All About Falsa!


 Grewia Asiatica is the botanical name of our favorite summer fruit, Falsa or Phalsa. Falsa belongs to the berry family, and people often mistake it for blueberries; they are close relatives but are not the same. In the family of Tiliaceae, only one genus, Grewia, yields edible fruit which is Falsa. It is native to Southern Asia, from Pakistan to Cambodia, and is also cultivated in many tropical countries. Falsa is a much awaited fruit by many people, in the summers. It can be used to make juices, syrups and sherbet to fight the heat and cool oneself. The fruit tastes a little acidic and sometimes sweet.
It has great medicinal uses as well; the fruit is astringent and stomachic. When unripe, it alleviates inflammation and is administered in respiratory, cardiac and blood disorders, as well as in fever. It is rich in vitamin C and is also a good source for anti-oxidants.
After much research, I’ve been able to find a detailed table on its food value; it’s low in sodium, low in fat and rich in Vitamin C.
Value per – 100 gm

Nutrients:

Water 80.8g
Energy 72 Kcal
Protein g 1.3
Total lipid (fat) g 0.9
Carbohydrate, by difference 14.7 g
Fiber, total dietary 1.2 g
Calcium, 129 mg
Iron, 3.1 mg
Magnesium, 72 mg
Phosphorus, 39 mg
Potassium, 351 mg
Sodium, 4.4 mg
Copper, Cu mg 0.12

Vitamins:

Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid mg 22
Niacin 0.3 mg

Other: 

Carotene, beta 419 mcg

*Values from Indian Council of Medical Research, National Institute of Nutrition.


Of Food and Fondue!

Today was an absolutely delicious day. It was the girls get-together and of course, there had to be food and lots of it. The menu had Singaporean Rice, Lasagna and for dessert, yummylicious chocolate cake to be dipped in chocolate fondue (I actually ended up eating the fountain chocolate with a spoon)! Heavenly. Later we moved on to some street food. And I was literally going to burst! It was quite a messy affair. Especially the chocolate part. We all went crazy. Chocolate was everywhere! We missed the Pretzels though.

Enjoy the pictures (oh yes! I feel very evil and hence torturing y'all xD)





The super delicious Singaporean Rice.
Look at all that CHEESE!


The oozing chocolate!

Chocolate Fondue! Delicious!



Of Knives

Being a chef, I would of course, adore cutlery and crockery - and I totally love knives. The really cool knives make me drool. Literally. My mom got me a set of really awesome knives! Really amazing stuff. The most elaborate set of knives I've ever had. I have to love my mom for this!

Here are the kinds of knives included in the set:

Paring Knife - For cleaning, paring, peeling and slicing small fruits and vegetables.

Steak Knife - Used for cutting main courses such as steaks and chicken. It is usually a 4-6 inches long knife.

Boning Knife - it's got a long narrow blade used to remove the main bone within a cut of meat, such as beef roast.

Utility Knife - It's a small, light-weight knife having a 4-7 inches long blade and is used for miscellaneous light cutting such as fruits and vegetables.

Carving Knife - A knife used to cut slices of cooked or smoked meat, poultry and fish. The blade is thin, and is constructed with a round or pointed tip.

Santoku Knife - It is commonly used to prepare ingredients for Asian food dishes. With a thinner blade than a chef's knife, the santoku can cut smoothly and more precisely through dense vegetables.

Chef's Knife - It's an all purpose kitchen knife used for mincing, slicing, chopping vegetables, slicing meat or even disjointing large cuts of beef.

P.S Previously I had a set of 7 knives, so yeah, promotion ^_^




Food Connection Pakistan - Dream Come True

Back in November 2009 was when I started blogging- food blogging to be more precise. It was my passion which made me start blogging. Because I simply love food, and I love cooking - it's a skill that I possess and I wanted to share it with everyone. I wanted people to know more about food, the need for healthy food, new places to eat out etc. Then, for a temporary time period I shifted to my own domain - which, due to lack of resources and time, I couldn't manage. And so I returned back to blogspot. The main reason I started my blog was to share - food, reviews, recipes because back then, I knew not a single blog dedicated to food and it hurt me, because food is FOOD and it indeed needs a lot of attention :D

Anyhow, so as I usually go on about surfing different international food blogs and food pages on facebook, I stumbled upon, Food Connection Pakistan one day. I read the idea behind the project, and I saw hard work. It was good to see, something like FC Pakistan coming in shape. All dedicated to food - reviews, places to eat out. It was as a dream come true because I really wanted to see something like that to be started in Pakistan.

Food really is something to be appreciated. We need to have a sense of good food and drink. Of course we get bored if we eat out at the same place every time. That's why we need to know more new food places; and that's where the Food/Cafe/Restaurant Reviews come in (and FC Pakistan too).

Good things need to be blogged about and need to be appreciated and I think Food Connection Pakistan was worth a blog post. I wish them luck in this project of theirs! And I am sure, this will go huge!


Chicken Yakhni Pulao










Ingredients:

Chicken 1/2 kg
Onion 1 medium sized sliced
Tomatoes 2, blended into a paste
Garlic Paste 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Water 4  1/2 cups
Rice 3 cups (soaked for 10-20 minutes)
Black pepper corns, cloves, cinnamon and cumin seeds, whole red chilies, green cardamom. 

Method:

Heat oil in a pan, add the onions, fry them for three minutes or until they change the color to a very light golden brown. Then add the chopped tomatoes, garlic paste and chicken. Fry for another five minutes. Now add the spices, black pepper corns, cloves, cinnamon, cumin seeds, whole red red chilies, green cardamom and a pinch of turmeric powder. Now add 4 1/2 cups of water to the chicken and cook till 4 cups of water remain in the chicken about, 10-15 minutes. Now add the soaked rice (make sure the stock is boiling before adding the rice). Cover with a a tight lid and cook on a very low heat for 20 minutes. Avoid opening the lid in between no matter how curious you may be! 

*Chicken meat can be substituted by beef or mutton, but cooking time may vary.

Oh so Delicious!

I was forced to write this post. No, not by the person herself, but my tummy made me do it. You see those cakes and all one can do is drool. Drool over those cupcakes and cakes.

Starting with the KitKat and MnMs Barrel Cake: It looks super delicious. A double chocolate cake -  soft, fudg-y chocolate sponge, covered with a smooth, melting chocolate sauce and topped with MnMs (read overload of MnMs) - all inside a wall of Kit-Kat bars.


Then comes the Rich Chocolate Fudge Cake. The picture shall be enough!!


Even though I am not a fan of pink, neither I like the taste of pink icing but LOOK AT THIS:

PBY Layer Cake:



And then, and then, and then, Texas Chocolate Cake. Oh God. THIS CAKE. THIS CAKE.

Two tall layers of fluffy chocolate cake. Whipped cream filling and frosting. A drippy chocolate glaze. Chocolate-covered strawberries for garnish.


 Then comes the cuppies. Pretty, pretty cupcakes!
Oreo Cupcakes

Vanilla Cupcakes with Butter Cream Frosting

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Fudge Frosting

The thing, which awe-d me the most was, the patience, and the hard work of this girl. Hardly 16 or 17 she's doing an amazing job, making the most delicious cakes ever. I still bake a disaster of my brownies and rock-hard cake. Believe me, baking is a lot of hard work, which requires a lot, a lot of patience. Please encourage her and spread the word.

Oh and, join the facebook page! :D





Batair Karahi

Being a foodie, I keep going out to try out new stuff with family. Recently, I went to have 'Batair (quail) Karahi' at Anwar Balouch on National Highway, in Karachi. The karahi was uber delicious. Such clean flavors and you could actually taste the Quail in the gravy. Though I must say, the quail is a very tiny creature with hardly any meat on its bones, but still it was really appetizing. Eating it was a little messy but all the struggle with the bones and the meat was worth it. It had no complicated 'masalas' or flavors in it. Just salt, a bit of pepper, yogurt, oil, green chilies and corriander; garnished with julienne ginger.  And it was scrumptious!










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