The Sizzling Pan is 10 Years Old!!!

TheSizzlingPan is celebrating 10 years!!!

TheSizzlingPan has been an integral part of my life for the past 10 years! I have loved sharing my kitchen…my recipes…my passion for food through this channel. I am proud of this journey, the delectable meals and recipes created, the delicious food my family and friends enjoyed and the friendships I made along the way.  As we celebrate 10 years of this special connection, here is the story of TheSizzlingPan…

My ‘foodie’ genes

I was raised in a typical foodie family. My mom loved cooking and experimenting on new recipes. She cooked typical CKP style dishes with fish, coconut etc. but also made unique recipes of her own. My dad would encourage her by giving her small prizes when she perfected the recipe… and me and my little sister got the share of our prizes for helping our mom. My mom even took her passion to the next level and started and ran a food business for 15+ years. Her passion became her profession. This is where my interest in food was kindled. As I went to high school/ college I started looking at cook books and cooking and baking on my own. Black Forest Cake baked by me became a birthday staple for everyone in the family Jand homemade mango ice-cream made our summers super delicious!

Making homemade Mango Ice cream back home in Pune 

MyKitchen’sAroma aka TheSizzlingPan

When I came to the US, my interest in food got stronger by watching a lot of international cooking shows. Racheal Ray, Ina Garten, Giada De Laurentiis, Iron Chef were some of my favorite ones to watch after I came back in the evening from work. I worked in a University, so there was a lot of exposure to different cultures and cuisines. I started experimenting with fusion recipes and new ingredients available in the grocery stores here. When I was on a ‘mommying’ sabbatical when my son was born, though I loved being a full-time mom, I missed the social connection in the work environment. I missed chatting with people with similar interests. Being a scientist…I missed experimenting and doing research. That’s when I thought about starting a food blog with encouragement from my husband and some friends…which would allow me to experiment on new recipes and connect with like- minded people through this channel. MyKitchensAroma was born on September 14, 2009 ! 

Lot of the earlier recipes were 'For little tummies' to sneak veggies in my little ones diet. These "Zucchini Fritters" were amongst the early recipes on the blog.

I loved the time …the ‘me’ time I got to document my recipes and connecting with friends and followers of the blog. I loved making delicious recipes are serving food that looked good in eye pleasing presentations. Very soon the scientist in me was intrigued by the ‘science’ of food. I decided to do a certification in food science to learn – the food chemistry...to learn what reactions take place in the food, which ingredients go well together, nutrition, preservation, food technology etc. I was also enthralled to share the science of food with the future chefs and scientists. I arranged workshops to teach kids that food can be magical and a super fun science learning experience. 

To be honest, at one point, I thought about making ‘Food’ my profession…just like my mom. But my other passion…the Love for Science and Research excites me too! I love being a scientist and enjoy my profession. If I took food/cooking business as my profession, I would have to give up my career and profession as a scientist altogether. If I maintained food and cooking as my hobby, I could still be a full-time science researcher while cooking, trying new recipes and blogging in my free time. So that is what I did! This way I can have best of both the worlds J I would feel immensely grateful for my career, if through my contribution to Cancer research, someday an effective cancer therapy is developed. This would be a dream come true J

 Few years ago…MyKitchensAroma had a makeover and a name change …. “TheSizzlingPan” was the new name. Through TheSizzlingPan, I have experimented with bringing in new sections like ‘Food Around The World’, recipes from Guest kitchen’s and the newest-TheSlimmingPan to share healthy and nutritious recipes and my fitness journey.

The new hand drawn logo of the blog

There have been ups and downs, times where I couldn’t share anything for months together due to life’s other commitments and priorities, while at other times I was beaming with ideas and experimenting with super excitement in my kitchen! 

All in all,The Pan has always been Sizzling and making delicious food!J

My family enjoying a home baked chocolate cake :) Those smiles are precious!

It has been a fun 10-year journey of cooking, baking, drizzling and icing. And thank you all for being a part of this with me. I have enjoyed connecting and sharing my kitchen with each and everyone of you J

Thank you for visiting TheSizzlingPan!

Deepti Thete

My first Instant Pot Recipe!!! Instant Pot Chole

Instant Pot Chole

I know I know.... I am jumping onto the “Instant Pot” bandwagon super duper late.😬

But thanks to a very thoughtful gift from a dear friend... I am finally onboard!!! And so excited!!! 😁😁

Okay ... So today was The Day!!! 😀 Made Chole in my new IP! 

And they turned out Peeeerfeccttt!!! 

So tender and flavorful😋😋. I was skeptical whether they will come out perfect in 15 mins pressure cook time plus natural steam release that I set on the IP (since most recipes called for 35 min pressure cook time), but they cooked so well without under cooking or being mushy 👌 They could have had slightly less water, but we didn’t mind the soupy chole. Dinner was a hit! 👌

Recipe-
2 cups soaked Chole
2 onions finely chopped
2 tomatoes finely chopped
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
Badshah Chole masala
Red chili powder
Turmeric
Cumin, Bay leaf
Salt
Oil 

- Sauté the onion, tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, cumin, bay leaf for 6-8 mins in sauté function on some oil.

- Add chole masala, red chili powder, turmeric, salt . Sauté for 2-3 more mins

- Add soaked chole and water. 

- Pressure cook on high pressure for 15 mins. Let the pressure release naturally. 

- Tadah... by the time you make rotis... Chole are cooked and ready!

Samosa Pinwheels

One of my favorite party appetizers are these beautiful looking and amazingly tasty 'Samosa Pinwheels'. What's not to like??? Nothing can go wrong with ...Spicy stuffing made with mashed potatoes and warm spices rolled up into puff pastry sheets and then baked to crispy perfection! YUMMMMM..OOO! Baked a large batch for a party at work tomorrow.

The trick however, is getting this beautiful pinwheels pattern. I have had these pinwheels before and not all were able to exhibit this beautiful pattern. So here goes the step by step recipe-

 ** The trick in using 'lump free' filling, spreading it in an even layer and rolling into a tight roll before slicing.

Recipe:
4 Potatoes boiled and washed well (no lumps)
1/2 onion finely chopped
2tsp ginger garlic paste
1tsp chopped curry leaves
1 tsp garam masala powder
1tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2tsp cumin seeds
1/2tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Kasoori methi leaves
Salt
4tsp Oil

1 Puff pastry sheet (Thawed as per package instructions)

Method:
1) Heat the oil in pan. Add mustard seed, cumin seeds, curry leaves and chopped onion. Sauté for 2-3 mins.
2) Add ginger garlic paste, turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala powder, mashed potatoes, salt and kasoori methi. Sauté the filling for few mins. The filling should have no lumps. Let the filling cool for 1hr.

** Pre Heat the oven to 400F

3)  Roll out the thawed puff pastry sheet. Spread the potato filling evenly on to the sheet, about 1.5cm in thickness. Start rolling the sheet tightly from one end, into a roll.

4) Slice the roll in the center. Wrap the rolls into wax paper and chill in refrigerator for 20mins.

5) After 20 mins, slice the roll. Place the pinwheels on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.

6) Bake the pinwheels at 400F for 15-20 mins till golden brown. I like to turn them half way through the baking on the other side to bake evenly on both sides.

7) Serve hot along with your favorite sauce. Enjoy these delicious beauties!

And...You know my favorite! I will of course serve these with "Maggie Hot and Sweet" Sauce :))