Appetizers, Chinese and Thai, Healthy, Quick meals, Sauces, pastes, spice mixes, Vegetarian

Sticky Lotus Stem and Baby Corn with Peanuts

July 27, 2018 No Comments

Sticky Lotus Stem and Baby Corn with Peanuts

I’m fascinated with the lotus stem’s pattern. Can’t take my eyes off them. I’d never cooked lotus stem and baby corn before and I wasn’t even curious to. This is my first and it was good. It’s a simple stir fry of sorts. A quick wash, a quick black and a quick stir fry. I blanched it to be on the safer side so I knew it was cooked to an extent. After blanching I saw that it was slightly slimy. I washed it all off and then stir fried it in some sesame oil and garlic.

Appetizers, Baking, Healthy, Makeover for Leftovers, Quick meals, Vegetarian

Roasted Zucchini with Veggies and Yoghurt

July 25, 2018 No Comments

Roasted Zucchini with Veggies and Yoghurt

I love my veggies. And I love them with a nice char. For this one lunch, I roasted a whole zucchini with cherry tomatoes and then threw some leftover chickpeas and sweet corn. I then went on to drizzle it all with some EVOO and a side of garlic and coriander yoghurt. This was quite a refreshing dish. I can’t figure if it’s a salad or a side dish. I’d say, it doesn’t matter. My OTG doesn’t give anything any ‘char’. It does a good job of cooking everything though. That’s why, I had to get the char effect by roasting the zucchini on a pan. And then I popped it into the oven and cooked it for about 15 minutes.

Breakfast, Eggs

Scrambled Eggs in Caramelized Onions and Paprika

July 24, 2018 No Comments

Scrambled Eggs in Caramelized Onions and Paprika

Every culture has a bunch of their own egg dishes. As much as I love our beloved anda bhurji, I love some of the ways the Turks cook their eggs. From cilbir to menemen, they sure know how to whip up a good breakfast. Inspired by the menemen, I made some scrambled eggs for Sunday breakfast. Caramelized onions, tomatoes and paprika are all cooked down to a glorious mush to which whisked eggs are added and gently folded in. A generous scattering of parsley and a crumbling of feta to finish. The paprika stained oil is quite delicious to lick off the fingers.

Chicken, Chinese and Thai, Curries, Healthy, Makeover for Leftovers, Quick meals, Soups and Salads

Noodle Bowl Recipe Collection

July 20, 2018 No Comments

Noodle Bowl Recipe Collection

Gotta love a bowl of noodles. What’s better? A bowl of noodles with broth and accompaniments like eggs, fried things, fresh things, and more delicious things. I’ve never had an ‘authentic’ bowl of ramen. I’d love to travel to Japan just for it but my bank account is crying and laughing at me in a corner. Till then, I’ll binge watch ramen videos on YouTube and make humble versions of the same in my kitchen. They’re not all that bad and that’s good enough for me. I have low standards, y’all.

Appetizers, Chicken, Healthy, Quick meals, Soups and Salads

Roast Chicken Salad with Mango

July 19, 2018 No Comments

Roast Chicken Salad with Mango

Winner winner, chicken dinner. And this one has mango and cherry tomatoes too. Before the favourite fruit of the country goes into hibernation, I thought I’d get my lazy backside off the couch and make this salad. Basic stuff. Give a chicken breast a good sexy massage with a special spice mix. Play some Al Green for inspiration. Gently roast it on a pan till you see a nice dark colour on one side. Then pop it into a preheated oven (or simply lower the heat and cook it on the pan itself). Then slice it up and serve with mango cubes and cherry tomatoes that you must throw in the oven with the chicken. Don’t forget the pretty tomatoes!

Breakfast, Healthy, Quick meals

Ragi and Whole Wheat Waffles

July 18, 2018 No Comments

Ragi and Whole Wheat Waffles

Every once in a while, I whip up some waffles on a Sunday. And every once in a while, I almost run out of flour. That’s how this ragi and whole wheat waffles came out being. Not because I was on a healthy food trip (it’s about time I’m on one, actually). From my older breakfast recipes like oatmeal waffles and oatmeal pancakes, I was pleasantly surprised that not everything needed plain white flour to taste good. But ragi, I was never quite sure of. That’s why I used a 1/4 cup of each – ragi, plain flour, whole wheat flour and oat flour (grind instant oats to a powder).

Chinese and Thai, Curries, Healthy, Quick meals, Soups and Salads

Khao Suey with Dried Prawns and Chilli Oil

July 17, 2018 No Comments

Khao Suey with Dried Prawns Recipe

I have a Khao Suey recipe already on the blog but I had to do another one. And this Khao Suey with dried prawns turned out absolutely delicious! Usually you’d see a khao suey with a ton of toppings like fried onions, fried garlic, coriander, spring onions, peanuts and what not. But I had a revelation. Since there was the dried prawns and fried garlic, I kept the onions raw. It added a much needed fresh crunch to the bowl of hot coconut broth and noodles. I now prefer my khao suey without the fried onions.

Appetizers, Fish, Mangalorean

Clam Meat Masala / Marwai Masala

July 16, 2018 No Comments

Clam Meat Masala / Marwai Masala Recipe

Back in Mangalore clams (marwai) is made with its shell. We make sukka, curry, or a breakfast specialty called marwai da pundi. Loosely translated, clams with rice dumplings. There’s this online place I sometimes order my meat and seafood from and has never let me down (freshtohome). Since it’s monsoons I don’t buy fish but I wanted see what else they had. Clams were in. But just the clam meat and no shell. I looked it up online and most Kerala based recipes call for only the meat. That’s how they do it there, I suppose. There were people coming over for lunch the next day so I ordered in a kilo of the meat. Once it arrived I thought it was a lot. But it was just enough.

Appetizers, Healthy, Mangalorean, Quick meals, Vegetarian

Cowpea Beans Stir-fry with Coconut / Alasande Palya

July 12, 2018 No Comments

Cowpea Beans Stir-fry with Coconut / Alasande Palya

Cowpea beans have been a regular fixture at home. French beans were slightly more expensive compared to cowpea ones. That’s why they made the cut. They’re simply stir fried with a tadka of mustard seeds, urad and channa dal, curry leaves and dried chillies. The dals give it a nutty flavour and add a crunch to the dish. There’s no masala or too much salt to kill these beans. Adding freshly grated coconut in the end gives the dish some added texture and freshness.

Healthy, Pasta, Quick meals, Vegetarian

Spaghetti with Ricotta, Garlic and Olive Oil

July 10, 2018 No Comments

Spaghetti with Ricotta, Garlic and Olive Oil

I recently did a post on homemade ricotta and things you could do with it. One dish I wanted to make a separate post on was this spaghetti with ricotta, garlic and olive oil. It’s really simple, most of the ingredients are listed in the title itself, and is super delicious. Not to forget, it cooks in a few minutes. The flavours you’d be hit with are predominantly garlic and olive oil. The ricotta adds a nice creaminess in bursts. Lots of freshly cracked pepper for some heat and some parsley for, well, colour. I don’t see what else it could do.