Tawa Paneer Recipe | Simple and Quick Paneer Recipes

Learn how to make Tawa Paneer ~ Griddle roasted Indian cottage cheese and veggies marinated in aromatic spices

When last week LD’s spring break began, I was euphoric! No school meant waking up late, no running around the house prepping breakfast, ironing school uniforms, shouting at top of my voice asking LD to finish his breakfast for hundredth time in a minute, watching my hair turn grey as he finishes his morning business at snail’s pace, pulling my hair in anxiety as he asks hundreds of questions while sitting on a potty, and literally dragging him out of the house and all the way to school to make sure we are just in time before the school bell rings! Only to come back home to sink full of dishes, basketful of laundry, high pile of cloths to be ironed, mountain high work load, photography assignments, answering to dozens of emails, and of course, worrying about what to cook for dinner and if time permits, food photo shoot for the blog!

6 hours of back breaking work later, I am ready to rush back to school to take him for after-school activities and bring him back home. Before I know it, it’s time to make dinner, watch him slowly pick small spoonful of food at snail’s pace for over an hour, snatch the spoon from him hand and shovel what is now ice cold dinner that I slaved to cook, watch my hair turn grey and fall as he slowly brushes his teeth before tucking him into bed after reading half a dozen stories! If I am not snoozing or half dead by then, stare at telly with hubby or stare at the blinking curser wishing and even praying for some words to magically pop in my half dead brain and flow into my finger tips to tap dance on the keyboard for a blog post! By the time I hit the sack, it doesn’t take more than couple of moments to fall into dreamless sleep after my head touches the pillow, if not hit by migraine or insomnia! 7 hours later, I am ready for another day of routine! That’s when I desperately look forward to school holidays…

One week into 2 weeks of spring break, I am ‘almost’ looking forward for the schools to re-open!

Kadai Mushroom (Karahi Mushroom) Recipe | How to Make Restaurant Style Kadai Mushroom or Karahi Mushroom

Learn how to make Kadai Mushroom or Karahi Mushroom ~ Semi dry spicy curry of mushrooms cheese and bell peppers cooked in a spicy tomato gravy flavoured with freshly ground spice mix

Imagine your food without spices. Unimaginable, isn’t it? They are the best ingredients to include in daily cooking as they not only add flavours and colours, but also bring out complex and rich flavours from the food itself. Almost every cuisine of the world has not gone untouched by a sprinkle of spices, but none of them embraces the spices close to its bosom as Indian cuisine which unashamedly uses these flavourful spices to the brim! Everything from curries to chai, our food and drinks brims with spices.

Throughout the past, there has been great wars fought for these spices; some won and some lost leaving path on the map marked with riches, blood and sacrifices. The spice routes were formed, lands were plundered and looted, innocent blood was shed, and a lot was lost in a quest for Indian spices which as the history says was so valuable that it was worth more than a gold in weight! Such was the lure of spices which makes them not just mere ingredients in Indian cuisine, but a way of life…

Achari Paneer Masala Recipe | Quick and Simple Achaari Paneer Curry Recipe

Learn how to make Achari Paneer Masala ~ Paneer/Indian cottage cheese cooked in a creamy onion and tomato gravy flavoured with pickling spices

The weather gods are still indecisive in my neck of woods. One day it’s all bright and sunny with warm breeze and blindingly blue skies and the next day it’s wet and gloomy dampening our spirits! When I am about to pack our winter coats in vacuum bags and take out light cardigans, the heavens open their doors to downpour like never before. It’s supposed to be spring and the summer bank holiday is just a couple of days ahead! Well, its bit exasperating is an understatement!

While the weather gods continue to struggle to make up their mind, there is no doubt in my mind about the food that is churned in my kitchen. Hot and spicy curries are and will always be the firm favourites in my home during all four seasons, even on scorching summer days! Sounds crazy? Well, I am not taking about the curries that demand all your attention and time. I am talking about the curries that needs couple of minutes of your time and all you need is to breeze in and out of kitchen for stirring the glorious food simmering in a pot on the stove top. Yes, I am talking about such recipe which is simple and easy to cook and yet ends up looking and tasting like you have spent hours slaving in the kitchen while perfecting it, recipes like Achari Paneer Masala.

Aloo Pepper Fry Recipe | Simple and Quick Vegan Potato Peppery Fry

Learn how to make Vegan Aloo Pepper Fry ~ Simple and quick spicy potato and bell pepper stir fry

We are home after three weeks of holiday in India. Getting back to routine after vacation is always challenging, especially when it was spent with the most important people in your life! The weather is not making it easy either, coming back from literally roasting under 38 deg C of Indian summer to the cold, cloudy and windy 8 deg C of British spring will take some time… May be a lot of time! ~sigh~

But the biggest challenge of all is getting back to the rhythm of cooking after being spoiled by the amazing food we have been fed, err overfed, by our loved ones back in India. From my amma’s amazing pile of soLe rotti to MIL’s mouth-watering patrode, from our family cook’s delicious raw jackfruit pakoda to the sinful street foods, we have stuffed ourselves to the hilt and it will take months of hard work outs to shed all the extra pounds we have gained.

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!

Restaurant Style Paneer Jalfrezi Recipe | How to Make Paneer Jalfrezi

Learn how to make Restaurant Style Paneer Jalfrezi ~ A quick stir fry of paneer, bell peppers, onion and tomato in a spicy tomato paste

India is the largest producer of milk and it is no surprise that we Indians love milk and milk produce. Starting our day with strong milky coffee or tea, we integrate milk and milk products in various recipes. And our meal is incomplete without a glass of yogurt or buttermilk, either spiced with few green chillies, cumin powder etc or sweetened with sugar. Milk, yogurt, buttermilk, ghee, butter and cream are part and parcel of Indian meals. And there is one more milk product which we all love, Paneer.

Ingredients for Paneer Jalfrezi

Restaurant Style Paneer Jalfrezi Recipe

It is Paneer or Indian cottage cheese and there are very few who doesn’t like Paneer. Paneer is used in many dishes like the ever popular Matar Paneer, Kadai Paneer, Nawabi Paneer, Paneer Butter Masala (Fried cottage cheese served in creamy and buttery onion-tomato gravy), Malai Kofta (Deep fried cheese dumplings in rich, creamy tomato gravy), Paneer Tikka (grilled paneer cubes marinated in spicy yogurt), Paneer Paratha and many more. Since the large population are pure vegetarians in India, the use of milk and milk produce are given more importance for their protein and calcium supplements and Paneer is something which is loved by all, especially the little ones. Lil Dumpling is no exception and he loves Paneer cooked in mild gravies. Bored of making same paneer curries, I ventured into little adventure of making spicy Restaurant Style Paneer Jalfrezi.

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

Stuffed Capsicum Pakoda or Pakora Recipe | Spicy Potato Stuffed Bell Pepper Fritter

Learn how to make Stuffed Capsicum/Bell Pepper Pakoda or Pakora ~ Deep fried bell pepper rings stuffed with spiced potato mash and coated with spicy gram flour paste

Diwali was a very quiet affair at our home with just three of us spending time with one another. With the sudden drop in temperature from two digits to single digits on the lower side, Lil Dumpling caught a flu bug and he was seen coughing and sneezing for most part of the day. So we skipped the traditional oil bath and gorging on home cooked festival foods and found comfort in a bowl of spicy Rasam rice and soups.

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...

Creamy Tofu and Pepper Curry Recipe | Vegan Tofu and Capsicum Curry

Learn how to make Creamy Tofu and Pepper Curry ~ Vegan curry of capsicums/bell peppers cooked in a mildly spiced creamy tofu and tomato gravy

"I do not claim that I can tell a story as it ought to be told. I only claim to know how a story ought to be told."
~ Mark Twain

I have a story to tell… This is a story of little boy and the moon. This is a story of their friendship that is growing stronger and deeper with every passing day. This is a story about smiling lips, twinkling eyes, dimpled cheeks, excited shrieks and infectious giggles. This is also a story of trembling lips, teary eyes, fiery tantrums, disappointed sighs and hopeful tomorrows. This is a story of little heartbreaks and break ups, and at the same time this is also a story of life long friend ships and make ups! Yes, I have a story to tell…a very special story to tell…

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!

Mushroom in Garlic Sauce Recipe | Indo-Chinese Recipe for Mushroom in Creamy Garlic Gravy

Learn how to make Mushrooms in Garlic Sauce ~ Quick and simple Indo-Chinese recipe for mushrooms cooked in spicy garlic gravy

You know that last 5-10 minutes of time just before you close your eyes and go to dreamland or dreamless sleep at night after you finish reading the book and then turn off all the lights? Yes, the same moments where you are alone with your thoughts… Most of my thoughts these days revolve around Lil Dumpling and his antics, about DH and his love, about my family and their care and I feel blessed to have them in my life. Sometimes I think about the most basic things like planning menus for the next day or thinking about the things to do at work or mentally prepare the notes for the meetings on next day. And then there are times when my thoughts wander off to my past, the days spent with my parents, siblings and friends; like a movie roll changing colours, characters and scenes from one minute to the next…

Spicy Tomato and Bell Pepper (Capsicum) Chutney Recipe | How to Make Spicy Tomato & Pepper Relish

Learn how to make Spicy Tomato & Bell Pepper (Capsicum) Chutney/Relish

My neck of wood is turning grey, matching with the greys of skies! The giant tress on the road sides look naked, except for few stubborn dried leaves hanging tightly to their skeleton of branches. Soon these leaves too will be blown away from there, leaving the trees look like big dark ghosts looming around in the sunless early evenings and days. The air has turned crisp, sharp and chilly; biting my skin, making me bury my nose under the thick furry scarf around my neck.

Mushroom-Pepper Curry | How to Make Simple Mushroom & Capsicum Curry

Learn how to make Mushroom-Pepper Curry ~ Simple and quick stir fry recipe of spicy bell peppers/capsicums and mushrooms marinated in aromatic spice blend

Autumn is here in full glory!
She has turned the world into one giant rainbow.
The sky is vivid blue and the grass is gold
The trees look like the Cupid’s colourful bow!
The birds are tweeting melodious songs
And the bees are buzzing all day long
People are covered from head to feet
In their woolly hat and coat
Little Dumpling likes his evening walks
While his boots crushes dry leaves and the stalks
Pitter-patter rain is here to stay
Dancing in the puddles is so much fun, I say!
Soon the winter will spread her chills
So let’s enjoy one last trip to the hills!

Paneer Pepper(Capsicum) Curry Recipe for Blog Anniversary | How to Make Simple Paneer Curry

Paneer Pepper (Capsicum) Curry

With one hectic and busy work and family life, I almost missed the blog milestone! Yes… Today Monsoon Spice turns 6 years old or young :) It’s been exactly SIX years since this blog was born on a lazy afternoon! Wohoo… SIX YEARS!!! I know I need to stop repeating the same thing again and again, but I find it difficult to believe that my love and passion for food blogging is still going strong after all these years!

Cauliflower Kurma Recipe | How to Make Simple Vegetable Kurma

Learn how to make Cauliflower Kurma

As soon as the early sunrays caressed the chubby cheeks of little girl with pigtails she opened her eyes slowly, rubbing it fast to kick the slumber still clinging to it in a hope of catching few more minutes of sleep… It was Sunday, a special day filled with promise of long hours of play time, favourite food and undivided attention of parents… Happily she climbed down from her bed and burst into the kitchen where her mother was cooking. She watched with fascination as her mother selected few spices from glass jars, a cinnamon, few green cardamoms and cloves grown in their farm along with other spices. The small cast iron pan was taken out from the top shelf and then her mother started roasting the spices… Within couple of minutes the whole house was filled with a heady aroma of spices. 

Kadai Paneer (Karahi Paneer) Recipe | How to Make Restaurant Style Kadai Paneer or Karahi Paneer

Kadai Paneer or Karahi Paneer ~What’s in name?!

Past three weeks have been really testing and extremely busy week in MS household. First, HD got busy with mountain load of paper works needed for my in-law’s visa and then Lil Dumpling suddenly fell ill with severe cough and then gastroenteritis. Ah, the joys of sending your child to day care means seesawing between little runny nose to viral infections.

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!

Stuffed Capsicums/Bell Peppers Recipe | Spicy Potato Stuffed Bell Peppers

Stuffed Capsicums/Bell Peppers

Sometimes I wonder how I managed to cook 3-4 dishes using complex cooking techniques on same day! Those were pre-Lil Dumpling days where I had few responsibilities and more ‘me’ times! It’s true that I can hardly remember the days before Lil Dumpling came in to our life. I wonder what I used to do in those days! The picture is getting blurry with each passing days and I wonder if I’ll remember those days at all in few years time!

Tofu Tikka Recipe | Grilled or Pan Fried Tofu in Spicy Yogurt Marinade

Tofu Tikka

While the leaves outside turned to rustic shades of red, yellow and orange, I decided to colour our dinner plates with the same colours. Wondering what I am talking about? Just my usual rambling on a beautiful autumn day. But wait, I have a recipe too which uses coloured peppers and tofu who are here to bid good bye to fall and welcome brrr… the winter. Bight shades of yellow, red and green bell peppers adorned our dinner plates with gold crusted tofu in the form of Tofu Tikka.