I'd never eaten an avocado. Guacamole doesn't count. So when all of Instagram suddenly erupted with pictures of avocado toast, I decided it was time I joined in the fun. Here's my avocado toast recipe.
We've been on a mission to make our Saturday mornings healthier and tastier. No more leftover pizza from a lazy Friday night in, no more skipping breakfast altogether because we have nothing in the fridge, no more dashing to Sainsburys for last-minute custard crowns. Those days are gone. So what's this all-in-one grilled toast all about?
My mum-in-law is a great cook and so when we visit each year, I'm in for quite a treat! My husband has a few favourite things on his request list for her, and one of them is kozhukattai payasam. I watched her as she cooked this up this year, and participated in the fun bits too! I have to say, it took a while but was well worth the effort. Here's her kozhukattai payasam recipe.
What strikes me about South Indian cuisine each time I visit that part of India is how creative it is with a humble cup of rice! They steam, ferment, grind, slow-cook, roll, simmer, sauté to produce a plethora of interesting and very tasty dishes. Here's a few I got messy with on my trip back home earlier this month...a LOT of Tamil and Kannadiga food was eaten...
Earlier this month, my parents and I decided to drive up to the Chikmagalur hills in Karnataka, India, for a three-day break in the heart of a coffee plantation, just as harvest season was beginning. The Thotadhahalli Homestay is a stunning 75 acre property with a traditional Kannadiga style house complete with two hundred varieties of bonsai, about a hundred different cacti, and plush with antiques and artifacts. The hosts have let six of their rooms as holiday accommodation, and all meals are included in the tariff. We're talking 4 sumptuous home-cooked meals a day, prepared and served with great gusto and generosity, and representing some of the tastiest dishes in Kannadiga cuisine. So without further ado, let's launch into food! Most of these Karnataka dishes were eaten at the homestay, but a few of them were sampled enroute to Chikmagalur too. I do hope you have an opportunity to try some of these local Kannadiga food delights if you visit Karnataka.