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YOGHURT FRUIT SALAD Serves 6
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INGREDIENTS
1 meduim sized melon
2 cups strawberries
1 apple
¼ cup fresh lime juice
1 tbsp grated lime zest
2 cups plain yogurt
¼ cup sugar
A pinch of salt and pepper.

PREPARATION
Chop the melon into 1 inch chunks. Halve the strawberries. Chop the apples up as small as possible.

In a large bowl, toss the fruit together with the lime juice(All but 1 tablespoon). Pop it into the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, combine the yoghurt, sugar, lime zest and 1 tablespoon lime juice, stirring until sugar is dissolved.

Mix into the fruit and sprinkle over with a little salt and pepper.

Happy Independence Day.
60 years of freedom for India, and I’m proud to be an Indian, in the India of today. Inspite of everything; all the problems, corruption, bad roads!

What would have been nice would have been to have complete freedom from fear. Freedom from having to wake up in the morning and pray, dear God don’t let anything bad happen today. No bombs, no assasination, no violence. Ever since the bomb blasts in Bombay of 11th July, it seems like not just India but the whole world is escalating, speeding towards threats and violence.

Anyhow, being home means planning lunch for myself. And it’s going to be light. An interesting combo of odd recipes that no one at home is usually adventurous enough to try, check this…

Yoghurt Fruit Salad
Cottage Cheese Stuffed Pancakes

It’s dry today, but chilly. Maybe I should add a soup. Hmmm.

A nice healthy salad, you could use mayo,… but why ‘sin’ it up.

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POTATO APPLE SALAD Serves 6
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INGREDIENTS
1 cup plain yogurt
5 medium sized potatoes
1 apple
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions / spring onions
1 tbsp mustard powder
1 tbsp olive oil
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow pepper
Juice of half a sour lime
salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION
Mix the mustard powder into 1 tablespoon of water and set aside to stand.

Skin and chop the potatoes into 1 inch chunks. Boil them with 1 teaspoon salt. Don’t let them get too soft.

Meanwhile, chop the apples into chunks, slightly smaller than 1 inch. Sprinkle the lime juice over them so they don’t change color.

Cut the peppers into thin strips.

In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, mustard, scallions, peppers and olive oil. Mix well.

Add the peppers gently. Add the potatoes and apples.

Check for salt. Add pepper to taste.

Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Dad’s birthday was yesterday and we had all the extended family over to dinner. The menu wasn’t exactly the most imaginative in the world, but everyone enjoyed it thoroughly. We served the colas of course, despite the new round of anti-cola propaganda; “the mutinationals are out to poison us!” news-demics. I didn’t notice anyone refusing.
It had been pouring all weekend and been pretty chilly all day and so right at the last minute we decided that we just had to have a soup.

Here’s the menu…
Vegetable and Mushroom Soup
Potato and Apple Salad
Chatpatta Chicken( a very interesting recipe, spicy, sweet and sour! )
and we closed on Biryani, though this time it wasn’t home made but bought from famous Dorabjees with home made Banana Raita.
For dessert we took the short-cut and served Vanilla icecream with chocolate sauce.

More Dinner Menus

There’s a reason for my long silence. I had a quick, and very unexpected visit to South Africa. Everyone wants to know, – where did you go, what did you do there, fact is I only zipped in and out of Jo’burg on a very tight schedule, saw no lions and did all my shopping in the duty-free. But yes, I ate!

Click through to educate yourself

For someone who isn’t usually big on breakfast, you should have seen me start the day. The usual breakfast spread visible at most big hotels, and then some more… Eggs, exotic omelets, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, fried eggs, sunny side up or down. Fresh juices, – from orange and litchis to grapefruit and pineapple. Sausages, salami, ham, hash browns, oats, tomatoes, olives, capers, cheeses. Cereals, yoghurt and any fruit you can think of. Breads, croissants, pies and cakes. Fish, – herring, salmon, and others that I don’t even know the names of. Topped of with tea or coffee.

Seven days wasn’t enough to try it all. And then I discovered a waffle maker! And that was it for me! Plain waffles, sweet waffles, banana waffles, topped with strawberries and maple syrup. Yum. And all this before our 8.30 am pick-up for someone who always says ‘I don’t feel like eating that early’.

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