I always need to have beets in stock. I don’t know if this mindset came about after the lockdown or what, but I feel reassured knowing that I have a few kilos of them in the fridge. This sentiment doesn’t apply to carrots and potatoes which, realistically speaking are more versatile ‘basic’ vegetables. It’s reserved… Read more »
At first glance this dish may look and sound intimidating. And that’s exactly why I did the poll asking if you guys wanted it on here. A whopping 97% of you said yes so here we are! This recipe is loosely adapted from Ottolenghi who makes his version with griddled aubergines and feta. As soon… Read more »
Mango ginger is one of my favourite seasonal ingredients. Around this time of the year, just before summer sets in, you’ll find them aplenty at grocery stores and in heaped mounds at outdoor markets. At a glance, mango ginger looks a lot like ginger. But once you peel away their soft skins, you’ll find that… Read more »
I realize I sound like a broken record every time I say “use thigh meat instead of breast”. That doesn’t stop me from saying it however, so here goes: it’s not because chicken breasts on a good day taste like cardboard, but mainly because chicken thighs are a lot more forgiving for meal-prep and bulk… Read more »
More oven-roasted veg! Plantains this time but I also have an oven-roasted taro on here, and have already tackled the elephant in the room. Basically covering all my bases—and tubers—with this fool-proof method of cooking them. Taro is my personal favourite in this category of starchy veg but they are admittedly fiddly. They need to… Read more »
This muskmelon and feta salad might be my favourite salad of all time (a tall claim considering how I feel about a Thai mango salad). As much as I like the more popular watermelon version, there’s just something about muskmelon here that gives it that substantial heft that you don’t seem to get from the… Read more »
Here’s how I decide what to cook: I shop for things that are fresh in the store/market, and then rack my brain to find different ways to use them up. More prosaic than you might have thought, but that’s the truth of it (or at least most of the time). Sure, I meal plan and… Read more »
I say “dip”, but honestly, I just end up eating this straight out of the bowl. (Yes, I do mean the mixing bowl.) Please don’t skip or skimp on the fried garlic – it’s really what makes this dish. How much is too much fried garlic, anyway? Rhetorical question. It couldn’t be easier: blanch the… Read more »
Disclaimer: I’ve used regular Indian chilli powder in this recipe, and not gochugaru, the traditionally used Korean chilli flakes. I’ve done my fair share of sourcing gochugaru in the past, but have since realized that the few Korean dishes that I cook and use them in actually work well with our more ubiquitous Indian variant…. Read more »
I never know what to make with zucchini. I’m always tempted to buy them when they’re fresh at the store and then they’ll sit languishing in my fridge until I finally pull them out and turn them into..soup. Nothing wrong with zucchini soup, but I constantly feel like I’m undermining their potential. I can count… Read more »
Okay first up, guess what makes the yogurt dressing spicy? PICKLE! I’m not talking about gherkins or brined vegetables, I’m talking about our very own ooruga! (South-Indian pickle for the uninitiated.) I figured if you could use curry pastes, harissa and other such punchy condiments to boost the flavour of dishes with one simple addition,… Read more »
If you’re someone that makes curry pastes and the like in bulk, there’s a good chance you’re also looking to use them in as many different ways as possible. I make and squirrel away huge batches of pesto, pasta sauces, curry pastes etc. and to be honest, as much as I revel in the idea… Read more »
I fashioned my own little spiral-bound recipe book before I moved to Chennai, and this is one of the first recipes that I jotted down in it. Sounds simple enough, but just you try getting a generational recipe from your grandmum whose main units of measurement are ‘palmful’, ‘fistful’, a very rough translation of a… Read more »
I like guavas alright, but if you saw my fruit basket you’d think that I have some kind of an obsession with them. I don’t know what it is, but I seem to always have a few knocking about the house. I prefer the pink-fleshed ones to the white, but to be honest, that’s got… Read more »
Adding a time duration to a recipe title is a bold move, and I’ll admit that it sometimes makes me very nervous. Sure, if I were making say, guac, I’d freely tack it on, but for something that involves multiple elements of stir-frying and mixing and chopping, I feel the added pressure to make… Read more »
