Starting a daily creative project thread for the 21 day lockdown, along with a thread to document the creative process and links to learning resources #lockdownart
Day 1 - In the spirit of the times we live in, a dark and foreboding orchestral arrangement of Purandaradasa's Jagadhodhaarana soundcloud.com/krishashok/jag…
Day 2 - A minimalist flute & piano-based adaptation of one of my all-time favourite Ilayaraja tracks - Kannan Vandhu Paadukindran featuring @flute_vjkannan and @sushraju soundcloud.com/krishashok/kan…
Day 3 - It’s Friday, and since most of us aren’t headed to a restaurant to eat, drink and make merry, here’s something that will address that trifecta in dessert form. Welcome to Bananas Foster. 
Day 4 - A quick violin and guitar version of Subramania Bharati's "Chinanchiru Kiliye" soundcloud.com/krishashok/chi…
Day 5 - An orchestral adaptation of Naadaloludai by Thyagaraja in Raga Kalyana Vasantham soundcloud.com/krishashok/naa…
Day 6 - A dinner thaali for 2. Caramelized beetroot soup, peas pulao, Egg curry, aloo beans curry, whole wheat yeasted roti. Food science tips for all of them follow
Caramelized Beetroot soup: Peel and dice beetroot, peel some garlic, heat butter in a pressure cooker, add beetroot and garlic, a pinch of baking soda & tiny bit of water and pressure cook for 30 minutes. Immersion blend, salt & optionally, add a few drops of Balsamic vinegar
The baking soda accelerates the Maillard reaction, and this will ultimately result in a spectacularly rich flavour profile, and not just the usual one-dimensional sweetness of Beetroot. The Balsamic vinegar goes particularly well with beetroot.
Egg Curry: In a mixing bowl, add coriander/cumin/turmeric/chilli/fennel powders, ginger/garlic paste, salt & besan. To this, add mustard oil that's been very well heated. Then add yoghurt and whisk till there are no lumps. Keep aside.
In a pan, saute onions, garlic & tomatoes, and then lower heat add the mixture from the first step. Parallelly, make a 2 egg omelette (salt the eggs at least 15 minutes ahead) and slice into bite sized pieces. Add to the gravy and top with coriander leaves.
Pulao. Everyone knows how to make a pulao, so I'll just skip straight to the tips. If you soak the basmati for 20 minutes, you can use a 1:1 rice to water ratio to get perfect, non-sticky separation of grains.
And oh, MSG at the end really adds a touch of savoriness. Don't add too much, because all sodium salts also add "saltiness" (Actually, saltiness is quite literally the detection of sodium ions on your tongue)
And an obligatory reminder that MSG is made of 2 things. Sodium ions and Glutamates. Your body needs sodium, and Glutamic acid is an amino acid that is a building block of proteins. In small quantities, there is ZERO evidence that it is harmful
Aside, if you are someone who likes tomatoes, eating 2-3 tomatoes a day will give you roughly the same amount of glutamates as the pinch of MSG in your Chinese take out.
Or parmesan cheese, or walnuts, or mushrooms.
