Posts

Spicy Black Eyed Peas Stew
Every year on the first of the year we try to cook up a big batch of black eyed peas. So as the first of the year is just a night away, thought I will post one of my favorite (slightly adapted from previous ) recipe of black eyed peas. In parts of US it is considered a good luck to eat a meal of black eyed peas alongwith some greens (usually sautéed collard greens) and cornbread on the first day of the year. The symbolism behind this is really cute. The black eyed peas swell during the process of cooking (from dried to cooked). The swelling of the peas indicates prosperity in the coming year. The greens indicate 'greens'= money for the new year. and the spiciness of the food is symbolic of the the spice in your life for the year ahead.  More than the symbolism though, I follow this food tradition because I really like black eyed peas and this is a good opportunity to cook a big batch of these delicious but often side-stepped legume. Bei…

Holiday Cookies and A Wish for a Very Happy New Year!
Hi there! It has been so long.. sometimes life and work have a way of taking over things you love, don't they? Neverthless, I am committed to keeping this little space alive and buzzling, even if that means, ummm, 10 posts a year. A slow going is better than no going, right?! For me Holidays are always the best time of the year. I have come to realize that holidays gain a special meaning and bring even more happiness and joy if you have a little one to share it with. May be it's a parent's deep desire and drive to make a perfect holiday for their little ones or it's the joy it brings to see a full blown smile on their faces seeing the Christmas tree at home lit up for the first time.. but holidays do take a special meaning with a little one around. My little one just turned two. I have been meaning to start a holiday tradition with her, something simple, something just the two of us share every year - mother and daughter thing. And what el…

(Trader Joe's) Chicken Parmesan
Chicken Parmesan has always been a go-to restaurant favorite at our place. Every time Chicken Parmesan craving strikes, we used to head over to a nearby Olive Garden for our periodic Chicken Parmesan fix. There are some dishes one for some reason thinks must be too elaborate and time consuming to make at home for our busy life-styles; Chicken Parmesan was one such misconception for me... With a toddler at bay, we are entering a phase of being very wary of fine dining places. Combined that with the fact that we were never the "takeout-types" means I now have an extra incentive to take a crack at making our usual restaurant favorites at home - there is always a bright side to everything in life, right?! I call this recipe "Trader Joe's" Chicken Parmesan because 1) ingredients picked up from TJ's makes this "recipe" an assembly task really rather than a real cooking task and 2) I just absolutely love shopping at that pla…

It's Not a Tomato; It's an Idea of a Tomato
When did our food choices become so complex? From a society of people who spent majority of their time hunting, gathering, fishing and then turning their daily haul into simple delicious meals - to the society of people today who are navigating aisles and aisles of highly processed supermarket foods, packaged with attractive colorful labels and a long non-pronounceable ingredient list. Between food industrialization, clever food marketing and food lobbyists, collectively I fear we have given very little thought to what this ready-to-eat culture is doing to our own planet, society and our long-term health and well-being. "It's not a tomato; it's an idea of a tomato" it's a tagline by one of my favorite authors Michael Pollan from an old food documentary Food Inc . that struck a deep cord with me. He was explaining how the supermarket culture is erasing the seasons and the meaning of seasonal produce. Now a days most fruits and vegetables …

Masale Bhat (Spiced Rice)
Masale bhat in Maharashtra is a meal fit for kings! It has it's place secured in all the weddings and celebrations. Back home in childhood I remember my Mom making a large pot of masale bhat whenever guests were coming over for a meal. Traditionally it is made by roasting and grinding fresh spices such as whole peppercorn, coriander and cumin seeds and adding a bunch of whole spices such as cloves, star anise and adorned with whole roasted cashews. It is also not uncommon for masale bhat to be made with Tindora vegetable.  Now a days however I take many short-cuts such as substituting cauliflower for hard-to-find tindora, using prepared goda masala instead of roasting and grinding fresh spices and altogether skipping on whole spices as we share most of our meals with our 1-year old and it always worries me having whole spices in her food.  It is still very tasty - and when served with a yogurt dip or raita, it is still a meal fit for kings :) I am a bi…

Picture Post: Saturday Morning Farmer's Market
For a few years now we have been buying our family's fresh produce and fruits from local farmer's markets. We love our Saturday morning farmer's market routine. Fridge is always empty by Friday night and the Saturday morning visit to markets is not only the necessity in our household but has now become a tradition of kick-starting your weekend with a relaxing family activity. We reward ourselves occasionally by stopping by at a nearby coffee place to grab an egg sandwich and a hot cup of coffee on wintry days or a cold refreshing fresh fruit juice when the sun shines high up above. But on most days, a leisurely stroll through lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and surrounded by like-minded foodies, is all this foodie is really looking for! I consider myself extremely fortunate to be living in an area with a year-around farmer's market. We enjoy every season to our heart's content with locally grown fruits and vegetables - sweet berries in …

Sesame brittle (Tilgul) - the easiest sesame candies ever!
Who doesn't love snacking on candies or brittle, right? But a lot of people shy away when it comes to candy-making. - and for good reasons, mind you! Candy making has had this perfectionist art aura to it. Not only that you need a special equipment such as a candy thermometer but also the preparation is very unforgiving to mistakes, a few degrees temperature difference here or there can make a difference between a perfect bite of candy to an unchewable mass. Fret no more however - this by far is the easiest candy/brittle that you can make and what's more, it does not require a candy thermometer either. Come January and most people in India are celebrating Sankranti - a festival which marks Sun's entrance in Capricorn zodiac by making various sweets with sesame seeds and sugar/molasses. Sesame seeds symbolize the bonds of togetherness while molasses or jaggery symbolizes the sweet bonds of all of our relationships. Offering your friends and family s…

A tale of two chutneys...
We love having friends over at our house for simple no-fuss parties. Earlier I never quite understood why my other-friends-with-kids always preferred hosting lunch/dinners at home instead of going to that new and happening restaurant in town, even though it looked kid-friendly - well, that was until I had a kid of my own! It is just so much easy lazily cooking through most of the day chatting with friends over coffee than the fuss of dressing up, getting kids dressed up, making sure they behave at restaurants and guiltily paying the waiter extra tip for a food-throw party that happened around the high-chair. So while we still eat out quite often for a couple with young kid, slowly but surely many of our social gatherings are finally moving towards home settings. Now a days I really enjoy hosting simple no-fuss meals with just one or two main crowd-pleasing dishes. It's less work for you and all the same fun. Some of my favorite such menus include a lunch o…