15 Minute Recipes

Sweet and spicy Curried Mango chicken salad

July 10, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

This is fun and tasty spin on chicken salad. This spicy curried mango chicken salad has diced grilled chicken, cashews and a creamy curry sauce. It’s addictive and makes for a nice wrap or like lettuce wraps. Perfect for Picnics or light lunch.

Summer comes and mangoes are everywhere. Although we don’t get that many varieties sweet ones,as we get in India, we are lucky to get some sweet ones here.

When mango arrives, everyone’s enjoying them to the core. Smoothies, Popsicles, kulfi, ice-cream, salads, sauces, you name it, people make it. I am not the biggest fan of mango as is, I know I know, weird, but true. In salad form, I could eat the whole bowl….

Easiest Delicious Kahlua Chocolate Matcha Mousse

June 2, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

An easy and quick summer treat that is great for entertaining or a pick me up on those warm summer afternoons. The chocolate matcha mousse is a no-bake, eggless dessert that’s creamy, fluffy and oh so good.

“Desserts are like a feel-good song, and the best ones make you dance.” – Chef Edward Lee

The windows are open, and a light breeze comes in moving around the papers left on the table. A warm heat touches the side of my elbows. Waffles finally has made his way to a corner of the garden where bougainvilleas are showering him with flowers and shade. He digs a little spot for himself and sits cozily, tucked in for the next few hours, sun bathing. I take my cold coffee outside, sit under the large red umbrella, and turn on my Etta James playlist with a book to scribble on. Gazing into nothing and closing my eyes, I’m dreaming of the next couple of months…. I can feel it slowing down, as the holidays are approaching. Ready to embrace the heat……

20 Minute Tomato Garlic Peppery Shrimp with Lemon Pilaf

May 27, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

This juicy, tangy, spicy, and sweet 20 minute tomato garlic peppery shrimp is so easy and delicious. It’s perfect for entertaining, or for a weeknight meal.

Here’s how parties I threw looked like years ago. Plan. Plan for it for weeks. Write a list down, and shop. Make two to three desserts a day ahead, and have an array of dishes. Then came dressing up the room, flowers, and making sure everything is flawless. The morning of: you see your husband put his feet up on the coffee table to relax. You look at him, like “really, please can you help around..?” I turn on the music and start cooking, and start getting excited for the evening. I was on constant edge if I saw the kids mess the countertop, or left their shoes on my polished floors. Two hours before everyone arrives, the home looks like a model home, no smell of cooked meals, everything is neatly stored, flowers are smiling brightly. I light up my candles, put in some drops of orange essential oil in my aromatherapy diffuser, and sit down with a glass of wine, happily….

Cabbage Puttu/Stirfry – Vegetable Dry Sabzi South Indian style

May 20, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

This easy weeknight South Indian style cabbage puttu-stirfry is spicy and gingery, and it’s perfect with some roti or chapathi.

There are people who like to say how exactly they feel about certain foods. They don’t like the taste, it’s too sour or too sweet, or “Why would I ever eat that? It seems too healthy.”

I live with these types of people.. I was one, oh well, I’m still one.

They are firm non-believers of the cabbage family….

Easy and Quick Chicken Lo Mein – 15 Min. Dish

April 19, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

This simple, easy and quick chicken lo mein requires only a few ingredients and just fifteen minutes. You’ll have a good, nutritious meal in no time.

Hello there!!

And today, I guess a fifteen-minute chicken lo mein it is!

I’ve had a huge list of dishes I wanted to cook, shoot, and share. The fancy ones that don’t take time, but great for parties and to entertain, also amazing for family.

My teen loves to cook and eat, and while I was gone for a few weeks to India, he cooked quite a few dishes from the blog. He cooked the quick EGG CURRY, there was a huge pot of ZESTY AUTUMN SOUP, and there was this easy FISH CURRY. What is common with all of these dishes are: they’re easy, filled with flavor, and packed with nutrition. And the teen will be going off to college soon. He’ll fly to the other end of America, NY. Knowing him, he’ll need homemade Indian few times a week, and that’ll only be possible if he cooks it….

Shrimp Scampi in Coconut Rum Sauce with Linguine

April 1, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

This shrimp scampi in coconut rum sauce with linguine is perfect for a thirty-minute meal. A restaurant quality meal, right at home!

HAPPY APRIL!!! Happy Easter!!

My last few months were all in fast forward motion, with one deadline after another, and one project after another… The book release was a huge relief. A sense of a huge responsibility went off my shoulder, replaced by a sense of happiness, contentment, and accomplishment. Masala and Meatballs is doing well, thanks to all of you. Very little things happen overnight, but what’s the fun in that anyway? The excitement is in the anticipation, the work and that time which brings pleasure in ticking off all the boxes. It is the journey that matters, not the destination.

After a beautiful launch party, book signings, and a few other events later, I felt the need to take a breather….

Best Indian Style Chicken Nachos – how to construct the perfect Nachos

January 30, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

The BEST Indian style chicken nachos ever!!!! The thin crisp corn chips with the spicy chicken mince, its so so good. And it’s all in one single pan. MINIMAL CLEAN UP! YES!!!! Hit in all parties!!

I sit here, a fully shot and styled post staring at me and I am blank. I’ve made these Indian style nachos for years now, but how am I not finding the words to describe a dish that disappears in minutes of getting to the table.

It’s one of my best back-pocket meals, the chicken mince. One I can make on short notice, assuming that I can get my hands on the freshest mince from my butcher. It’s one of the things I get asked plenty of times:”can you share your Indian style nachos”. It’s one of those recipes that missed getting into my book MASALA AND MEATBALLS, it sure gave a tough fight with hush puppies:)….

Stir fry Tofu with Pepper Wraps -15 minute recipe

January 4, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

This easy stir fry tofu peppers is a healthy balanced meal. Eat it on some noodles, or wrap it in lettuce! A good gluten-free and healthy vegetarian meal.

Tofu Love

I remember the first time I tried tofu. It was in a soup, and it felt slimy… too soft and quite bland. I unfortunately couldn’t be trendy and like it. Then again, I’m a little picky with trying different foods, and it has to be really good for me to like it. However, I never waste; I will always eat it up. It took me the longest to fall in love with tofu. Only a few years ago, I figured out the secret to perfect tofu before stir-frying….