I’d always believed that waking up early and functioning like a normal human being was an ability that would evade me my whole life. Like carrying a tune, reading music, or artfully arching a single eyebrow (tell me I’m not the only one who’s spent an afternoon squinting at the mirror trying to will a single eyebrow towards my hairline, please), the skills train rolled right past me on this one and I’ve been forced to come to terms with the fact that it just wasn’t meant to be....

I thoroughly enjoyed making these bread. I added some atta (whole wheat flour) to add some fiber and nutrition. The dough is very easy to work with, very smooth and pliable. House smelt amazing when the breads were baking. I baked them a few minutes before I brought my son back from school and the first thing he said when he walked in was ‘what are you baking? It smells good in here....

Soft and Gooey Chocolate Fudge Cookies With a chocolate cookie base, chocolate chips, and a soft, fudgy center, these chocolate fudge cookies are truly a chocolate lover’s dream! Today’s recipe is a rich and decadent spin on my double chocolate chip cookies, enriched and filled with rich chocolate ganache. Thanks to carefully selected ingredients, the cookies stay soft and chewy, but are still firm enough to hold in that chocolate fudge filling....

Carnival-Worthy Funnel Cakes If your annual summer checklist includes grabbing a funnel cake and some caramel popcorn from your local carnival or beachside snack shack, you’ll definitely want to save this recipe! While I’m not suggesting you skip your annual tradition, I am suggesting that perhaps you could enjoy this treat more than once a year. From the comfort of your own kitchen. In your pajamas. Okay, the last part isn’t necessary, but let’s be real, funnel cakes are essentially breakfast food…right (if fried donut holes count, these certainly do)?...

Gajar ka Halwa or Indian Carrot Pudding is what I dream ALL Winter Long !!! Try it once as the rich, flavorful and melt in your mouth texture of this halwa will make you a fan too. This extremely popular halwa literally signifies winter season for many of us and I’m sure you must have had many different versions of it. This is not the case at our home most of the time (as I hate getting those pre-shred carrots as they donot have any taste/flavor in them)....

How long it takes: about 35 minutes Equipment you’ll need: grill or grill pan Servings: 4 large mushrooms We like these mushrooms as a side dish for grilled chicken, but I’ve always been a huge mushroom fan and I could easily make a meal out of these babies with a nice big leafy salad. They’re perfect for Meatless Mondays, too! Fabulous Grilled Portobellos Endless ways to enjoy them. People say that portobellos are the steak of the mushroom world, and just like strips of steak, you can use these grilled portobello mushrooms as an addition to meal bowls, tacos, salads, and more....

Paneer is my favorite protein and being a vegetarian I cook with it quite often. We love it in this paneer filled dosa or in this spinach sandwich or this methi dry curry. So, as you can see I use it in many different recipes and not just in curries. All in all, I love the versatility of this nutritious and delicious ingredient. Here, I have a delicious paneer in green gravy recipe....

How long it takes: 25 minutes Equipment you’ll need: large bowl, measuring utensils Servings: 4 Wonder why curried chicken salad recipes have such staying power? If you haven’t tried this salad yet, you’ll find that it’s flavorful and easy to make. The curry powder gives it that extra special flavor that carries the salad beyond mundane and into the realm of Wow! You’ll see why curried chicken salads have stuck around all these years....

What Is Ragi Malpua? The second recipe that I am going to post under the “Holi Recipe” theme is the Ragi Malpua. Malpua is a sweet pancake which is quite famous in Orissa, but it found its way to the other states and now it has become a popular dessert throughout India. Instead of frying the malpua, I prepared them like regular dosa and stuffed it with grated coconut – nut filling....

How long it takes: 45 minutes (including 15 minutes to marinate) Equipment you’ll need: small saucepan, shallow bowl, baking pan Servings: 6 Juicy Honey Soy Salmon Recipe Full of flavor. If you love the Asian-style flavors in my orange glazed salmon and hot honey salmon bites, you’re going to love the sticky-sweet, umami-rich glaze in this recipe. Oven-baked. Salmon baked in the oven is so quick and easy and the result is consistently perfect....

Freshly Baked Cookies On-Demand If you’re part of a cookie exchange, bake sale, or just plan on making LOTS of cookies this month, you’re going to want to bookmark this post! Today I’m sharing how to freeze cookie dough so it stays just as fresh and tasty as the day you made it, even if you’re baking it three months later! This is a total game changer. The photo above may look a bit curious to you if you’ve frozen cookie dough before…notice the plastic wrap?...

We are almost in the middle of the week and can’t wait for the long weekend to start here in USA (Labor Day). In our house, we always keep heaps of mint in the fridge… I mean, seriously, sometimes I feel like a mint hoarder but it’s just so useful and goes into so many things (you can add them in water for a refreshing minty flavor or face packs or just crushed mint on top of salads or sandwiches, meats, soooo many uses)....

A Quick & Easy Chicken Stock Recipe The average homemade chicken stock recipe takes hours of simmering on the stove to reach its full-bodied flavor potential. While it tastes amazing, it’s just plain time consuming. Today I’m sharing how to make chicken stock, the quick and easy way! We’re taking a few notes from my Instant Pot pulled pork and making Instant Pot chicken stock. This method shaves off hours from the total time and still yields an incredibly hearty and flavorful broth....

Can you guys believe how popular Instant Pots and other brands of pressure cookers have gotten? THEY ARE EVERYWHERE. Bloggers are pumping out all the Instant Pot recipes and every day I see a new Instagram story of someone who is making their first pressure cooker recipe. How long it takes: just 35 minutes Equipment you’ll need: Instant Pot Servings: 6 And I’m not mad about it. I love mine (this is a newer model of the one I have) and use it at least twice a week....

Winter winds are gusting as I write this post, looking out at the frozen white landscape. When the weather is frosty, we need to warm up from the inside out, and this Instant Pot minestrone soup is the right way to do it. How long it takes: 45 minutes Equipment you’ll need: Instant Pot Servings: 6 You don’t have to bundle up, scrape your car off, and brave snowy roads driving to Olive Garden to enjoy this classic Italian soup....

How long it takes: about 25 minutes Equipment you’ll need: Instant Pot Servings: 4 For the fastest method, you can make this Instant Pot spaghetti squash. Slow cooker spaghetti squash is a hands-off cooking method that can be started in the morning and ready when you get home from work. Finally, there’s baked spaghetti squash, which can be cut into rings, halves, or roasted whole. Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash: Fast & Easy The quickest way to cook spaghetti squash....

Why the recipe is called Raw Buttermilk Sambar? We call it is as patchai or raw mor kuzhambu because we don’t cook the sambar. Yes, you read it right. No need to simmer /boil/cook. I cannot call this a no-stovetop recipe as we need to do the tempering. Except for tempering, you don’t need to turn on your stove. :-) And this recipe calls for only minimal ingredients, making it a perfect recipe for the busy weekdays....

You can make this karela curry either in the pressure cooker or the Instant Pot. Instructions for both are below. It is a tasty side that is easy to make and great to serve with rice or roti!! About the recipe Kakarakaya aka bitter melon or karela is one of my family favorite veggies. Even my picky daughter loves it. The bitterness doesn’t really bother any of us. I love cooking with it and make it quite often when I am making Indian meals....

All this week, I had been eating pretty simple and mostly healthy food/drinks but now that the weekend is almost here, I’m craving spicy, tangy or absolute fried stuff like this Kashmiri Dum Aloo ! So let’s promise, not to over-indulge and bring on the cheat day 😉 WHAT IS KASHMIRI DUM ALOO ? Before we start dreaming about our indulgences, let’s take a moment and talk about this gorgeous Kashmiri – a region in northest India Dum – slow-cooked in a pot Aloo – potatoes They are these small golden potatoes that are fried to a rich orange color and then smothered with this lush and gorgeous looking spicy gravy made using spices and yogurt....

Everything But the Kitchen Sink Cookies With so many tasty options, it can be tough to decide what kind of cookie to make. Maybe you’re feeling classic chocolate chip, or maybe you want something a bit more fun and colorful, like M&M cookies. Luckily with my kitchen sink cookies, you don’t have to decide, because they include just about every add-in you could possibly want! Well, everything but the kitchen sink, that is…😉 Today’s recipe uses the dough from my pudding cookies as a base....