Hate to break it to you, but baked beans are not baked and black-eyed peas are not peas. Baked beans are made on the stove-top with no baking or oven involved. The name came about because Heinz—one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of tinned baked beans—used to follow a method of filling cans with… Read more »
If oyster mushrooms are hard to come by where you live, button mushrooms are not a great substitute but they will still work. We find oyster mushrooms year round in Coimbatore but unfortunately not in Chennai, so I have, albeit begrudgingly, accepted the button mushroom as a half-decent substitute. As is the case with any… Read more »
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 »
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 »
My love for Dijon mustard runs deep. It was never an acquired taste—I didn’t even know it fell under that category of foods—and I was sold from the first lick of the spoon. Sold to the point where we go through a minimum of one, sometimes two jars a month. Brussels sprouts on… Read more »
Salads that double up as main course are the best kinds of salads. Load it up with vegetables—fresh as well as roasted —lots of herbs and a punchy dressing and Bob’s your uncle, that’s a meal! Use any vegetables you have on hand: root veggies like potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets and carrots hold their… Read more »
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 »
A fresh head of lettuce is a thing of beauty. The iceberg is what my local grocer usually stocks—and this usually suits me just fine for all my salad and sandwich needs—but I was lucky to find some green leaf lettuce, red leaf, and romaine earlier this week. Also, snow peas! SNOW PEAS…. Read more »
I’ve been really looking forward to sharing this recipe with you. It featured in the Diwali edition of Better Homes and Gardens, India last month along with some really innovative dishes from other bloggers. If you haven’t bought a copy yet, the last I checked, it’s still out on stands! The addition of mango… Read more »
Soups are a great way of getting your veggies in. But you knew that already. But some soups, especially like this one here, can really pack it away. I make this at least once a week—albeit with different variations of vegetables and spices— bung them all on a tray, roast, blend, soup for days…. Read more »
Completely unrelated to what this post is about but I just have to ask: have you guys heard of aquafaba? It’s the water that beans and legumes like chickpeas have been soaked and/or cooked in (what we end up throwing out), that, did you know, has the miraculous ability to whip up into frothy peaks… Read more »
Having already shouted from the rooftops that this Thai salad tops my list of favourite things to eat, I think I’ve established that bold, zingy flavours are my thing. This vermicelli noodle version, although called a salad, was dinner last night (I know – this is the fastest I’ve cooked, shot, and posted a recipe… Read more »
Horse gram. I like them in salads. I usually don’t like bitter things (and hate matcha for this very reason), but horse gram I can get behind. Also a cool thing about horse gram – it retains its shape better than lentils (even after cooking), so you get a better ‘bite’ without having to undercook… Read more »
How do I put this nicely? Although I have a ton of vegetarian recipes on here – actually coming to think of it, more so than ones that feature meat (how could I have let this happen?) – every time I cook something completely vegetarian I have this gnawing feeling at the back of my… Read more »
I understand that anchovies are a controversial choice of fish and a vast majority of people find them polarizing, but cooked properly, their flavour is unrivalled. These spicy fried anchovies are the ultimate side dish in South India (fried in coconut oil in Kerala and either groundnut or other flavourless oil in Tamil Nadu and… Read more »
