Kala Jamun, or Java plum or black plum is a fruit that grows in South East Asia in the summer and is a superfood. Its health benefits have been touted far and wide but it’s also an acquired taste. Most people I know don’t like it very much and when I was younger, I didn’t either. However, my dietary choices as I…
If you haven’t been made aware of my infatuation with mango, raw or cooked, this post should do do it for you. I love the fruit and will look for any excuse to use it in dishes. This is one dish that’s a winner in my eyes because it’s so simple and light. It’s again a Bengali concoction and one of my…
The Indian summer, especially in the National Capital Region, brings upon us intense heat, combined with hot winds called Loo and frequent dust storms accompanied by rain. In this weather, I sometimes lose my appetite for the usual hot dal, rice, vegetable curry and foods with the usual spices used in Indian cooking, but still want that desi taste with all the…
I first tasted lemon chicken like this at Gyani Da Dhaba in Dharampur, in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh and fell in love with it. It’s been five years since my introduction to the dish and the taste really lingered on, so I thought, If one can’t get to the dish, why not try to recreate it, or at least attempt to.…
I have great affinity for food from the southern coastal region of India. Their use of spices and coconut and tangy, sweet, spicy combinations are a feast for the palate. Every time I’ve eaten one particular dish at a restaurant, I’ve come back wanting to have more, so I thought, why not try to make it or something similar myself? As you…
Most of my cooking has generally veered towards Continental cuisine mainly because being the lazy person that I am, I prefer to use as few ingredients as I possibly can. Spices and the huge array of them used in Indian cooking used to completely overwhelm me. Also, having someone make our daily meals gave me the liberty to try my experiments with…
Chettinad is a region in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and the Chettinad cuisine comes from the Nattukottai Chettiars of the region. The food preparations have been the result of an amalgam of spice trade between Vietnam, Malaysia, Laos, Myanmar, Srilanka and Indonesia and is characterised by freshly ground spices in their dishes. The food has piquancy, huge amount…