Vegan

Vegan Roasted Cauliflower and Onion Soup

October 2, 2021 By Asha Shivakumar

My favorite homemade roasted cauliflower onion soup recipe is simple, deceptively rich tasting and full of flavor. This roasted cauliflower soup is nutty and delicious, especially topped with candied pecans, this soup is perfect for the cooler weather.

Happy October!!

Time time to do nothing while doing things we enjoy.

Time to gather your thoughts. It’s time to feel the nip in the air.

Time to listen to the sounds of nature.

Too many events fill your day, crowd you out of your life, and leave you exhausted without a clear recollection of what you did. If you paused, took time to set your expectations aside, go for a walk instead, youd remember that time, empty of intention, more clearly than your busy day. It is in the empty spaces that life takes place–not in the planning, but in the repose.

You need to see little things, the volume of things. The expanse of sky, the breadth of horizon. Be more on the edge, living the simple life. Truth gathers there and defines your being.

Take time to enjoy the simplicity, just like this soup:)….

chili garlic mushrooms

September 23, 2021 By Asha Shivakumar

Chili Garlic mushrooms is a bold flavored dish that is so so so good. Serve it over noodles or fried rice, or as an appetizer, you are going to love it!

Pan seared Chili Garlic Mushrooms are a staple side in many Indian restaurants for the non meat eaters. This is a an Indo Chinese inspired dish, chili garlic noodles, I make often, a huge favorite in homes all over the world. I have figured out the chili garlic sauce works absolutely perfect in this dish. This Garlic Mushroom recipe will make any mushroom hater enjoy it.

You will love this easy and delicious 10-minute side dish that pairs with anything! Low carb and Keto approved! Use this sauce to make chili garlic noodles too:)….

Rajasthani Rassewali Moth Curry with Ridgegourd

September 17, 2021 By Asha Shivakumar

This Rajasthani Rassewali Moth Curry with Ridgegourd is a tomato-ey spicy homestyle recipe that is inspired by a potato dish from Rajasthan. This Moth Dal recipe makes the perfect plant-based Indian meal! Rich, fragrant, and packed with protein for a meal you can feel good about and it’s authentic tasting.

To make your decisions wisely, you should have a clear mind. For a clear mind, you need to focus on you and take breaks every once in a while.

We all have gone through our struggles in the last many months. The range varies. We have also come/coming out of it stronger and better than ever. For one what the pandemic has taught me is: what I missed and what I didn’t, what’s important and what is not….

Jeera Hing Aloo Mattar Fry- Cumin spiced Potato and Peas

April 1, 2021 By Asha Shivakumar

This Cumin spiced Potato and Peas is a take on potato roast from Southern part of India~ this is a spring version and packs a punch. It uses the tiniest new potatoes you can find, and fresh garden peas. A perfect spring salad or serve with rotis.

Perfecting Indian food is truly an Art.

Indian cuisine has an overwhelming array of spices. The country’s fiery curries, complex rubs, and addictive street foods owe their flavor to a long list of spices from all over the world. These are combined, blended, fried, and toasted in millions of kitchens all over the country. The spices are not just for a layering effect of flavors, but also for their nutritional/medicinal values which are rooted in Ayurveda.

Having said that, Indian recipes also doesn’t have to be complex with a gazillion ingredients and steps. Sometimes all you need is couple of spices to make a dish, and you can taste India through that dish….

Pineapple Rasam

March 13, 2021 By Asha Shivakumar

Pineapple Rasam is very famous to Karnataka. This ultra satisfying, sweet and spicy is comforting and flavorful and so soothing. Pineapple Rasam has a touch of sweetness and tanginess, peppery and warm to all the senses.

My favorite (and I think the best) is a bowl of Spicy rasam with rice! Rasam’s simplicity is what is enticing. The soothing sweetness from the tomato, slight tingle from the pepper and that fresh curry leaves and asafoetida thaalipa is the crowning epilogue.

The history of rasam is as engrossing as the rasam itself. Rasam is also called chaaru, saaru and was originated in Madurai and it has probably hundreds of versions that satisfy South Indians and many around the world.

South Indians have an intimate relationship with rasam. The answer to all sickness is this slightly spiced, mixed with mushy overcooked rice. It’s given to kids, adults, when happy, sick or sad. It’s a pacifier in a bowl. Bolstered with an extra dash of ginger and pepper, it is an instant fix for an itchy throat….

Tofu Kimchi Salad and 10 years of blogging

March 6, 2021 By Asha Shivakumar

Kimchi Salad. Crispy marinated spicy tofu, crunchy napa cabbage, sweet carrots, fresh cucumbers with peanuts, all tossed in a spicy dressing. A salad you will love and make often. HEALTHY and Tasty!

It has happened so quickly, seemingly days apart. Events, life changing ones. TEN YEARS!! Of blogging and Life. And what a delicious journey it has been!

The growth

We have a new member in our family, our love, Waffles.

My then seventh grader who jump started the blog, is in third year of college.

You’ve read why I call my little boy, ‘baby bear”. From running around a five year old skinny little boy to seeing him get his licence, my readers have seen it all.

Hubby has published a book, writing another one…but, the biggest change in him: he has been living and promoting a sustainable lifestyle.

If gray hair is also known as wisdom highlights, I am wiser for sure. 😉 A cookbook and a blog that turned into a business, not too shabby eh?!

Gained some meaningful relationships.

Went through very dark moments with events that made me broody about mortality and humans and life.

Part of me really feels that the love of food, the love of family and the support from readers has kept me going through these 10 years….

Chili Garlic Sauce – One sauce, many uses

March 2, 2021 By Asha Shivakumar

Chili garlic sauce- you will skip all other sauces for this. Easy to make and so versatile that you’ll be making it on repeat. Spicy and flavorful. A MUST MAKE!

Back in the Eighties Indo-chinese was all the rage in India. Indian-Chinese cuisine originated in India and is a uniquely South Asian phenomenon, drastically different from the Cantonese Chinese cuisine available in the U.S. When Chinese settlers immigrated to a city, Kolkatta..they set up their own chinatown.

It all started with chicken manchurian which went viral, and it grew because of love of the merging of Chinese flavors with Indian heat. Then came the Vegetable Manchurian or Gobi (cauliflower) Manchurian, chili paneer, hakka noodles, idli chili and a ton more recipes that captured the hearts of Indians. The common sauce among all is the Homemade Chili garlic sauce….

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….

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….