Imagine getting a secret note which only you can read. I would love that. As I was researching about this, I read that spies used lemon juice, milk, vinegar, onion juice or even urine as an invisible ink during the 1st World War. Low tech intelligence, I guess. Try this fun experiment with your child…
Carrot Walnut Cake
Happy Halloween (and Happy Birthday to my soulmate)! There are days when I have cravings for dessert, but then I may feel guilty, so I try to cheat my brain to believe differently! Carrots are healthy and good for your eyes, mind you! Whole wheat flour is healthy and brown sugar is healthier than white…
Salad Dressings and Density of Fluids
A salad dressing always heightens the taste of a salad. The simplest salad dressing is oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. You could add honey to sweeten it or some dijon mustard. Have you noticed that when you pour oil and vinegar, they do not mix? Have you ever wondered why? I had written about density…
Spinach/Amaranthus Dal – Spinach Lentil Soup
Every Indian family has their own versions of dal. Dal is lentils in Hindi and most north Indian languages. In Tamil it is called paruppu, in Malayalam it is called parippu, in Kannada it is belesaaru and in Telugu, it is called pappu. Every region has their versions of dal too. Also, different dal recipes…
Kitchen Science – Sink or Float – Bobbing for Apples (and other vegetables and fruits)
It is almost Halloween and this game is often played by children. So the question is do all apples float? That led to more questions – what about pumpkins, lime, banana, pomegranates or coconuts? Why do they float or sink? Inspired by the thought, I decided to check it out on my own. I started…
How to Peel a Tomato
When I make tomato sauce, I usually remove the skin of a tomato. Here is a simple technique to do it. Cut a shallow sit in the shape of a cross (+) on each tomato Place it in a bowl. Pour boiling water on the tomatoes. Make sure it covers the tomatoes fully Keep another…
A Steaming Bowl of Millet Khichdi
A cold rainy day. The first thing that comes to my mind is a nice bowl of hot deep fried pakodas. But instead, I settle for something healthy, a nice steaming hot bowl of millet khichdi. Khichidi or khichri is a dish which spells comfort. It is equivalent to the chicken soup. This dish in the…
Kitchen Science – We are all Chemists! Yeast Talk
I wonder if I can add chemist to my profile which includes baker, cook, teacher. While writing the blog post on pizza, the teacher in me started wondering about the science behind making pizza. This morning I made appam and stew and seeing the small holes in the appam, I was explaining why it had…
Thin Crust Home-made Pizza
My first memory of eating a pizza was in the iconic ‘Casa Piccola’ on Residency Road, Bangalore. Those days there were not many places to get burgers and pizzas. For burgers, we also went to this small place at the end of Brigade Road (the name escapes me). I remember going to Casa Piccola with…
Chocolate Muffins
When you want a chocolate fix, try this recipe. Muffins usually should be eaten in a day or two. With these muffins, that will not be a problem. Most muffin recipes have milk in them; this contains yogurt. I got the inspiration for this recipe from prettysimplesweet.com/double-chocolate-muffins/ and www.allrecipes.com/recipe/228553/moist-chocolate-muffins/. Makes 18 muffins Ingredients: 1 cup whole…
Chai With Preethi 