Spice boxes for Good Cause(s)

I had the honor of leading a culinary adventure showcasing ‪#‎southindian‬ ‪#‎tamil‬ and ‪#‎northindian‬ ‪#‎cuisine‬ at the co.space today. We were fortunate to enjoy a good meal with friends but my heart was saddened by nature's fury at ‪#‎chennairains‬ and innocent lives lost at ‪#‎sanbernardino‬. I have donated some money right now from my Indian account to chennai but I am planning to raise additional funds for BOTH causes (social services in CA and Chennai) through spice box sales. I have lived in Calif and in Chennai and this affects me deeply at a personal level.

Please take a look at the pics to get a general idea. I'm prepping boxes this week and will set up a campaign to order them if you want to buy some for friends and family and help out a good cause.
www.spicetruck.net
 
Contact me directly by email at naridon@gmail.com or 814 753 4459

Here is a nifty gift for those of you interested in cooking with spices or just love Indian/Asian spices.

Other variations of this product (featured in pics) available starting at $15 (+ S&H costs). Contact me directly by email at spicetruck@live.com or 814 753 4459 if you want one of these items which use "eco-conscious spice organizers" aka reusing cookie tins. All the spices are packed in safe, new, food grade smaller tins.

Also, if you want the outer container in new stainless steel those sets are available for $24.95 + shipping (depending on location). I will also throw in additional spices in zip lock bags with these orders!

Most locations in the lower 48 states of US shipping is ~$ 4.50. Local delivery available at State College PA. Volume discounts (if over 3 pieces) available.

with labels

Centrally placed

Indian Cuisine Map - Working Edition

This is a simple map that I am making in Google maps to record some of the places that have influenced my cooking style as well as places with amazing food that I still cannot make in my kitchen.

If you want to know more about India and the rich food that changes a lot over the whole subcontinent, do explore further!

Okra: Link to Video

I really love Okra back from when I was a child and my grandmother used to make it in a very crispy manner in a skillet. This is a south indian style recipe. Check it out and learn how to make crispy okra!

Spicetruck has been trying to make food and cooking colorful, and this one of those attempts.

If you like this be sure to visit my youtube channel and subscribe!

Colorful Food is Appetizing!

A good mix of colors in the food I eat is always very appetizing to me. Even a simple salad made out of carrots, cucumbers (and you can add spinach, cilantro, walnuts or almonds for plant protein) looks great simply due to the contrast of bright colors. That is one of the items I made today for lunch along with a lentil-rice "pie" and a stir-fry with assorted vegetables.

Carrot-cucumber salad: Washed carrots (scrub well), washed cucumbers and then peeled. Sliced both into small pieces, mixed them up in a salad bowl with some lemon juice and sprinkled salt to taste. Also added some almonds to my salad to give some crunchiness. Picture shows what is left of the salad after we ate it while waiting for the stir fry to get ready.

Stir-fried Vegetables: Will add procedure soon. This included potatoes, zuccini, red peppers with cilantro seasoning at the end. Spices used were garlic, ginger, cumin seeds and asafoetida (optional).

Lentil-rice "pie": Not really a pie, but I just shaped the rice and lentils that I had cooked to softness in a pressure cooker (with 1 tbsp butter added) into the shape of a pie. You can also make this in a crock pot but start preparing the lentils first and then add the rice in about a 1/5th into your estimated total cooking time. So if you wanted to cook lentils for 60 mins in a slow cooker, then add rinsed rice and appropriate amount water about 12 mins into cooking cycle.

A different angle

Note: usually I add 2.25 cups water per cup of dry lentils and 2 cups water per cup of brown rice. these amounts may vary with your rice/lentil type.. add less and you can add more later if needed.

For other recipes using lentils, check out: http://spicetruck.blogspot.com/search/label/lentils