I know my Crispy Tofu Fried Rice looks loaded with more vegetables than is the norm. That’s because it’s meant to be a one-bowl meal. I love it. It has that salty umami that we love in Asian food and the added bonus of crisp-outside, juicy-inside chunks of tofu. This Crispy Tofu Fried Rice is a texture and flavour bomb, all in one bowl. How to cook the tofu to…
For a Hyderabadi, Baghare Baingan is many things. It’s the taste of home, a must at parties and celebrations and a dish so uniquely Hyderabadi that along with kachche gosht ki biryani, it has become a culinary symbol of the city. So this post on Baghare Baingan is my (long overdue) homage to the deliciously rich food culture of the city. How to choose and prepare the eggplants The eggplant,…
Vaangi Bhat literally means eggplant/aubergine/brinjal rice. And that’s exactly what it is – a dish of eggplant and rice lightly fried with an aromatic and nutty spice mixture. Vaangi bhat belongs to the cuisine of Karnataka in South India. It is an excellent one-dish meal and one of my favourite ways of cooking small, purple eggplants. Choose your eggplant Eggplants come in so many shapes and sizes and it is…
This spinach and corn quiche had to be made to use up some of the big batch of fresh, tender spinach from my garden. The rest went into a raw spinach salad and spinach pararthas. Whole wheat and olive oil quiche crust A quiche crust is meant to be a light and flaky shortcrust pastry made with cold butter and AP flour. Now, I love a flaky, buttery crust but…
This carrot thogayal recipe was shared by a dear friend’s mother, who has a vast repertoire of thogayals in her culinary quiver. Thogayal or thuviyal is essentially Tamil for chutney. Thick and on the drier side, it has similar versions in Kerala known as chammanthi and thokku in Andhra. This particular carrot thogayal is typical of the cuisine of the Iyer community of Palakkad; Tamil brahmins who migrated to this…
It’s both delightful and amazing how a humble dish such as this radish pachadi or radish chutney can so dramatically elevate a simple home-style meal of rice and dal. Telugu cuisine, both from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is famed for its pachadis – the word is used for both chutneys (which are generally ground or pulped) and pickles (which usually have chunks of the fruit/vegetable). In this case, the radish…
I refuse to call coconut milk rasam mulligatawny soup with coconut milk just because the English (read British) decided to call rasam by that ridiculous if not incorrect name. Rasam or milagu (pepper) tanni (water), a literal translation from Tamil, according to me, is actually anything but that – pepper and water. Rasam or charu (in Telugu) like this coconut milk rasam has a unique aroma and flavour that comes…
Holi is around the corner. And it’s time for thandai. It’s also time for kulfi. Spring is almost done and the door to summer has been opened. Daytime temperatures in many parts of the country are in their mid 30s (Celsius of course) and threaten every day to take off from the edge and soar into the sun. So thandai, kulfi and all other cooling concoctions are more than welcome.…
As egg curry recipes go, this one is not a traditional one since cashew-based lamb/mutton and chicken curries are de rigueur but not egg curries. I saw no reason why a rich, mughlai-style curry such as this could not be paired with eggs. So I tried it. And it turned out really well. Paired with rotis, parathas or any other Indian bread, this creamy cashew egg curry makes for a…
What does a hummus recipe have in common with high school exams? When exam fever hits my 16-year old and he’s buried in his books all day, I need to stock up on healthy snacks that he can attack at any time morning, noon or night when he takes his refuelling breaks. And I’ve found that a couple or more bowls of different hummus in the fridge goes a long…