Category: Vegetarian

July 18, 2022

Silence and Stuffed Roti!

It all began with communing. The supposedly quintessential therapeutic technique of ‘talking it out,’ invariable became the very reason for the ultimate fall from glory. “Did God really say..” was how he began. Subtle. Deceitful. Satanic! It wasn’t late to walk away, but clarification and addition to God’s word made the way. “Not all the tress..but just that one..no touching or eating..” False assurance, lies […]

Contemplations Curry Vegetarian

July 19, 2021

Eggplant Curry and The Gen. Z Syndrome.

Repetition yielded the favored response and my boys, this time, remembered to pack enough water as we left for my sister’s place yesterday. We took a turn into the gated community, where we noticed a couple of young teenage girls with their lemonade stand. The glass jars with two kinds of lemonade – ‘lemony lemon’ (as they labeled it) and ‘Raspberry Lemonade’, looked aesthetically pleasing. […]

Soup Vegetarian

November 16, 2020

Back to Basil(s)

Cliche! “Food that is grown with the sweat of thy brow tastes ever so good.” Cliche! Or so I thought! Gardening has always been a distant dream for this city girl, growing up. With restaurants, super markets, bakeries and the then most essential beauty salons, being at a stone’s throw distance, growing food was something I envisioned would be a wonderful thing to do, but […]

Lentils Soup Vegetarian

September 10, 2020

Calling Comfort Food ..

The red skies demanded us to stay home and gaze at the beautiful hue. The comparatively cold weather called for a hot soup. The lazy self called for comfort food aka an ‘easy-make.’ And the bounty of fresh veggies from our loving neighbors, (who were previously mentioned in this blog) begged to be used up while still firm and fresh. ‘Pappu Chaaru’ was the name […]

Deep_Fried_Goodness Lentils Vegetarian

September 2, 2020

Lentils, meet lentils!

Culture shock wears many a mask. Some are scarier than others, leaving the jaw dropped for a substantial amount of time. Some are innocuous and make for a silly story. My husband mistaking the now universally loved donut to his spicy favorite Vada is one of those stories. There were many food-related mistaken identities. However, this story of Samuel mistaking a Donut to a close […]

Lentils Snacks Vegetarian

August 1, 2020

Mmmmm…..’Muruku’

This recipe renewed my faith in the age old adage – “Failures are stepping stones to success .” There have been quite a few trials, the hits and misses before I could muster up the confidence and say, “I am not afraid of making you, Muruku!” These crispy, golden, deep-fried goodies need a special contraption – the muruku press. I would like to blame my […]

Bread Fruit Vegetarian

July 27, 2020

Warm bread and warm weather

They are a team that are not so popular — Warm bread and warm weather. But a lazy evening at home prompted me to dig into the freezer for the persimmon puree that I froze over winter vacation. Persimmon is a fruit that has a special place in my heart! I have never tasted it until I came to the US. Grammie Jackie’s yard had […]

Chutney Vegetarian

July 23, 2020

Not as scary as Scoville says..

They looked like bell peppers, so should be as innocuous, I thought, when I first met these little golden bombs. With a Scoville score range of a 100,000 to 300,000, Habaneros abound not just with spice but also with flavor. The love for spice and the warm flavor of these gems prompted us to grow our own two summers ago. The bounty from the garden […]

Vegetarian

July 20, 2020

Humility has a name…

And it is called ‘ridge gourd!’ Beerakaya, as is called in my native tongue, dons many a roles in our South Indian homes. Curry, as I have made today, when complimented with steaming hot rice and a dollop of ghee awakens those nostalgic thoughts that have seemed to be lost during the ordeal of growing up. Equally tantalizing are other transformations of this humble vegetable […]

Grains Lentils Vegetarian

July 13, 2020

Because body is the temple of God…

Rice and lentils in a ratio that is sacred to each household are soaked all night, even until the first signs of dawn appear. They are then ‘thrown,’ more often with resentment of waking up early to feed the family, into a contraption, which we lovingly called, the wet grinder- belonging to a race superior than the dry’er counterparts! The resulting batter is then fermented […]