CURRY

Hotel Style Vegetable Kurma

February 11, 2021 By Asha Shivakumar

This Hotel Style Vegetable Kurma is tasty, authentic and perfect with idli, dosa or appam. It’s made with plenty of veggies, including potatoes and cauliflower that have simmered in a spice-paste.

Some recipes are born out of necessity and this is definitely one of them.

I have a hankering for authentic meals quite often. At times being in US, with below average restaurant food makes me miss the traditional curries that we get in India even more. This mixed vegetable curry comes with dosa or idli in many restaurants and it’s so special, simple and so comforting.

My Vegetable Curry recipe has been in the works for a few months now and while you’ll need bit of fresh produce, the bulk of this recipe relies on pantry staples — spices. Then, with the fresh produce required, most of it is shelf stable for quite a long time — the onions, ginger, garlic, and potatoes….

Yakhni Pulao

January 22, 2021 By Asha Shivakumar

Yakhni pulao is a light, yet full flavored rice dish. The Yakhni or the broth is where all the flavor lies, the more flavorful, rich and aromatic your broth is, the better the pulao. It’s simply irresistible with a spicy curry.

If you’ve been a reader of the blog for a while, you already know how inquisitive I can be about new food, the food I love and I don’t rest easy until I get the recipe. I’ve always been intrigued by different dishes from different regions of India and the World.

My hubby’s very good friend comes from a royal family in Aligarh, India. His mom is a stunner, has a glow about her. I still remember meeting aunt and uncle for the first time here in US. They had invited us for dinner. As a young bride, very protected..I was quite nervous and overwhelmed, before meeting them. After our initial introductions, the conversations flowed easily and comfortably. Aunt brought out shammi kababs, mantu dumplings and samosas and I immediately knew, we had something in common. FOOD. She started explaining how her family bawarchi/chef was the best and he was taught by his granddad who was also a royal chef. Aunty learnt a lot from him. I could sense how passionate aunt was about food when she explained in detail how to make the perfect chai….

Easy Mutton Curry

January 7, 2021 By Asha Shivakumar

This Indian style Easy Mutton Curry might just become your family favorite. It’s a good balance of flavors and the mutton is fall of the bone delicious. MUST MAKE!

Happy 2021!

Let’s face it – at this point it is not magic and life is not going to get back to normalcy just like that. lt’s messy and confusing at the moment. So many of us are counting on the little things to get us through the day – a spritz of perfume, fixing your hair – if you can even get that far. For some of us, it could simply be keeping up with a workout and a shower followed

I haven’t made New Year Resolutions in the longest time. A few years ago I stopped making year-long-goals and started making life-long-goals. And for the latter, waiting for a new year, isn’t wise. You need to start the moment you realize you need change. After all, kal ho na ho (translation: there might or might not be a tomorrow) *cliche.but.true*. But a new year seems like a good reason to reflect back and enforce them, stronger! For this year, I’d say: to get by without expectations is my resolution.

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Paneer Lababdar – Rich and Creamy Restaurant Style Paneer Curry

November 6, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Paneer Lababdar, a traditional Punjabi style paneer curry is creamy without any cream. A restaurant style paneer curry, that is rich and perfect for any festivities and easy to make. It’s predominantly made with melon seeds and cashews or almonds. Butter, enhances the flavors. A mild paneer dish that silk creamy smooth, goes so well with naan or jeera rice.

There’s as many paneer dishes in India as there are toppings of a pizza. This is one of my favorite restaurant style paneer curry next paneer tikka masala.

Paneer is such a versatile protein for vegetarians, it takes on the flavor of anything you add it to. It’s creamy and a non meat eater’s meat. There are so many Indian paneer curries that I love: paneer mattar, paneer makhni, paneer pulao, paneer butter masala, paneer masala and the list goes on. If you want to learn how to make paneer from scratch, check this post out. This dish has no cream or milk or lots of butter, it’s creamy from the nuts and tastes excellent….

pumpkin roti

October 27, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Pumpkin roti. Three ingredients, few important steps, and you have the easiest and softest roti there is. This pumpkin roti stays soft for two days if wrapped well and you can skip the pumpkin and make the most perfect delicious plain rotis/ Phulkas.

My love for pumpkin just gets stronger by every passing year. I have a plethora of PUMPKIN recipes on my blog and I can’t believe I didn’t share this one, it’s something I’ve been making for years.

The minute I posted my quick gluten free roti recipe, I started getting requests for the wheat fail-proof phulka or roti. For some reason it has taken this long to share. Every time I share rotis or phulkas on instagram, I have had a sea of requests for a foolproof roti recipe that stays soft for a long time. It’s the season, and why not pumpkin roti?…

Banana Blossom Poriyal – Vazhaipoo Poriyal

October 22, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Vazhaipoo Poriyal/Banana Blossom Sabzi or Banana Flower Stir fry is a very tasty side that goes perfect with a simple dal rice or perfect with chapathis. Made with potatoes and coconut, this is a vegetable which is very special and extremely healthy.

Vaazhai poo or Banana blossom/flower is widely used in Asian cooking. Known for it’s health benefits, this is also extremely tasty and rarely found in the markets.

Cleaning the banana blossom is quite a tedious task. It involves removing the outer purplish layer(bracts or petals), peeling the florets and meticulously removing the stigma and the plastic cover(perianth). It is so worth it!!

I learnt how to clean and cook this Vazhaipoo or Banana flower from my mom in law and her sister. They make it often and they have patience to clean a bunch of them. Late afternoons, they sit on the large dining table, oiling their hands and ready to take on the task of cleaning four to five banana flowers. They make amazing Vazhaipoo Vada, a fritter made out of the banana flower, which is so tasty. But, I love this poriyal that they make….

Authentic Garam Masala

October 6, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

The most popular Indian spice blend is the garam masala. This fresh, fragrant, authentic and simple recipe is made from slow roasting the whole spices and grinding them.

Garam Masala is a common Indian spice blend, that’s perfumed and pungent, a combination of warming spices used to season many Indian dishes. Every household in India has a different recipe for this masala spice powder. It varies greatly across India, depending on the region, household and personal preference. And that’s why Garam Masalais so special and nuanced.

Garam masala is darker in color, spicy and not hot, and nothing in comparison to the other blends. A completely different flavor profile.https://youtu.be/v8uESTv1SMw

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Masala Egg Bhurji- Most delicious Indian style scrambled eggs

September 30, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Masala Egg Bhurji/ Spiced Eggs is a perfect celebration dish for the non-meat eaters. Works for a special-occasion breakfast loaded with sweet peppers, goes great with rotis or on toast. YUM!

Anda Bhurji or Scrambled Eggs is probably one of the most made food in every household. This Anda Bhurji is nothing short of amazing, it’s a special dish that can be served on occasions or for your Sunday brunch.

This recipe sprung to life one fine, August afternoon as I was strolling around the kitchen getting ready for lunch. Got the chicken out and exactly knew what I was making for my little boy. But, lunch for my pescatarian hubby had me scratching my head. I’ll come to that later, I thought. First let me marinate the chicken. While mixing the yogurt, like a circuit breaker blew up, I had an idea….boom!!…

Pumpkin Dal with Beet Greens

September 27, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Cozy and comforting Pumpkin Dal or Poosanikai Kootu is perfect for autumn and cooler months. It’s easy to make and with the addition of beet greens adds so much more flavor.

Happy Autumn!!

It’s that time of the year when pumpkin and butternut squash is in abundance, and I’m all about pumpkin recipes, be it sweet or savory. I’ve been eating this pumpkin kootu or pumpkin dal from when I was a baby. I’ve always liked the slight sweetness in my curries and this one with chapathi or just plain rice is phenomenal.

Authentic South Indian everyday food/recipes uses very less spices, simple local ingredients and never over the top hot. It’s always fresh and few ingredients. This recipe uses channa daal for it’s bite and texture, creamy which also holds it’s shape. This pumpkin dal works best with channa dal/split yellow chickpeas or even split yellow moong daal.

Flavorful Indian food is so much faster and you can get the most authentic taste with just a few ingredients.Thanks to my mom for yet another healthy and delicious recipe that is a staple at home….

One Pot Saffron Chicken Rice

September 22, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Saffron Chicken Rice is a one pot meal that is flavorful, comforting and weeknight recipe made easy! It’s robust, soulful and well balanced, the best recipe you’ll need. This post is sponsored by Spice Tribe.

Biryani, Pulao, Fried rice of any kind is our special meal and brings out the nostalgia in me. Our Sunday meals had biryani as the star, and mom made one of the best biryani ever.

Now, my boys are big fans of biryani or pulao of any kind, always with chicken. This recipe Saffron Chicken Rice is inspired by Turkish pulao, and it’s something I make few times a month, especially during a weeknight….