Veg and Coconut Ragi Rotti Recipe | Vegan and Gluten Free Finger Millet Flat Bread

Learn how to make Veg and Coconut Ragi Rotti ~ Vegan and gluten free coconut and veggie loaded finger millet flour flat bread

“Ghar ki murgi daal baraabar” is a Hindi idiom which I have come to appreciate over the time. The literal word by word translation is a chicken at home is no better than daal (everyday lentil soup) and it is used when someone undervalues the things which they own. It is quite similar to English quote ‘the grass is greener on other side’. Are you wondering why I am talking about chicken, lentil soup and grass today? Well, I have a very good reason to rant about… So stay with me if you have time to hear (more like read) my rants, or simply scroll down to the recipe of Veg and Coconut Ragi Rotti, a vegan, gluten-free finger millet flour flat bread loaded with vegetables and coconut.

In the last couple of years I have seen a rise in interest for the super foods. While quinoa, kale, green tea, cranberries were the super foods of the past, the cauliflower, chia seeds, coconut and beetroots are the trending super foods of the present. As much as I appreciate the health benefits they have, you will never find me publishing recipes after recipes of green, red, pink and rainbow coloured smoothie bowls, cauliflower rice, chia seed puddings etc here in my blog unless my family and I really love the dish! I am not a food snob, and I don’t follow any latest food trends. Being a food blogger and running in a circle of foodies, I am bound to come across many articles and recipes that celebrate the current food trends. I enjoy reading them, swooning over the beautiful food photographs, and sometimes, I try couple of recipes to see what the hoopla was all about. That’s where my fascination with the super foods ends as I just continue to cook and enjoy the food that I am most familiar with, like ancient grains that have been tried and cooked for centuries by our ancestors in India.

Whole Wheat Tibetian Vegetable Momo Recipe | Step by Step Recipe for Veg Momos

Learn how to make Whole Wheat Tibetian Vegetable Momos ~ Steam cooked whole wheat dumpling stuffed with crispy vegetables, a delicacy from North East India

Who would have ever thought that the day will come where I will sit down to write this post?! A post about blog-anniversary! Believe it or not, Monsoon Spice just turned 9 years old. It’s been NINE YEARS since this blog was born on a lazy afternoon and I really find it difficult to digest the fact that I have stuck to blogging after all these years. With my two men army fighting nasty cold and fever, I almost missed the blog milestone. 9 years of blogging is a huge milestone for someone who strongly believes ‘change is the only constant in life’! It looks like my love and passion for food blogging has not dulled or died down even after all these years of food blogging and if anything else, my love affair with food writing, photography and blogging has grown stronger and deeper.

 It was the peak of winter in 2005 when the days were really short and the sun disappeared for days. I was a new bride in unknown city, new country and different continent and had nothing worthwhile happening in my life. After spending long hours on phone, reading books and flipping the channels on idiot box, I was still left with many more hours of solitude and boredom! I began to spend more time in kitchen to relive the husband of mine from cooking the same meal every day. Slowly I began to cook one dish after another that I learnt from my mother through our hour long telephone conversations and expanded my recipe repertoire which was limited to half a dozen recipes. After many misadventures, small kitchen accidents and blunders, I decided to document my culinary journey for posterity to have some laugh at my expense! After couple of months I decided to take a plunge and give my personal diary an online presence for amateurs home cooks like me who struggled to differentiate pigeon peas from split chickpeas and cilantro from parsley. Well, who would have imagined that the blog born out of boredom and necessity would complete 9 enjoyable years! Not me!!! Never in zillion years! It has come a long way from being amateur cooking blog to much confident and passionate cooking blog of today!

Panch Mishali Torkari Recipe | Guest Post by Pia of The Peppercorns in My Pocket

Learn how to make Panch Mishali Torkari Recipe from Pia of The Peppercorns in My Pocket

Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . ."

~ C.S. Lewis

That’s pretty much sums up the friendship I share with this multi-talented girl! I am talking about my gorgeous friend Pia, author of a one of THE most beautiful blogs called the Peppercorns in My Pocket (don’t you just love the name?!). I was smitten with her wonderful photography the moment I chanced upon her blog, and her soul stirring narration that made me eagerly look forward to every new posts. Over the years I have become friends with few food bloggers and Pia is someone if we’re to meet in person, we’d really get on like a house on fire! As she rightly said one day while exchanging emails, we both have quite a lot of things in common; our love for books, food, family, prettying our home with pretty things and our love and yearning for the place we call home, India! Pia’s blog is a place where you can get lost in her words as she vividly paints the stories of her past and present. Hop over to her amazing space, I will assure you that you will be transported to the world of simple joy. If you enjoy some really good write-ups accompanied with recipes, then you can be sure to leave her space with big smile and happy thoughts. The stories of Chotu Ma, Pia’s chirpy, big dreamy eyed, beautiful little girl is an added bonus :) It is such a privilege to have you here, Pia and thank you for sharing such comfort food when we need it the most :) You can follow Pia on her Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram too.

Backwards and forwards

Can one walk backwards and forwards at the same time? Or do the two actions negate each other and make distance disappear, so that you stay in the same place like a tree - torso moving with the wind, toes digging into earth? I have a feeling, a good way of staying centred is to pretend you're riding a unicycle. One-pedal-forward-one-pedal-backward. That is what you need to do to achieve fine balance. To find your centre-of-gravity. Your rootedness. Rootedness has always had its root in movement.

My friend Sia, is moving from England, back to India, with her husband and little son. They're going back the way they came; walking in reverse. But towards family and old friends. Towards familiar roads and a well-known rhythm. Towards home. Backwards and forwards.

Gobi Manchurian with Gravy Recipe | Indo-Chinese Gobi Manchurian Recipe

Learn how to make Gobi Manchurian with Gravy ~ Indo-Chinese recipe of deep fried cauliflower fritters in sweet and spicy vegetable gravy

Did you know that there are food trends, quite similar to fashion trends? Yes, it’s true! While the year 2013 saw everyone go crazy about kale with kale chips, salads, stir fries, smoothies and what nots, the humble cauliflower is set to rule this year as it being crowned as the super food of 2014! If anything to go by the buzz and the hype that kale created last year, then we might braze ourselves for some unusual and unique cauliflower recipes to flood in the food blog and food magazine world!

Cauliflower for Gobi Manchurian with Gravy

Spicy Red Cabbage Slaw or Salad Recipe | Quick and Simple Salad Recipes

Learn how to make Spicy Red Cabbage Slaw or Salad recipe with salted boiled peanuts and spicy chilli and lime olive oil dressing

It’s that time of the year when the outside temperature drops to minus and I feel like a grizzly bear who just want to hibernate through the winter only to open its eyes when the spring season graces the mother earth! One can dream with closed eyes and in my case I can day dream anytime with both my eyes wide open! Not that I want to be grizzly bear, but I could so do with few good nights’ sleep though! Sigh...

Vegetable Hakka Noodles Recipe | Indo-Chinese Veg Hakka Noodles Recipe

Learn how to make Vegetable Hakka Noodles ~ Indo-Chinese recipe of stir fried vegetable and noodles with assorted sauces

As my fingers tap danced on the laptop’s keyboard to shape my thoughts into words, my eyes wandered out of the window to admire the tall trees swaying at the cool evening breeze. They stood tall like a proud soldiers as the green leaves on branch ruffle and sway when caressed by the evening breeze. And then I noticed something...

Cabbage Akki Rotti Recipe | Gluten Free Spicy Cabbage Flat Bread Recipe

Cabbage Akki Rotti Recipe | Gluten Free Spicy Cabbage Flat Bread

I think I need another vacation to recover from previous one! Well, it almost sums up my recent trip to India-aah!

Food-dozing-food-chasing the toddle-food-trying to stop Lil Dumpling from running wild naked-food-meeting dozens of aunts and uncles-food-travelling with one super active toddler-food-temple visits-food-catching few blinks while Lil Dumpling runs riot without a stitch of thread on his back-food-trying to avoid cousin jealousy when one kid snatches toys from other-food-catching up with all the latest gossips in family and friend circle-food-taking few photos in between Lil Dumpling’s short day naps-food-food-food-and more food! Well, this almost sums up my India trip!!!

Veg Schezwan Fried Rice Recipe | Indo-Chinese or Chindise Delight!

This is probably my last post on Monsoon Spice…. Well, what I meant was it is this year’s last post… I am not giving up blogging, yet. My passion for cooking, clicking and blogging is still burning as bright as the day one! After being away from blogging for more than a year, I resumed my blogging soon after Lil Dumpling turned a year old. From posting one post per week, this blog has been thriving and going strong with three posts a week!!! I think it’s time I slowed down a bit and smelled the roses, literally!

Hot & Sour Vegetable Soup Recipe | Hot & Sour Veg and Tofu Soup

Hot and Sour Vegetable Soup

This has to be the shortest autumn here in my neck of wood. We enjoyed long, sunny and unbelievably warm summer this year. Just when the leaves turned to gorgeous shades of yellow, red and orange, the gushing wind and heavy downpour undressed the trees and now they stand almost naked with few leaves hanging there for their dear life. With dropping temperature and cold wind blowing at high speeds, UK is officially ready to welcome winter. Brrrr….

Cream of Corn Soup

Other day I was chatting with my lovely cousin who is staying in US. She is a fabulous cook with many healthy and nutritious recipes in her kitty. After we finish with our usual chit-chat, we share some interesting recipes which we have had tried and found quite good:) I was lucky again (as most of the times;) and got this awesome soup recipe from her. When she said she was hooked to this soup I was bit sceptical about it. Thats mainly because the only soup I am really hooked is tomato soup, which I can consume in gallons without complaining. Although I love soups, no other soups have come close to tomato soup. And boy!!! Was I wrong this time. I am quite happy that my soup theory proved wrong:) It was all she mentioned and now like her even I and K are hooked to this delicious hot bowl of soup. So this is a call to all soup lovers out there to give it a shot as I am sure you will love it as much as we do.

Cream of Corn Soup

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Cream of Corn Soup
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time:15-20 mins
Serves: 2-3

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Ingredients:
1 can of Cream of Corn
2 cups of Water/ Vegetable Stock
2 cubes of Vegetable Stock (omit if you are using vegetable stock)
1 tbsp Soya Sauce
1 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
1 tbsp Corn flour (adjust according to required consistency)
½ cup Carrot, diced into small pieces
½ cup French Beans, chopped
½ cup Cabbage, chopped finely
½ cup Green Peas, cooked or frozen
½ cup Celery, diced (optional)
Salt and Pepper Powder to taste

Cream of Corn Soup

For Garnishing:
2-3 green chillies, finely chopped and kept in vinegar for 1-2 hours
Shredded Cabbage

Cream of Corn Soup

Method:
Pour 2 cups of water into heavy bottomed pan and add veg stock cubes to them.
To this add cream of corn and mix well.
In a mean while, microwave all the vegetables for 2-4 minutes so that they retain their crunchiness.
Add these vegetables to the pan with soya sauce and vinegar.
Take ¼ cup of water and dissolve corn flour in it.
Add this to soup and keep stirring so that no lumps are formed.
Cook in medium flame for another minute and then add salt and pepper according to your taste.
Serve hot garnished with shredded cabbage and chillies in vinegar with any bread or bun.

Green Peas and Cabbage Palya

Palya is a side dish prepared with all varieties of vegetables. This is a dry dish which can be mixed with rice and eaten, or can be eaten with chappathis. Most people eat Palya with the Rice and Saaru(Rasam), or Rice and Huli as a side dish. For me its a best diet food because it hardly needs any oil and masala. Because you stir fry them it retains all its nutrients and tastes really good at a same time. Here is a recipe for preparing Cabbage and Green peas Palya. Very easy to cook and takes very little time.

Green Peas and Cabbage Palya

Ingredients:
1/2 head Cabbage, slice it thinly
1/2 cup boiled green peas
3 green Chillies, slit
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp Urad Dal
1 Dry Red Chilli
1 tsp chopped Coriader leaves
2 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

Green Peas and Cabbage Palya

Method:
Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add Mustard seeds, Urad Dal, Red Chilli and allow to splutter.
Then add green chillies and fry for few seconds.
Add cabbage, salt, turmaric powder and little water. Cover the pan and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the cabbage is just soft.
Now add boiled green peas, salt and simmer for 5-8 minutes.
Garnish with coriader leaves and serve hot with Chapatis/Rice.

Green Peas and Cabbage Palya