sides

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….

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….

One pot Fruit and Nut Coconut Milk Rice with Golden Beets

April 15, 2019 By Asha Shivakumar

Coconut flavors are the prevalent ingredient in almost every South Asian entree. A South Indian meal always call for some coconut in some form. This coconut rice/coconut milk rice goes great with curries and a great side for any meal. Once you try easy coconut rice, you will see how quickly it will turn into the option of choice.

Coconut rice is one of those dishes that we eat a lot in a South Indian home.

Sunday lunches are very special. Growing up a Sunday lunch always consisted of biryani, some sort of chicken curry and pepper chicken. But, there were “fast” days when meat was not cooked and it was a vegetarian feast. Those days, it was Coconut milk rice, pakoda kurma, vada and some raita. I sure loved those days. I guess I was a vegetarian at heart growing up. But, I’ll never say no to biryani and any form of rice.

This is my favorite kind of rice….

Goan Style Hasselback Potatoes with Balchao Masala & Coconut Milk

November 11, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

This Goan style Hasselback Potatoes Casserole is a twist on traditional fanned baked potatoes. The potatoes are baked in a spicy coconut milk sauce, creamy in the middle with irresistible crisp edges. An easy, impressive potato side dish recipe to make for a crowd!

Thanksgiving is two weeks away!!

A few days ago, as I was talking to the boys, I asked them what they were thankful for. The list went on. What struck me most is when they said that we treated them as equals. That made them feel special: when they could eat with the adults, sit at the same table, and participate in the same conversations and rituals.

Such a simple act of inclusion, a seat at the table. “An act of affirmation, really… You, yes you, young one, have a unique and important way of looking at the world. There is so much to be grateful for during the holidays, but a seat at the table has been a gift I have always been acutely aware of, and very much thankful for,” he said….

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….

Spicy Hasselback Potatoes and Egg Salad with Fennel and Chives Tadka (Tempering)

June 26, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

These Indian flavored Hasselback potatoes are roasted until crispy that’s drizzled with spices. A flavorful and wholesome side dish bursting with fresh herbs and seasonings. Make these Spicy Hasselback Potatoes Eggs for your next picnic or party. It’s a winner.

~The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It’s about what you’re made of, not circumstances.~

This tried and tested method for a good relationship I heard from my shrink years ago is a guaranteed way to keep arguments fair and civil.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about marriage, it is to not use the words “Never” and “Always”….

Twice Baked Potato with Pepper Jack-Cauliflower-Peas Stuffing (Indian style)

November 14, 2017 By Asha Shivakumar

A perfect snack, side or a light lunch. These twice baked potatoes are stuffed with a spicy cauliflower peas stir fry that’s mixed in with pepper jack and wild rice. It makes for an amazing Thanksgiving side, as well as a light, delicious lunch.

It’s okay to be an Idealist, I guess!!

Maybe you’ve been called a dreamer your whole life—by others and by yourself. Are you the person spending half your time envisioning what you’d love and want to do or be?

I see some of you nod in agreement. I also see my parents shake their head side to side and saying, “That’s not reality, step down my dear…”

Trying to bridge the two worlds, the practical and the reality, is a dreamer’s challenge….

Taro/Arbi Spicy Stir Fry

March 3, 2016 By Asha Shivakumar

She comes home and finds an empty container, which, only a couple of hours ago, had the very best tangy-spicy, oily, fried taro.

A year is a long time to be away when you’ve stayed with someone for 21 years. A trip to India after I came to US was an in-explainable feeling, and an exciting one. There were a lot of things I wanted to enjoy, first being the food. All the things I was overwhelmed to cook or plain didn’t know how to cook were the things I asked mom to make. Sometimes we just have a mind block, don’t you think? You believe it’s hard to cook something, just because. This was one of those things….