FoodNestam

nestam — friend

FoodNestam

A friend in the kitchen

nestam is Telugu for friend. That is the whole idea: recipes from a kitchen where they are actually cooked, written down carefully enough that they work in yours.

How this started

Dosa, one dish always close to my heart, and love to eat at any time of the day. Love to watch my daughter when I pass the crispy dosa to her plate saying "it's yummy Amma" and to watch her face with a big smile closing her eyes enjoying the flavor of dosa and chutney.

I have a lot of memories with dosa, and I spent a lot of months getting to the perfect recipe that works in the USA too. When I first moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, I was super excited to make dosa. I called my mom and asked her for the recipe and I tried out the same way, but it was a total disappointment. I could not make dosa, it was nothing like what I use to eat.

Then the journey to figure out started. I changed ratios of ingredients, and one night I soaked all the ingredients and forgot to make the batter, and it soaked for almost 16 hours. I thought I should discard the whole thing. My mom said no, just rinse once more and make batter, it will be fine — and that's when the wonder happened. Perfect dosa.

The key was how long to soak the ingredients, as India had a different climate and altitude than Santa Fe. I still remember my dosas were so perfect, and after that there was never a time I could not make a good dosa.

I moved to Dublin a few years back and my neighbor asked me how to make your dosa batter, I never get it so perfect. It's been 2 years and even today she says she gets her batter perfect, and all her friends compliment and love to have dosa parties.

I think it is simple. It is just how we make it, with exact steps and time. My friends and neighbors say any recipe I give would turn out exactly how they tasted it in my house. That's what made me think I can teach other people who love dosa and would like to make it at home, in a way they would not fail or be disappointed, but enjoy dosa.

What is coming

These are the dishes being written up now. Each one is cooked at home, and none of them goes up until the quantities and steps are exact — that is the whole point.

  • Dosa Batter
  • Sambar
  • Peanut Chutney
  • Potato Masala
  • Coconut chutney
  • Ridge-gourd chutney
  • Potato curry