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 »
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 »
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 »
Until three years ago, I didn’t know how to make yogurt at home. What seems like a basic enough task now evaded me for a long time. I pulled out all the tricks and hacks I found on the internet from measuring exact temperatures using a food thermometer to setting it in ceramic, stainless… Read more »
If sticky-rice fried rice is something you enjoy eating, then this might be the recipe for you (fyi, and achieved without using sticky rice). Silken tofu is broken up into small curds—resembling scrambled eggs—and when tossed with the rice, gives it the most desirable soft-set consistency. The tofu completely disintegrates into the rice and… Read more »
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 »
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 »
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 »
I have a few soba noodle recipes in my repertoire that I cook a lot of and this is the newest, and lately, the most popular addition to that. The original idea was to make it semi-dry—like a pad thai consistency—but the flavours turned out too bold and not in a good way. The… 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 »
Cinnamon toast—just your everyday bread slathered with butter, cinnamon, and sugar and baked until crunchy, golden, and downright delicious. Since these toasts can be made in bulk, and in advance, they make for a really good breakfast option, an evening snack with coffee or tea, or for just about any time of the day,… Read more »
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 »
I love making paneer. It makes me feel very competent. It’s one of the easiest—if not, the easiest—cheeses to make which makes it doubly worth it. Simple enough: bring milk to the boil, add acid of some kind (lemon, yogurt or vinegar) and let the curds separate from the whey. Strain in a cheesecloth,… Read more »
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 »
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 »
