Entree

30 minute Broccoli Pizza with Roasted Garlic Pesto and Feta Cheese

July 16, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

“Who puts broccoli on a pizza?!” If you have seen Inside Out, you probably know exactly what I’m referring too.

We finally got to see the movie Inside Out. As I was munching on my popcorn, I was oblivious to what was coming next. I literally spit and started laughing when the broccoli scene came. It just seemed so surreal. I don’t want to give away too much in case you plan to watch.

I’m not the biggest fan of animated movies. I got dragged into this. I have to say the imagination maestros outdid themselves. Ah! The way that the Inside Out writers chose to tell the story is gorgeous, complicated, and crazily imaginative: inside the control room of the protagonist’s mind. It covers a whole range of emotions and feelings. It makes you think.

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Spicy Mango Masala Chicken

July 3, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

There are many words to describe food. Three words to describe this chicken, no cliché here, are “FINGER LICKING GOOD.”

This recipe was definitely an accident, a happy and yummy accident.

This is a re-post from few years ago. I’ve made it a number of times. Yesterday I made a huge batch of the mango barbecue sauce and decided to click some better quality pictures, if you know what I mean. I haven’t deleted the old post. If you’d like to see the old pictures and how this recipe came to be, here’s the link for the original Mango Chicken.

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White Chicken Curry Pot Pie

May 2, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

Every year, I’m asked what I would like to eat on Mother’s day before they decide on eggs and toast. Kids plan with their dad, and they always make a tasty breakfast of Indian eggs with toast. It stops there :). I thoroughly enjoy my morning with some strong Indian filter coffee and the masala eggs. Then I get this: “Mom I don’t know how you’re able to cook so much all the time… It’s so tough.” As cooking is second nature for me at this point, I would be more than happy to enjoy in my kitchen the whole day. Even though I tell them I could, all I get is a big “No.” Afterwards, they tell about reservations for lunch and dinner. Mother’s Day is always fun, a bit of pampering.

Hypothetically speaking, if some one were to cook a nice meal, I’d love these mini pot pies. With this, a beautiful red wine, and a movie on Netflix, I’m all happy. It’s a flower bouquet in puff pastry form. What more could a food lover want? :)…

2 Vegetarian Healthy Weeknight Curries

April 16, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

Growing up, I always saw Mom making these dishes during weekdays. It was served with rotis/tortillas all the time. There wasn’t a particular pattern, but I knew what was coming some of the days. The very interesting thing was, they tasted the same every time she made them. Now, it makes me wonder how she did it. No recipe, just add this and add that. Our lunches were full course meals, most of the time. Weekday dinners were usually a simple roti with a vegetarian side.

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Chettinad Spicy Chicken Curry

March 17, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

I don’t experiment a lot with family recipes. I pretty much follow a step-by-step written formula. Recreating childhood memories is an experience quite special to me. Especially when being this far away, food makes me feel at home and close to family back home.

I come from a family of great cooks. They made some delicious food and some cringe-worthy exotic food too. Curries were almost non-experimental; they cooked what the family liked and that was that. As a result, a couple of next generation home cooks ventured and branched out into different methods of cooking and different cuisines, although the food made on Sundays were some of the best. We learnt the art of making Dum Aloo(potatoes in creamy sauce), chicken tikka masala(needs no intro), hariyali chicken(green curry chicken), aloo posto(Potato dry-bengali cuisne)and many more.

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HARISSA-MANGO PANEER AND PEARL BARLEY-DILL SALAD

January 17, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

This month was my whole grain month. As I measured out the barley to cook that morning, I did not realize that I had to be creative about how I made use of it for the next three days.

Little did I know that after you have a decent portion of this grain, you won’t be hungry for hours. But isn’t that a good thing? Oh well, maybe. For me, it was ok. So, long story short, I cooked 4 cups of barley which turned out to be around 8 cups of cooked barley. The kids were very apprehensive at the sound of the grain but it turned out they enjoyed it especially when I paired it with something they love….

Wasabi Broccolini with Saffron Quinoa Pilaf

January 6, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

I have a great rewarding audience to cook for. We all share a common passion, food. Although hubs is not much of a kitchen person, his appreciation and knowledge of his food are admirably impressive.

I don’t have a strategy or agenda when cooking on most days. It’s even more experimentative when clearing the fridge and when I have nothing much going on. Sometimes, a meal comes from a place of annoyance and “Hey, I’m going to cook whatever…”

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ACHARI CHICKEN – Chicken Curry simmered in pickling spices

November 7, 2013 By Asha Shivakumar

And the Celebration continues….
It is a special week.

A simple man with simple needs. He loves gadgets, teaches the boys ‘Raspberry Pi'(I thought that was such a funny name for a computer). He smiles when I get mad at him. I don’t remember him getting mad with either of us, the boys or me. He is so good at surprises.

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KOFTA CURRY – MEATBALLS IN TOMATO GRAVY

October 18, 2013 By Asha Shivakumar

Here we are almost two months since school started, and I am excited after the first parent conference. FLASHBACK.((((((())))))

It is Sunday. Not any other Sunday, a day which I don’t look forward to every year. It’s bittersweet Sunday.

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SPINACH PAKODI KADHI with roasted garlic- GUEST POST

September 5, 2013 By Asha Shivakumar

Today I am happy to be guest writing for one of my first blogger friends. Now, we all know blogging is a lot of work which we all love, but doing it with two little ones can pose some challenges. Shruthi, a beautiful photographer manages both pretty well and her sincerity can be seen in her work.

PLEASE visit her beautiful blog Part time chef. Thank you so much.

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