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COCONUT FLOUR FROM LEFTOVER PULP

This is a satisfying process: collecting enough coconut pulp—the bi-product or ‘waste’ from squeezing out coconut milk—drying it out (in the sun, no less) and blending it up to make your own flour! I don’t know about you but this is as up my alley as it gets. (Also another recipe to add to my… Read more »

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COCONUT AND MANGO CHIA PUDDING

We eat eggs for breakfast every single day of the week, which as much as I like, is a bit of a shame because breakfast foods are the most fun to cook in my opinion (albeit not on a busy weekday morning). To get around this, a slightly more elaborate Sunday breakfast tradition has arisen:… Read more »

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VEGETABLE STOCK FROM KITCHEN SCRAPS

I don’t know if you can tell that I’m quite big on this nose-to-tail / root-to-shoot (?) concept of cooking. Not only is it a great way to reduce waste in the kitchen (and save money), but it also forces me to be creative; think outside the box and utilize as much as I can…. Read more »

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OVEN-ROASTED TARO

Taro/taro root or colocasia as it’s sometimes called is a starchy vegetable of the taro plant. Native to India and South-East Asia, taro also forms a staple in diets in Hawaii, the Caribbean and Africa. Taro ‘root’ is actually the corm—swollen underground stem—of the plant, so technically not a root. Just some casual food semantics… Read more »

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VEGAN PESTO

I’m not one for veganizing foods unless I’m cooking for someone who’s lactose intolerant or doesn’t like dairy (happy to report that I haven’t met anyone that falls in the latter category). Having said that, I do however try and reduce my dairy intake for a couple of reasons. One, most cheeses that are available… Read more »

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BRUSSELS SPROUTS PORIYAL

Brussels sprouts in a South-Indian style recipe might sound terribly inauthentic. It is, and it’s probably why it comes as a surprise to most people when I tell them about this poriyal (as well as ones using oyster mushrooms, broccoli and lettuce). Growing up though, this was pretty normal. When I was at boarding school… Read more »

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ROASTED BEET, CUMIN AND CHIA LASSI

   I started my previous post by saying that I don’t do many breakfast foods on here, and here I am now with another one. This is inadvertently becoming a new trend.  Lassi is strictly speaking not a breakfast food, but fruit lassi, yogurt-smoothie—really, what’s the difference? I make the mango and cardamom lassi and… Read more »

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COCONUT QUINOA PORRIDGE WITH CARAMELIZED BANANAS

   I don’t do a lot of breakfast foods on here and that’s primarily because breakfast for me usually consists of scrambled eggs, a whey shake and a banana. I have however started incorporating more millets and whole grains into my diet, and the easiest way to do this I’ve found, is to add them… Read more »

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PRESERVED LEMONS

   I’d been buying preserved lemons from a store that grows organic lemons on their property. I’m not someone that only buys organic produce, but the concept of using the entire fruit—peel, rind, juice and all—made me want to try and get my hands on some pesticide-free ones for preserving. So when my aunt called… Read more »

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SALTED CARAMEL PEANUT BUTTER

     First things first, you need a food processor or a high-powered blender to make peanut butter at home. By high-powered I mean a blender that continues to run at full speed without heating up and turning off every 45 seconds. Mine did. EVERY 45 seconds. So making this took about fifteen minutes start to… Read more »

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BUTTERFLY PEA FLOWER TEA

    A few years ago, a friend and I did a short stint at a café in Auroville. A café that served wholesome food using local and seasonal ingredients. Popular on the menu were an array of fruit and flower concentrates (which we would serve with plain or soda water) : sarsaparilla, hibiscus, kumquat, ginger, and… Read more »

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BOK CHOY WITH MISO & GINGER

   The first time I made this dish, I decided to keep the bok choy raw. And the sauce was more like a dressing – the ingredients added to a screw-top jar, shaken, and poured over. It was a bok choy salad of sorts. I knew it was a good pairing—ginger and miso—but the sauce… Read more »

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LOW-SUGAR GRAPE JAM

   Making jam at home is easier than it is made out to be. I’d come across recipes in the past that went into detailed instructions about canning equipment and sterilizing jars..it completely threw me off. You don’t need any heavy-duty ‘canning equipment’ here, and I realized that sterilizing jars is just a clinical term… Read more »

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THAI CURRY PASTE

   Thai curry pastes usually fall into three main categories based on colour: red, yellow, and green. While the basic set of ingredients—shallots, ginger, garlic, galangal, coriander root, lemongrass, and shrimp paste—remains the same across all three, a few key variations give them their quintessential Thai flavour and colour. Green curry paste is made with… Read more »