Author: nithya

  • Avocado Tomato Melts and Spicy Lemonade

    Eating cold lunches is almost like not eating lunch at all. At least to me. But I do have my limits and slaving away over a hot stove on a hot day is not within them. When I snuck out of yard work early this weekend, I knew I had to come up with something […]

  • Happy Mother’s Day

    Indian mothers have this way of making the difficult seem routine. At least that’s how it is with Indian mothers of my mother’s generation.  I’ve had this conversation often with Indian women of my own generation.  We recall the meals our mothers cooked daily – often after coming home from work and completely from scratch […]

  • Matar Tofu – Curried Peas and Tofu Triangles

    Peas – my family can’t seem to get enough of them. Here’s yet another rendition of Mattar Paneer, this time with chewy triangles of pan fried tofu. For other variations, try Matar Mushroom (Peas and Shitake Mushrooms) and Matar Paneer with Grilled Paneer (Peas and Grilled Paneer, a Farmer’s Cheese). To get chewy triangles of tofu […]

  • Zucchini Koftas in Tomato Sauce

    Shredded green zucchini koftas mixed with besan flour (chickpea flour or gram flour), minced green chili peppers and cilantro, red chili powder and salt then shallow fried until golden and tossed in a mild tomato masala sauce.

  • Holy Hot Avocados & Weeknight Dinners

    Holy hot avocados. Until this summer, I hated avocados (and guacamole). After a taste of my friend Christina‘s guac (just to be polite) this summer, I’ve converted.  Especially when they are hot. I toss cubed handfuls into eggs with cheddar cheese (green eggs no ham) and into stir fries. The few friends I’ve shared this […]

  • Hungry Desi on Gojee

    If you’re in need of recipe ideas, check out Gojee – a New York based start-up that curates recipes from food bloggers all over and personalizes recipe suggestions to user preferences and user-specific ingredients.  You enter ingredients that you like (or have), and Gojee gives you ideas. You can even input dislikes or allergies, and […]

  • Baked Tofu – An Easy Weeknight Protein

    We almost always eat dinner together. Rajat and I have done that since we first got married. Even if one of us is working late, we wait for the other. Eating together as a family became even more of a priority after Surya started eating real food. It gives us a chance to sit down […]

  • Toasted Fergola

    Chewy like Israeli couscous. But better. Because it’s pasta. Have you tried toasted fergola yet? I drenched it in a fresh tomato-pesto sauce.

  • 2011’s A Very Desi Thanksgiving

    Turkey Day was never about the Turkey. At least not in my vegetarian family. There’s always a lot of curiosity around what vegetarians eat on Thanksgiving. And Indians. A part of me feels like I should be having a magical tandoori tofurkey. [Note to self: Next year, make tandoori tofurkey. Make it magical.] We usually […]

  • Semolina Dosa

    I’ve confessed that I cheat a little right? You’ve realized I’m not Martha right? We’re clear on this right? We’ve reached that point in our relationship where we discard with niceties right? Ok. It’s settled. Either you already figured it out or I’m telling you now. I like shortcuts. I love traditional Indian cooking. But […]