Category: Appetizers, Breads and Side Dish Recipes

  • Vegetable Bhaji (Spicy Tempura) with Mint Chutney

    Bhaji is basically Indian tempura – vegetables battered in a spicy flour coating, deep fried and served piping hot straight out of the oil, slightly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.  In our house, bhaji was the late afternoon snack of particularly lazy Saturday afternoons following a nap.  Bhaji was the pre-dinner […]

  • Aloo Paratha – Spiced Potato Filled Flatbread

    Warm, generously filled parathas (stuffed Indian flatbread) remind me of cold, wintery mornings at my husband�EUR(TM)s family�EUR(TM)s house in Delhi. We wake up to be treated to hot parathas and steaming chai. Despite our �EURoeprotests�EURoe against such a heavy breakfast and �EUR�pleas�EURoe for no butter, we let our plates be filled with hot paratha after […]

  • Ridge Gourd Chutney

    Ridge Gourds are one of those vegetables that I see in the grocery store and feel a little scared of – I wonder how to break through its green, spiny skin, why it’s sometimes called Chinese Okra and if that’s the same thing as ridge gourd (it is) and how my mom manages to transform […]

  • Simplifying: Methi Daal

    Simplify.  That’s my new years resolution (more on that later).  So what better way to start the new year than with a dish which is simple in its ingredients, simpler in its preparation and anything but that in the amount of comfort food flavor and nutrients that it delivers…Methi Daal (Lentil Soup with Methi, or […]

  • A Very Desi Thanksgiving

    I’ve never characterized Thanksgiving as just “a day to be thankful” – it’s always been more about a day of good food, parades and family because I just don’t understand limiting thankfulness to one day.  A thing as difficult as say parades, however, I do understand limiting.  The loss of life and terror we saw this past […]

  • Vegetarian Sushi…Beyond California Rolls

    R first introduced me to sushi was four years ago in Lake Tahoe.  I loved the combo of rice and fresh veggies, rice and fried sweet potatoes, rice and tempura.  Sushi at non-vegetarian restaurants gives me the heebee jeebees though…I picture fish juice contaminating my veggie sushi (sounds crazy but is it really?).  Once, I […]

  • Bruschetta with Ricotta Salata

    Salt, butter, cheese and bread are among my favorites – a cardiologist’s nightmare.  We actually cook and eat pretty healthily but things might be different if it weren’t for R making me adopt healthy habits (for example, who knew dumplings could be steamed and not pan fried and that the gym should be attended regularly???).  [Note: […]

  • Simple Sides – Quick Aloo Gobi

    I found this beautiful, oddly yellow colored cauliflower at the   grocery store today and was intrigued to see what it tasted like…I have to say that tasted just like regular cauliflower to us.  Would love to hear from anyone else who has tried these cross bred veggies (which is kind of creepy, no?)… Normally, I like […]