ROASTED BEETS WITH GARLICKY YOGURT

I love a good beet number. Especially a good roasted beet number. Other than a few traditional South Indian preparations where they are sautéed in a pan (poriyal), or blended into a chutney, this is actually the only way I cook them. Beets get gloriously sweet and concentrated in flavour when roasted. A far cry… Read more »

ONE-POT RASAM RICE

Rasam rice is one of my favourite things to eat, and considering how it’s always described as ‘comfort food’, I’d wager this is the case for a lot of us. (After 10+ years of eating Kimchi Jiggae—Korean kimchi soup—I think at this point it comes a close second.) Rasam rice is simple enough to make… Read more »

VIETNAMESE RICE PAPER ROLLS

As Chennai goes through another sweltering summer, dishes like these offer a brief respite from both the cooking and eating perspectives. Other than the tofu which gets a quick fry in the pan, there’s no other cooking involved. Admittedly, they’re a bit fiddly to assemble and here—do as I say, not as I do—don’t overstuff… Read more »

CARROT, TOFU & EGG FRIED RICE

Whenever I develop recipes and throw them into our weekly rotation, they have to check a couple of boxes. In no particular order but all equally important: it should take less than 45 minutes from start to finish, all the ingredients must be easily available, and it has to include a good amount of fibre… Read more »

PUNCHY CHICKPEA SALAD WITH PICKLES AND FETA

Chickpeas are versatile, inexpensive, and an excellent source of protein and fibre. We should all be eating more of them, and here’s one way to add them to your rotation when you can’t think beyond hummus. I love a salad that can be bulked up with a bean or lentil, to the point where it… Read more »

MUHAMMARA (WITH TAMARIND)

We do a Mediterranean-inspired lunch almost every week. It usually involves chapatis (predictably, with some vegetable kneaded into the dough), hummus, a vegetable-and-paneer/potato cutlet, pickled onions, and a simple salad. Hummus is my sure-shot way of getting chickpeas into our weekly rotation. It goes down a treat with my preschooler, so I try not to… Read more »

BAKED FETA WITH MUSHROOMS, TOMATOES & PESTO

Remember the time during Covid, when the internet lost its collective mind over the baked feta trend? The original recipe came from Finnish food blogger Jenni Häyrinen, whose “uunifetapasta” (oven feta pasta) went viral in 2019 and made its way into kitchens everywhere. It was a genius move: Jenni nestled a block of feta among… Read more »

CANDIED WALNUTS WITH JAGGERY

My son and I often make these as part of birthday gifts to give out. They’re quick to pull together, fun to make, and always appreciated. Pile them into a glass jar, tie on a bit of ribbon or twine, and you’ve got a simple, thoughtful gift that feels personal without any of the fuss…. Read more »

SWEET & SPICY TOFU

There are a few tofu dishes that I go back to on repeat, and this sweet and spicy version is one of them. It pretends to be complicated, but it’s really just me, a frying pan, and a couple of bottles from the fridge door. Twenty minutes and you’ve got crisp, golden cubes in a sauce… Read more »

PUMPKIN, FIG & KALE SALAD

There are salads that feel like afterthoughts – a little something green pushed to the side of the plate. And then there are salads that demand attention, the kind that get eaten first and remembered last. This one is firmly in the latter camp. Sweet roasted pumpkin, jammy figs, and salty little nuggets of feta,… Read more »

Latest
  • CAULIFLOWER STEAKS WITH RED PEPPER SAUCE

    Fancy perking up your weeknight dinner? These cauliflower steaks just might be your answer. Substituting grains and meats for cauliflower seems to be all the rage right now, so I had to try my hand at it. You treat it exactly the way you would a piece of meat—say beef or chicken—seared on a hot… Read more »

  • VERMICELLI NOODLE SALAD

    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 »

  • BRAISED LEEKS WITH HORSE GRAM

    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 »

  • MAPLE MUSTARD CHICKEN

    Of all the roast chicken recipes that I make, this combination of mustard and maple syrup has best stood the test of time. It’s the one that I make most often. But when I say that I mean while the basic premise of the mustard-maple stays a constant, I add and omit ingredients to this… Read more »

  • OVEN-DRIED TOMATO AND CORIANDER PESTO

      I always have a jar of pesto sitting in my refrigerator. It’s the perfect condiment to have around and can bring together meals in a snap – I use it in everything from soups, as a pasta sauce, roasting meats and vegetables with, and even stir a dollop into my ratatouille base (have you… Read more »

  • CARROT AND GINGER SOUP

    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 »

  • HOMEMADE GRANOLA

    I know I’d said in my previous post that this was going to be a recipe for a roasted tomato and coriander pesto. Truth is, I was really happy with the recipe and it was all ready to go up until I realized that I was just not satisfied with the pictures I had. Turns… Read more »

  • ROASTED PUMPKIN AND SAFFRON RISOTTO

    It’s been a long time since I’ve made risotto. Actually thanks to my blog archiving it, It’s been exactly 3 years, 4 months and 26 days since I made this risotto. With mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes and topped with bulgogi, it was undoubtedly wacky but surprisingly delicious. I remember Karthik (not a vegetarian at the… Read more »

  • SAVOURY PINEAPPLE LASSI

    I was experimenting with this pineapple lassi a few days ago, not with the ubiquitous sweet version, but a savoury one. The flavours are what you would expect with a typical ‘salt’ lassi: cumin, mint, and salt. The addition of fruit is the wildcard ingredient here. I always add a pinch of salt to most… Read more »

  • CHILLED BEETROOT SOUP

    I never was a big fan of beets. Their infamous reputation for being overcooked and slimy was something that I experienced first-hand in my years at boarding school. It’s funny how something that would require great expertise and dexterity like cakes and breads were churned out effortlessly everyday, while the humble beet evaded them. Although… Read more »

  • MUSHROOM AND BEAN ENCHILADAS

    Never before have I been excited at the prospect of making a vegetarian version of an enchilada, but the vibrant tangle of peppers lured me in. I had a recipe for inspiration but because I’m just so rubbish at following them I didn’t do exactly what was instructed; I added beans – pre-cooked and mashed… Read more »

  • BEEF BIBIMBAP WITH BROWN RICE

    After almost an eight-week hiatus, I’m back! (although admittedly it feels like it’s been way longer than that). December for me was an absolute whirlwind with lots of travelling and my first paid (!!) food styling assignment. It was a fun experience alright, aside from the fact that my hands were smelling like a combination… Read more »

  • BEEF AND LENTIL MOUSSAKA

        If you’ve never heard of using lentils in a moussaka, don’t worry. Until about two weeks ago, neither had I. An ideal alternative, or in this case an ideal addition to meat, lentils retain their shape upon cooking making them the perfect vehicle to carry the structure of a traditional moussaka. Jackpot, right?… Read more »

  • FRIED ANCHOVIES WITH CURRY LEAVES

    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 »

  • WATERMELON LEMONADE

    Watermelon is one of my favourite fruits to eat during the sweltering summer months (which is almost all year round in Chennai). I love them diced into a salad with olives and feta, and I love them sliced into wedges and sprinkled with a pinch of chilli powder and salt. I also love them in… Read more »