28 March, 2013

Kashaya or Kashayam Recipe | A Herbal or Ayurvedic Drink from South India

Learn how to make Kashaya or Kashayam ~ Sweet and spicy herbal drink made using selected aromatic spices based on the ancient Indian health science of Ayurveda

I grew up in a joint family for the first 6 years of my life. When I was born, my first cousin was in his mid twenties while the youngest one was in his late teens. So it was not difficult for a chubby baby girl with jet black hair and cheeks that resembled a generous sized Idli to make every other person in our family to dance just by shaking my little fingers. I was pampered and a spoilt brat who had many people falling on my chubby feet for the first 22 months of my life. And then my exclusive control on everyone’s attention and being centre of everyone’s universe came to sudden halt!

26 March, 2013

Vegan Roasted Pepper and Tomato Soup Recipe | How to Make Simple Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup

Learn how to make Vegan Creamy Roasted Pepper and Tomato Soup ~ Quick and easy roasted bell pepper and tomato soup with caramelised onions and garlic

The temperature outside continues to drop in spite of we officially stepping into spring since last week! This weekend we will set our clocks 1 hour forward across the European countries to mark the spring daylight saving so that evenings have more daylight. In less than a month’s time the sun will rise before 6 am only to set after 7 pm! And in two months time we will have the difficulty to convince Lil Dumpling to go to bed at 7 pm as he will be left wondering why one needs to go to bed when the sun is still shining bright till 10 at night only to wake up at 4 in the morning to find sunrays streaming through the curtains!

20 March, 2013

Spicy Corn Chaat/Salad Recipe | How to Make Healthy Sweet Corn Chaat

Learn how to make Spicy Corn Chaat or Spicy Corn Salad ~ Quick and simple healthy snack of sweet corn in a lime and chaat masala dressing and topped with spicy gram flour noodles

After what feels like a long time, a very long time, I am back at work desk today. I have not recovered completely but the sorry chapter of coughing my lungs out seems to be over which only means I will not be spreading the nasty infection around. Having left on my own for the last two days bored to me to death and just when I was about to explode into tiny pieces, DH decided it will be best thing to step outside and meet some ‘real’ people in person than the imaginary ones I was talking to for the last couple of days.

12 March, 2013

Kehra Na Reveya/Green Banana Satay Recipe with Kaushy Patel's Prashad Cookbook Review and A Giveaway

Learn how to make Kehra Na Reveya ~ Raw Green Banana Satay (with spicy peanut paste stuffing)

Apart from family and friends, what one misses the most when they move from their home country? Someone asked me in this question in the first month when I moved from India to UK and I didn’t even blink before saying it’s the Food which I miss the most! Yes, it was the delicious and aromatic food from my vibrant country that I missed a lot; from my mother’s comfort meals to tantalising Indian street foods, from quick breakfasts at Darshini hotels to elaborate north and south Indian Thali meals, from very casual Punjabi Dhaba foods to sophisticated high end restaurants and many more like that!

06 March, 2013

Onion-Coconut Chutney Recipe | How to Make Simple and Quick Coconut Chutney

Learn how to make Onion-Coconut Chutney ~ Simple and quick raw onion and coconut based chutney for Idli and Dosa

Nestled between swaying coconut and areca nut tress was a large two story art deco styled mansion with red Mangalore tiled sloped ceiling on an attic that ran through the house. There were some 20 odd smooth black granite steps leading down to the narrow canal flowing right next to the house with crystal clear water coming right up to your knees. The clear water on summer days in this canal with smooth black and grey pebbles would turn roaring muddy red and orange with white foams when monsoon rains unleashed from the sky, and at night it looked like a black serpent moving swiftly and hissing rather loudly breaking the songs of the crickets and the silence of the night!