Smooth and delicate bread pudding, coated with a delicious caramel sauce, is a simple and stunning dessert at the same time. Made with bread, eggs, milk and sugar, the pudding can either be steamed or baked in a bain-marie. Note (Feb 1st, 2017): This blog post was originally published in May 2013, which I have…
Dum Aloo / Slow-Cooked Spicy Potatoes
Dum Aloo or slow-steam-cooked potatoes (baby potatoes are best) is originally a Kashmiri dish, made by deep-frying the baby potatoes and slowly simmering them in a yogurt based spice mixture. As always, there are many variations of dum aloo. This is one of those dishes that is as much delicious served dry or with gravy. I…
Tomato Rice With Cucumber-Carrot Raita
Remember I told you about variety-rice dishes in my earlier post on coconut rice? Well, I have another super easy, yummy recipe for you. This time it is the slightly spicier tomato rice. I made a refreshing cucumber and carrot raita (yogurt based salad) to go with it. You will need: (* – Refer notes) Tomato Rice: Rice…
Chicken Korma
Korma is a South Asian curry made with vegetables or meat, simmered in a creamy sauce made of yogurt, cream, cashew nut/almond paste or coconut milk. It is more like a stew than a curry. As any Indian will tell you, there is no set rules to making a particular curry. Each household has their…
Vegetable Stew With Coconut Milk
This is a simple and mild vegetable curry prepared in Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu, where coconuts are found in abundance and form an integral part of everyday diet. In parts of Kerala where I grew up, this is known as “ishtoo” in the local dialect, ishtoo being a play on the English word “stew”. It…
Good Ol’ Butter Chicken (Murg Makhani)
Who hasn’t heard of butter chicken? That creamy curry with tandoor-roasted chicken pieces in it. Mmmm… Did you know that this dish is supposed to have originated in an eatery in Delhi, India? Maybe just a few decades ago. Since then, this is a signature dish of any self-respecting Indian restaurant and many times, the…
Coconut Rice
This is an easy rice recipe, yet quite different from the traditional and simple steamed rice or even pulaos/pilafs. There are many lunchbox-ready rice recipes from Southern India, especially Tamil Nadu. We call it ‘thaalicha choru’ or ‘variety rice’. It literally means rice tempered with spices, and mixed with vegetables and/or sauces. There is curd…
Spicy Shrimp Soup/Curry
I bought some frozen raw shrimp last weekend. I wanted to try out something new with them. And this afternoon, I came up with this spicy dish with fried shrimp in it. This dish contains roasted aromatic spices and coconut milk, creating a delicate balance. I think it was the gloomy weather outside that inspired me….
Kale With Indian Cottage Cheese (Paneer)
This recipe is a spin-off of the traditional Indian saag-paneer dish and was a spur of the moment creation. Saag refers to a leaf based dish made usually of spinach or mustard greens. Since I had neither spinach nor mustard greens on hand, I used kale. Traditionally, saag-paneer has more greens and less paneer. I made…
Simplest Vegetable Pulao Ever and Raita
Rice is the staple diet where I come from. It is no surprise that there are a wealth of rice dishes available. I make this simple and fragrant rice pulao/pilaf with vegetables and no other masala (gasp!). This is easy enough to whip up any time and goes well with just a mixed yogurt salad…
