The Blue Cafe in India

I am in India for three weeks, visiting friends. And I am totally spoiled with food. Mostly vegetarian.

I was curious before I came, would the food be too spicy for me, would my stomach accept the foreign food, would I like the taste of it. I had absolutely no reason to worry. The food, three meals a day, is tasty. colourful, mostly vegetarian.....and a feast for body and soul.

My hostess Carolyn, to the left in this photo, is a fabulous cook, and as I walk around in her kitchen with camrea, pan and notebook I hope to pick up a few of her secrets.

Living privately means that I get to meet alot of people, and last Saturday we were invited to frinds of Carolyn and her husband Hossy for lunch, Muthu and Sashi. Carolyn and Hossy live in the Karnataka reagin, while Muthu comes from another region, Coorg. Her cooking was influenced by that and her cooking was different. Another feast.

Muthu wrote a long list of the different dishes for me:

• peas pulao
• boondhi rialtha
• rice chappati
• bamblee curry
• moothe curry
• ala crobi, ,meltric subzi
• bandgobi sninla mirchi subzi
• sevia

(I am not sure if I got all the spelling correct)

Correct spelling or not, the meal was a feast. I am in love with Indian food.

Thank you Muthu.

It's time for apples

A few days ago I mentioned in The Blue Café that I was making an apple pie, and Anna asked for the recipe. I am sorry it took longer than I had planned Anne, but here it is.

Eplekake / Apple Pie
125gr butter
125gr sugar
2 eggs
150gr flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons of milk

Mix butter and sugar untill it is almost white. Add the eggs, one by one,
add flour, baking powder and milk.

Fill a baking tin and add apple cut into thin boats. Sprinkle with sugar and cardamom.
Bake for 30-40 minutes in 175C.

Serve with whiped cream

Italian carbonara, Norwegian bread

A combination of Italian and Norwegian food is what you often find in The Blue Café. In only 12 days I am going to India for three weeks, and I wonder what will happen to my cooking after that experience, but so far Italian spaghetti carbonara eaten with homemade dark bread is not an uncommon dish. Spaghetti carbonara is actually something we eat quite often. It is so simple to make and we all love it.

This time I mixed some diced ham with celery and lemon, just because that's what I found at hand. And the dish was topped with tomatoes from the garden, some late borago flowers, and fresh ruccola from the grocery store (nothing left in the garden)

For the bread I don't have a written recipe. I have bakes this same bread for years and years, and my fingers knows exactly what and how much to put into the bowl.

Eaten dipped in extra virgin olive oil and sprinkeled with a little Maldon salt, and it is almost a meal in itself.