Santhi of ‘Me and My Kitchen’ selected “Flour” to feature for August’s JFI Event.
How can we talk about flour, without talking about flour sifters? Two important things I have learned to pay attention when cooking with flours are –
Freshness of flour
Sieving and sifting the flour
Buying freshly milled flour is not possible anymore here where I live, but sieving and sifting is; which helps to break up clumps, to remove foreign matter and also to aerate the flour. Aerated flour is a beautiful thing to work with, mixes easily with liquids and other foods without forming into lumps. At my mother’s home growing up, it was often our (the children’s) duty to sieve the flour for chapatis etc. Needless to say, it was quite an enjoyable task.
I have two sifters. The round one with several discs (to control the fineness of flour) is a traditional flour sifter from India. (My friend who recently moved back to India from US gave it to me). The second one, the traditional flour sifter people use here, I bought it from Pittsburgh flea market few years ago. Both are easy to use and my choice depends on the amount of flour I am using in a recipe.
Hey I am the first one to comment!!we as children too had gr8t fun sieving flour..spilling some on our hands..some flour dust on the face etc..Though mom would not be very happy about spilling it!!
Comment by madhuli — July 30, 2006 @ 11:28 pm
Hey
Welcome back !! Hope you had a fun/successful vacation..
Take care
Will check for posts tomorrow !! Hope u carried home lots of lentils and other goodies !!
Revathi
Comment by Revathi — July 31, 2006 @ 1:21 am
Indira,
I wonder what you have made after sieving the flour through those sifters (!). Whatever it is, I am sure looking forward to it. 🙂
Comment by Vaishali — July 31, 2006 @ 7:05 am
Hey,
You are back!
Comment by L.G — July 31, 2006 @ 8:24 am
Hope you had a great vacation. So what was the sieve used for 🙂
Comment by Krithika — July 31, 2006 @ 9:14 am
Hi Indira,
I really enjoy your posts – and appreciate the time and effort you put into presentation, it makes a whole lot of difference! I just wondered, you are so appreciative of traditional Indian ways of doing things, not just in the kitchen but elsewhere, why is that you live in the United States? As someone who lives in India, I am a bit fed up of people who go on and on in a nostalgic vein about our country but then seem to privilege money and the good life so much that refuse to actually live here/ come back!! Today’s India, in particular, is so full of opportunties of different kinds as far as jobs are concerned…. All this nostalgia – is it for the kitchen alone? Or do you have a social or political commitment to our country?
Comment by curious — July 31, 2006 @ 10:49 am
woooohoooo
Cant wait to see what Ur entry is going to be….
I am ALL EXCITED abt it now:):)
Comment by santhi — July 31, 2006 @ 12:24 pm
i liked the pics og the 2 kind of sifters and I agree sifting definitely increases the quality of the finished product. I experienced it today when i baked a cake.
Comment by Anupama — July 31, 2006 @ 12:34 pm
Madhuli: We were also like that. Fun times.:)
Revathi: We had good time, thanks.
I didn’t do much grocery shopping at Indian shops. The prices and Vijay’s hand kept me away from the shelves.:) But we went to Whole foods and Traders Joe markets.
Vaishali: just some regular fare, nothing fancy this time. The weather is too hot to cook here.
LG: Missed you too.:)
Thanks Krithika. The paper plates that I have used for Guggullu, are homemade. Cut a thick brown paper in petal shapes and attach them with a gue gun.:)
Curious: Thanks.
I am sick and tired of not able to find decent photos of Indian homemade food on the web. That’s what motivates me to write about Indian food.
Lot of questions and assumptions, OK.
“do you have a social or political commitment to our country?” – You answer first, what are you doing for our country?
Santhi: Happy hosting!
That cake looks delicious. Thanks Anupama.
Comment by Indira — July 31, 2006 @ 3:04 pm
glad to have you back Indira and hope the trip went great!
Now i started wearing my thinking hat about the flour and what you are going to make with it …mmm 🙂
Comment by Karthi Kannan — July 31, 2006 @ 3:25 pm
HaHaHa dear curious…. I couldn’t help but laugh at your comment. Being nostalgic about the food we eat is not a sin and that should not be the reason for anyone to return back home! All these current opportunities were made true by people who went abroad, saw the World and came back. Even Gandhiji went to South Africa. 🙂 So dont worry. Going abroad to make a living doesnt mean one is away from the country. You can live in India, wear completely Western outfits, eat only pizza, chew a gum, listen only to English musics,peak only fake- accented English and still called be Indian.:-)
Comment by L.G — July 31, 2006 @ 4:09 pm
very well said L.G.!
Comment by Bharti — August 1, 2006 @ 5:56 pm
Hi,
I like to know what we call the hot pan holder (stainless steel tool) in hindi hidki, kidhi something, could you please tell me what we call it.
thanks.
Comment by radha — November 19, 2006 @ 8:46 am
The sifter used in India is almost identical to the one we use in Ukraine. I have such fond memories of my grandmother making bliny (thin crepes to be eaten plain or filled with fruit jam or vegetable ragout) and sifting flour with that kind of sifter beforehand. Whenever I return, I always try to bring back some kitchen utensils from my old home. They make me feel happy and comforted whenever I cook in my American kitchen. 🙂
Comment by Victoria — January 9, 2007 @ 12:24 pm
This is a good website. Thanks.
Comment by Madhavi — May 30, 2007 @ 9:46 pm