Dinner

Madras Kheema Curry

March 30, 2019 By Asha Shivakumar

Keema or Kheema Curry is a robust, peppery curry dish made with minced chicken or lamb cooked with earthy spices! It’s not the most well known dish, but to the people who’ve eaten this curry in Chennai know it’s worth. Serve this with dosa, idli or appam. Enjoy a blissful meal.

If you’re like me and yearn to cook something different, hearty, homemade and comforting food with the thought of eating something to warm up your senses in any weather then this is just the excuse to stroke that indulgence.

Kheema is a traditional Indian dish made of spiced ground meat, usually combined with peas or potatoes. Usually made with chicken or lamb, however it’s also great with ground turkey or beef. This dish however is inspired by a recipe that was written in my diary twenty years ago. It was called Madras Style Chicken Kurma that called for whole chicken….

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sage butter sauce

March 20, 2019 By Asha Shivakumar

I am so excited to share this Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Browned Butter Sage sauce from my friend’s Adam and Ryan’s Husbands That Cook: More Than 120 Irresistible Vegetarian Recipes and Tales from Our Tiny Kitchen. This gnocchi is so flavorful and comforting, with a Southwest twist. Pan fried until crispy and tossed in a savory browned butter and sage sauce, these pillows are soft and so good. Then best, it’s quite simple to make. It will be a winner with everyone.

I have had the pleasure of getting to know Adam and Ryan over the past few years thanks to IG. They both are just the kindest people I know. Their food is comforting and is accessible everyday food. You can see for yourself if you visit their blog, Husbands that Cook. So, when they came out with their book, I was beyond thrilled and happy for them. Congrats on your beautiful book!

There are so many recipes that I can’t wait to try. Their unique twist on a Sweet potato gnocchi gave me all the feels, and I was just itching to make it!! I did, and LOVED IT. They have a wonderful Sweet and Salt CAke that I can’t wait to make. Then there’s the Yuca con mojo. Their moo shu vegetable lettuce wraps with peanut sauce is so much fun to whip up, and very versatile. Are you intrigued yet?…

bitter gourd curry/Paavakai Kozhumbu

March 9, 2019 By Asha Shivakumar

This bitter gourd curry is everything: tangy, spicy, sweet and sour and umami of flavors. Bitter gourd is also known as karela, paavakai, kakarakaya and more, is quite infamous for it’s bitterness. A vegetable that is not liked by many has a ton of nutrients and healing properties. This is the only way I can eat the bittergourd curry and you will love it too.

I would sit for hours and not touch this paavakai kozhumbu. Dad would be right by my side, looking at me and coaxing me to at least try it. Mum has already cleared out the table. We both, dad and I were adamant. He wanted me to eat a little and I didn’t have it. Mum would tell daddy, “it’s okay if she doesn’t want to eat it”. He would respond, she needs to at least try it. An hour and few mins in, he gets tired and realizes his little girl is a little bit more adamant than he is. After all who’s daughter is she and “I told you to leave her” was the look dad got from a smug faced mom:)….

Kohlrabi/Noolkol Edamame Fry

January 26, 2019 By Asha Shivakumar

Don’t be intimidated by kohlrabi/noolkol! This root vegetable is easily adaptable to many flavors and keeps it’s crunch. Delicious and Nutritious. This Kohlrabi/Noolkol Edamame Fry is a vegetarian lovers meat dish.

I’m always curious about other people’s comfort food. The stuff you eat when you’re sick or sad. I feel like it tells you so much about that person, where they came from, what they turn to feel better.

And when I ask people so many secrets spill out, gooey mushy nostalgic childhood food, some’s grandmother’s mutton, someone else who goes to a tiny box-line restaurant in old Shivajinagar for the flavors of that chicken that’s unbeatable, some else, who makes an elaborate meal from scratch to lose themselves in the method and to forget….

Karahi Chicken- Kadai Chicken

January 23, 2019 By Asha Shivakumar

This flavorful karahi chicken uses fresh spices, tomatoes and slow cooked. The chicken is coated with the spices and tomato and makes for a very flavorful unique curry. I am so happy to be sharing my recipe for the best karahi chicken.

Everyone loves a restaurant style curry, but homemade is something special, healthier and more flavorful. Karahi chicken is one of my go to dishes to order when I’m at an Indian restaurant. It’s even special if you raid that spice cabinet and make everything from scratch.

When you eat out at an Indian restaurant, chances are that they’ll have Kadai/Karahi Chicken on the menu. It’s a popular north Indian dish that’s made with a few freshly ground whole spices and is known for it’s incredible flavor. It’s a simple, spicy dish and is traditionally made in a cast iron wok, but you can use a dutch oven or large saute pan instead….

Patod Ki Sabzi – Crispy Chickpea Cakes in Yogurt Spinach Almond Gravy

January 8, 2019 By Asha Shivakumar

A popular curry made in Rajasthan. Patod is a chickpea cake that’s dipped in a curry. Patod-Chickpea cake curry is perfect for entertaining and a vegetarian lovers delight. The curry is beautiful base with spinach, some yogurt and a lot of other good stuff.

Food is such an important, driving force in our lives. We share and create some of our most important stories surrounded by food. It comforts us, nourishes us, and heals us. So far, I haven’t met one who didn’t have a special dish or fond food memory to look back on.

Eons ago….

I’ve come to my friend’s place for a sleepover. There is a game of rummy going on upstairs. While I am expected to be with the teens…… …

Goan Style Hasselback Potatoes with Balchao Masala & Coconut Milk

November 11, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

This Goan style Hasselback Potatoes Casserole is a twist on traditional fanned baked potatoes. The potatoes are baked in a spicy coconut milk sauce, creamy in the middle with irresistible crisp edges. An easy, impressive potato side dish recipe to make for a crowd!

Thanksgiving is two weeks away!!

A few days ago, as I was talking to the boys, I asked them what they were thankful for. The list went on. What struck me most is when they said that we treated them as equals. That made them feel special: when they could eat with the adults, sit at the same table, and participate in the same conversations and rituals.

Such a simple act of inclusion, a seat at the table. “An act of affirmation, really… You, yes you, young one, have a unique and important way of looking at the world. There is so much to be grateful for during the holidays, but a seat at the table has been a gift I have always been acutely aware of, and very much thankful for,” he said….

Mutton Ghee Roast – Goat Curry in Spices and Ghee

October 19, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

This slow cooked goat curry is one of my most requested ways to cook mutton. Everyone who tries it seems to love it! Slow cooking goat meat with Indian spices results in a perfectly tender, juicy, and flavorful curry. This mutton ghee roast is just a keeper of a recipe.

Every meal is a celebration.

My Amma (grandma) made sure I realized that. She was not what you’d consider pious or orthodox. She was a modern thinker when it was frowned upon. She didn’t believe in fasting or the regular norms of life. But, she respected her sons and daughter in laws who were religious and had beliefs of their own. After a month of festivities and vegetarian food, she made sure to make some of the most delicious non-vegetarians meal for her clan of six boys and a loving daughter in law.

When she decided she was going to make meat at home, it was a process. Every process was thoroughly enjoyed; she lived in the moment. Amma took great pride in going to her favorite butcher and buying the perfect cut of fresh meat. She sat in our back veranda on a wooden mannai(stool), washing and rewashing while her hands turned a pretty hue of orange from the turmeric. I wondered then, how the masala didn’t fall off the ammikkal(flat version of mortal and pestle). On a beautifully cured mann-chatti(clay pot), she cooked and fried. It took hours. Then she calls me, Ashu and sits me down. Carefully blowing it so it doesn’t scorch my tongue, she feeds me the first bite of the juicy, spicy, and flavorful curry. I’ll always remember that first bite. Maybe it was her hands that fed me or those hands that cooked it. I’ll never be able to recreate that. But, this is close.

My grandma was known for her meat dishes. Not many at our home enjoyed goat meat. Lamb chops were loved, but not goat curry. Me included. She would shop for the best meat at her favorite place and meticulously cook the curry. Slow cooked curry is the best, she said. I never got it then. My palette definitely had not blossomed back then….

Green Peas and Papad Curry – Appalam Pattani Kurma

October 14, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

An easy and simple Indian style green peas curry with papad. This spicy Dry Green Peas Curry is made with sprouted dry green peas (a staple in Indian kitchens), onion, tomatoes, spices and papad. A vegan, soy-free, nut-free, gluten-free recipe.

This is a month of celebration. Celebration of a woman. Goodess Durga in all her forms.

Entire India will celebrate Navaratri and Durga Pooja. Celebrating the victory of good over evil.

Everyone celebrates festivals for different reasons.

And when people do draw a boundary between spirituality and religiosity, they are often making a political or moral statement rather than describing what they believe.

To me, festivals have a deeper meaning….

Crusty Cauliflower Pasta Bake with Peppery Almonds Manchego Crust -GF

October 11, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

With just four ingredients, you have the best cauliflower pasta bake ever. The sauteed cauliflower feels decadent with spicy almonds in this crunchy baked pasta. You can cook this over the stove top, or bake it. Be careful not to overcook your pasta, as it will continue to cook in the oven.

This pasta bake is just the kind of thing for these dark and dreary days. It’s warm, crusty, and soul-satisfying. Yet it’s full of healthy ingredients. Chickpea pasta, crushed cauliflower, and a good peppery almond crust.

The pasta is a vessel that holds the cauliflower and with every bite, you get a bit of the creamy from the cauliflower and crunch from the almonds….