Air Fryer Yorkshire Puddings and Other Delights

Make a cup of tea, this is a long one

I felt like I have a new lease on life because Cece, our cat, who had a rough weekend and needed to be taken to the vet for fluids two days in a row is now looking chirpier. Between cleaning up 3459454 fur-ball-filled puddles of puke, and wondering if we’re going to have to start worrying about war bunkers, it was a bizarre few days. Luckily, my paintbox arrived in time and I got to work, painting enough avocados to help a millennial buy a home.

me, now

me, when? picture from the Kuretake website

Also, these paints are everything. They’re a Japanese version of watercolour called gansai tambi, made by a brand called Kuretake, and I wish I’d gotten the set of 24 instead of the 12 — the colours are vivid, beautiful, and not very expensive. They sell little pots of paint individually as well, and I’m eyeing this gold one.

I can’t remember if I’ve written about Lunch at 10 Pomegranate Street by Felicita Sala, before but I found myself thinking of it this week. It is about a building, 10 Pomegranate Street, and the book is a peek into each apartment in the building, as they prepare lunch, which at the end of the book, they bring down to the garden to enjoy together as a potluck. It includes easy, doable recipes as well. There’s so much emphasis on community and togetherness in the books we read as kids, and the TV shows too. Enid Blyton, all the Anne of Green Gable books, the Jetsons, the Flintstones. Even Top Cat, which I hated. Somehow, you get to adulthood and that doesn’t seem to be how the world is structured.

We spent a lovely day visiting my friend Padma at her farmhouse on the outskirts of Bangalore. We ate the most amazing potato chips, a tomato salad and a mango sago pudding that I will now forever associate with this summer. We spent a few hours floating about on our backs in the pool, listening to Padma’s dad’s excellent playlist. Came back with my skin an alarming shade of orange; I think I need a different sunscreen? Here are some pictures from around the farm.

I cannot tell you how excited I am for my friend Meera Ganapathi’s new book, How to Forget. I don’t know anyone whose writing is quite so alive as Meera’s. I’ve pre-ordered the book and you should too. I realised after I’d bought it that I’d forgotten to read what it was about, but here’s the premise, doesn’t it sound good?

In spare and lucid lines of poetry and prose, How to Forget takes the reader on a walk through childhood, love, loss and longing. Told through memory and impressions both personal and communal, the book chronicles lifetimes through the act of walking.

These journeys often follow the same paths but end in unexpected conclusions. An elephant wanders through tea estates in the Nilgiris, a woman confronts the night, prawns are tossed in chilli oil, a childhood is lost and solitude is found in fifty-five walks across cities and timelines.

With gentle and insightful observations, Ganapathi offers soothing respite from the chaos of our cities and the clamour of our thoughts.

Lastly, I made my first Yorkshire pudding! I hadn’t eaten one before, and always longed to. I made some to go with my roast chicken today, and baked it in the air-fryer. I used this recipe for the proportions because I trust Mary Berry, but used this one for temperature and timings. I would take it out a minute sooner so that the tops don’t brown quite so much, but otherwise, no notes. Fully recommend.

Yes, my mitts need a wash

How has your week been? Are you watching anything fun? Reading anything interesting? Having a good cooking week? Tell me, I’d love to know.

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