Panchmel Dal: Five Legume Medley

3 Jan

Panchmel Dal - Five Dals with Fenugreek

Mixed legumes cooked with whole spices and fresh fenugreek, topped with a rich ghee-garlic tadka. Panchmel dal is one of those rare dishes that are complex and, at the same time, comforting.

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Stuffed Ridge Gourd Cylinders

26 Dec

Ridge Gourd Cylinders Stuffed

Ridge gourd served up in special style: shallow-fried cylinders of the gourd stuffed with a peanut-sesame-coriander spice.

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Sabudana Kheer: Vanilla Sago Pudding

17 Dec

Sabudana ki Kheer

Sabudana kheer (sago pudding) – an easy dessert idea for a party menu. It cooks quicker than rice kheer, needs the stove top only (no oven), and is vegetarian-friendly.

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Chow Chow Tamatar: Chayote Tomato Curry

13 Dec

Chayote Tomato Curry with Jhunka, Rice, Baingan Bhaja

Chayote slow-cooked in a tomato base – simple flavors that get their kick from a tempering of mustard and asafoetida. This is one of those curries that only ask for time, not exceptional skill or effort.

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Butter Soy Baby Corn – Three Ingredients Only!

20 Nov

Baby Corn Butter Soy

When writing about butter soy baby corn, I am reminded of the acronym WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). There isn’t really more to the recipe than what the headline presents: three ingredients – butter, soy sauce, fresh baby corn – come together to give a lip-smacking umami snack.

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Masoor Dal Pakodi: Red Lentil Fritters

27 Oct

Fried Masoor Dal Fritters

Masoor dal pakodi – with red lentil as starring ingredient, this crunchy snack-time goodie also doubles up as a curry dumpling (badi). Learn how to make these delicious fritters.

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Spring Onion Jhunka

19 Oct

Spring Onion Jhunka - Hare Pyaz ka Jhunka

When you have run out of vegetables, make jhunka.

This piece of wisdom that I received from my Punekar friend was worth its weight in gold during the pandemic lockdown. With just besan and my backlog of onions, the barebones jhunka recipe gave me several filling, comforting meals.

So, what exactly is jhunka? Wikipedia defines it as:

…a vegetarian traditional Indian dish prepared in Maharashtra, Goa and North Karnataka. It is essentially a chickpea flour porridge.

Hmmm. Calling it a “porridge” is rather a stretch! Do they mean pithle? I’ll let the matter rest with a Shakespearean reference and point you to the blog becauseanyonecancook, which describes pithle and jhunka with more nuance.

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