My World of Food and Travel

This is again something which I had cooked when my parents were visiting us. I had previously made an orange-mustard chicken that didn’t go down too well with the family (except my sis who loves everything I cook). I was hoping to redeem myself with this version of orange chicken. But even though everyone did say they liked it, I have a feeling that they were not completely truthful. The husband did put it subtly that it was a tad sweet for his taste. The parents, being parents, didn’t put forward any such critique. Oh, Deta had said, “I loved your chicken in cheese sauce .” Now why would he say that, I wonder? Anyways, since I had clicked pictures of the chicken, I might as well put up the recipe. Maybe someone somewhere in this world would someday stumble upon this recipe, cook it and actually like it. I live in hope. Orange Chicken Ingredients: 8 chicken drumsticks 1 onion, finely chopped (optional) 1 teaspoon garlic, minced 2 green chillies, chopped ¾ cup oran...

Let me begin by stating that this dish did not find favour in the household. Except my sis and me. There, I said it. So, now you have the choice of either hating it or liking it. However, given the fact that this dish was an improvisation on the roast chicken I was planning to make for Christmas , it did not do too badly. I was still under shock at finding cut pieces of chicken instead of the whole one when I made up the recipe. Perhaps the anger showed up in the food as well. Hmm. Anyway, I had just around half an hour or so before the guests showed up for Christmas dinner. My original plan was to have a leisurely chat with my guests while my chicken roasted slowly in the oven, filling up the house with the aroma of herbs and butter. Instead, there I was, ransacking my kitchen shelf too see what ingredients were there to cook the chicken with. I was trying for something ‘exotic’. Finally, I found half a bottle of orange marmalade and some English mustard. Some vague rec...

Actually make that two. Two babymoons! Both sis and I were on the family way when we decided to visit Yercaud. Both of us were in our second trimester, the safest period to travel, and thought of making the best of it – why not have some fun while we still could! We have some kind of an affinity with hill stations and zeroed upon Yercaud in Salem District in Tamil Nadu, some 220 km from Bangalore. As per our agreement, I researched on the area and the first thing that caught my eye was the fact that there were 20 hairpin bends uphill to Yercaud. Given our delicate conditions, this slightly caused some amount of concern. Would I end up puking? I hate that part! I have a cousin who pukes at the drop of a hat and that would generally end up in a chain reaction, with me taking the lead. I decided to block out that disturbing image from my mind and went ahead with making plans for the journey. I looked for hotels and although the visit was still two weeks away, t...