A plus of cooking only for yourself is the chance it gives you for daring experimentation. Do whatever. Relish it if it turns out brilliant, commit it to memory (and blog) for treating others in future. Shrug it off if it does not; it is only one that suffered through it.
Spices & Herbs
Recipes that use herbs and spices as a key ingredient.
Paneer Capsicum Curry
Feeling blue? Liven it up with a bright red, green and white curry. The lovely concoction of colors and flavors in paneer capsicum curry is also surprisingly easy to put together.
Quick Tasty Onion Fry with Soy Dressing
This side dish of quick tasty onion fry is perfectly suited for a work-night meal. It uses few ingredients, doesn’t need much cooking time and, with its delicate honey soy dressing, is so flavorful you’d hardly believe it can be put together so effortlessly.
Bittersweet Baingan: Green Eggplant with Cashews and Jaggery
Before I moved to south India, baingan (eggplant) was strongly linked in my mind with baingani – the color purple. Imagine my surprise when I first discovered that baingan could be green. Since then, my relationship with the green baingan has gone from misgivings to experimentation to understanding. I have discovered that this variety of eggplant takes a slightly shorter time to cook than its purple sibling, and that certain ingredients complement the green eggplant better.
Mushroom Kasoori Methi
I was planning to make a simple dry mushroom dish today when sudden inspiration struck me and I added some kasoori methi to it. What a difference one surprise ingredient can make. This mushroom kasoori methi is the kind your guests will take a mouthful of and exclaim: “Amazing! What masala have you put in it?”
Ridge Gourd Potato Curry with Poppy Seed Paste
This ridge gourd potato curry recipe was shared by a Bengali friend, who tells me the cuisine of that area uses poppy seeds abundantly. Given how well this curry turned out, I know this spice is going to become a regular in my pantry.