Often when cooking chhole, I make the masala from scratch, adding whole (saboot) spices, followed by sautéeing onions and tomatoes, which I grind up to form a slightly textural gravy. Needless to say, this isn’t the only way, though it tastes the freshest. There are a dozen different ways to make chhole. Today’s recipe does read more…
Aviyal & its variants| Vegetables in yogurt sauce – Dairy-free
The nine nights of Navratri are always hectic. Most of Mr. P’s cousins reside in and around Thane and it has become a recent ritual that we all gather at one of the houses for prayer chants, and later dinner – one night at each one’s home. It is fun but exhausting, and the dinners read more…
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Thai Red Curry with homemade curry paste – Vegan
I am coming up with two posts this fortnight. It is not a comeback but I am happy to step into my ‘blogger’ shoes after a long break. Thank you for asking after me. Your messages, comments and mails always make me smile. I am afraid I am not able to moonlight as ‘Sunshinemom’ as read more…
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Vegan kitchen basics – An update on making cashewnut curd – Vegan|Dairy-free
The loss of curd is perhaps the worst nemesis for most vegans in India. Curd in the West, usually means coagulated dairy milk, made by addition of rennet, vinegar or lemon (an acidic medium) to dairy milk causing it to separate. The coagulated milk is then hung to separate the curd from the whey. Yogurt read more…
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Pakodi kadhi | Fried dumplings in yogurt sauce | Vegan | Gluten-free
Pakodi Kadhi: Fried gramflour dumplings steeped in tempered yogurt curry. When I was in school; lunch break, library and P.E were my favourite times – exactly in that order! To me, study hours were the damages one had to put up with in order to enjoy these breaks. Sadly library and P.E were not considered read more…
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Thai green curry with homemade green curry paste
The recipe I am sharing today is a family favourite. Sort of. Mr.P, Jr.H and I love it. Jr.P hates the aroma of kaffir lime leaves as well as lemongrass. You guessed. He hates it. I have to make two side dishes on days I make Thai curry. This afternoon both Jr.H and Jr.P read more…
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Mixed lentil stew – North Indian style, dairy free
Is it evident that I am extremely fond of legumes, and I that I love stews? It should be, and if it isn’t, I shall put matters to rest by sharing many more soon. The traditional method to cook legumes for an Indian stew would be to let them simmer and cook all night in read more…
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Kaddu ki subzi – Pumpkin / Squash curry, and Coriander and cumin seed powders
Kaddu ki subzi is again a curry I tasted first in school. In North India, it is a common recipe especially at this time of the year, and it gets done very quickly. Possibly one of the reasons why it often came in ‘packed lunch’. I am sure harried mothers found it easy to read more…
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Kathrikkai Rasavangi – Curried Aubergines with chickpeas
When I first made kathrikkai rasavangi, I used a recipe off the web, and called my mother to tell her about it. This was many years back and my mom was flabbergasted when I said I had added lentils. Does that not make it sambar then? There is not much difference in the ground spices read more…
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Yelavan kootu – Ashgourd with lentils and coconut, Iyer style
Kootu in Tamil, literally translates as ‘addition’ in English. That explains this simple side dish from Tamilnadu. If you are taking your first steps as a cook, this is the kind of dish that gives you encouragement and confidence to venture further. It is simple, does not need elaborate prepping and rarely goes wrong. A read more…
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