by Currylicious | May 26, 2016 | BLOG
The Newcomers-Encore Club is a social club open to all residents of Short Hills and Millburn, no matter how long they’ve lived in the area. The Club organizes various fun events and activities through out the year for its members.
One of my good friends Neetu Salhotra approached me with an idea for offering a cooking class for the Newcomers group. I agreed and we both exchanged a few ideas and emails to come up with the following menu for the group.
- Quinoa with roasted Cauliflower, Cranberries and Walnuts
- Curried Brussel Sprouts with Paneer and Bell Pepper
- Lentil pudding
I printed recipe cards and handed it to everyone. There was a lovely group of 10 wonderfully enthusiastic people ready to whip up these dishes. I split them into groups of 2 and they were so good at following the recipe and carrying out their tasks like chopping/ cooking/ seasoning/ garnishing-that we finished the class right on time for all of them to taste the dishes that they cooked as a team.
It was interesting that they all had one thing in common to tell me that they learnt a few new ingredients that they used in the class-
- Freshly ground garam masala
- Fresh coriander seeds
- Fresh cardamom seeds for the pudding
- “Jaggery” for the pudding- it is a healthier substitute for sugar
- Dried Fenugreek leaves for brussel sprout dish
I think it is extremely gratifying to know that people have a nice take away from the class apart from learning to cook couple dishes -in this case- introduction to a set of new ingredients that they werent used to cooking with and now are willing to incorporate in their everyday cooking:)
I am very grateful to all of you and always appreciate the team effort that leads to such wonderful cooking experiences with beautiful people like you.
Stay tuned for more events coming up soon…..
by Currylicious | Apr 4, 2013 | BLOG
One of my very dear friends called me to check if I could cater for Millburn Elementary school’s International Fair day. On this day, all the parents and kids get to taste different cuisines from all over the world and so I decided to take up this challenge to represent Indian Food. According to the instructions that was given to me by my friend, they needed something that was easy for kids as well as parents to pick and eat, dishes I prepare should obviously have flavors of my country India, it has to be ALLERGY FREE 🙂 and not very spicy. They also mentioned that they needed a dessert as well that had no nuts, no milk and so forth so even kids or parents with nut or milk allergies would be able to enjoy it. I decided to make VEGETABLE ROLLS and for dessert, my favorite CARAMELIZED BANANAS WITH TOASTED SWEETENED COCONUT FLAKES AND CARDAMOM.
I woke up early this morning all ready to take up the challenge. My vegetable rolls needed stuffing for which I decided to saute onions, bell peppers and boiled cooked potatoes with a bunch of home ground Indian spices. Once the stuffing was cooked and ready, I started spooning in some of the stuffing in each roll and folding it and cutting it into 3 for mess free eating:)
I was asked to make 75 such Vegetable rolls and cut into 3 so a total of 225 pieces and a small tray of dessert.
It took me a while to make and cut those 225 pieces:) I then had to start on my dessert. Dessert was simple but healthy and delicious. I had some cardamom seeds in my pantry so took them and freshly ground them using mortar and pestle. I chopped the most number of bananas I ever have in my life so far:) and used a tad of clarified butter along with brown sugar to get those puppies cooking and caramelized! Then I sprinkled some toasted sweetened coconut flakes on top and added some freshly ground cardamom as garnish- Pure heavenly bliss!
I packed everything up and had it dropped at the Millburn Elementary school, my dishes proudly representing my country India and its flavors!!!! My friend also sent me a picture clicked at the fair with most of the food gone in the trays:)
by Currylicious | Mar 28, 2013 | Event Schedule
Hello everyone
Having received a tremendous response from cooking workshop for kids last summer, I will be conducting a Kids Cooking Camp this summer as well and wanted to reach out to all of you who are planning camps for your kids. I have seen that the kids enjoy these cooking sessions so much because they are allowed to get messy and get to make their own plate of food in a fun way.
I have planned 2 weeks of cooking camp for the kids this summer. I am conducting
one week of cooking session for the kids in July from July 12 th through July 16th, Mon-Fri, 9:30 am- 12:00pm and the kids get to eat lunch at the end of each session.
I am also conducting another cooking session in August from Aug 12th through Aug 16th, Mon- Fri, 9:30 a- 12:00pm.
I have kept the menus for both the camps different so parents who want their kids to attend both sessions may do so.
KIDS SUMMER COOKING CAMP
Email me at curryliciousme@gmail.com
Limited spots only
JULY SESSION
July 15th VEGETARIAN QUICHES
July 16th PASTA with VEGGIES in a CHEESY ALFREDO SAUCE
JULY 17th VEGETARIAN QUESADILLA with homemade GUACAMOLE
JULY 18th PASTA with homemade PESTO topped with PARMESAN CHEESE
JULY 19th HOMEMADE CREPES filled with CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT & BANANAS
AUGUST SESSION
AUG 12 th CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKES
AUG 13th SPAGHETTI with PEAS in a PINK SAUCE
AUG 14th VEGETARIAN BURRITOS with homemade GUACAMOLE
AUG 15th CREAMY POLENTA
AUG 16th ART OF WAFFLE MAKING
(For kids with allergies, I will make sure that we do not use those ingredients and may substitute with others)
The main objective of this cooking camp is:
– for the kids to learn where their food comes from,
– to expose the kids to various cuisines,
– for them to appreciate the effort that goes into putting together a plate of food and
– of course to get them to eat their veggies in a fun way.
Look forward to hearing from all.
by Currylicious | Mar 7, 2013 | BLOG
I have been postponing this post now for a long time simply because I wanted to sit down and write about this wonderful cooking experience with a 10 year old girl, Anaya.
Anaya is such a sweet, brilliant, creative 10 year old who loves to cook. On her 10 th birthday, her mom Shruti decided to host a birthday party where Cooking was the theme. Anaya was thrilled with her mom s idea and decided that she wanted to throw a party by cooking a meal for a bunch of her close friends at her home.
Shruti had found me on Facebook through one of our common friends and decided to call me to help Anaya prepare this wonderful meal for her friends. I was super excited, immediately got working on what Anaya and her friends liked to eat and what they didn’t care too much for and so forth.
I exchanged a couple of emails with Shruti, Anaya s mom who in turn checked with her daughter to see if all of us were in agreement:)
So here goes the menu:
For Appetizers, we decided to make
Paneer or Indian Cottage Cheese Quesadillas.
For the dip, we made fresh Guacamole with Onions and tomatoes and a hint of lemon juice!yum!
For Main course,
Penne pasta with broccoli and peppers in a Pink sauce.
Shruti also mentioned that Anaya loved mangoes so I decided to whip up a
Mango Smoothie with a wedge of strawberry!
We took about 2 hours to prepare everything. Anaya wore her apron and chef hat and looked like a Junior Master Chef:) in the kitchen. She loved to chop and sauté and mix and did such a wonderful job.
I am pretty sure she will be a great food critic when she grows up as she aspires to be one:)
What can I say? Anaya was thrilled to serve her friends with all the food that we cooked together and the kids simply loved it and were so appreciative.
I must certainly commend her mom of being so supportive and giving me and Anaya an opportunity as wonderful as this that I will treasure lifelong:)))
Thanks Shruti and Anaya for a great cooking experience in your wonderful home.
by Currylicious | Mar 7, 2013 | BLOG
I have been postponing this post now for a long time simply because I wanted to sit down and write about this wonderful cooking experience with a 10 year old girl, Anaya.
Anaya is such a sweet, brilliant, creative 10 year old who loves to cook. On her 10 th birthday, her mom Shruti decided to host a birthday party where Cooking was the theme. Anaya was thrilled with her mom s idea and decided that she wanted to throw a party by cooking a meal for a bunch of her close friends at her home.
Shruti had found me on Facebook through one of our common friends and decided to call me to help Anaya prepare this wonderful meal for her friends. I was super excited, immediately got working on what Anaya and her friends liked to eat and what they didn’t care too much for and so forth.
I exchanged a couple of emails with Shruti, Anaya s mom who in turn checked with her daughter to see if all of us were in agreement:)
So here goes the menu:
For Appetizers, we decided to make
Paneer or Indian Cottage Cheese Quesadillas.
For the dip, we made fresh Guacamole with Onions and tomatoes and a hint of lemon juice!yum!
For Main course,
Penne pasta with broccoli and peppers in a Pink sauce.
Shruti also mentioned that Anaya loved mangoes so I decided to whip up a
Mango Smoothie with a wedge of strawberry!
We took about 2 hours to prepare everything. Anaya wore her apron and chef hat and looked like a Junior Master Chef:) in the kitchen. She loved to chop and sauté and mix and did such a wonderful job.
I am pretty sure she will be a great food critic when she grows up as she aspires to be one:)
What can I say? Anaya was thrilled to serve her friends with all the food that we cooked together and the kids simply loved it and were so appreciative.
I must certainly commend her mom of being so supportive and giving me and Anaya an opportunity as wonderful as this that I will treasure lifelong:)))
Thanks Shruti and Anaya for a great cooking experience in your wonderful home.
