Last year I didn’t do a round up post but then just shared what I did on the diwali day. The title was Happy Diwali / Deepavali 2014 and I would like carry on the same for 2015. So here I am. Just sent the newsletter yesterday and thought why not do a round up post this year. We have to put our lights and diyas. Hopefully today evening. The diwali traditions are different in each and every household....

How long they take: 43 minutes Equipment you’ll need: muffin pan, mixing bowl, grater or food processor Servings: 14 muffins A healthy breakfast or snack. Carrot muffins are very tasty and go great with scrambled eggs and a cup of coffee for a quick breakfast. You’ll also find that these filling muffins are are perfect for a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack. Add them to lunchboxes for a nutritious treat. Serve them with a bowl of soup for lunch....

How long it takes: 5 minutes to prep, 5 minutes to cook Equipment you’ll need: skillet Servings: 5 (or as many as you like) You’ll find that fresh sweet peas are best when they’re just very lightly cooked. “Keep it simple” is the best motto with sugar snap peas. Raw sugar snap peas are great but a quick sauté in olive oil changes their color into a vivid green and really enhances the flavor....

Don’t you just love deviled eggs? A neat little two-bite appetizer, deviled eggs are merely fancied up hard boiled eggs. The egg white makes a neat little dish for the creamy egg filling which is oh, so tasty. How long it takes: 30 minutes Equipment you’ll need: saucepan (or Instant Pot), mixing bowl, serving platter Servings: makes 12 halves I love how easy it is to get creative with deviled eggs....

How to Toast Almonds at Home Whether I’m devouring these toasted almonds hand over fist or tossing them over my favorite soups and salads, I’ll never run out of ways to enjoy them. Almonds are healthy, flavorful, and satisfying. And toasting almonds makes them even tastier. How long it takes: mere minutes on the stovetop or in the oven Equipment you’ll need: Depending on the method, you’ll need a skillet or a pan for toasting....

Summer is so full of beautiful fruits-vegetables, this week our trip to the farmers market resulted in a big basket of fresh-juicy figs. We have been consuming dried figs for a long time but the fresh ones are a beauty in itself. The inside is a fibrous lush dark pink-red color and amazingly sweet. So I decided to make “Indian Style Figs Saffron Overnight Oats“. As everyone say Breakfast is the most important meal of the day then why not making it exciting, delicious and off-course healthy....

The first recipe that came up when I searched for legume based recipe from Nagaland is the Betang Meh and can you guess where I landed? Cooks Hideout, yes it’s none other than Pavani. I did not read/explore any further, and I immediately noted down Betang Meh for Nagaland. Traditionally this recipe is prepared with mustard greens, and a native vegetable to Nagaland is also included. But both Pavani and I ignored the veggie, and I further went ahead and used spinach instead of mustard greens....

How long it takes: 1 hour, 35 minutes (mostly hands-off time) Equipment you’ll need: Instant Pot pressure cooker, sheet pan Servings: 8 Easy Instant Pot Carnitas Pressure cooking greatly reduces cooking time. Maybe you aren’t convinced of the usefulness of your Instant Pot yet. Try these Instant Pot carnitas and you’ll never look back! Instead of braising pork for half a day, these carnitas are well-done and so unbelievably tender in an hour!...

We are in the last week of this blogging marathon. Only six more recipes to go and I couldn’t believe I have already posted twenty recipes. Every time I grab frozen peas or coconut or undhiyu veggie mix from the freezer section, I see the green chickpeas / Hara chana packets. I always wanted to grab them and try some simple curries, but I kept postponing thinking if we will like it or not as we have never tried it before....

Sambar and chutney are the most commonly used Tiffin accompaniments. But are you looking for alternatives? Then you are at the right place and here is a recipe for you with moong dal. Today I am going to share a delicious tiffin accompaniment from Andhra/Telangana, and here is how you can make it in Instant Pot or pressure cooker. Instant Pot Pesaru Pappu Charu The Telugu cuisine has tons and tons of pappu/lentil based recipes and it was a daunting task to narrow down one from that humongous list....

My Cookbook | The Essential South Indian Cookbook I am so excited to share that my new book, The Essential South Indian Cookbook, is coming out this October 2019! This book contains 75 South Indian recipes, including meat and seafood recipes. Thanks to Kat Green for taking care of the meat and seafood-based recipes. The recipes in this book will definitely let you explore the culture and the regional cuisines of South India....

I love having instant, no-ferment dosa in my repertoire. They are quick to make and are great for breakfast, lunch or dinner (BLD anyone??) So here is a healthier version of rava dosa that needs just 4 basic pantry ingredients. I really love the use of whole-wheat flour (atta) and wheat rava because they are rich in fiber and nutrients. I usually serve these wheat dosa with a simple vegetable side dish (recipe included) and a chutney....

You might all wonder if we can consume jackfruit seeds; they are edible, just like tender and fresh jackfruit. You can make various dishes with them, and I have already shared a dry curry recipe, chakkakuru thoran. Do check it out. My mom didn’t add onions to kootu growing up; hence, most of my kootu recipes are onion and garlic-free. But in my kitchen, I started exploring kootu recipes by adding onions and shared some on the blog, like my raw papaya kootu and cabbage kootu....

Holiday baking feels incomplete without a Christmas fruit cake. So, I make sure to bake this moist and delicious cake along with cookies in December. This is a great edible gift and is also perfect to serve with tea or wine. Traditionally fruit cakes need a lot of preparation. Dry fruit are soaked in wine or other spirits for days if not months before making the cake. But the good thing about this recipe is that the dry fruit don’t have to be soaked ahead of time....

My third dosa recipe after jini dosa and kal dosa is the masala dosa with bottle gourd stuffing. As much as I love masala dosa with potato stuffing, I also love dosa with other stuffings like spring dosa, jini dosa, and pav bhaji dosa. And here is one such dosa recipe stuffed with bottle gourd curry. Stuffed dosa Like soups, you can quickly sneak in vegetables in dosa by adding the vegetable puree to the dosa batter or grinding the vegetables with rice and urad dal....

Loaded mashed potato casserole may be the ultimate comfort food. Creamy whipped potatoes are loaded with some of the best things in life: smoky bacon, sharp cheddar cheese, tangy sour cream, and green onions. How long it takes: 20 minutes to prep, 50 minutes in the oven Equipment you’ll need: large bowl, cheese grater, large baking dish Servings: 10 I love twice baked potatoes. The problem is they are a hassle to make: bake the potatoes, try to scoop out the insides while leaving a presentable shell, mash them, and then refill the potato skin you just emptied out....

Today, I will share a seasonal recipe and a traditional recipe, mambazha pachadi, which we typically prepare on New Year’s Day. We make it for both Ugadi and Tamil New Year. Mambazham means ripe mango, and pachadi means relish, more like cooked chutney in this recipe context. Irrespective of the occasion, this sweet mango relish is an excellent accompaniment to rice. During the mango season, we make it quite often....

My theme for this week’s blogging marathon is ‘Pick 1 alphabet and cook dishes from 3 countries’. Valli gave us this list and I picked the letter M. I love Mexican food and so first up is this Mexican dish that is creamy, smokey and absolutely delicious. This simple grilled corn salad known as Esquites in Mexico. Difference between Esquites & Elotes Grilled corn is one of the popular snacks in Mexico and there are two ways they are served....

I want to post some of the summer recipes that I have in drafts before the season ends. I made this Mocha Ice cream from King Arthur flour site in June, around the beginning of Summer. It is very simple to put together and even my 5 year old loved it. All you need for the recipe is to mix the ingredients, chill and then churn in the ice cream maker....

How long it takes: 55 minutes Equipment you’ll need: a cutting board, a knife, and a large pot (a Dutch oven works great!) Servings: 6 I love the warm flavors of Moroccan dishes, like Moroccan Freekeh Pilaf with Golden Raisins and Apricots, Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken Thighs, or Moroccan Carrot Noodle Salad with Chickpeas and Walnuts. So good! One of my new favorites is this one pan dinner, Moroccan Meatballs with Roasted Tomatoes....