Raw Mango and Bottle Gourd Dal Recipe | Khatta Meetha Lauki-Aam Dal

Learn how to make Raw Mango and Bottle Gourd Dal or Khatta Meetha Lauki-Aam Dal ~ Sweet and sour, creamy raw mango and bottle gourd lentil soup tempered with spices and curry leaves

What is summer without mangoes? Nothing, there is nothing in this world that screams summer to me like looking at the king of fruits. Be it emerald shaded raw mangoes and the rich golden hued mangoes, their sour and sweet flavour is unbeatable. It is and it will always be mangoes that rule my world and my childhood memories. Forget all exotic fruits; pineapple, peach, kiwi, plum, berries; nothing can ever come quite close to magnificent Mangifera Indica in flavour, taste or aroma. It’s a same story every year. Just one look at them and I start reminiscing about the Mango Season, the season of the king of fruits, back home in India.

Come summer and it meant only one thing for me and my siblings, long vacation at paternal and maternal granny’s home. The memories of those sunny, glorious summer days of endless fun, pranks and digging our teeth into succulent mangoes warm my heart even today. Granny’s house was just like many other beautiful tiled-terraced houses (or more like mansion) in my native village in southern India. Surrounded by acres of greenery, the white house with red tiles stood tall and proud with wide porches running around the house. Polished to perfection red oxide floors would gleam with intricately carved thick rosewood pillars supporting the roofs. The trees around the big house served as the compound walls and the beautiful water stream flowing right next to the house was its gate. Magnificent tall jackfruit, tamarind, coconut trees competed against each other for the title in the backyard.

Lasooni Dal Palak Recipe | Quick and Easy Dal or Lentil Soup Recipes

Learn how to make Lasooni Dal Palak ~ Garlic flavoured lentil and spinach soup

As my mother complained about hot weather in India, unusual for this time of the year, I just wished I was at home in India as I gazed at grey skies wearing my winter jacket, snow boots and my hands tucked inside my jacket pocket to keep it warm! Spring in India is much hotter than the summers here in UK and the signals how brutal the summers are going to be. With air conditioning turned on during spring season, especially in the night, I can just imagine the kind of summer India is going to welcome in couple of weeks. I hate hot weather and the only thing that made the heat bearable was the arrival of summer bounty, especially mangoes. But given a choice, I will gladly take the sweaty and hot sunny days over the gloomy cold weather. I thought I was immune to it, and to be frank, I didn’t even care for the weather as I did enjoy the cold winters especially coming from a hot tropical country where the sun shines for 365 days a year! But I guess this is what happens to someone who hasn’t seen the face of sun god for weeks!

This winter by far been worse one during my 10 years of living in the UK. It feels like a big joke when the leader of first world says climate change is a fake news when we are still in the clutches of ruthless winter god even after mid-March! With terrible mood swings and low energy, I can’t wait to get enough of Vitamin D in summer. But if days continue to be this cold and gloomy, we might as well skip spring entirely and welcome summer! ~sigh~ Maybe it’s time to plan a trip to some sunny part of the world, or just cook something that brings the colours of summer in a bowl… Since the first one seems like out of reach as hubby is buried under workload, the latter is the only choice as of now…

South Indian Style Beet Greens and Stems Dal Recipe | Quick and Easy Dal Recipes

Learn how to make South Indian Style Beet Greens and Stems Dal ~ Beet greens and stems cooked in a spicy and sour lentil gravy

Fresh green leafy vegetables are part and parcel of Indian cooking. With easily available spinach, coriander leaves, mint, dill leaves to special greens like fresh fenugreek leaves, red and green amaranth, Malabar spinach, drumstick leaves and wide range of seasonal and wild greens, the Indian home cooks have incorporated variety of fresh greens in their day to day cooking.

Growing up in a small town meant easy access to fresh farm produce every single day. Apart from many home grown veggies that my parents grew in our small but well maintained garden, we would get steady supply of seasonal fruits and veggies from our farm as well as many other farms and orchards of our relatives. I come from a family who have very deep and strong roots in farming and had a privilege of eating the best organically grown produce without a drop of pesticide in sight. Things that I took for granted have become a luxury now.

Khatta-Meetha Lauki Dal | Sapori Product Review and A Giveway

Learn how to make Khatti-Meethi Lauki Dal ~ One pot sweet and sour bottle gourd lentil soup

A week before the madness of Christmas holidays began, I received a large box of parcel from the Forma House, a UK based company specialising in unique home ware products sourced from around the globe. With all that running, organising and buying mini truckloads of presents for the family and friends, it was a pleasant surprise to receive something special during the festive season. The package contained two beautifully crafted pieces of Sapori Collection from the well-known brand La Porcellana Bianca; Sapori Potato Pot and the Sapori Casserole Pot in a beautiful shade of red. This post is about my experience of using this elegant cookware extensively in my kitchen for the last one month and also about how you can enter a giveaway to win this striking Sapori Casserole Pot worth £55!

I normally work with brands which are best fit for my blog readers and 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 little over a month since I started using the Sapori pots in everyday cooking and it was not difficult to fall in love with such beautifully crafted pieces of cookware. Both products came with very useful instruction manual as how to clean the product before using. The Sapori collection is created to meet the needs of people who are constantly looking for ways to enhance the flavours without compromising the nutrition quotient of food. It is designed for those who want to rediscover the joy and real taste of traditional recipes, whilst still being healthy.