I decided to try simple stuff first and see how it goes. Add an extra dish to the everyday meal and click, that kind of thing and in between a couple of festivals came and went and so, I had a few thaalis ready. I gained courage then to sign up for this marathon. I stuck to my plan of cooking around only 10 to 12 dishes for regional thaalis which I know pales in compression to the number of dishes served in a restaurant style thaali. I did not rush around this time to cook a complete thaali at one go as I knew that would be bad for my back. If possible, I froze some of the dishes as soon as I cooked, particularly some of my breakfast dishes. I refrigerated some of the dishes by cooking a day ahead when it came to some of the regional thaalis. This worked for me because I never have any power cuts where I live and we are used to freezing food.
I decided to stick to only Indian themed platters for this marathon and not to deviate from it so that I could cover as many regional cuisines as possible. I covered most of the regions even if I was not able to cook meal platters from each state. Telangana and some of the north eastern regions being the exception. Even those omissions occurred because I had to redo some of my breakfast platters and flatbreads to suit the platter theme. Below is a quick look at my thaalis and platters that were cooked for this blogging marathon. Click on the links below (recipe names) for recipes.
First week - Everyday Meals
I reserved the first week for everyday meals. I cooked 4 Vegetarian Indian Thaalis, picking one each from eastern, northern, southern and western parts of India. These thaalis contain comfy, home style meals.
Second Week - Breakfast Platters
It was breakfast platters for the second week. I had originally planned to cook breakfast platters from central, eastern, north, north- eastern, southern and western regions. I ended up doing combo dishes instead but at the last moment was able to add three regional platters. Banarasi kachori, dal pakwan. angakar roti, kailoreo were some of the dishes we tried for the first time and enjoyed while the chilka roti has become now a regular breakfast at home.
3rd Week - Regional Cuisines
This theme was what I fretted over much, since these meals needed to be region specific and needed to be a thaali, in true sense though less in quantity compared to restaurant styled thaalis. I have two from my native state of Andhra Pradesh including a festive meal and a meal served on a taddinam / death anniversary, one each from eastern, northern, north eastern, and western parts of India.
Week 4 - Indian Flatbreads
I posted various Indian flatbreads during the fourth week. Healthy flatbreads, some new and some regular at my home. Most of the flatbread doughs can be prepared and refrigerated for a day or two. Just zap it in the microwave covered, for about 30 to 40 seconds before using it.
Week 5 - Platters
I tried to include platters with regional relevance, two each from southern and northern parts of India.
Comments
Loved the whole series and all the crisp pictures, inviting platters and interesting stories to go with them all. Will revisit some of them as and when needed. Was a pleasure to run the marathon with you.
ReplyDeleteGreat efforts Suma, it must surely be so daunting to make so many thalis and you have done an excellent job even it was near impossible. Really stunning and your simple and yet classic pictures never fail to impress me...All the pictures look awesome and I can see the efforts thats gone in. Thank you for taking so much efforts in redoing some of them as it surely will help so many when they land here...this is a treasure!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful round up suma !
ReplyDeleteKudos to you for such a meticulous planning , inspite of your bad back you have done such a wonderful marathon .
All posts show the amount of research you have done , along with the time spent on cooking and clicking .
You are right as a group we can do such elaborate posts , else one does tend to get lazy , though my family loves these regional thalis , so I always find a chance to make them . I have a couple if them in my draft :))
Awesome marathon , with beautiful posts , informative write ups and super pics ! Looking forward to April now !
Amazing round up suma. As I mentioned previously, you blog is a treasure trove of all the regional cuisines. Will be coming back to them often. I learned a lot. Loved the regional cuisines and the flatbread spread the most. Got so many ideas and I can't wait to try and explore. Thanks for the amazing share.
ReplyDeleteA visual treat for sure. Amazing thalis and all are so well done. Impossible to select just 1 favourite, I loved them all. Bookmarking for sure.
ReplyDeleteKudos to you Suma. You have done such a great research and reading in all the cuisines and that shows up in your posts. You are now encyclopedia and we can refer your blog for all kinds of thalis and platters. It was such a visual treat from you and loved reading how you plan such elaborate meal. I am surely going to come back again and again.
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