Weeknight Meal

Pumpkin Dal with Beet Greens

September 27, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Cozy and comforting Pumpkin Dal or Poosanikai Kootu is perfect for autumn and cooler months. It’s easy to make and with the addition of beet greens adds so much more flavor.

Happy Autumn!!

It’s that time of the year when pumpkin and butternut squash is in abundance, and I’m all about pumpkin recipes, be it sweet or savory. I’ve been eating this pumpkin kootu or pumpkin dal from when I was a baby. I’ve always liked the slight sweetness in my curries and this one with chapathi or just plain rice is phenomenal.

Authentic South Indian everyday food/recipes uses very less spices, simple local ingredients and never over the top hot. It’s always fresh and few ingredients. This recipe uses channa daal for it’s bite and texture, creamy which also holds it’s shape. This pumpkin dal works best with channa dal/split yellow chickpeas or even split yellow moong daal.

Flavorful Indian food is so much faster and you can get the most authentic taste with just a few ingredients.Thanks to my mom for yet another healthy and delicious recipe that is a staple at home….

One Pot Saffron Chicken Rice

September 22, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Saffron Chicken Rice is a one pot meal that is flavorful, comforting and weeknight recipe made easy! It’s robust, soulful and well balanced, the best recipe you’ll need. This post is sponsored by Spice Tribe.

Biryani, Pulao, Fried rice of any kind is our special meal and brings out the nostalgia in me. Our Sunday meals had biryani as the star, and mom made one of the best biryani ever.

Now, my boys are big fans of biryani or pulao of any kind, always with chicken. This recipe Saffron Chicken Rice is inspired by Turkish pulao, and it’s something I make few times a month, especially during a weeknight….

Peanut Butter Ginger Chicken

September 16, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Marinate and Cook: It’s as easy as that. This Peanut Butter Chicken is an impressive and delicious dish. With gingery tones, warm spices and the sweetness from the peanut butter and honey, it will WOW you. Enjoy with pilaf, quinoa, naan or roti, SO GOOD!

Every time I post a recipe for chicken, I say it’s a new favorite of my boys. It is;). When a recipe turns out well and it’s the most requested, I jump to share it with you. Like many of your favorite chicken recipes on the blog, I hope you love this one too.

This Peanut Butter Chicken is such an impressive meal, the kids loved! I say impressive because of how easy it is to put together and how flexible this recipe can be. Adding peanut butter to this recipe adds richness and a robust flavor. When a dish tastes like it’s been slow cooked or seems fancier than it is, I think it’s a winner. …

Spicy Crispy Corn Chaat/Salad

September 7, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Corn Salad is one of our favorite summer light lunch! This easy Crispy Corn Chaat Salad features sweet fresh corn off the cob, crisp cucumbers, shaved sweet carrots, onions, crunchy peanuts with a delicious cucumber cilantro chutney that acts as a dressing.

Spicy Crispy Corn Chaat Salad is such a delicious summer salad staple; it’s easy to make and tastes incredibly good without many ingredients or fuss of deep frying the corn to get it crispy( thanks to the air fryer)!

Summer is the best time of year to serve up fresh salads and vegetables from the garden or local CSA. While I don’t have much of a green thumb, I have friends who do, and I get the corn, cucumbers and even carrots from their garden. Or your csa will be an amazing place to get the freshet of vegetables….

Chayote Spinach Kootu with Kootu Podi

August 5, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Chayote kootu with spinach, made with a special kootu podi is simple, yet overflows with flavors and leaves you questioning what spice is added in it. It embodies the way I like to cook — that is to say, in a way that lets each ingredient shine.

A soothing bowl was needed because everything is getting overwhelming.

Don’t you prefer every day very much like another? I know, who likes it… Especially since we are going through that. With everything that’s going on, housework has doubled (don’t know why, or maybe I do), office work seems slow, I’ve been in my PJs a bit more than I’d want to, haven’t seen any of my friends in a while, and, to top all that, stress takes over with more reasons than one. You call a friend and everyone talks about the same situation, the same work, the same chores… I don’t blame them. It’s hard on everyone….

Paneer Beans Stir Fry in Tamarind Chutney

August 3, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Chutney. Chop. Stir and serve. This paneer beans stir fry is a great, delicious meal with some rice on the side or some noodles. Simple and splendid.

Stir-fries are a girl’s best friend when looking for an easy meal that feels fancy and loved by all. Lunch time when the boys would go to school and work was a peaceful time, all by myself soaking in the moments. Plated well, simple it might be, but always fancy-ish and healthy. The lesson — that lunch can be and should be the welcomed break in our day to recoup and recharge — changes the entire game of the day.

This is hardly work: some stirring, pouring, and a bit of fry up, and then, here’s lunch. The trifling effort yields plush, sweet and spicy paneer that snuggles up with green slightly crisp beans. I love to have it as is, it is simple and absolutely delicious….

Baked Chicken Chimichanga

July 26, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

This baked chicken chimichanga recipe is a healthier & lighter version of the deep-fried one. They come together so quickly: just put it in a casserole dish, bake, and serve. My boys love it and can’t get enough when I cook these.

Authentic Mexican food is vibrant, delicious, fresh, and fun. It is also colorful and spicy, using an amazing array of chillies, both fresh and dried. Many important ingredients are readily available everywhere, such as tomatoes, limes, coriander, red onion, avocado, and corn.

There’s a common perception that Mexican food is both spicy and heavy but, in fact, true Mexican food has both a depth of flavor – with its combination of savory and earthy flavors – and a lightness from its generous use of fresh herbs, vegetables and citrus. In most of Mexico it would be very unusual to put cheese in tacos, enchiladas, or tostadas, for example, and if it were used it would be a Mexican panela cheese (a smooth, fresh, white cheese). One of the dishes that’s considered heavy is the deep fried chimicanga….

Spicy Thai Basil Chicken

July 23, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Stir fries are fast, easy, and delicious. This Thai Basil Chicken will wow you! An incredibly flavorful recipe that truly tastes just like your favorite Thai restaurant take out, or even better. Serve over some rice and a quick impressive meal is ready in no time.

We’ve eaten our share of bad Thai and great Thai food too. One of our favorites, if not the best is Khin Khao, a Michelin star Thai restaurant in San Francisco. Their flavors are subtle and not a single ingredient is overpowering. I definitely love their approach to recipes, and I was definitely inspired when I made the sauce for this Spicy Thai Basil Chicken.

There is so much nuance to Thai food, it’s not just food that’s as hot as it can be. Anyway, the Thai food that we have here is not Thai enough. It is, in fact, in complete adherence to the spirit of approachable Thai food. No doubt, the food is called Thai cuisine, and is cooked widely, especially if you take the common majority’s favorite ‘yellow or green Thai curry.’ But, is that authentic? No, but it’s relatable and palatable for all….

Healthier Salmon Cakes (Salmon Patties)

July 16, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

These healthy Salmon Cakes are a crowd pleaser. A back pocket recipe that I’ve made so many times and is always a hit at home. Requires very few ingredients, healthy and comes together in 10 minutes plus the cooking time. I had to post the recipe when a friend of mine as me if I had a salmon cake recipe that is healthier, and here it is.

Cooking salmon was overwhelming at one point. If you’ve been intimidated by cooking fish in the past, I hear you! I spent years avoiding buying salmon because I thought it would be too complicated to make, or that worse yet, I’d mess it up and ruin a beautiful piece of fish….

Fried Cauliflower Potato Curry in Peanut Sesame Paste

April 26, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

This Cauliflower Potato Curry dish is perfect for a weeknight dinner and for a party! It’s loaded with delicious spices and a special paste, and comes together so easily! The flavors are unique and will WOW you.

After I posted this picture of Instagram, I got so many requests for a detailed recipe for this. And you know that another curry recipe was coming, right? Looks like you guys love curries, Chickpea with Spinach Curry, I knew I had to keep these curry recipes coming. There’s my Quick 20 minute Thai Green Curry, my Mixed Daal with Vegetables and even my favorite of the blog Navratan Korma. Now finally – this Fried Cauliflower Potato Curry in Peanut Sesame Paste. SO GOOD! This is such a different, amazing, mouthwatering and comforting curry that you’ll be making it over and over again….