I grew up omnivorous by culture, and, largely vegetarian by economics. Any animal product was a luxury growing up. We ate meat (mostly chicken)/fish once a week, typically Sundays and any leftovers was relished through the week as long as they lasted. These days as I reach back more into the nostalgia of my childhood food routines, I am leaning more and more towards vegetables and basic meats.
So, today's stars are the humble potato twice cooked to make the kickassest "Masala Home Fries" or (urulaikazhangu varuval in Tamil or Aloo Sabzi in Hindi) with step-by-step photos - a spicy Chennai pepper chicken fry (millagu kozhi fry) that was one of my favorite preparations of chicken, bone and all - and - the everyday staple, chapattis elevated with some greens and lots of butter to parathas.
Read MoreI have a confession to make. For almost two years, I have been burnt out. That is why this blog has been unpopulated or atleast infrequently populated.
Earlier, this year, actually as late as March, I finally accepted all this and myself. No, I am not the person, who wants to cook everyday. I am not the person who will therefore post here or on social on a dependable frequency. Yet, I am the person, who will enjoy the time I choose to spend in the kitchen. I am the person, who will henceforth acknowledge I don't feel like cooking and ask for help or order in. I am the person, who will have frozen food at home, so I can get to eat something quick.
I am the person who will continue to share with you, what I am enjoying, what I am inspired by and what makes my palate sing.... Like this simple green Spring filled bowl!
Read MoreThe first from scratch baked item that I ever made was a banana bread loaf. It was inevitable. I LOVE bananas! As a kid, as soon as my mom brought home a bunch of bananas from the market, I would chomp through almost half of the bunch immediately. It was my every time snack!
Over the years, I have tried different versions and tweaks to the basic recipe - different flours, pureeing vs mashing the bananas, caramelizing the fruit, nuts and no nuts, loaf vs this cake, or, even muffins. The one thing I found was, while each of the variation did indeed make a small difference in the flavor and perhaps even texture, the end product was universally delightful and tasty. The thing is you simply can never go wrong with a banana loaf. It is the true magic of the bananas and its giving nature! ;-)
Today, I bring you yet another delightfully moist variation made with gluten free flours and further nuttiness of brown butter.
Read MoreIn this post, I talk about typical South Indian meals, the flavors and preparations, and how I have come back to these simpler flavors - the reason why I started this series.
I reflected a lot about what to title this post/series; Calling it another Indian recipe did not seem sufficient, since my intent with this post was to break away from the stereotype of Indian cuisine often seen, well, outside India, viz. curries and spices. In the end, I decided to call it neither 'everyday' nor 'real' or 'regular' because, well, it is none of those in my present context. I decided to go with 'Progressive' because whether you are an Indian living abroad or a non-Indian falling in love with the cuisine, cooking the simpler dishes is actually more a labor of love and courage than the standard issue curries.
Today's recipe is a throwback to the nostalgic memories of uncountable varieties of leafy greens that we consumed on a daily basis in various simple preparations. Recently, I found a bunch of red veined and red leafed greens at the neighborhood Indian store. Understandably, I got super excited. I remembered this type; it was one of my favorites. It was called Mulaikeerai, Amaranth Greens. So, I made a Poriyal of it with boiled chana dal.
Read MoreHappy Spring Equinox!!!!!
I have much to be happy for! Including magical sunny days and a past weekend fill with smiles and the simple joy of starting something new - plants. From seeds.
Meanwhile, on the occasion of new beginnings, I thought it apt to remember where we came from and the journey here and throw some respect back. So, in honor of my nearly 10 years of blogging, I resurrected a strong favorite with you readers from this blog - Cranberry Squares, that I had posted back in 2010! It has consistently been a highly browsed recipe despite the average to clunky photographs that accompanied the post, teaching me that nothing, nothing beats quality product!
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