Weeknight Meal

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:)….

Creamy Salmon Curry with Spinach

September 19, 2021 By Asha Shivakumar

This Silky Creamy Salmon Curry is an easy salmon recipe with a silky smooth tangy sauce. Quick to make and easy to impress. Serve it straight out of the pan.

During those early years of me learning to cook and trying to impress, there was a whole lot of research and experimenting. I’d combine or take inspiration from other cuisines into what I was most comfortable with, Indian food. Years of trying and testing, I’ve come up with few that we enjoy as a family that flows flawlessly. This is one of those recipes that is in my cookbook MASALA and Meatballs and is loved by many.

A small group of friends, a date night in, wanting to impress someone or you wan to treat yourself on a weeknight, this Indian style Salmon Curry is the answer. A luxurious dish with minimal effort. You have 15 minutes, one pan, you have this meal ready. This sauce has few ingredients, each one plays an important role….

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….

Meal in One Jumbo Chicken Meatballs- Baked Chicken Cheese Meatballs

March 19, 2021 By Asha Shivakumar

A meal in one, Jumbo Chicken Meatballs! This recipe everything but the kitchen sink. Wild rice, veggies, spices, all comes together to make a juicy delicious meatball. Serve it with a green chutney or marinara, it’s a meal in one.

Why I love to make jumbo meatballs? It makes for a great balanced meal. Satisfies kids and adults. We love our food spicy and this has the heat and perfect Spicy Meatballs.

My Jumbo Meatballs is a very easy recipe. These Chicken Meatballs are deliciously flavored with garlic and herbs! They have a juicy texture with a rich, hearty and garlicky flavor and no bread! It’s a perfect easy family dinner that everyone will love! You pretty much dump everything in a bowl and mix it together. Takes very little time to do and the meatballs themselves….delicious!…

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….

EASY Spicy Fish Fry

February 28, 2021 By Asha Shivakumar

This Spicy Fish Fry is flaky and great with paruppu/daal and rice. This effortless South Indian style Fish Fry has few ingredients, marinated and pan fried. Perfect as an appetizer too.

Amma(my paternal grandmother) had the midas touch when it came to seafood: spicy fish fry, fish kozhumbu, shrimp and meat dishes.

It’s mid morning, the chaos of our home has settled down leaving my amma and me taking in the sun rays coming through the balcony. His screams reach us from a kilometer, the fish monger pushing his wooden cart with a huge cane basket filled with ice, to keep the fish fresh comes our way. His visit was a little later than normal. I see the eager look in Amma’s face. He waves at us, shouting in tamil that he has Amma’s favorite fish, Vanjaram(king mackerel). Holding her pallu (corner of her saree/dress), I tag along with her. And her bargaining starts, in the end, both coming halfway and happy. She gets her Vanjaram for fish fry and another for 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….

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….

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!!…