After the vegan paan cake, here is my next sweet recipe for this Deepavali season. It’s a traditional sweet recipe from Tirunelveli, prepared as neivediyam for Lord Murugan, especially for the Shasti festival. Thirubagam is a mix between halwa and mysore pak. The addition of edible camphor makes it divine and enhances the flavor multifold. It is an addictive sweet. `Give it a try. I did my undergrad studies in Kovilpatti, which is close to Tirunelveli....

My Cookbook | Instant Pot Vegetarian Cookbook I am so excited to share that my new book, Instant Pot® Vegetarian Cookbook, coming out on June 18, 2019! The book is all about 75 healthy vegetarian recipes from around the world all made in Instant Pot. I truly can’t wait to see it out in the world soon. Soups are an easy one-pot meal which are perfect for weekday dinner or lunch....

A Foolproof Toffee Recipe I know firsthand how frustrating a failed batch of toffee can be. Many, many batches of ruined candy made their way through my kitchen on my journey to discover perfectly crisp, buttery toffee perfection. Fortunately, after plenty of trial and error, I’m finally proud to share the BEST toffee recipe. Today’s post includes plenty of tips, tricks, and straightforward, easy steps! One of the most important tips I can give you for this recipe is to use a candy thermometer!...

Tri Color Namak Para or Tri Color Nimki : Namak Para / Namak Pare, or Nimki is one of my ALL-TIME Favorite snacks for Holi (Indian Festival of Colors). It’s a diamond shape or square/rectangle cute, bite-size savory snack that serves perfectly as a munching dish for any Festive gatherings whether at home or away. Its simplicity in preparation and exquisite taste has made it a staple in our Indian homes, passed down through generations, whether it’s a festive celebration or a casual gathering....

The Best Turkey Wrap Sandwich These turkey wraps are one of my favorite quick, easy, and healthy meals! This recipe is so simple, yet SO good. The key to a good wrap is hitting the right balance of flavors and textures. I make this one with conveniently sliced deli turkey, crunchy cucumber, lettuce, creamy avocado and tangy cream cheese. It’s my go-to lunch on busy weekdays. From these flavorful veggie wraps to chicken lettuce wraps, I’ll never run out of ways to roll up my favorite ingredients....

The Most Indulgent Brownies My turtle brownies have all the irresistible components of turtle candy: gooey caramel, rich chocolate, and crunchy pecans. The caramel in my version is homemade (of course) and covered in plenty of chopped pecans (toast yours for extra flavor!). A drizzle of chocolate on top is both for looks and taste. It’s such a decadent way to make a turtle dessert! Why You’ll Love This Recipe Carefully crafted to be decadent, but not too rich....

Vanilla Pudding Homemade pudding is roughly one million times better than anything you’re going to find at the grocery store. No snack pack and no packet of powder that you shake into cold milk can hold a candle to the taste of real, from-scratch vanilla pudding. Today’s recipe is a classic, and it’s surprisingly simple to make. Nothing but sweet & simple ingredients (I bet you have all of them in your pantry right now), a little bit of technique, and plenty of real authentic flavor — save those packets for pudding cookies instead!...

We are baking with seeds for this month’s Bread Bakers. Our lovely host Mayuri wanted us to get creative and bake with any seed or a mixture of seeds. So I made this soft and delicious Vegan Seeded Challah bread. It is a great everyday bread that you can snack on or can be eaten with some butter and jam. When I think of seeds, I only think of poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame and so on....

Serving Suggestion: This soup is very chunky hence if serving as an appetizer, serve small quantity OR Serve it as a main course with bread Tools: 1 Large non-stick wok Any Large Pot Lid Ingredients: 5 Medium Carrots, peeled & finely chopped 2 Medium Onion, finely Chopped 3 Sticks of Celery, finely Chopped – (Wash celery carefully as it contains lot of mud) 2 Tbsp Oil – (U can use any flavorless oil) 1....

My family loves Pizza. Both my kids have polar opposite tastes in food, but the only thing that both of them like is Pizza. I am always looking for new pizza recipes, especially ones that are unique and different from what we get in pizza corners here in the US. To that end, I have tried quite a few different pizza variations like these: Indian style vegetable pizzaQuick beer crust pizzaDetroit style pizzaPizza dough with semolina...

Now coming to today’s recipe – vepampoo Sadam or Dried Neem flower rice is quick home remedy for stomach disorders. Neem flowers are known for its digestive properties. I always have them in handy and this time I got two big packs of dried neem flowers from India. The best part is they have longer shelf life and the dried flowers are not perishable. If you are preparing this as a remedy, ignore the mor milagai / Dried chillies....

How long it takes: 10 minutes to prep, 1 hour to bake Equipment you’ll need: silicone basting brush, Dutch oven or baking dish Servings: 4 Why roast a whole cauliflower? The outside of the cauliflower gets irresistibly crispy. The inside is soft and practically melts in your mouth because a whole cauliflower, as opposed to smaller florets, traps steam as it roasts in the oven. Garnish it with fresh herbs, sauce, or yes, bacon, and you’ll never look at cauliflower the same way again!...

How long it takes: 20 minutes Equipment you’ll need: air fryer Servings: 4 An easy dinner idea. Easy recipes like these air fryer pork chops cook up so quickly with very little prep yet they taste great. The meat is tender and delicious, perfectly seasoned. If you add a couple of easy sides like frozen vegetables and a bag of salad, dinner can be on the table in less than a half hour....

It’s a Sixer!!! Our little vaandu turns six today. (To be precise, exactly at 00:03 AM and that’s the reason behind the scheduled time ) He is not a little fella anymore. Should I call him dude? Nahhh, he will be always our little bundle of joy. Our entire life revolves around him. He is growing fast, but I am not growing as a mom as fast as him. I have never let him stay without me for more than 10 hrs....

The main ingredients are rice, jaggery and til (sesame). Although the preparation looks simple and easy, it takes a lot of practice to master this dish. I tried multiple ways to prepare this dish and would fail every time. Nevertheless, I have revamped the recipe for beginners to easily roll the pithas but I suggest you try making them in the traditional way to get those perfect and crispy Pithas....

With Super Bowl approaching, it’s time to start planning some game day eats and snacks. Because after all, that’s what is about, right? Food and commercials. Right? Am I missing something? I don’t think so. How long it takes: 38 minutes (includes time to bake bacon) Equipment you’ll need: sheet pan, oven, small zip top bag Servings: makes 40 appetizers Oh, and bacon. And guacamole. Food, bacon, guacamole, and commercials....

What Is Balushahi or Badusha? Balushahi / Badushahs / Bhadushah / Badushah / Badusha is a traditional and a popular Indian sweet recipe. It is pretty popular all over India. In fact, it is popularly known as Balushahi in North India whereas in South it is called as Badushah or Badusha. It is also called as the Indian Doughnut. It’s a soft and flaky sweet prepared with Maida or all-purpose flour and deep fried in clarified butter/oil and coated with sugar syrup....

Yogurt Rice | Thayir Saadam: This thayir sadam is a perfect travel food, a lunch box recipe, party, and potluck food, neivediyam (offering to God) and above all a healthy and great summer food. Also, it is a great way to use leftover rice. Let me share how to make creamy and rich bagalabath recipe today. The meal at our house always ends with thayir sadam/curd rice or moru sadam/buttermilk rice....

For the final day of this week’s blogging marathon, I made this crispy and absolutely addictive baked buffalo style cauliflower with blue cheese dip. This is another dish that I had in NYC botanical garden. I really loved how spicy and yummy it was. My recipe is a low calorie version in that this one is baked while the one I had at the restaurant was deep fried.I have never had anything ‘buffalo style’ before and when I saw this on the menu, I just had to give it a try....

How long it takes: 50 minutes Equipment you’ll need: soup pan, stove, sharp knife, immersion blender Servings: 6 My mom used to heat up the canned version often for a quick lunch or dinner. It truly was a family favorite. She got the extra large sized can because we ate a lot. She’d say that there’s no reason to pick up expensive fast food when you had a can of bean with bacon soup in the pantry....