Anshu's Food Odyssey

Indian food culture is absolutely incomplete without the dry snack mixtures; be it South India or North India, people here need something to munch on either to curb their hunger pangs during the day or as an accompaniment to their evening tea or coffee. I remember during our childhood days, a huge wooden cabinet in the kitchen was used as a storage for a variety of such homemade snacks; methi nimki , namak paarey , besan ke laddoo , homemade jeera biscuits and nan khatai were some of the regular stuff that was stocked out in small portions whenever we felt hungry or when some guests visited our home. This healthy and absolutely lip smacking shahi namkeen mixture was also one of such snacks and was made quite frequently. Comprised of assorted nuts blended with spicy, tangy and sweet flavors, it truly used to be an addictive stuff that we loved to have with our tea in the evenings. Plus, come Diwali, and my Mom would make this mixture in big batches, seal them up in beautifu

Kachori or Savory Pie is one of the most popular Indian breakfasts, especially much common in Northern parts of India. These kachoris are traditionally fried and come in different flavors, often with fillings of aloo-pyaz, moong dal or matar. Apart from these, the dry masala kachoris are also quite popular and are much easier to make as they don't require any pre-preps for cooking the filling; pulse the namkeen or farsaan mixture in a grinder along with some spices and your filling is ready in just no time. I am here today with the recipe of these chatpati kachoris and yes! they are not fried, instead baked to cut down on the guilt factor. I normally prefer having them with spicy and tangy " Dahi Tamatar wale Aloo ki Sabzi" but, you can also enjoy them plain with some chutney or make a tongue-tickling chaat out of them; choice is totally yours. Baked Masala Kachori with Dahi Tamatar wale Aloo ki Sabzi Ingredients  Masala Filling Spicy mixed namkeen - 2 tbsp

Since the time this food blogging bug has bit me, I am always on a lookout for ocassions when I can prepare something new and special (especially sweets and desserts) for my family and share its pictures and recipes with all my foodie friends. With last 15 days brimming with celebrations for Navratri , Dussehra and Karva Chauth , I was overwhelmed with such opportunities and came up with quite a number of festive sweets and dessert recipes including that of Meethi Mathri , Balushahi, Badaam aur Makhaane ki Kheer  and off-course my favourite, Bengali Sponge Rasgulla . The quest is not over yet and I am all geared up for trying few more traditional sweets before the Indian festive season comes to an end. So, here's one such mithai specially made for the upcoming Diwali celebrations - soft and melt-in mouth " Kesar Kalakand ". It has been prepared with the traditional method of thickening milk with the freshly made chhena until the mixture attains all that fudgy cons