Aloo Methi Curry Recipe | Simple Vegan Potato Curry

Learn how to make Aloo Methi Curry ~ Vegan potato and fresh fenugreek leaves in spicy tomato gravy

Fried, boiled, baked, mashed, stuffed, being stuffed(?!), roasted, grilled…

The above mentioned are some avatars of potato that come out of my kitchen at least once or twice a week. There is something about Potato, isn’t it? The unassuming tuber grows out of sight, underground and when pulled up it looks like a part of the 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 spotlights and looks of admiration!

Ingredients for Aloo Methi Curry

That is how I see the potato; humble, unpretentious and highly adaptable. Cook it with any ingredient, vegetables or spices and it transforms into something irresistible. The down to earth and simple looking raw potato transforms into an exquisite and tantalising dish!

Aviyal Recipe | Keralan Mixed Vegetable Curry With Coconut And Yogurt

Learn how to make Aviyal or Avial ~ Keralan mixed vegetable medley with coconut and yogurt

Heaven must be a bit like Kerala, an ancient strip of lush, tropical land that slithers sensuously down the coast of south-western India.
~ Madhur Jaffrey

Blessed with tropical, balmy weather and plentiful rain, Kerala is truly God’s own country. The land of sparkling backwater zigzagging the lush green landscape dotted with paddy fields, tea plantations and the majestic coconut trees swaying to the cool breeze of Arabian sea, Kerala is home to world’s most precious treasure – spices that have lured traders from antiquity, and then the invaders many centuries ago. At the end of 15th century the Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama hitched up his sail and after circling the Cape of Good Hope landed in Kerala at the port of Calicut and soon the other Europeans – Dutch, French and English – followed his sea route. What started as a lucrative spice trade soon created a whirlwind of brutal violence and colonisation in the name of God, king and country leaving a trail of blood stained the map of India!

Ingredients for Aviyal

Black pepper, the king of spices and the most coveted spice was believed to be worth its weight in gold is still one of the most loved spices in the present day is grown abundantly in Kerala along with many other spices like cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms etc. Keralan cuisine is loved for not just it’s balanced used of spices, but also inclusivity of local produce in everyday cooking. Sadya – a celebratory feast consisting of a variety of traditional vegetarian dishes usually served on banana leaves – showcases the beauty of Keralan vegetarian dishes cooked with a wide range of locally grown vegetables like gourds, green plantains, root vegetables, yams etc cooked with freshly grated coconut, coconut milk, yogurt, and lentils etc. Almost every savoury dish has two main ingredients – coconut oil and fresh curry leaves – and it is impossible to imagine Keralan cuisine without these two!

Tilwale Aloo with Tenderstem Recipe | Spicy Indian Roast Potatoes with Tenderstem

Tilwale Aloo with Tenderstem Recipe ~ How to make spicy Indian roast potatoes with Tenderstem broccoli

Wrapped in many layers of clothing, knee-high boots and my nose buried in a warm woolly scarf, I walked on a slippery frost-covered path I welcomed the winter grudgingly when I had to cut short my walk due to heavy rain lashing around me. With no protection from trees that were decked up in autumn splendour, but now standing stark naked thanks to the sudden drop in temperature to freezing point and incessant rainfall which caused floods in neighbouring towns and cities, I came home soaking wet and in desperate need for something warm and comforting. The season of hot soups, hearty stews, spicy curries, warm salads and continuous supply of hot cup of joy is here!!! Hello, winter… Let me welcome you with something simple, spicy, hearty and delicious, like this Tilwale Aloo with Tenderstem broccoli.





Versatile, delicious and highly adaptable, Tenderstem broccoli takes just minutes to cook making it the perfect ingredient for a delicious and adventurous mid-week meal. Cook with any ingredient, pair it with any vegetables or spices and be amazed to see how it transforms into something irresistible. Add them to stir-fries or steam them with a pinch of salt, roast them in an oven or eat them raw, grill them with a little oil or batter fry until crisp. It can be added to cuisines from across the globe, from pasta and curries to stir-fries, tempura or ramen! Taking inspiration from my Indian roots, I use Tenderstem in simple Thoran (a quick stir fry tempered with mustard seeds and curry leaves and garnished with fresh grated coconut), Rasedaar Aloo (Tenderstem and potatoes in spicy tomato curry) and Vegan Kurma (Tenderstem and mixed veg in coconut and fresh roasted masala gravy).

Quick and Simple Palak Paneer Curry Recipe | Quick and Simple Paneer Recipes

Learn how to make quick and simple Palak Paneer Curry ~ Indian cottage cheese in mildly spiced rich and creamy spinach gravy

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. A pearl of wisdom by my grandmother who not only lived a simple life, but also beautifully incorporated the art of simplicity in her cooking as well. With so many produce; fresh, exotic and vibrant, available with a click of a button, we sometimes forget how a simple food can really be uplifting and soul satisfying. After all, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, isn’t it?

Ingredients for Palak Paneer Curry

As I am recovering from a nasty flu, hubby took over the kitchen and cooked simple meals for days which nourished my aching body and comforted my troubled spirit. His cooking is very much like the person he is; simple, straight forward and down to earth with a touch of humour and little madness to make it anything but boring. It is during this time I realised how my cooking has evolved over the time and how complicated it has become by adding one too many ingredients. Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex but it takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction. Simple ingredients prepared in a simple way is the best way to take your everyday cooking to a higher level.

Punjabi Kadhi Pakoda Recipe | How to Make Punjabi Kadhi Pakoda

Learn how to make Punjabi Kadhi Pakoda ~ Onion fritters in a delicately spiced creamy yoghurt gravy from Punjab

Everyone has some food that speaks to them, conveying security, exultation, and are the universal cure to any bad day! One bite and all your worries seem to disappear, and you sink into a sense of oblivion. One bite, and it can positively change your mood and make you feel better as they work their magic! That is the power of comfort foods!

Comfort food can be something simple, complex, rich, healthy or downright indulgent! There is no right or wrong kind of food when it comes to comfort food. Any meal that conjures up feelings of joy and safety, memories of childhood or good times, or brings simple pleasure is what comfort food is all about. If you are feeling lonely, food can be your new best friend; if bored, let food be your entertainment; if you are stressed, food can be your luxury spa treatment. Whatever the feeling, you can seek help through comfort foods.

Paneer Bhurji Recipe | Simple and Quick Paneer Recipes

Learn how to make Paneer Bhurji ~ Indian style scrambled Indian cottage cheese flavoured with spices

I should be finishing last minute packing, cleaning and cooking like right now, but here I am sitting and typing this post! I am not really sure why I am doing this amidst all that last minute packing and all that madness that comes with a day before flying! Well, that’s me I guess, wrapping myself in a comfort of words and memories when life gets little crazy and I want to drift back to cozy cocoon to calm my nerves or too much of excitement.

The summer holidays have begun for LD and it feels anything but summery in our neck of woods with pretty bad weather with cloudy skies, non-stop drizzles and even flash floods ruining the holiday mood. It’s no fun if one must spend indoors during summer, so we booked our tickets and travelling thousands of miles to be in a country which is bathed in heavy Monsoon rains! Halleluiah… Two sets of grandparents, half a dozen cousins, aunts and uncles should keep us busy and the fact that we are going to over indulge in Monsoon food specialities are making me too excited! This is going to be a mother and son holiday, at least for first 2 and half weeks until LD’s dad joins us and travelling with over excited, chatty, can’t-sit-still-for-more-than-five-minutes kid for most part of the day is going to be a piece of cake (not)!

BasaLe Soppina Koddel | Udupi-Mangalorean Style Vegan Malabar Spinach Curry

Learn how to make BasaLe Soppina Koddel ~ Udupi-Managlorean style Malabar spinach cooked in a freshly roasted spices and coconut gravy tempered with garlic

Do you dream about certain foods? After one long tired day, you close your eyes and then suddenly this delicious thing comes to your mind. All you can do at that moment is sigh and groan loudly matching the rumble of your stomach. You just wish that you could take one teeny-tiny bite of that scrumptious food you have had loooooooong time ago? Food that makes one want to weep as the nostalgia hits like a tonnes of bricks!

Yes… I am talking about such food, something you can’t find in a place where you are currently living. Apart from my family and friends, I miss quite many things that I had taken for granted in all those years I spent time in my country of birth. It is like inhaling the heady aroma of earth after first monsoon rain hits the mother earth, or the tingling taste of first tender mango rubbed with salt and chilli powder in hot summer days, or the feeling of happiness when you rest your head on your mother’s lap, or the satisfaction of hugging someone who loves you more than themselves, or the feeling of content that comes when you taste something specially cooked with lots of love by your loved ones… Yes, there are these few things that can’t be experienced anywhere else. And you miss them dearly, not just when you are feeling low but also when you are bursting with joy and happy thoughts. Because it is these few special people and interesting things that makes one’s life worthwhile.

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.

Lauki Aloo Matar Curry Recipe | Simple and Easy Vegan Bottle Gourd Curry Recipes

Learn how to make Lauki Aloo Matar Curry ~ A simple and easy bottle gourd curry with potato and peas cooked in a sweet and tangy tomato gravy

Vegetables, some you love and some you hate. And then there are few which don’t fall under either category and precariously balance in between depending on how it is cooked. Lauki or sorekayi or dudhi or bottle gourd was one such vegetable in my list. Did you notice I spoke about it in past tense? It is because I was not either fond of it or disliked it enough to put firmly under just one category. So, like many other vegetables while growing up bottle gourd and I shared love-hate relationship.

Ingredients for Lauki Aloo Matar Curry

My mother being a terrific cook, all the dishes she made using this unassuming gourd was an instant hit on our dinner table. She knew the ways to trick the fussiest picky eater to go for second helping with her amazing cooking skills. Apart from making her signature boLu kodhel and bottle gourd peel chutney, she also makes fantastic melt-in-mouth sweet halwa and delicious lauki ke kofte which I remember was one of the popular dishes she cooked for special occasions. The bland, pale and unattractive vegetable would get a massive makeover in her hands, making it one of the most desirable things to eat. That’s the power of mother’s cooking, which made me slowly fall in love with this vegetable.

Bhara Baingan or Stuffed Baby Eggplant Recipe | Simple and Quick Eggplant or Brinjal Recipes

Learn how to make Bhara Baingan or Stuffed Pan Roasted Baby Eggplants ~ Simple and easy spicy pan roasted baby eggplants stuffed with sesame, coconut and spice mix

Time stands still best in moments that look suspiciously like ordinary life!

~ Brian Andreas

I am inching back to routine and virtual world after a weeklong holiday with friends and family. Before I feel too comfortable to this routine of digital lethargy and loose myself in my own little world, I decided to bounce back with some recipe posts that will keep my creative juices flowing. I am yet to pick my camera to shoot food or beautiful spring landscapes despite golden spring light bathing every corner of our home and world around us. My eyes and soul have replaced the camera as they capture the magnificent beauty of this world. One thing at a time… Until then, let me share the recipe of this amazing and ridiculously simple to make Bhara Baingan or Spicy Stuffed Baby Eggplant Roast that I cooked and clicked two weeks ago when my camera was constantly clicking and capturing food in every angle and composition!

I am a huge fan of eggplants and keeping my modesty aside, I make some mean eggplant curries which knocks off the feet of my guests whenever I serve them. Unfortunately, husband is allergic to eggplants and LD is not too fond of the texture of them. Which means the only person who must finish the entire pan of eggplant curries is me! How unfortunate (not) for me!!! As much as I love these little beauties, I find it difficult to spend an hour prepping and cooking them, only not to have a company to share the pleasure of devouring them. So, I end up buying some purple beauties only when I lose couple of night’s sleep! ;)

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…

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…

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!

Rajasthani Haldi Ki Subji Recipe | Fresh Turmeric Curry Recipe

Learn how to make Rajasthani Haldi Ki Subji or Fresh Turmeric Curry ~ Fresh turmeric and green peas cooked in a spicy, creamy tomato and yogurt curry

Curry lovers all over the world are familiar with one ingredient without which you can’t imagine cooking curry! I am talking about one of the most popular spice turmeric which leaves yellow stains on everything which it comes in contact with. It’s one spice that’s been traditionally used as a spice in Indian, Asian and African cuisines for more than 4,500 years! So what made this quintessential ingredient for curries and stews to migrate to fancy (not) things like Turmeric Lattes, cold pressed juices, smoothie bowls etc? What is it about this stone age staple that suddenly graduated into some kind of super food in the last couple of years?

Turmeric has always found its way into our dinner plates every single day. There isn’t a savoury dish in our home that goes untouched without a sprinkle of this gold dust. I grew up hearing about the healing properties of turmeric since I was a toddler. One sneeze and my grandma would run to her kitchen to make me a cup of Turmeric Milk or Kashaya with a generous pinch of turmeric. According to her there isn’t a cold or sore throat can’t be healed with a warm cup of turmeric milk. A scratch, a cut or deep wound was healed with a coat of turmeric paste either prepared by grinding the fresh turmeric root or by mixing ground turmeric with water. Pimples, skin problems? No problem. Ground turmeric from fresh roots or powdered form mixed with sandal wood paste or gram flour or milk or fresh cream had always been our choice of face mask for any beauty treatments. The trust we have on this golden hued spice was not born a year or couple of years ago, but since over 4,500 years ago which is now backed with scientific researches making turmeric one of the most admired super foods of the century.

Harive Soppina Huli/Sambar Recipe | Vegan Red Amaranth Leaves/Keerai and Coconut Sambar Recipe

Learn how to make Vegan Harive Soppina Huli/Sambar or Keerai Sambar ~ Red Amaranth cooked in a spicy and sour lentil and coconut gravy tempered with fried garlic and curry leaves

I am going through a phase which intellectuals call as writer’s block when words seem to have abandoned them. Although I am far from calling myself a writer, I would like to use this fancy term to express this current period of word drought in my life. This one post in recent years got to be one of my shortest post with one of my most loved and cherished recipe. I have this wonderful Harive Soppina Huli or Red Amaranth (Keerai) and Coconut Sambar recipe which missed to make an appearance all these years! Try it and trust me, you will not regret it!

As the name suggests, HuLi (pronounced as who-Lee) means sour in Kannada and this recipe of Harive Soppina Huli or Keerai Sambar is little different from the traditional Soppina Huli recipes in terms of cooking technique and also the ingredients used in fresh masala. Instead of cooking the dal separately, I tend to cook the lentils along with greens to save time. I also like my Huli on bit tangier and hence use both tomatoes and tamarind pulp in making this Huli. I like to add a piece of cinnamon and few cloves, which I believe elevates the flavour and aroma, when making fresh roasted spices that is ground to smooth paste along with freshly grated coconut and tamarind.

Dhingri Matar Curry Recipe | Simple and Quick Vegan Mushroom and Peas Curry

Learn how to make Vegan Dhingri Matar Curry or Mushroom and Peas Curry ~ Mushrooms and green peas cooked in a creamy onion, coriander and cashew nut gravy with aromatic spices

Another week has swished through and I am left gasping for a breath as I run around home, school, and everything in between trying to get back to the normal school term routine. LD has started his second year in school and just a week later, it feels so much busier than the year before! I want to grab the time by its shoulder, shake it and tell sternly to slow down… What is the hurry? Why rush when one want to slow down and smell the roses?!

Gone are the days of snuggling for extra hours in the morning, pillow fighting until our tummies ached after laughing… Gone are the days of waking up to streaming sunlight through the little gap between the blackout curtains fluttering in the morning breeze, and not to have to wake up to the shrieking noise of alarm clock… Gone are the days of leisure breakfasts, stroll in the woods and gardens, doing everything and nothing, and simply enjoying each others' company… Gone are the days of late night dinners, treats, movies and never ending bedtime stories… The first few weeks of getting back to normal routine after the summer holidays are always tough, but this feeling too shall pass as we embrace the fun bits of school life. It’s just a matter of time… It’s always a matter of time before everything falls into place! Like preparing a weekly menu with simple but wholesome dishes which can be made under half an hour on a busy weekdays, like this creamy Dhingri Matar Curry or Vegan Mushroom and Peas Curry.