Category: Recipes by Ingredient

  • Locaware: Green Tomato Lentil Stew

    I talk to my parents everyday and each evening I look forward to asking what they’re having for dinner.  It’s always something I wish I was eating too (which is half the reason I started cooking in the first place).  A few weeks back, my dad told me they were having locaware.  Undoubtably, a joke […]

  • Curried Tomato and Arugula Salad

    Do you ever come back from vacation with memories of a dish that you ate during your trip and then try to recreate it at home?  I have at least 3 dishes from our last trip that I’m trying to deconstruct and recreate. Sometimes it can be cumbersome to vacation as a strict vegetarian, but […]

  • Warm Bean Salad

    Still trying to decide what to make for the Fourth of July?  This warm bean salad is a favorite of ours – it combines the creamy, nutty taste of beans with tangy feta, crunchy sharp onions and juicy cherry tomatoes.  The key is to get the beans and the tomatoes mildly warmed.  This makes the […]

  • From the Spice Box: Tamarind Candy

    As a kid, I used to sneak into the pantry when my parents weren’t around and tear off a little corner from the block of dried tamarind that was guaranteed to be aplenty in our house.  I would pop the hard knob of tamarind into my mouth, looking like a baseball player with dip wedged […]

  • Masala Stuffed Okra Boats

    Okra gets a bad wrap.  I grew up in Irmo, South Carolina, home of the Okra Strut, so perhaps I have a soft spot for the little green guys.  The most common complaint seems to be that okra is slimy.  I know of two recipes and one prep work tip that eliminate the possibility of […]

  • Shaved Rose Water Ice

    What is it about the smell of roses that’s so relaxing?  Stick your nose into the center of a rose flower and inhale.   You’re greeted with a heavenly scent followed by a calm that comes over you.  For me, there’s also a regatta of sneezes that follows thanks to my allergies.   Shaved Rose […]

  • Charu Au Poix (French Inspired Rasam)

    This is a guest post written by Raj Bala, Nithya’s brother, who is incidentally also a hungry desi. The French settled a colony in India called Pondicherry in 1673 on the Southeast coast of India. Their influence on the city is still evident today even though they didn’t necessarily fare as well in terms of […]

  • Swiss Chard and Spinach with Shitake and Peas

    Farmers markets really get me excited.  Rajat thinks it’s because they remind me of vegetable markets in India.  I think it’s because I associate farmers markets with warm weather and fresh, green vegetables that require sunshine and warmth (two things New York has been sadly lacking until the last few days).  An even more plausible […]

  • Cracked Wheat Can Taste Good (Really)

    Cracked.  Wheat.  Porridge.  Nothing about that sounds good to me.  Cracked wheat porridge with vegetables.  Melt in your mouth potatoes.  Sweet peas and carrots.  And spices.  And creamy yogurt.  Served piping hot.  It starts to sound better, no?  Cracked wheat is made by cracking whole raw wheat berries.  This means that it’s high in fiber and […]

  • 15 Minute Indian Chinese Noodles

    Quick is high on my list of redeemable recipe qualities.  Although, it’s right up there with tasty and healthy.  This sometimes makes for a challenging recipe hunt.  I picked up a few packs of MTR vermicelli noodles a few weeks back for experimenting with vermicelli style upma, or semiya upma.  As I started making the […]