Indian borage leaf, also commonly called carom leaf or ‘ajwain ke patte’ is no novelty to Indians. Like many, I grew up watching my Mum tend this herb in her garden and when the Monsoons hit Indian shores, she’d make these pakoras as our evening snack. I decided to have a go at growing this […]
Dum ka murgh is the legendary Hyderabadi chicken curry, slow cooked in a richly spiced creamy sauce. I cooked it today for Gatari Amavasya (गटारी अमावस्या), the new moon night when Maharashtrians indulge in meaty feasts and binge on booze before the onset of the holy month of ‘Shravan’ when they’re required to abstain from […]
The scent of wild garlic is once again wafting through the woodlands of Britain. This year it’s even been in the news, though sadly not for the right reasons. It seems it’s getting too popular for its own good and some people (or maybe restaurants) are over-harvesting this precious seasonal delicacy. Our local patch has […]
Whether it’s the Hindu festival of colours (called Holi), or a farming festival of oxen (called Bail Pola), a Maharashtrian puran poli is not to be missed. It’s traditional to make this Marathi delicacy for festivals like Holi, Diwali, Bail Pola, Ganesh Chaturthi and Gudi Padwa. I feel obliged to roll some of these sweet […]
The world is blessed with so many different ways to cook rice. Where would we be without this humble grain? So many souls are sustained by it. But for such a mundane ingredient it’s amazing how it forms the basis for something unique to the region that I grew up in, the wonderful masale bhat. […]
It’s that time of year again when I binge on delicious and fairly healthy vegan fasting treats under the guise of celebrating ‘Mahashivratri’, a Hindu festival honouring Lord Shiva. I say ‘under the guise’ because this festival is anything but fasting for me and many Indians like me. It is believed that Shiva performed his […]
I am no ‘kachori’ connoisseur but I know how I like them. Perhaps a bit too well, because I couldn’t resist the urge to make these when I spotted some elusive green chickpeas at my local Asian store. Now, it’s not traditional to make kachoris with green chickpea stuffing but what the heck, I let […]
We Indians, never pass up the opportunity to make jaggery-based sweet treats in the cooler months. And the festival of Makar Sankranti gives all the more reason to make these ‘til-gulachi vadi’, as we call them in Marathi or ‘sesame-peanut flapjack’ as my English husband once described them as he popped one in his mouth […]
Black-eyed beans (also called black-eyed peas or ‘chawli’, ‘chavli’ or ‘lobia’ in India) are a much-underrated legume. Known as ‘usal’ (pronounced ‘oo-sal’) in the region of India I come from, this dish gives me some mean cravings in autumn when the weather starts to get a bit chilly and damp in the UK. These pale […]
I don’t need a festival like Diwali to enjoy my delicious stash of ‘chivda’ or ‘chiwda’. I make it throughout the year whenever my stocks are low, mainly to satisfy my untimely but guilt-free snack hunger pangs. Also, I enjoy savoury breakfasts a tad more than sweet ones and this Maharashtrian chiwda ticks all my […]
If there’s ever been a dessert that springs to mind when I hear someone say ‘melt-in-mouth’, then it’s besan ladoo. For me it’s rather evocative. The thought of it stirs emotions of holding the besan (gram flour) dough and moulding it, using the heat of your palms, until a neat round ball of ‘ladoo’ or […]
The one Diwali treat I can’t do without is chakli. This wonderfully crunchy savoury snack is my favourite; a must-have on my Diwali platter as it offsets the sweetness of the Indian ‘mithai’ that we all consume too many of at this time of year. Chakli (or ‘murukku’ as they call it in South India) […]
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Hi, I’m Rieethaa, a food photographer and recipe developer but most of all I just love cooking simple flavourful food that wakes up the sleepiest tastebuds, and I want to share some with you here. So come in and help me chop some onions, will you?
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