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 »

POTATO NACHOS

I know what you’re thinking: those aren’t nachos. But hear me out. I’ve been leaning into potatoes a lot more lately. As a carb, they’re wildly underrated. I love the idea of using them in place of rice or wheat, which is how this slightly chaotic, very satisfying plate of potato nachos came to be…. Read more »

VEG-FORWARD JAPCHAE

This might be the first time you’re hearing the words sweet potato starch noodles, but I promise it won’t be the last. Japchae is one of those dishes that has no business being as good as it is—slippery glass noodles tangled with veg, a savoury-sweet sauce that hits every corner of your palate, and enough… Read more »

BEET & MISO HUMMUS

There’s always a beet lurking in the fridge a little longer than intended. This one had been sitting quietly in the vegetable drawer, still firm, still hopeful. I hadn’t planned to make hummus with it, but that’s how most good things start, isn’t it? Always roast your beets. Steaming or boiling just makes them flabby… Read more »

THAI-INSPIRED SQUID, PRAWN & GRAPEFRUIT SALAD

Somewhere between craving something light and realizing I had seafood to use up, this salad happened. It borrows a lot from Thai pomelo salad—fresh herbs, juicy citrus, plenty of crunch—but gets a protein upgrade because sometimes fruit and texture aren’t enough to count as a real meal. This is a salad that eats like dinner,… Read more »

BOK CHOY & SHIITAKE STIR-FRY

A quick yet satisfying lunch, brimming with vibrant greens and earthy mushrooms. True to the essence of a good stir-fry, it comes together in under 20 minutes, relying on pantry staples—save for the dried shiitakes, unless, like me, you deem them essential and keep a generous stock on hand. One of the best things about… Read more »

ORANGE CHICKEN SALAD

This is exactly what you think it is: Asian-style orange chicken, but served without the rice and instead fashioned into a scrummy salad. I air fried the chicken here, but you could just as easily get similar results (albeit with a bit more oil) with baking or pan-frying them.  Coat the chicken pieces (I like… Read more »

KIMCHI, TOFU & NORI FRIED RICE

I’ve been writing on here for more than 9 years now. Many things have changed and evolved along the way—priorities, methodologies, ideas—but one thing remains intact: I still forget to cook my rice. Just thought I’d point out that some things are still familiar around here. (A nifty trick – once the rice is cooked… Read more »

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Latest

  • WATERMELON, OLIVE AND FETA SALAD WITH BALSAMIC REDUCTION

    I think I enjoy taking pictures of the food that I cook a wee bit more than I enjoy cooking it. Oh no, did I just come on here and admit that? But here’s the thing – just because I love taking pictures of the food that I cook, more, it doesn’t mean that the… Read more »

  • SPAGHETTI ALL’ARRABBIATA aka Angry Pasta

    The first time I came across this dish, I thought it was some sort of an exotic Italian-Middle eastern fusion type thing. I think that shows in the way that I pronounce it as well..arrrrabiata. Any Italian reading this, please pardon my ignorance (if you’re still reading, you’ll be pleased to know that I didn’t… Read more »

  • STIR-FRIED RICE NOODLES WITH MINCED PORK AND BLACK BEAN

    Really not a lot to say about stir-fries that hasn’t been said before. Using a few pantry staples and whatever vegetables you have on hand, you can whip up something delicious in a matter of minutes. They come in handy especially when, say, you’ve been homebound for a week and are running out of options,… Read more »

  • HERB CRUSTED SEA BASS IN A TOMATO-CUMIN SAUCE

    When I moved to Chennai 9 months ago, I remember making a mental note of all the things to do here to fully experience the ‘big city life’. At the top of the list right under street shopping, was to check out its diverse food scene. Restaurants, old and new, recommended and side-lined, I wanted… Read more »

  • Gambas al pil pil : CHILLI-GARLIC PRAWNS IN OLIVE OIL

    Hot summer days would mean a continuation of the salad theme. I’m not sure how and when exactly this switch happened, but it may have been something to do with my piqued interest after experiencing first-hand, the benefits of fresh and light lunch options. On an unrelated note, I bought some green tomatoes recently –… Read more »

  • BAKED STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE

    Vanilla and strawberry have had a love affair for as long as I can remember. Look in the dessert section of any restaurant menu, recipe book, or café window, and you’ll see them canoodling joyously like little else matters. But who’s to disapprove? This relationship was meant to be. Cheesecakes have taken over the world,… Read more »

  • GARLIC-SMEARED ROSEMARY ROAST CHICKEN

    The best part about doing a roast is that the leftovers can be reincarnated into multiple ways through the week – shredded into salads, sandwiches, quesadillas (kudos, Nigella), the bones used to make the best chicken broth..the list is endless. I recently stumbled upon a recipe that uses leftover chicken in meltingly cheese-y nachos (why… Read more »

  • Twenty six

    I celebrated my birthday last week. The big 26. Why the big hype for that? When you have an unwavering feeling of 18-going-on-19 sustained over so many years – and when you’re actually one and a half times the age in your head – I guess that’s kind of a big deal. I know something… Read more »

  • SPICY STIR-FRIED PRAWNS

    Chemmeen Ularthiyathu is the original name of this dish, but that’s the only hard part about this recipe; pronouncing it! I know I don’t have any Indian recipes on the blog – not yet anyway – so I thought it was high time I filled that void. This spicy prawn stir-fry made with coconut oil… Read more »

  • Cointreau-glazed orange bundt cake

    Today, we’re talking oranges and orange-flavoured liqueurs (again). We seem to have a bit of an unplanned theme going on here! In my post about Orangecello earlier this year, I’d talked about using liqueurs to spruce up a cake or a pudding. Here’s a go at that from my end! The Cointreau was, however, a bit… Read more »

  • VANILLA BEAN PANNA COTTA WITH PASSION FRUIT

    Panna cotta at this time of the year? You want to be hearing about hearty, comforting desserts and warmth-inducing drink recipes. Unfortunately, Chennai as we know it has a completely different season shift – hot, hotter, hottest. We are at the moment slowly but steadily gliding from the ‘hot’ to the ‘hotter’ threshold, with the… Read more »

  • CHICKEN KHOW SUEY

    I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to tell you about this stunner of a dish. If you’ve already skimmed through the list of ingredients, I know what you’re thinking. I won’t lie, this recipe does call for quite a few elements and steps, but I guarantee that you will not regret it. Khow… Read more »

  • ORANGE-SCENTED BUTTERMILK SCONES

    You know those important life-altering decisions that you take your time to ponder over? Like choosing your career path, moving to a new city, or getting married? I don’t think it’s normal that I say this, but I can handle those (We’re moving to Spain? Bring it on!) The ones that I spend agonizingly long… Read more »

  • BEER-BATTERED FISH WITH TARTARE SAUCE

    There are a lot of things that come to mind when I think of England. Tea houses. Knitting needles. Mind the gap. Dubstep. News agents. Chavs. Fish and chips. Black cabs. Quirky pub names (which I love, by the way – Bungalows and Bears?) James Bond. Chicken tikka (the irony 🙂 )..I could go on…. Read more »

  • ORANGECELLO

    I love the combination of orange and vodka. In this case, aesthetically, and taste wise. This is a spin on the traditional Limoncello, an Italian liqueur made using lemons and had as an after-meal digestivo. Orangecello has a very intense orange flavour and you’d be surprised at how much flavour from these citrus beauties gets… Read more »