The veggies are chopped. The spices are ground. Lets fire up the stove!
This recipe is inspired by the simple yet elegant Miso Soup. Packed with proteins and vitamins, yet requiring minimal ingredients and preparation, this wonderfully light broth can be savored on warm and cold nights alike. In fact, this has become my go-to rasam for speedy days when baby, laundry and work deadlines all converge in […]
Hakka Noodles, Manchow Soup, Chili Paneer, Gobi Manchurian–these are all classic Indo-Chinese dishes. In the late 19th century, a number of Chinese immigrants of the Hakka ancestry resided in Calcutta, India. They introduced their wonderful cooking to the Indians, who in turn, adapted these dishes to their tastes, peppering Chinese seasoning and techniques with Indian […]
Pepper-Cumin (Milagu-Jeera) Rasam is an Indian veggie lover’s version of “chicken soup for the soul.” No chicken, real or faux, but plenty of pepper and cumin in a tamarind broth to warm the tippy toes of your feet and chase the blues away. Its a soul connection. This recipe is inspired by the Milagu-Jeera Rasam […]
Tonli (Tindora) or Ivy Gourd is a crunchy, slightly sweet vegetable that is grown mostly in tropical climates. In the United States, I buy it from Indian stores. It’s a vegetable that absorbs spices very well and there are multiple variations of this dish with different masalas. This version attempts to enhance the naturally subtle […]
What Is Pineapple Amti Dal? Traditional Amti Dal is a lentil soup customary to the state of Maharashtra in India. It’s sweet and spicy, tangy and sweet. That’s correct. I said sweet twice! Because when all the flavors are balanced out, that’s the taste that lingers on your tongue. A subtle, restrained sweetness that is […]
There is Aloo-Methi Sabzi (Potato-Fenugreek Sabzi), a classic. Then, along the same lines, there came along Aloo-Palak Sabzi (Potato-Spinach Sabzi). Evolving from the classics above, and celebrating the beautiful Swiss Chard abundantly available in California is this recipe. The Swiss Chard gives you a little bit of sweetness from the beet-like stems, a little bit […]
When tomato and basil are mentioned together, we tend to immediatley think Italian. Although the strong Italian connecion is undeniable, it’s also an understated fact that some form of basil is present in several cultures in the world. There’s tulsi in India, Thai basil in Asia, blue basil in Africa, cinnamon basil in Mexico…..and that’s […]
What is Okra? Okra is a long, slender, tube-like fruit that’s green in color. Although it’s a fruit, we treat it exactly as we would any other veggie when cooking it–frying, boiling, sauteing. Even though I know better, I still think of it as a veggie. Cuisines that use the Veggie I’ve encountered it mostly […]