Chicken, Bean and Vegetable Soup in Pressure Cooker

Soup is synonymous with cold to me. Soup is quick. Soup is easy. Soup is nutritious. Soup is comforting. So is warmth. Soup is whole. Soup is hearty. Soup is complete. Soup is contentment.

Pav Bhaji Masala

It is funny when you realise that when it comes to food, most cities are well known for their street food or their unfinished, unpolished lunch and tea stalls that serve just about anything. Most of these places (and I agree it is not everyone) prepare food to share their family cuisine with the people around them. Their love for the food they prepare is more important than the business they want to establish with their food. And that, I reckon is their success.

Chinese Style Minced Beef Chowmein

My boys have lately fallen in love with Oriental flavours, where Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese top their list because they have more spicier options of the lot. So, as soon as they see any Oriental recipe, they want it to be prepared at home, simply for the convenience of eating it at any time they want. We saw this recipe for Minced Beef Chow Mein in an episode of Better Homes and Gardens almost a year back and have fallen in love with the flavours with our first bite.

Prawn Rolls in a Bread

Lunch box ideas for children is a challenge for all Mums. The prerequisites, of course, are different. Some want to provide their children with warm food for lunch, while others are intent on packing up lunch the night before to be refrigerated, which can easily be popped into bags in the morning and carried to school. Some are challenged with the thought of getting something/ anything into their little ones' tummies while others are confronted with the idea of providing easy to eat but nutritious meals which their children can gobble up as fast as they can before they run to the play ground.

Vol-Au-Vent: Creamy Chicken and Avocado

Ah! Finally back with another post. It was crazy here for the last 4 weeks with the children falling sick and not attending school and then preparing for our Onam Celebrations with friends, which we always celebrate at least a month late. Now all done and packed, I hope to get back on track; with work, cooking, home works and activities. Before anything else, I wanted to get done with a post. So when some of my friends came over for dinner on Friday, I decided to make best of the opportunity with something simple - Vol-Au-Vents with a Creamy Chicken and Avocado filling.

Quick and Easy Fried Rice

Fried rice is a remarkably versatile dish that is good for a simple dinner or for a lavish party presentation. It is the simplest, quickest and most nutritious meal that every lady in today's fast paced world resorts to prepare at least once every week in her kitchen. Though its origins can be traced back to China, this rice dish loaded with veggies and sometime egg and meat, is a staple food in almost every household in every fast-paced country now.

San Choy Bao - Chinese style Lettuce Cups

San Choy Bao is a classic Chinese dish; a nice, refreshing, light meal that can be served both as an appetiser and a main course - a dish that is equally loved by young ones and old alike. Crispy, ice cold lettuce cups filled with a warm flavourful filling of minced turkey and vegetables makes it a balanced nutritious meal. It is quick and easy to prepare and at the same time a fun dish because it involves a little bit of playing and messing around - you have to assemble the ingredients to make your own cups to chomp down!

Kootu Curry with Tyson Chick Peas and Yam

This post is part of Onam and Sadya. The recipe below will be enough to serve 6 - 8 people for Sadya. Measurements are only approximate.

Have I told you of the first time I prepared Onam Sadya, all by myself. It was our first Onam after marriage and we were living in Pune at the time. I was only learning to cook then, and to impress my husband, GC, I

Aviyal in a Pressure Cooker

This post is part of Onam and Sadya. The recipe below will make enough to serve 6 - 8 people for a Sadya. Measurements are only approximate.

Aviyal is a dish from vegetarians paradise. It is a semi dry preparation of mixed vegetables with crushed coconut, cumin, garlic, green chilly and yoghurt and finished off with fresh coconut oil. The tartness of the

Sambhar

This post is a part of Onam and Sadya. The recipe below will make enough to serve 6 - 8 people for a Sadya. Measurements are only approximate.

Sambhar is a spicy medley of lentils and vegetables. The vegetable could be limited to just one variety or it could be a mix of any vegetables of your choice. One of my best friend from Uni, whom we adoringly call

Minestrone Soup with Garlic Bread

We (GC - my husband, JK - elder boy, MK - younger boy and myself) absolutely love soups. It is a staple in our household, especially during the cold winter months. It keeps you warm and cosy and is both comforting and nourishing at the same time. Of all the soups I make at home, the Minestrone Soup tops our list.

Kurukku Kalan in a Foreign Land

This post is part of Onam and Sadya. The recipe below will make enough to serve 6 - 8 people for Sadya. Measurements are only approximate.

Kurukku means any liquid form, which includes solids, that has been reduced or thickened. Kurukku Kalan is prepared by simmering vegetables in a yoghurt and coconut based sauce, until it reduces to a thick creamy

Vegetable Cutlet (Kerala Bakery-Style)

This is how I ended up preparing Kerala bakery-style vegetable cutlets at home.

We, my friends and I, threw a baby shower for two of our 'latest' mums-to-be two weeks back and decided on a potluck. I chose to make vegetable cutlet for entree` and roughly estimated that 5 cups of mixed vegetables and 1 1/2 cup of mashed potato should make me at least 25 vegetable cutlets. But it was only when I made the cutlet mix that I realised my estimates on mashed potato had gone terribly wrong and I didn't have any extra potatoes in the pantry. Battling with going ahead of making cutlets with the mixture I had at hand against running to the supermarket for potatoes and being late for the party, the vegetable cutlets that is so common in bakeries in Kerala came to my mind. Well, why not use their most important ingredient?...... Bread Crumbs...... It may not be perfect but that was the best choice I had.

Kaeng Khiao Wan Pla Thot/ Sweet Green Fried Fish Curry

It is Thai today!

A marriage of Eastern and Western influences, harmoniously combined with the traditional Thai style of cooking has led to what is now known internationally as the Thai Cuisine. It is a balance of spicy, sweet, salty and sour. The food is loaded with fresh herbs like coriander leaves, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, basil and mint and what awaits your palate is simply dazzling and delightful.

My first experience of Thai cuisine was Kaeng Khiao Wan Pla Thot served at Okra Restaurant, Hawthorn in 2006. I was carrying my second child at the time and my friend from work (who had seen and experienced my love for seafood), ordered this for me.
Man! Did I fall in love? With the dish I mean; not the Chef!
Unfortunately, this was not the case with my husband, when I took him to the restaurant later. While he did like the dish, he kept complaining about the aroma of lemon grass which was a reminiscence of a bitter medicine he had as a child. But he grew out of it and now loves anything that is Thai.

Kaeng Khiao Wan is sweet green curry and Pla Thot is deep-fried fish. So this is deep-fried fish in a sweet green curry, with pak choy, okra, eggplant, water chestnuts and bean sprouts to make it a complete meal served with Jasmine Rice. I guess they call it sweet only because it is not as hot and spicy as the other Thai curries like Massaman.

Chicken Ratatouille

Ratatouille is a 2007 computer animated comedy film in which the antagonist, Remy the Rat, aspires to be a cook, being inspired by a famous chef, Auguste Gusteau. He starts by helping Linguini, a hopeful chef in the making, and ultimately wins over France's top restaurant critic, Anton Ego's heart and soul by preparing for him a simple 'Ratatouille'.

And there begins my journey; my journey to find a recipe for ratatouille that will find its way into the hearts of my family, just as the movie.

Ratatouille is a traditional French stewed vegetable dish with tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, squash and bell pepper and is usually served as a side dish. There is much debate on how to make the traditional ratatouille; to sauté all the vegetables together in a pot (this is how Anto's mum cooks the dish in the cartoon) or to prepare the sauce with tomatoes, spices and herbs and later layer it with zucchini and eggplant in a baking dish and bake in the oven (this i guess is how Remy prepares the dish in the cartoon). This dish for the movie was designed by gourmet chef Thomas Keller and his dish later came to be known as confit byaldi.