The new year started with a new job for me. Two weeks into the job, and I feel very tired by the time I reach home. Here timing is not very flexible like my old job. I am still trying to get adjusted to it, but the extreme cold weather these days is not helping much. No matter how much busy I am, over the years, I have always given preference to home cooked food....

We have been trying different cuisines these days. Our latest favorite being Mongolean Grill – BD’s and Genghis Khan . Those who have not been to this restaurant – they have this big collection of vegetables, meat, sauces, dry powders. You can build your own bowl, add whatever vegetables, meat, sauce, spices you want to add and take it to a big frying pan. The chefs empty the entire content on this big pan and use two big iron rod kind of things to flip the content, something like shown in this ad ....

For me, chutney was always synonym with coconut chutney . I started eating different types of chutneys after going to Bangalore. I liked to eat these chutneys with dosas or idlis . So I keep searching for these tasty chutney recipes. This recipe is from a TV show. I am not a big fan of raw onion because of its smell. So when I saw this recipe for the first time, I thought it might smell of onions even though this chutney is fried after grinding....

Patholi (pronounced as ‘paathoLi’) is the most important sweet dish for Gowri festival(which is on coming Sunday) and also for Nagar Panchami . During these festivals, we can find ‘Turmeric leaves’ at native (those who are in India, can find these leaves in Mangalore stores). Turmeric or plumeria or Frangipani (called as Kudchampe in Konkani, thanks Baab for the English name) leaves are used for this dish. Gowri festival is one of the most popular festivals for Konkani women....

Few days back I had posted a recipe for poha masala . I had mentioned in the post that this masala is very popular at our native and used in many of the dishes. Many people call it as “Kumta masala” as this is readily available in Kumta . This is my aayi’s own recipe. She had played around with green peas and this was one amazing result. I love this very much, I tried replacing poha masala with other masalas but somehow I liked this version very much....

I was introduced to frozen tuvar lilva (pigeon peas) by my friend P. She makes a delicious bhaji with these and sweet potatoes. This tuvar lilva bhaji must be one of my favorite dishes cooked by her. I have tried to pair this with sweet potatoes, normal potatoes and even paneer. It makes for a healthy and tasty side dish to go with chapatis/rotis. Last time I added some spinach to it and it was delicious....

Hi all, hope you all are still reading this blog!. It is getting harder and harder for me to keep this place updated. My 18 month old is already in his terrible twos and likes to get into everything. So my cooking has been limited to very basic things and whenever I made something special, I forgot to click pictures!. Ishaan has been asking for chocolate chip cookies for a long time now....

What is your favorite pass time when you are waiting in the doctor’s office? Mine is undoubtedly reading recipe section of magazines. Sometimes I write them down, sometimes just read them and want to make them once I come back home. But then, every time, I forget about them. Recently on one of such occasions, I read this very simple pasta recipe. I have forgotten the exact recipe, but remembered the gist of it....

When my children were growing up, I frequently made chaklis and other deep fried dishes. After they moved out to go to college, I hardly made any deep fried dishes. Sometimes we buy ready made munchies to eat with evening tea. At Kumta, we get chaklies of many different varieties. One of our favorite is Spinach chakli. When we were visiting Shilpa and her family in March, we thought of trying to make these at home....

Radish is a vegetable that I used to runaway from. Aayi would be surprised when she finds out this is a vegetable I almost always pickup these days. I use it in simple side dishes, sambars and in dals. This time, I wanted to be a little more adventurous. I got this idea of using a pickle masala for radishes and immediately gave it a try. The dish came out delicious....

Aayi does not cook chicken very frequently. She makes it only 3-4 times in a year. She always cooks chicken gravy , because we all love that. But due to her immense interest in cooking, she has a big treasure of chicken recipes. This recipe was shown in a TV show(Khana Khazana by Sanjeev Kapoor). Last time when we cooked chicken in Bangalore, I prepared this and the chicken gravy with her guidance (I never enter kitchen when she is around, but since she had a fracture due to car accident, my sister-in-law and I took the complete responsibility of cooking)....

Most of the Konkani dishes contain coconut as the main ingredient. But a very few dishes like ‘Tomato saru’,which does not contain coconut, are very famous. I guess these were prepared when the ladies were bored of cooking and still wanted to prepare something delicious. My aayi usually prepared this for dinner. In North Kanara, people usually cook(except rice, which is prepared fresh for lunch/dinner) in the morning for both lunch & dinner....

Although I love cooking, I am not very enthusiastic about making sweets. Even when I make them, I hardly eat any. Now that Ishaan is also not a fan, I have lost complete interest. So when I get some questions about sweets, I have hard time answering them. When I started making this, I was worried if I would get sugar syrup right. But there turned out great. Ingredients: 2 cups almonds 2 cups sugar 1 cup water 1 tbl spn ghee (optional, gives a great aroma) 1/2 tea spn cardamom powder...

Time truly flies. My baby is already two. I cannot believe it sometimes. We are busier than ever, but at the same time he is keeping us happy with his little mischiefs. I get choked up when I hear him talking in his baby words and when he learns something new – like today when he peeled a banana all by himself and ate it. My baby is all grown up!...

About 2 months ago, we had been to a farm near our place. We were hoping to do some berry picking. But unfortunately due to bad weather this year, they had lost their crop of berries and were no more allowing any pickings. If I say I was disappointed, then it would be a understatement. So anyway, we were in this small reception booth where they were selling few books as well as breads and other stuff....

Ghee (Hindi), tuppa (Kannada), tup (Konkani)-clarified butter must be one of the most important ingredients in any Indian sweets. It gives a unique flavor and aroma to any sweet dish and takes the dish to a new level. When in India, my supply of ghee always came from my Aayi. I never liked the store bought ghee . I started making it in Bangalore when I used to buy Nandini whole cream milk ....

This is one of the popular drinks during summer at my native. During these hot months, fresh kokum is available in large quantities. So this kadi is prepared in every household. This is prepared even in big functions. The basic kadi is made from kokum, green chilies, asafoetida(optional), salt and jaggery. But the seasoning varies. According to me, the best seasoning is that of wood charcoal( Ingale/angare ). It gives an amazing aroma to the kadi ....

This is a healthy breakfast dish with different kind of flours in it. I used to eat it regularly when I was in Belgaum, doing my Bachelors. I loved the taste of it.There is a peculiar way of doing this. They apply water(or oil) to the inside of a big kadai. Then apply a thin coating of the dough. Cook on a low flame. So when it is cooked, it will be in the shape of the kadai....

Coming to today’s recipe. This is one very simple dish that gets prepared within 15mins. Very healthy and tasty dish that goes well with hot rice. Ingredients: 1 cup spinach 1 cup thick yogurt 1/2 tea spn cumin seeds 4-5 black peppers 2 green chillies 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds 4-5 curry leaves Ghee/oil Salt Method: Heat oil and add cumin seeds, pepper, green chillies, spinach, salt. Cook for 5-6mins....

I am a potato loving person. I like them in any shape and in any dish. Slightly roasted crispy potatoes taste better than the cooked ones. How about these crispy tiny pieces of potatoes in daal ? Its a delicious combination. I have a pack of kasoori methi , which was crying to be used. These pieces of dried leaves give an amazing taste to any dish. These are good for health....