This Sungta upkari is one of my aayi’s signature dishes. Everyone at home and the guests who have tasted this, love this. This has a sweetish taste to it because of the onions and prawns. This dish comes under easy-to-prepare dishes list. If you want to cook something very delicious and don’t have much time, go for this one. This needs hardly 10-15mins and you will have the dish ready....

Every recipe that I post on this blog has a special place in my heart. But the traditional recipes that I post make me immensely happy. It feels like I am digging into a bag of sweet memories. My parents are here for last 45 days and I am enjoying every bit of their stay. Not only we talk endlessly sometimes, we cook so many things (I mean aayi cooks and I eat) which I would not have cooked alone....

It feels great to get back on internet again. Our laptop crashed couple of weeks back and it took a while to get it fixed. Puffed rice dishes are very easy to make. When my children were small, I often prepared these dishes for a quick evening tea. There are two types of kalayile – mixed puffed rice that we make. My kids loved this one as it has a sweetish, spicy taste....

I have almost stopped making any deep fried dishes these days. But from my childhood, I have been great fan of anything deep fried. Even though not very often, aayi would make puris , vadas etc and my brother and I absolutely loved them. I miss those days so much. So some times I get a real craving for these deep fried goodness. So after almost 3 months (last time I ate them when I was in India), I made puris ....

When I was posting the recipe for date cake , I had mentioned it becomes a huge hit with anyone who tries it. I never knew it would become such a big hit with my readers also. I can safely say, this cake has become one of the most popular recipes from this blog. Even those who had never baked before, had success with this cake. So finally I decided to revisit the recipe....

Last week we had a team outing. Everyone was supposed to bring one edible item. I thought of picking up some cakes and cookies from store as I was quite busy. Unfortunately for me, someone else said they will bring this before I could. So I had to come up with something, that too quickly. Without thinking about it, I said I will bring in pastries. I was actually thinking of picking pastries from store....

Almond Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Almond double chocolate chip cookies are crispy delicious cookies with an intense chocolate flavor. My 10 year old son has been very interested in baking, so we pick some recipe and make it together. He made these almond chocolate chip cookies with added M&Ms to give a crunch to them. These can be amazing gifts for the Valentines day. For these almond chocolate chip cookies, we took Nestle chocolate chip cookies and modified it to make it more nutritious....

There was a time when I would just throw away beetroot leaves. I would use the tender stems, but discard the leaves. Then I saw a recipe of masoor with red chard . So I started making a similar dish with beetroot leaves. Now after many experiments with it, I think I have reached to this recipe which we love. I use a small beetroot for it sometimes, but mostly, I use only stems and leaves....

Few months ago, our friend Mahi had invited us for dinner and she made this lauki raita along with many Andhra special dishes. I had never tasted this before. After coming home, I googled it and I realised it was a pretty popular dish. This is my version. Bottlegourd or lauki is one of the vegetables I buy during almost every trip to Indian store. It was mostly used to make this khadi(burfi) or payasa when I was growing up, I loved these dishes....

Different people call it by different names – Palapanas, Neerpanas, jeev kadgi to name a few. Many years ago, we had a l ong discussion about Konkani name of breadfruit. When I visited India this time, our tree was full of beautiful breadfruits. My parents were very happy that I visited during that time and I could enjoy one of my childhood favorites. They tell me that they have kept this tree mainly because of me....

Almost every aayi’s recipe I post here, has a sweet memory for me. So I love to prepare or eat these dishes. This kosambir is my Pachi’s (mom’s sister) recipe. She makes this often. This was a staple whenever my younger mam (mom’s brother) – Balumam visited her house in Belgaum. He would ask for this even when there was a feast for him. I would think how anyone can relish a raw cabbage dish so much....

Until very recently, I didn’t know what a ‘pie’ is. So one day my hubby comes home from office – Can you make soft juicy pies? Me – Which one are you talking about? Today my boss brought one pie, it was amazing. Me – What pie was it? It had chocolate, pecans in it. Very soft and fluffy, had a crust, thick layer of something and on top cream with nuts....

Wish you all a very happy Deepavali. I was thinking to post few recipes before Deepavali this year but lately I have been so busy at work and with kids, it has become impossible to sit down to write something!. My parents are visiting us for a short time and I am celebrating the festival with them after a very long time. We didn’t do much this year but having them with us in itself is a huge blessing....

Ingredients: Chicken(Boneless) 1/2 kg Onion(finely chopped) 1 large Coriander powder 1 tea spn Chilli powder 1 tea spn Curd 2 tbl spns Ginger-garlic paste 1 tea spn Oil Coriander leaves Salt Method: Cut the chicken into big cubes. Marinate with curd, ginger-garlic paste. Keep aside for 30 minutes. Heat oil and fry onions till onions turn slightly brownish. Add marinated chicken. Fry for 2 minutes. Add chilli powder, salt, a little water....

These days I am digging my memory to find some nice Konkani dishes. Sometimes I leave some dishes thinking they are very simple to do and people might laugh at me if I blog about them. Then there are some of my bachelor friends, who ask me for those recipes and I realise, I have to post them :). Few days back, I blogged about Taushe Bhakri . Though its a very simple one, it requires some patience to do....

Daal/dal fry can be made in many different ways. But I always loved the thick daal fry that my pachi (mom’s sister) used to make. It was very simple and was very tasty. She used to serve it with peas pulav or jeera rice . This combination is my favorite. I don’t know her recipe, but this is what I make these days after a lot of trial and error....

Who doesn’t know egg burji? It is the easiest dish anybody can make. But this one is a little different. Not the normal egg burgi. Thanks to Kundutayi for this one. Ingredients: Eggs(Boiled) 4-5 Onion 2 Green chillis 4 Turmeric A pinch Coriander leaves 3-4 strands Oil or ghee 1 tea spn Chicken masala or garam masala 1 tea spn Curry leaves 5-6 Mustard seeds 1/4 tea spn Salt...

Ingredients: Boiled Eggs 5 Onions 2 Tomatoes 4 Chilli powder 2 tea spns Chicken masala or garam masala 1 tea spn Mustard seeds 1/4 tea spn Jeera 1/4 tea spn Coriander leaves Salt Oil Method: Heat oil and add mustard & cumin seeds. When they start spluttering add finely chopped onions. Fry till onions turn slightly brownish. Add finely chopped tomatoes (or cooked and mashed tomatoes). Fry till oil seperates....

This traditional dish is almost forgotten. I have not seen anybody preparing it these days. When I was a kid, aayi prepared them occasionally. It requires a lot of patience and time to prepare this dish. If you master it once, this might become easier. But the taste is so unique and tempting that you would feel like making again and again. Back home, we enjoy it the most when eaten with a hot cup of tea on a rainy day in July....

For last couple of days, I wanted to try it out again, thanks to a cookbook I was reading at that time. So this week, I again tried it and we loved the taste. This lemony Quinoa and a hearty soup was our lunchbox yesterday. I think I am going to try this again soon and also try some more recipes with Quinoa in near future. (I have no idea if this is available in India or what is it called in any other languages)....