all grow up eventually, I guess. And it does make for smile-making moments along the way so it’s all good.

The house used to be the home of a well-known industrialist until around 65 years ago, and was designed during the Raj by the same British architect who also designed such famous landmarks as the Gateway of India and the Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai.

It makes for the most soothing, tranquil ambience one could ask for at work, and for very rejuvenating post-lunch walks.

Truly an oasis in the midst of this NOISY, chaotic, madly growing city….