Veg Hara Bhara Kabab Recipe | Simple Vegan Kebab Recipes

Learn how to make Hara Bhara Kabab ~ Mildly spiced Indian vegan spinach and potato kebabs flavoured with fresh herbs and aromatic spices

We made these Hara Bhara Kababs exactly a month ago when LD was recovering from another bout of viral infection. When I say we, it means my 6-year-old and I, mom and son team. Cooking with over enthusiastic kid means fun, but it also means mess! I kid you not. The kitchen will end up looking like a bomb sight with flour covered kitchen floor and counter tops, sauce smeared kitchen cabinets, and a child who is covered with every ingredient that went into that pot or pan of food you are making! Then why teach your kids to cook when it means more of a mess than its worth?! Absolutely. Well, there is not just one, but 101 reasons to introduce our kids to the joys of cooking.

Teaching our kids to cook is one of the most basic life skills we can pass on and most importantly, it gives us the opportunity to teach them valuable lessons. I find him curiously touch, smell and taste the ingredients. This natural inquisitiveness of LD turns into total fascination and then surprise when he watches the dramatic transformation the food goes through in terms of colour, texture and size right before his eyes during cooking and baking. The once firm and hard potatoes turn soft and mushy, the delicate, easy to crack eggs become hard when boiled, the crystals of sugar and salt completely gets dissolved, the fruit is turned to juice and how it becomes one of his favourite treat ice lolly when kept in freezer overnight! If this is not magic, then I don’t know what else is?!

Stuffed Bread Pakoda/Pakora Recipe | How to Make Bread Pakoda/Pakora

Lean to make Stuffed Bread Pakoda/Pakora ~ Deep fried savoury bread slices stuffed with spicy mashed potato and coated with spicy chickpea flour batter

Every night after patting Lil Dumpling to sleep I stand next to the window, looking out at the night sky. Some days I see the full moon, round and bright, shining down on us with little twinkling starts against deep blue background! Some other days the same moon peeks out of dark grey clouds heavy with unshed rain. Most days I watch little drops of rain falling gently from the sky and kissing the earth, pitter pattering in a small puddle formed by one missing brick from the pathways right under the street light. On some other days, the rain is accompanied by gushing wind, howling in the dark night like a lonely wolf parted from its family and looking desperately for them. And then there are nights when torrential rain falls angrily on ground, tearing the sky like Monsoon rains in my home land!

Masala Aloo/Potato Roast Recipe | Simple Indian Style Potato Roast Recipe

Learn how to make Masala Aloo or Potato Roast ~
Spicy and crispy pan fried potato roast with aromatic Indian spices

There is something about Potato! Isn’t it? The humble, modest and unassuming tuber grows out of sight, underground and when pulled up it looks like a part of earth. Have you ever seen it competing with other colourful vegetables or trying to take away the spotlight from other vegetables? This spud is neither good looking with frills of cauliflower, nor has beautiful glossy colours of bell peppers. This tuber neither has the clear complexion of white eggplants, nor the radiance of sweet corns. It is oddly shaped unlike slender beans or round tomatoes and sometimes even comes with ugly black spots on its muddy body! Have you ever seen any vegetable seller singing its songs of praise, trying to attract his buyers? When he is praising the goodness and beauty of other vegetables, you will find the dirty sack of potatoes sitting quietly in some dark corner, trying very hard to stay out of spot lights and looks of admiration!

Low Fat Oven Roasted Potato Wedges Recipe ~ Roasted Cumin and Sea Salt Flavoued

Low Fat Oven Roasted Potato Wedges ~ Roasted Cumin Flavoued

I had major plans for Easter break! A trip to pet farm for Lil Dumpling followed by a canal side walk to show little duckies following their Mamma ducks and then visit to local library with some spring and summer wardrobe shopping thrown in! Thursday evening I left the office little early, eagerly looking forward to spend next four days with my two men outside in open air, breathing fresh air and creating new sweet memories along…

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.