a chutney recipe + a vote appeal | & more

You know that struggle to curb your apprehension and excitement to avoid a crash-and-burn of hope? That's the mood as I write this newsletter because I have a favour to seek from you.  Sometime when we were bidding adieu to the chilly mornings of January and welcoming the warmer (and now hotter) days of February, I wrote a few poems and submitted two in a creative writing competition. Zoom to Valentine's Day and surprise - the poems got me selected among the top 100 writers from 6000+ registered writers. And now I have till the end of March to garner votes/reviews/comments because the winner will be based on the cumulative response from the judges and popular opinion. And herein comes the favour seeking. Could you pop over to the links I've shared below, read the poems and if you like them, drop a comment and vote for them? It'd be a huge help and confidence booster.   Here are the links to the poems: On Living https://hashtagkalakar.net/on-living/ You Know, Don't You https://hashtagkalakar.net/you-know-dont-you/   Now on to the main joys of life - food and books. As we move towards hotter months (which means less winter greens) and continue to swing like pendulums between offline/online schooling and hybrid/remote work, meals are focussing on being quick, healthy and as green as can be! So there's the Leftover Rice Stuffed Capsicum, the Mixed Fruit Chaatni, the Strawberry Oats Shake, a Herb-ilicious Omelette, Pan Roasted Tomato Basil Cheese Sandwich, the annual Gota Sheddo and so on. Many quick recipes are on Instagram, so just click on the recipes or follow me on Instagram to access them.   I've taken a sabbatical from watching and February saw me devouring (yes, devouring) a slew of paranormal fantasy series - some I've reviewed, some I've yet to. My pick of the lot is Nalini Singh's epic Guild Hunter Series, and the why is answered in my short reviews, again on Instagram. To check them out to decide if you want to add them to your to-be-read list, click HERE.   Until next month, stay well, stay safe, cook, read and be joyous.   Love Rapti B MIXED FRUIT CHAATNI (CHUTNEY) The chaatni, that lip-licking last course of a Bengali meal, is integral to Bengali cuisine. It cuts through the richness of the fish or mutton curry to prepare the  taste buds for the dessert and  kick starts the digestive process most satisfactorily. Just what you need before you dive into the lush desserts! Such is the importance of chaatni (chaat is 'lick' in the Bengali language) that a formal meal is incomplete without it.  READ ON FOR RECIPE   LEFTOVER RICE STUFFED CAPSICUM If you are a regular rice eater, then leftover rice tucked in the corner of a refrigerator shelf is probably as much a thing in your household as mine. And while fried rice or masala bhaat made with leftover rice is fun, there's always room for something new, right? Cue the Leftover Rice Stuffed Capsicum. Click here for RECIPE ROSHA | BENGALI VEGETABLE STEW Just like the humble khichuri/khichdi has a recipe unique to every Indian household, the ubiquitous 'rosha' has its singular version in homes across West Bengal. Simply put, the rosha is a selection of winter vegetables and bodi (dried lentil dumplings) boiled in water with some basic spices till the vegetables are cooked through. The stew is then ladled over rice and served hot or warm. But as with all food, things are never as simple as they seem to be at first glance. Click here for RECIPE PUMPKIN CARROT & SPRING-ONION SOUP Winters mean soups, and since we are a trio that loves soups, it's the perfect guilt-free dinner. The pumpkin is a permanent fixture in my mother's kitchen. With the vibrantly orange tinged with red carrots screaming their freshness from their space on roadside vegetable carts, it is but natural the latter will be bought in abundance. Hence the highly non-original idea to combine these two fibrous vegetables with superfood powers. Click here for RECIPE BOOK REVIEW: ARCHANGEL'S BLADE A 1000-year-old ruthless, broody vampire meets brutalized vampire hunter with an 'old soul'. And quite obviously, the two fall in love because that IS, after all, the purpose of this novel. But not without some Bollywood-ish drama that includes murders, thrilling mystery, revenge, redemption, long-lost true love and hints of reincarnation. Read REVIEW here Your weekend reads... A personal account from a city under attack | I'm in Kyiv and awake at the darkest hour – as Putin's bombs rain down   One of my favourite travel bloggers is visiting Isla Robinson Crusoe & it's epic | Enroute to One of the World's Remotest Islands!   Time for a virtual (and happy) Very Peri trip | Where to Find Pantone's Color of the Year 2022 Around the World   Another shot for coffee lovers | This Is the Exact Amount of Coffee You Should Drink, According to a Harvard Brain Expert   A finger lickin' good read for all of us chutney lovers | The story of chutney in India Copyright © 2022 From The Corner Table. All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up to receive email updates published by From The Corner Table. Do you want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.