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Recipes that use herbs and spices as a key ingredient.

Gujarati Dal: Yellow Lentils with Peanuts and Jaggery

2 Mar

Gujarati Dal

Peanuts and jaggery in toor dal? It sounded bizarre and it wasn’t something I had cooked or eaten before. When I saw this recipe for Gujarati dal on a food show on NDTV Good Times I decided to try it in my own kitchen that very day.

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How To Make The Greenest Palak Paneer

1 Mar

What do you do to get this lovely lush color in your palak paneer, I am asked.

I’ll let out my secret today.

As they tell you in Kung Fu Panda, the secret of the secret ingredient is that there is no secret ingredient. Which means that my palak paneer looks that way not because of what I add to it, but because of what I do not add to it.

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Cheesy Cauliflower – Easy, No Bake Recipe

28 Feb

Cheesy Cauliflower

Craving for cheesy cauliflower, have no time / equipment / resources to make a full-scale gratin? Fret not – try this quick no bake cheesy cauliflower that gets made with basic cream cheese and a pan on the stove top.

This recipe lets the natural deliciousness of the cauliflower stand out. There’s a touch of garlic and a hint of cheese – enough to get your taste buds feel it but not so much that it overshadows the vegetable that stars in the recipe.

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How to Reduce the Bitterness of Bitter Gourd

17 Feb

Bitter Gourd Slices

Bitter gourd (karela in Hindi) is an acquired taste perhaps – most people don’t relish its bitterness. One friend famously likes bitter gourd only in the form of bharwa karela (stuffed bitter gourd): she eats the filling and discards the shell.

I have never disliked bitter gourd; rarely will I put it through pre-cooking treatment to reduce its bitterness. Most of these steps make the karela lose not just bitterness but also nutrients. Still, if you must, here are a few tips to reduce the bitterness of bitter gourd:

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Chura Bhuja Mattar: Crispy Flattened Rice and Peas

14 Feb

Chura Bhuja Mattar - Flattened Rice and Peas

Chura bhuja mattar – popular snack from Bihar that pits the crunch of roasted chura against the tender butteriness of cooked peas (mattar), to fantastic effect.

What is chura, did you ask? Chura is the Bihari word for flattened rice, called chiwra elsewhere in north India. The better-known way of preparing chiwra is in its moistened form, as poha. Chura bhuja, in contrast, works on chiwra crisp and dry.

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How To Make Triangular Parathas

8 Feb

Triangular Parathas

Have you had those triangle-shaped parathas with layers inside them and wondered how they got made? Wonder no more: in this post, I’ll show you how to make triangular parathas with step-by-step pictures.

The word "paratha" comes from the words parat (layer) and atta (flour). So parathas are literally layers of cooked flour.

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