Is it still allowed to wish someone a Happy New Year because “technically” the year is not exactly new anymore. But since we are still holding on to the first month of the year by its tail let me just go ahead and send you all my warm and loving new year wishes. Hope you had a fabulous 2012, kissed it a farewell with smile and wish you have a much much better 2013!
I can call my 2012 “eventful”! I know it wasn’t as eventful on the blog as you and I would have wanted it to be but it definitely was behind the scenes. There were some very interesting writing and photography gigs that I was offered which kept me busy, The Book being one of them. Then there were some hospital and emergency room visits that were not as pleasing as those gigs but they sure kept me busy as well. You did not get to hear about them on the blog because I just did not feel very comfortable talking about it. But then as they say, “all’s well if it ends well!”. So it all ended well and the doctors have given a green signal now. Waiting for that green signal was boring though so we thought we’d celebrate ourselves in the meantime and took off for some quiet and hassle free time with family in India. Spent a refreshing few weeks there and now we are back home. Back to the routine, back to work and back to the blog and you!
I spent a huge part of the past year writing my first cookbook- The Everything Indian Slow Cooker Cookbook. Developed many new recipes, modified some shared by friends (whom I cannot thank enough!) and tested countless number of them, several of which failed and which didn’t made it to the book. You can find 300 of my favorite Indian slow cooker recipes in the book. Probably the part of the book that I like most is the chapter named “Indian Slow Cooker Foundation Recipes”. In this chapter I have shared some very basic recipes like how to make rice in a slow cooker, how to make yogurt and curry paste in your slow cooker. And one of my favorites is making ghee using a slow cooker. This recipe will make your life so much easier that you will never go back to your store bought ghee again.
All you need is some good quality, organic butter and you are good to go!
The slow cooker in this picture is a little big but if you have a 3 quart one then that would be perfect. Place 8 sticks of butter in the slow cooker. Set the slow cooker on low and cover with a lid propping it open just enough for the steam to escape. I use a chopstick or my mini spatula for that. Cook for 8-10 hours.
In the end you will get 2 cups of clear golden ghee. Scum will be floating on the top; spoon it off and discard it. Burnt milk solids will stick to the walls of the slow cooker. Do not scrape the sides or bottom! Let the ghee come to room temperature and then filter it using a strainer or cloth.
Store in airtight bottles and use it for cooking curries, making stir fries or just add a dollop on fresh warm bread or rice.
I would love to giveaway a few copies of The Everything Indian Slow Cooker Cookbook for you to take a closer look. So please drop a line in the comments section below if you’d like to participate in the giveaway (or even if you do not!). On Feb 10th I will randomly choose three lucky winners who will receive a copy of my cookbook.
Looking forward to seeing what you think about it!
We have winners! And their names are….
Ramona
Dena Testa Bray
Megan@What’sMeganMaking
Congratulations people! Please drop me an email with your addresses so that I can send your copy of Everything Indian Slow Cooker Cookbook.
Entry to this giveaway is closed.
