A vegetable side dish is the norm with most Indian rice dishes. You can eat it on its own with Indian bread (chapatti or roti) or Indian pancakes (dosas). My favourite one was green beans and fresh desiccated coconut. We don’t have the luxury of fresh coconut in...
Garam masala, unlike sambar powder, is something I use extensively in a lot of non-vegetarian dishes – tandoori chicken, kheema (mince), chicken curries, lamb curries, etc. You can also use it with vegetarian dishes like channa masala, biryani, etc. I grew up with the...
What do I have in my pantry? This is a question I get asked regularly. Most Indian pantries have a range of similar spices, although a few bits and pieces would be different. I am from South India, so I would have a few different spices compared to a North Indian....
Chutney puddi (or powder) is a South Indian condiment served with idlis, dosas or mixed in with plain rice. You add some ghee with it. There are more than a 100 varieties of chutney puddi in Bangalore. I’m sure there are much more around other parts of South India. It...
Tandoori chicken at the local ‘dhabas’ (roadhouses) was a treat! I would go on road trips with my friends and we would always stop at a dhaba. These are small restaurants (usually North Indian cuisine) with jute beds for lounging on, or cabanas where groups of people...
I’m not a big fan of salads, so I like to make them chunky and mix all kinds of veggies, herbs, protein and fun stuff in it. This one came together today as a side to the chicken mince cutlets I made. The apple in the salad gave it a bit of sweetness and the...
Aunty Prema is my mum’s friend – she isn’t my mum’s sister though - we call everyone aunty in India! Everyone is like family. Every time we visited her, she would cook us some amazing food. I distinctly remember her bisi-bele-bath. This is a lentil, veggie and rice...