Achari Aloo Recipe | Indian Roast Potatoes with Pickling Spices

Learn how to make Achari Aloo ~ Tangy and spicy baby potato roast with pickling spices

I was staring at the blinking curser on my laptop for the past ten minutes, desperately hoping for some words to come flooding from my mind to tip of my fingers. But alas, my mind seems to have its own agenda and all I can think is summer days where I can lounge away in the beach with a book in my hand, sand on my toes and the warmth of sun rays kissing my face. But at the moment it feels anything but summer as the temperature stubbornly refuses to rise in spite the fact that the days are growing longer…

Spices used for Achari Masala/Pickling Spices for Achari Aloo

After staring at the blinking curser for another five minutes, I decided to step out and get me a nice cup of green tea with ginger and honey to lift my spirit on a grey and windy day. As the kettle hissed as it boiled water, there was a sudden shower of hailstones from the skies, hitting angrily at the glass window panes. The pearls of ice that looked like a thermocol balls looked pretty on the lawn and reminded me of my hostel days in Dharwad where we collected them in buckets to pour them down from the terrace at unsuspecting visitors! The fond memories made me smile and shake head at our silly, harmless pranks. Ah, those carefree days of student life where fun was the mantra of life! My lips curved up with a nostalgic smile and it remained there as I sipped my tea watching the hailstones bounce off the floor and then settle comfortably. Halfway through my cuppa, I saw the clouds part and sun come out with all his glory and kiss the pearls of ice and melt them into a small puddles. Ah, the very unpredictable British weather! One minute it is raining, the next there is hailstones and the moment later the sun is shining only to hide behind the dark clouds as though a naughty boy has been sent back to his room while trying to sneak downstairs after way past his bedtime!

Spicy Sweet Potato Paratha Recipe | GitaDini Product Review and A Giveaway

Learn how to make Spicy Sweet Potato Paratha ~ Spicy Indian flatbread made using sweet potato mash and assorted Indian spices

There is always a new gadget to add to the kitchen to brighten up the décor, ease cooking prep, or to store things more efficiently. These days the market is flooded with hundreds and thousands of kitchen gadgets, available in various size, shape and budget to suit every need. There’s a lot more to product design than simply making something look good! For me, a good product is one that I find easy to use, it does the thing that it says in the label, something meets my needs, something that I like to use regularly and lastly, the look is appealing to me. For me, GitaDini products tick all the boxes and easily fit the bill of a good product. This post is about my experience of using GitaDini kitchenware and cookware extensively in my kitchen for the last two months. You can scroll down to find the details about how you can enter a giveaway to win this beautifully crafted kitchenware from GitaDini!

GitaDini is a US based family business founded by a dynamic husband and wife team, Jitu and Gita Patel. Apart from their wide range of home décor and furnishing line, they have a beautiful collection of kitchenware which I will be reviewing here. I’ve always worked with brands which I find best fit for my blog readers, mainly related to food and cooking. I usually take couple of weeks to extensively test the products in my kitchen before posting an honest review as I don't believe in misleading the blog readers with false information. It has been close to two months since I started using the GitaDini kitchenware and I am in a stage where I can happily share my experience.

Aloo-Bhindi Pepper Fry Recipe | Quick and Simple Potato and Okra Stir Fry Recipe

Learn how to make Aloo-Bhindi Pepper Fry ~ Spicy potato, okra and bell pepper stir fry with assorted aromatic spices

As I grow older, I have begun to admire and appreciate simple things in life, especially the simple food. When I look back and think of about my decade long culinary journey, I can’t help but smile at my younger self who believed cooking the ‘special’ dishes was the way to prove my cooking skills. Many of the simple things get lost in the day to day life as we run frantically behind the things to make it rather a special one… every single day!

Like everything in life we forget to appreciate simple foods we cook every other day! Most of the simple food gets lost in the day to day ritual of making something ‘special’ for the dinner. Unfortunately, we don’t even realise that it is these simple dishes which makes the whole meal taste delicious. It can be a smudge of pickle that livens up any boring meal or a quick vegetable stir fry that lifts the flavour of everyday dal and rice into something quite special. Initially, as a food blogger, I was always busy focusing on posting special recipes that the everyday simple recipes were kept away from the spotlight. As the years went by, my love for simple, every day food has grown by leaps and bounds and they have been making appearance in the blog quite often. These simple dishes are my priced recipes and worth to be blogged as this blog serves not only as my journal for day to day cooking and food stories, but also it will be my humble legacy, my gift to LD and to everyone who loves cooking. To my pleasant surprise, it is these simple recipes which seem to be the favourite from my blog and made me realise that I am not the only one who enjoys and appreciates simple things in life.

For the next few months, I will be concentrating on such simple food that makes regular appearance on our dinner tables. I hope you will join me in this culinary journey and enjoy cooking and tasting the simple dishes as much as I do. :) One such dish is Aloo-Bhindi Pepper Fry. In other words, potato, okra and bell pepper stir fry with assorted spices. Sounds too simple to be true? Well, in this case it is true!

Microwave Masala Peanuts/Masale Kadle Recipe | How to Make Masala Peanuts in a Microwave

Learn how to make Microwave Masala Peanuts/Masale Kadle ~Simple and quick recipe for crunchy and spicy gram flour coated roasted peanuts cooked in a microwave in less than 15 minutes

Love to me is something that is very different from the stories told in romantic movies and the types of ‘happily ever afters’ in fairy tales and mills and boon novels. Love is not a dozen of red roses, a box of Belgian chocolates or heart shaped balloons. Love is not a gift of expensive bottles of perfumes or an exquisite diamond ring. Love to me is not romantic candle light dinners or a holiday in a romantic city! The very definition of ‘Love’ has changed over the years and now it means a whole new world of things to me…

Bharwan Mirch ka Achaar | Stuffed Red Chilli Pepper Pickle Recipe

Bharwan Mirch ka Achaar

We Indian’s LOVE our pickles. Period.

I know I should stop here but I just can’t stop leave it when the topic in question is one of my most favourite things. Given a choice, I am among those who can rant on for hours and also end up writing PhD thesis on the subject of pickles. My love for pickle is talking point among my loved ones who know my weakness for this irresistible treats. When God created me, he forgot to give me sweet tooth. Instead I was blessed with a taste bud that swirls around doing Tango when it meets its love, irresistible spicy pickle. I know that there are many people out there who are just like me, who love pickles more than any sweet desserts and delights.

Tindora/Ivy Gourd Roast | Roasted Tindora/Ivy Gourd Recipe (How to make Spicy & Crispy Tindora/Ivy Gourd Roast)

Spicy and Crispy Tindora/Ivy Gourd Roast

My love for Tindora or Ivy Gourd grows more with each passing day. Not only I am a great fan of its crunchy texture and taste, I have many fond memories of my childhood days spent with my sister under the shade of its beautiful green vines where we shared our joys, sorrow and many secrets. I had lost the count for number of times I had spent reading my favourite childhood comic books under the shade of it’s think vines and lazily picking some very tender, small Ivy gourds and eating them lying on the blanket. Whenever I cook with these little green gems, I fondly remember the times we spent lying under the shades of these vines beautifully spread across guava tree in my parents’ vegetable garden. Isn’t it interesting how simple and everyday fruits and vegetables can create such fond and happy memories!