§ Rava Dosa

• 1/2 cup rava (semolina)
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 tbsp curd (optional)
• cumin, pepper, salt (must have all three for flavour).
• cover and rest for 20minutes.
• Hot pan, reduce temp, spill rava dosa batter, pour a bit of oil on the edges, wait till edge crisps up.

§ Dhokla

• 1 cup besan (gram flour / chickpea flour)
• 2 tbsp semolina
• 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1tsp baking soda (for fluffiness)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp oil
• turmeric, ginger, asefodita, salt, sugar, green chillies, coriander leaves.
• make smooth batter.
• Steam or microwave.

§ Khinkhali

• Makes ~9 dumplings.

§ Dough

• Flour: 150 g
• Water: 70 ml
• Egg: ~30 g (1 egg)
• Olive oil: 2tsp
• Salt to taste

§ Filling

• Ground beef: 270 g
• Onion, minced: ~45 g (small onion, or ~1/4 large)
• Salt: ~1.5 tsp
• Black pepper: ~1/3 tsp
• ~ 50ml broth (see below).

§ Method

• Mix flour and salt. Well in the middle, whisk in egg, water, and oil. Knead until smooth and elastic. Rest covered 30 min.
• Mix beef, onion, salt, pepper.
• Start broth with water, beef stock, salt.
• Add broth into the filling till filling is a little runny.
• Roll dough thin, cut large m circles, dollop of filling, gather and pinch into pleats.
• Boil for 10-min minutes Once they float, simmer 2-4 min. Serve with butter.

§ Challah

§ Ingredients

• flour 150g
• 1/2 tbsp dry yeast
• 1/2 egg
• 2 tbsp honey
• 5 tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp poppy
• 1/2 tbsp egg wash / egg glaze
• 180 degree C for 1hr

§ Recipe

• Mix yeast, sugar, water, leave for 10min.

§ Focaccia

• For 6 people: 250 g of flour, 2.5 tbsp olive oil, 150-200 ml water.
• Trick: Add flour, then add salt and yeast in separate corners. This ensures that salt does not kill yeast.
• Make a hole in the middle, pour lukewarm water (to activate yeast) and olive oil.
• Let dough rise for a couple hours.
• Oil the pan so that the bottom becomes crisp when ovening.
• Spread the dough in the pan, make holes with your fingers.
• Add rosemary, salt on top.
• Oven temp: 220C / 200 fan / gas 7.
• Bake for 20min.

§ Pasta Dough

• For 6 people, 500g of flour, 4 eggs.
• Key idea: A good mix must never stick to your fingers.

§ Vibe Baking

• 1tbsp ~ 25g

§ Chocolate Brownies

• 170 grams (3/4 cup) butter, melted
• 200 grams (1 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
• 90 grams (1/2 cup) brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 40 grams (1/2 cup) cocoa powder, sifted
• 70 grams (1/2 cup) plain flour or all purpose flour
• Pinch of salt
• 75 grams (1/2 cup) chocolate chips, optional
• melt butter and chocolate, let it cool.
• oven: 180C / 160fan / gas4
• bake for 30min.

§ Mango Curry

• Cut mangoes into cubes
• Heat oil, tons of mustard seeds, hing (asaefoedita), tons of curry leaves, kashmiri chillies.
• Heat a small amount of ginger garlic paste and a bunch of curry powder.
• add finely chopped onion, simmer till carmelized.
• Add in mango pulp, water, jaggery, and tamarind, cinnamon powder, pepper to taste.
• Let simmer for ~20min, adjust jaggery.
• Serve!

§ Ajji's Sambar Powder

• 3 tsps of coriander
• 1 tsp jeera
• 1 tsp methi
• 3 red chillies
• Some karipatta leaves
• Few pieces of coconut (you can use dry coconut if available)

§ Dosa-style Pancake

• 1 cup rawa
• 1/2 cup curd
• Onion green chillies mustard
• 1tsp baking soda
• Add 1 cup water to the rawa. Mix well.
• Next add the curds. mix well.
• Add salt. Also green chillies and onions to be added( small sq cuts) make a mustard seasoning and add it after it cools.
• Check consistency, should reach dosa consistency.
• Finally add the soda.
• Heat the seasoning tawa with 1 spoon oil and pour one ladle. After few minutes tilt and have it chill for a bit.

§ Kerala Parota

• Requires maida, butter, water and pinch of salt.
• Make dough using maida, butter and water.
• Roll the dough like a long snake..
• Roll it next like chakkuli :)
• Then use a pin roller aka chapathi board to make a roti out of it.
• Next put it on the heated greased tawa. Heat roti well on either sides and remove it when done.

§ Banana Bread

• 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup (80g) plain yogurt or sour cream, at room temperature
• 1 and 1/2 cups (345g) mashed bananas (about 4 medium or 3 large ripe bananas)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• optional: 3/4 cup (100g) chopped walnuts

§ Ciambelline al vino: red wine and aniseed biscuits

• Alternative Recipe Link
• 500 g di farina
• 100 ml di olio
• 100 ml di vino
• una bustina di lievito Angelo
• 150 g zucchero + lo zucchero (se di canna vengono)
• che serve all' esterno dopo aver formato i tarallucci Cottura a 180 C gradi
• 2-3 level teaspoons aniseed (I use the full tablespoon)
• 2-3 level teaspoons fennel seed (I use the full tablespoon)

For rolling the ciambelline before baking:

• About 100ml (scant ½ cup) red wine
• 200g (1 cup) sugar, ideally coarse-grained sugar (e.g., granulated rather than caster sugar)

§ Egg Curry

• 4 to 6 eggs say
• Cook the eggs by placing them in water & boiling the water for about 20 to 25 mts.
• use 3 medium sized onions. Slice each longitudanlly into 6 big slices.
• cook the onions alone by adding little water, salt, turmeric, and a few crushed pepper corns (8 to 10)
• Add a small piece of ginger (small square pieces) if you have.
• Now you should add the masala (ideally done by grinding roasted coriander, jeera, red chillies and coconut) [Ajjis masala powder has them all ]. So you may use 3 to 4 spoons of the powder and add them on the onions.
• also some coconut milk.
• add water to form a thick gravy on the onions. Also place all the cooked eggs in the onion pan after scoring the eggs longitudanlly.
• peel a few garlic cloves (3 to 4) and crush them alongwith some jeera seeds if you have; otherwise use them alone.
• bring the pan to a boil and on boiling add the crushed garlic.
• you may add a spoon of butter or ghee finally and also bunch of karipatta leaves if available.

§ Methi Baath

• Rice - 1 cup (approx 200 gms maybe)
• Tomatoes- 3 ripe ones medium sized
• Methi leaves- 3 to 4 bunches (300 to 400 gms maybe)
• Onion- 3 medium sized
• Green chillies-3
• Pepper corns, Cinnamon, 3 cloves
• Slice the onions diagonally into thin pieces. Also same with the tomatoes. Also the green chillies.
• Cut the methi leaves into small pieces after washing them.
• Clean the white rice and soak in 2 cups of water for about 30 mts or so. ( Doesn't matter if it is less or more)
• Take a pan. Add some oil, coconut or any other cooking. Add few cinnamon pieces and few cloves, and few crushed pepper corns (8 to 10).
• Heat the pan when the cloves swelling, add green chillies first. Saute. Then add the onions. Saute till translucent till nice smell starts to emante. Next add tomatoes and saute for a few mts till they blend.
• add 2 spoons of garam masala. One spoon red chillie powder. I tsp salt.
• Add methi leaves. Saute for few minutes till they blend into the onion and tomatoes
• add few pieces of jaggery or few spoons 1 or 2 spoons of jaggery powder.
• take all the rice from the water and add it to the pan. Add 1 or 2 spoons of ghee and saute the rice for 1 or 2 minutes, after which add the water
• add salt. mix it all and check the taste. Add more garam masala if needed!
• close the pressure cooker and bring one hiss.
• Methi baath is now ready for consumption! Eat alongside fryums and enjoy the rice baath :)

§ Brinjal / Vaangi Baath

• Here you can use 3 brinjals, 3 onions, 3 green chillies and 3 tomatoes for 1 cup of rice
• Cut the brinjal into big square pieces.
• Frying them nicely till their colour change will take a little time, close to 10 minutes.
• You can use some tamarind juice or few spoons of lemon juice for some additional taste. Also the jaggery.
• Water is always 2 cups for 1 cup rice. That's the thumb rule even with any amount of vegetables.
• Also a spoon of jaggery.

§ A Simple Stew

• chop onions
• fry Ground nut oil with chopped onions
• add the tomato to the mixture
• allow that to fry for about 5 minutes
• add the meat water to the mixture
• curry, thyme, maggi (bouillon cubes), salt, peppers
• boil for like 5 minutes
• boil white rice and then serve with stew
• Thanks to Danda for the recipe!

§ Babish recipes

• Binging with babish: Shwarma makes pita
• Chicken breast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR6agVkRRUo&list=PLopY4n17t8RBuyIohlCY9G8sbyXrdEJls&index=106

§ Upma

• start with ghee, sesame seeds, curry leaves, red + green chili, ginger garlic paste, hing (asaefodita).
• finely chopped onion, allow this to caramelize.
• A dash of turmeric for depth.
• Add in the rava, allow it to cook/heat.
• Add in tomato and a little water when it's done heating. Allow tomato to cook.
• Add in more water, cover with a lid, and let it come to a boil. Keep stirring to prevent clumps.
• Garnish with coriander.

§ General Coconut based thickening agent

• A few methi seeds (pungent, deep scent)
• some coriander seeds (mild herbal scent)
• Chopped up red chilis (heat, spice, color)
• Chopped up green chilis (spice)
• Chopped up green chilis (spice)
• Chopped up garlic (some; strong, garlicky flavour and scent)

Heat the spices with oil to create a fragrant mix (Tadka [Hindi ] / Oggarane [Kannada ]).

• Grated coconut
• Salt (to taste)

Finally, throw in the above heated spices into the blender along with the grated coconut and blend all of it. It turns into a thick red paste.

§ Breadfruit Sambhar

• Heat up oil.
• Fry sesame seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, a tiny cinnamon stick first.
• Once fried, add in garlic to taste.
• After garlic has fried as well, saute onions till golden.
• Finely chop tomatoes and add it to the sauteed onions. Cover with a lid
• till the tomatoes release all their water.
• Now that we have a solid flavour base, pour in water to cook the breadfruit.
• Add in the chopped breadfruit --- chop the breadfruit in thin slices
• along the center; the center has interesting texture we wish to maximize.
• Add in the General coconut based thickening agent .
• Also add salt to taste.
• Cover with a lid. Allow breadfruit, water, and thickening agent to come to a boil.
• Lower flame to low. Allow breadfruit to soften and cook.
• Once breadfruit is cooked, pour in coconut milk . Continue cooking for ten minutes.

§ Rava Dosa

• Mix bombay rava, maida/refined flour(2 tablespoons), rice flour (2 tablespoons), curd/buttermilk(100ml), salt (2 tablespoon), water (2 cups). Mix to form wet batter.
• We add the bombay rava for softness, refined flour as glue, and rice flour for crispiness. Curd for sourness and thickening.
• Next, heat up some oil, fry sesame seeds, finely chopped onions, curry leaves, asaefoedita, garlic. Add all of this into the batter mix.
• Allow batter to ferment overnight in the fridge.
• Make pancakes the next day.

§ Kerela style chicken curry

• Chop ginger and garlic roughly, boil chicken, salt, pepper-ginger-garlic-turmeric.
• Grate coconut finely, Roast grated coconut in a heated iron pan. Once well roasted, kill heat, add chili and coriander powder and salt, and mix.
• Next, fry thinly sliced onions in coconut oil.
• Add the onions in as a garnish at the last step.

§ Chutney

• Green chili
• Dried Coconut pieces
• Salt
• Blend
• Add tamarind and water
• Blend

§ Regular dosa batter:

• Grind coconut pieces
• Add dosa rice (2 cups)
• Add some water (100ml)
• Blend
• Salt
• Add more water (300ml).

§ Hosting a Wine and Cheese Evening

§ Cooking

• 1.5 big aperol spritz bottles more than suffices.
• 3 baguettes, crisps.
• Some cheeses, ask people to bring more wine and cheese.

• background music: search Spotify for “italian cooking music”
• Recipe Book: Alison Roman, Nothing Fancy

§ THE ART OF GATHERING BY PRIYA PARKER

§ Be Specific In Why We Gather

• "The book club was organized to get us to read a book together. This is the circular logic that guides the planning of many of our gatherings." When we gather, we often make the mistake of conflating category with purpose .
• "routine - that great enemy of meaningful gathering". Name meetings with specificity. The more focused and particular a gathering is, the more narrowly it frames itself and the more passion it arouses.
• Werewolf /mafia.
• the Latitude society in SF: "you couldn’t pour yourself a drink; someone had to pour it for you".
• Everyone opens with a toast, about what ''the good life' means to them.
• Under the Chatham House Rule, anyone who comes to a meeting is free to use information from the discussion, but is not allowed to reveal who made any particular comment
• "Community Table" as a name for a shared gathering with food.
• When asking people to speak, as them to speak with no ideas, only experiences.
• Some other ideas: "Which parts of your life have been a waste of time”.
• Ichi-go Ichi-e , about treasuring the unrepeatable nature of a moment.
• “A good gathering purpose should also be disputable”. “A disputable purpose, on the other hand, begins to be a decision filter. If you commit to a purpose of your wedding as a ceremonial repayment of your parents for all they have done for you as you set off to build your own family, that is disputable, and it will immediately help you make choices. That one remaining seat will go to your parents’ long-lost friend, not your estranged college buddy. If, on the other hand, you commit to the equally valid purpose of a wedding as a melding of a new couple with the tribe of people with whom they feel the most open, that, too, is disputable, and it implies clear and different answers. The parents’ friend may have to stand down for the college buddy.”
• “The Golden Retriever Festival in Scotland, which attracts hundreds of dogs and their owners, has an admirably clear, if cosmically inconsequential, purpose: to pay tribute to Lord Tweedmouth, the nineteenth-century nobleman responsible for developing that breed”.
• “Make purpose your bouncer. Let it decide what goes into your gathering and what stays out. When in doubt about any element, even the smallest detail, hark back to that purpose and decide in accordance with it”.

§ Don't be a Chill Host

• “Gathering well isn’t a chill activity”.
• "Chill" is selfishness disguised as kindness.
• “If you are going to create a kingdom for an hour or a day, rule it—and rule it with generosity”
• “A gathering run on generous authority is run with a strong, confident hand, but it is run selflessly, for the sake of others. Generous authority is imposing in a way that serves your guests”
• “To protect your guests in this way can be challenging, because the anger of the shushed is concentrated, while the gratitude of the protected is diffuse. Anyone who has ever moderated a panel—that most lamentable of gatherings—knows the feeling”

§ Who And How Many To Invite

“Inviting people is easy. Excluding people can be hard. “That’s why so many of our gatherings end up being hijacked in the name of politeness. It is blood that makes a tribe, a border that makes a nation”

• Number of poeple are “6, 12 to 15, 30, and 150”.
• Groups of 6 is great for intimacy.
• 12 to 15 is large enough for a quotient of mystery and intrugue. 12 apostles, 12 knights of the round table. 30 has a party vibe and energy to it.
• Dinner party: Sophisticated (20 sq ft), Lively (15 sq ft)
• Cocktail party: Sophisticated (12 sq ft), Lively (10 sq ft), Hot (8 sq ft).
• Extremely poor source is apartment therapy .

§ How To Close

• Organize Last Call.
• ring a cowbell.
• Thank people as the second to last thing.
• Every event should have a zenith (eg dessert) that allows people to leave after.

§ THE SOCIOLOGY OF SOCIABILITY

Interesting argument, that sociability is where it's all about 'form', not content. So, it's gauche to bring in 'content' such as personal wealth, or personal happiness.

An example of how sociability is about form is an example of decoultage, where a woman feels more comfortable wearing decoultage at a larger group, since she is lesser herself, and more a player of the game.

§ Reading: Philosophy of Hosting

• Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste
• An Alphabet for Gourmets (1949)
• Martha Stewart, Entertaining (1982)
• Margaret Visser, The Rituals of Dinner (1991)

§ Reading: Philosophy of Ritual And Gathering

• Victor Turner, The Ritual Process
• Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Sociability
• Ivan Illich, Tools for Conviviality