This is my all time favorite way to have haricot vert beans – lightly seasoned and cooked to perfection. If you are looking for a unique way to serve green beans, this is the recipe to try.
Haricot vert beans also known as French green beans tend to be skinnier than the regular green beans, and because of this, they cook faster and taste fresh even after being lightly sautéed with spices. Hericot vert green beans are so tender that they taste amazing when they are cut into tiny pieces allowing the delicate flavors from the interior of the green beans to come through. Continue reading Haricot Verts with Cumin Seeds, Asafoetida and Turmeric→
Toor daal comes in many variations in India, as varied as the country itself, and they all taste great. Creamy yellow lentils cooked so tender they fall apart, all seasoned with spices and served over white rice has a taste that is just heaven. Most Indian restaurants have toor daal on their menu – sometimes they may just call it yellow lentil soup.
My friend Veena is the Rice Queen. I’ve known Veena for over twenty years now and over the years I have had the most amazing South Indian Tamil foods prepared by her. Anything and everything she cooks is outstanding. One of her specialties is making the most creative rice dishes I have ever had. Her rice dishes are always flavored to perfection and positively delicious.
Here is a recipe for Indian style eggs that is packed full of flavor with good for you ginger and turmeric. In India scrambled or fried eggs are typically made with chopped onions, cilantro, green chilies, and finely grated ginger, and sometimes spiced with a pinch of turmeric. Once in a while I love making Indian scrambled eggs for a change from my usual omelet.
Biryani, which is a very popular rice dish in all parts of India packed with vegetables and exotic spices comes in many variations. Each biryani recipe can be as unique as the families that make them. All biryanis are cooked with rice, spices and vegetables. Some may have meats as well. Depending on what region of India one is from and their own family traditions biryani can be made with coconut milk, shredded coconut, paneer, combination of meats, and a wide variety of unique spice blends.
This recipe is for one variation of biryani that I learnt how to make from Geetha Masi (Masi meaning respectfully Aunty). Geetha Masi was visiting us from Mumbai, India and offered to cook a dish that I wanted to learn – biryani was the dish I chose. Continue reading Geetha Masi’s Vegetable Biryani→
I made this zucchini curry with mushrooms and paneer with a third of a giant zucchini I received from my friend Karen. This zucchini was huge and I had to come up with some creative ways to use this crudités.
My first dish was an Indian curry. I was having some friends over for dinner and a fresh zucchini curry with mushrooms and paneer seemed like a perfect dish to make for the occasion.
When one has an ice cream maker at home it is so much fun to get creative with ice cream flavors. The best part of having an easy to use ice cream maker is that we can make small-batch ice creams – just enough for one evening. This also means that we can experiment with different flavors in small quantities. The twins and I love trying out new and creative ice cream flavors over the hot summer months.
Saffron pistachio ice cream is a classic ice cream flavor in India called Kesar Pista, which translates to Saffron Pistachio. Used to be I could only find this flavor at Indian grocery stores or at Indian restaurants and ice cream parlors. But now with my easy to use ice cream maker, making Saffron Pistachio Ice Cream at home has become a breeze. Here is the recipe.
Mattar Paneer is a North Indian vegetable dish made with green peas and paneer in a spiced tomato gravy. I had a delicious Mattar Paneer at my friend Pallavi’s home one evening, and asked her for the recipe.
Our family was invited to friends Pallavi and Parag’s home for dinner one weekend and what a feast we were treated to. I haven’t had a North Indian dinner like this in a very long time. So many varieties of vegetarian dishes all prepared at home by Pallavi and her Mom were a feast for the senses.
North Indian fare that is different from what I am used to cooking was a lovely change from my usual cuisine. Everything looked colourful and tasted amazing. We had over ten vegetarian dishes all prepared by Pallavi and her Mom, Sarla Aunty. Dinner was just scrumptious and a spread worthy of the Rajas (Kings) of India. Continue reading A North Indian Vegetarian Feast at Pallavi & Parag’s→
Raita, an Indian yogurt side dish is very popular in our house. If the family could have it every day with their meal they would. It’s basically yogurt with raw vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, cilantro and cucumbers along with some spices. In many Indian households raita is used to soothe the palate when the main Indian meal is too spicy, as the cool yogurt raita helps to neutralize the heat of chili.
