Lunch

Instant Paniyaaram with Millets & Vegetables -Tomato Chutney

October 6, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

Gluten-free and vegan, a healthy and tasty snack, this instant paniyaaram only takes about half an hour. Loaded with vegetables, made with millets, and with protein from the peanuts, it makes for an easy and healthy after-school snack or is great for school lunchboxes.

I’d mock my mom when I saw her cook with millets, oats, and whole grains. She’d slyly put a handful of millets in our pongal, or add some oat flour in the roti batter. We never realized healthier ingredients went into our food, but it did. But, every moment dad and I saw her sneak it in, we’d roll our eyes. Yeah… well, here I am living in the very world I lovingly mocked.

Who am I? I can’t believe the day has come that I’ve become my mother. I’m making millets paratha, quinoa pongal, chocolate oatmeal… And, I’m loving it. The family loves it too. Well, maybe not the whole family. The little baby bear will come around, just like I did. Or at least I hope he will 🙄 . He’s got a tongue just like his mumma used to….

Spicy Tandoori Potatoes/Aloo

October 2, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

These crispy spicy and delicious tandoori potatoes makes for a great starter for the vegetarians or it’s a great side with naan and some sour cream-yogurt dip.

If you’ve never tried tandoori potatoes before, then you’ve got to try them! It’s a guarantee they’ll be making a regular appearance at house. Especially THESE, they are spicy and full of flavor. Smash them them and you have great smashed tandoori potatoes….

Dhaba Style Egg Omelette Tomato Curry

September 29, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

These mildly spiced eggs cooked in butter were rolled, cut, and simmered in a tangy garlicky tomato curry. They are fluffy and soak in the juices quite efficiently. This dhaba style egg curry is a perfect quick “lazy” meal for cold evenings. The curry goes absolutely great with rotis, chapathis, and parathas.

We’ve had an adventurous few weeks. Yes, we did travel quite a bit, but it is the adventure we had with my camera I’m referring to.

A few days before leaving on a trip to London and Oslo, my camera stopped working. The card reader was messed up. I was sick at that time. When I finally had some energy, I decided to take it to my local camera repair guy (which had a one-star rating) only because I did not want to drive an hour up to the city to get it fixed. We were somewhat relieved because the local guy told me he can try and give it before we leave on our trip, which was in five days….

Quick and Easy Miso Ramen with Spicy Tofu Scramble

September 5, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

Calling all ramen lovers! You will have to give this quick, delicious, homemade, easy miso ramen recipe a try! This ramen can be made fully vegan and topped with eggs, corn, bok choy, and amazing ramen noodles. This will satisfy your ramen craving in a mere thirty minutes.

Happy September!! We are into soup weather, cozy sweaters, and festivities.

I had to dive into my favorite season EVER with this beautiful and ambrosial ramen, which I love just as much.

I had ramen for the first time many years ago and wasn’t impressed. Three years ago, however, when I had it in Totto Ramen, I was converted. We enjoyed it so much that we had it a couple of times during that trip alone, which is quite uncommon for us. After we got back, I was determined to find a good ramen in San Francisco. Although I’ve found a few good places, it has never hit a spot like Totto. Then, it was time to try it at home. After making ramen many times, I still felt like something was missing. I was determined, however, so I kept on. So here it is, almost a year into trial and error, the easiest miso ramen which is the closest that I’ve come to New York ramen. SO GOOD!!…

Sheet Pan Bruschetta Chicken and Veggies

August 19, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

The convenience and simplicity of this chicken dinner makes it extra awesome. This sheet pan bruschetta chicken is fast, family-friendly, no-brainer dinner you need to make tonight! The best part, easy clean up. Change up the veggies throughout the year—the balsamic garlic sauce is good on all of them!

I’ts almost school time and I’m always looking for easy dinner options and this bruschetta chicken always wins.

Who doesn’t love bruschetta?!! To die for cherry tomatoes, fresh basil – the most delicious things coming out of our gardens right now. Toss with olive oil and sea salt all atop some olive oil toasted bread, HEAVEN!! And it’s so super flavorful for summer!

Bruschetta Chicken is a classic Italian-American bistro favorite in the spring and summer. My Sheet pan Bruschetta Chicken recipe is fast, fresh, and ridiculously delicious. This is the dinner we can’t stop making. The meal I’ve been serving quite often. The chicken that I make once a week to have on salads, on pasta, alone. This is the business….

Halal Guys Chicken Rice Bowl (Copycat Recipe)

August 13, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

A delicious copycat recipe of the famous NYC Food Cart. This Halal Guys chicken rice bowl is boldly spiced, served with flavorful turmeric rice and spiced yogurt sauce.

Halal Guys is super popular in New York City. As soon as you pass that corner, the aroma becomes so tempting even when you’ve had a big meal. You’ll be in that line, drooling over everyone’s order, and once you finally get your order, you can’t wait to take a bite. The juicy flavorful chicken with a tinge of sourness from the lemon, the perfectly cooked rice, that white sauce that you want to just drink up, and then comes the super spicy harissa kind of hot chili sauce.

The first time we had the chicken rice bowl from Halal Guys was three ago when I visited New York City with my teen. Our main motto for the trip was to eat through the city. We loved it so much that we walked for forty minutes to have it another day of our travel. We generally don’t eat from one place twice during a vacation….

Broccoli Cauliflower Goat Cheese Quinoa Patties with Avocada Cream

August 6, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

These crispy, healthy, gluten-free broccoli cauliflower goat cheese quinoa patties are simple and nutritious. If you want, skip the cheese and use vegan cheese to make it fully vegan. These patties are very versatile. You can make them with different vegetables and your choice of cheese. Your meat lover will love it too.

Happy New Week you guys!!

I find it a little challenging to eat healthily while having all the good flavors, with portion control. When summer hits, it’s especially a little hard to maintain a decent lifestyle in terms of food. With the boys home, there’s a little bit of indulgent food, a lot of comfort food, and in between, I try to squeeze in some healthy food too….

South Indian Spicy Tomato Chicken Curry/Koduvai Chicken Varuval

August 4, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

This family-style Indian chicken curry is loaded with heat and spices, and it’s authentic as it gets. The chili oil, the fresh spices, and the technique makes this is a very uniquely flavorful chicken curry. This South Indian Style Spicy Tomato Chicken, aka Koduvai Chicken Varuval, is a must make.

If there’s one thing my hubby often craves, it’s puri (boori) chicken. He is from Tiruppur, and his mom’s family lived in a small place called Koduvai. Till date, when he visits Coimbatore (where his parents live now), he makes sure to visit his mom’s old town. I see a sense of pleasure as he describes the village. Old roads, thatched roofs, verandas, kolam (a design drawn out of rice) in front of every home. He visited his grandmum’s home where he went on vacations, got pampered by his aunts, fed endlessly by his grandmum and rode the cow to his heart’s content. He’s the favorite grandson and nephew to all, I can see why….

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….

Beetroot Vegetable Biryani

June 6, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

This easy and delicious beetroot vegetable biryani is my go-to on days when I feel like having a healthy biryani. A one-pot meal of rice, vegetables, and aromatic spices, it’s rich in flavor and elaborate enough to take center stage at parties or just for the family. Each bite is suffused with spice, veggies, or caramelized onions—deep and layered in flavor.

Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive. – Barry Lopez.

When I decided to start my blog many years ago, my goal was to share food, the love of food, and the love of the stories behind the food. One of the very first blogs I followed and enjoyed reading was INDIAN SIMMER. Prerna’s penchant for Indian food is strong, and her stories were beautifully articulated. Her chicken curry post has to be my favorite, I’ve read it a few times and every time I read it, a string tugs at my heart. And it was no surprise when she won the SAVEUR blog award….