Glimpses of Childhood

It is probably the most ironical thing about growing up; you want to be a child again, trace back time to the time when life was life! There were so many things we did and got away with! It is dreary to be a grown up and deal with everything you do, face the consequences and fight them. Simplicity was at its best during those days, and I am sure everyone would agree to the following list of thing we all miss from our childhood:

Summer vacations

Oh those days! The euphoric feeling of a month long off! Seems like a dream to most of us now- (try taking a month’s off from your office!)The freshly peeled mangoes and trips to our relative’s house were almost like a routine- sheer bliss! The re-union with cousins, and those incessant sessions of games with them was like the best feeling ever.

Home-made potato chips

Rarely does anyone have the time to make those crunchy potato chips at home. The packaged ones filled with nothing, tempt the kids of today. Little do they know the heavenly taste and the smell of those freshly bakes chips. I still vividly remember the sight of my mother putting out the slices to dry in the sun and me eagerly waiting for them to be edible!

Santa Clause

I had a heart break when I came to know Santa Claus is fictional. I would do anything it takes to get that thrill back to check the gifts in the stocking that Santa has left for me the first thing in the Christmas morning. It seemed like a miracle when Santa granted our wish by gifting us exactly what we wanted. Life is dull without such innocent surprises.

Crying

Yes! This is the saddest part. I miss crying like a child. Crying was like an instant solution to any distress back then, and you always had some two to three people attending you, to make you stop. Gone are those days when used to howl out the reason of my distress and be done with it. Who said growing up was easy?

Birthdays- Then and Now!

It was not long ago when the thought of our birthday approaching gave us goose bumps. A few of our happiest memories from childhood are of our birthday parties! The word ‘party’ used to be much under rated back then. Recently I was invited to one of my nephew’s birthday who had just turned six. It was a party in real sense and he was spotted serving crispy potato chips to ‘his guests’; another cacophonic bunch of six year olds.

While talking to his mother I learnt that it was the kid himself who wanted to celebrate his birthday this way! He had invited almost half of his class friends; made sure he got a fancy cake with his favorite super hero on it, and wore the outfit he saw in a showroom! Most kids I see this day are actually thriving on the things they see on television and would do anything to make it happen in real life.

Life used to be so simple when we were this age, and birthday ‘party’ was a gathering with a few friends and family a cake, lots of candles, and kettle chips. India has seen a marked change in the outlook with the advent of globalization. Exposure to television and internet has made the kids of these days more demanding in several cases. Parents too, have become indulgent and a birthday party has to be ‘party’ in all aspects even if they have to go out of their way to make their child happy.

Making your child happy is probably the sweetest thing for a parent. But think for a while, aren’t we making our children more materialistic? Aren’t they deriving pleasure out of the most futile things? Where are the days gone when simple things used to make us happy? I think parents should maintain a fine balance between being indulgent and wise when it comes to the upbringing of their children.

Are Baked Potato Chips Healthy?

Potato chips are probably one of the most popular inventions of the time especially with the younger crowd. They love to gorge themselves on these scrumptious items and the fact that it’s made from potato and with other flavours to it has only heightened its popularity. But it’s not only the younger crowd that love them, even office working people, parents and relatives all love them and they are the first thing to be brought out when serving guests or friends over.

But in the recent few years with the rise of obesity and heart problems many health experts have concluded that junk food like the fried potato chips and especially their unhealthy consumption has led to all these health problems being faced. A lot of health experts have condemned the consumption of junk food altogether.

But since most of the population has not given them up, many companies have come up with alternatives to the regular version while introducing variations like the baked potato chips, or the no salt and low cholesterol chips. These alternatives supposedly have the same taste as to regular chips but area little healthier since there is no use of oil to fry them and the salt and cholesterol content is low too.

The question that comes up is that are these baked potato chips, really that healthy or are they are the same as the fried versions with just a fancy name stuck on them. It has been proved that these alternatives are a little bit healthier, but not so much that one can rely completely on them and should not make it a regular consumption.

And even the major population leans towards the fried ones still and because of that even companies have to produce both the version. Still it is advised that one should consume the baked ones instead of the fried potato chips since even if marginally they are still a healthier option to the other.

At the same time such junk foods should never become a part of a person’s regular diet and should be consumed only sometimes and not always.

5 Easy Dips with Chips

While we’d all surely agree that potato chips are wholesome and delicious by themselves, there comes a time when we need to whip up a few dips to go with the chips. Whether it’s a party, a small dinner get-together or what have you –chips with dips are a sure-shot success! Read on for some amazing dip recipes that go perfectly with any kind of potato chips.

1.    Caramelised Onion Dip
 

•    In a large skillet, melt 2 tbsp unsalted butter over medium heat.
•    Add 2 chopped onions and sliced kosher salt. Cook for half an hour and then let it cool.
•    Grab a bowl, mix the onion mix, along with black pepper a bar of cream cheese, 1 cup sour cream and 2 tbsp chopped chives.
•    Serve with kettle chips India for best flavours!

2.    Guacamole

 
•    In a bowl, add 1/2 chopped onion, 1 chopped jalapeno, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, some kosher salt and black pepper to taste.
•    Then, mash in the veggies till they start to release juicies.
•    Then add 2 diced avocados, 2 tbsp fresh lime juice and serve up with potato chips!

3.    Hummus

 
•    Puree 1 can chickpeas, 1 clove garlic, 1⁄4 cup olive oil, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp sesame seed paste, 1 tsp ground cumin, and some salt until desired level of smoothness.
•    Put the mixture in a bowl, add 1/4 teaspoon paprika and sprinkle some olive oil and serve alongside a few packs of kettle chips India!

4.    Salsa

 

•    In a bowl, mix 2 diced plum tomatoes, 1 diced yellow bell pepper, 1 diced cucumber, 1/2 diced red onion, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil along with some kosher salt and black pepper. Mix well, and serve with chips and dippers!

5.    Spinach and Parmesan Dip

 

•    Grab a bowl and mix 1 package chopped spinach, 1 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, 1 clove garlic, some kosher salt and black pepper to taste. Easy as can be!

Some Interesting Uses Of Ketchup

Who doesn’t like tomato ketchup? It goes with anything and everything. But when I tell you about some of the interesting methods in which we can put ketchup to use, you are surely going to be surprised and thrilled at the same time. So read on to know more:

1. Tomato ketchup as a cleaning agent

Surprised to learn this property about the very thing that makes our fingers sticky? Well, it’s true. Due to the presence of acetic acid content in ketchup, it acts as a great cleansing agent for brass, copper, and silver. So the next time you find rings or bangles dirty, you know what to use. And do no forget to say thanks to the ketchup suppliers in India.

2. Make perfect pancakes

Do you hate making unevenly shaped and textured pancakes? Me too! And that is why you are so going to love this trick. Pour the pancake mixture into an empty and clean squeeze ketchup bottle. And using the nozzle, get ready to make those stellar pancakes you dream of.

3. Making homemade red paint

Most people do not know how unbelievably simple it is to make red paint from Indian tomato sauce at home. Take the same amount of flour, salt, and water and mix them together in a bowl until the mixture becomes smooth. When done, just add food colouring to the mixture and - voilà! - homemade paint is ready.

4. Use frozen ketchup packets to soothe minor abrasions

Frozen packets of ketchup do the work of gel ice packs by numbing the stinging sensation of minor abrasions. The fact that they are easily accessible and cheaper makes them feasible as well.

5. Makes food tastier

The most obvious point in the end! Being a ketchup lover, I use ketchup with every food item that I consume. From noodles to rice, pancakes to parathas, sandwiches to momos, and of course pizzas to burgers- ketchup makes everything taste so much better.

Indian Tomato Sauce and Breakfast Recipes

Indian tomato sauce is an ingredient which almost all the Indian food consists of. Such is the flavor and deliciousness of Indian tomato sauce that we, Indians, involve it in anything and everything that we eat, breakfast, lunch and even dinner. We dip our paranthas and French fries of early morning breakfast in the tomato sauce, we use it along with cheese spread between the breads of our burgers and we also eat it with the veggies just to add an extra tomato flavor to the recipe. Indian tomato sauce is also an important part of non-vegetarian dishes such as fried chicken and grilled fishes. Although a large number of brands are available in the market which offer the bottles of tomato sauce, some people prefer home-made tomato sauce over the ones available in the market. One reason for the same is the freshness of tomatoes used in the recipe. The other reason is that the tomato sauce made at home can be personalized according to the taste of the maker. You can spice it up with extra chili flavor if you like it spicy or you can add a paste of garlic and black pepper and other Indian spices.

Although the tomato sauce is used along with a number of dishes, the use of tomato use in Indian breakfast recipes is most common. Some of the easy and healthy breakfast recipes that require less amount of labor and can be quickly eaten in combination with the Indian tomato sauce are omelets, grilled sandwiches, potato fries and paranthas. Omelets can be quickly made by stirring egg yolks, onions, salt and spices, and heating it up for merely 2-3 minutes. Similarly, basic sandwiches can also be made with the use of breads, cheese, tomato, onions and other salads which are easily available. Potato fries is another recipe which is easy as well as fulfilling. There are many other breakfast recipes which can be easily prepared with limited ingredients. These recipes serve a lot of people who do not want to spend too much time in cooking.

An Unhappy Customer + an Angered Cook = the Birth of Potato Chips!

We all enjoy a good ol’ packet of crispy potato chips from time to time, don’t we? Since times immemorial I have lazily munched on some delicious packaged potato chips, whether as a snack at recess during school years, or a welcome break at work, or even while my eyes are glued to the television.

But here’s something you might not know about it, they aren’t all as good ol’ as we might think. Most brands of crispy potato chips are actually manufactured through a continuous flow machine, so it’s not all that authentic. But the traditional way of chip-making is a different story.

So let’s take a walk down snack food memory lane, shall we?

Legend has it that the potato chip was ‘invented’ in the year 1853 (can you imagine your great-great-great-grandparents coolly munching on some chips?)! The story goes that a dissatisfied customer at a restaurant in New York sent his plate of French fried potatoes back to the kitchen on account of  being too thick. Angered and frustrated, a chef named George Crum sliced away till the potatoes were razor-thin (thereby coining ‘wafer-thin’ as well, I suppose!), fried them until they were crisp, and seasoned them with extra salt –much to the delight of the customer who absolutely loved them!

And thus began the love for potato chips. The traditional method of cooking potato chips is therefore in individual batches, rather than in continuous flow machines. And that’s the whole concept behind ‘kettle chips’. Kettle chips therefore give a more home-made feel. The love for such chips has permeated the entire globe, and so the scenario in India is not much different.

If you’re looking for kettle chips in India, there are a number of brands that sell it. Popular amongst these is Cremica, with their Opera Cottage Style Potato Crisps. Imbibing the essence of kettle chips, each pack of Opera Crisps are imbued with hand-made qualities and prepared with the utmost care and attention to retain their natural flavor and fresh taste. With four positively delicious flavors, Cremica’s Opera Crisps are amongst the best kettle chips India!