Chutneys and pickles are, in my opinion, a much-neglected aspect of Indian cooking. That is especially true in so-called Indian restaurants in the UK where you might find a bland mango chutney served with ‘poppadoms’ as a kind of appetiser, or perhaps a bowl of runny mint chutney. The truth is that Indian condiments have […]
Puran poli and katachi amti go hand in hand and quite rightly so, given the process of making the former. You could say that this amti is a by-product of the puran poli making process scoring well on its zero-waste credentials. But more than that, it’s the dish that completes the puran poli. What is […]
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 […]
There’s always a place for salad in a Maharashtrian thali. A typical accompaniment in a wedding thali served alongside a myriad of chutneys and pickles, is this ‘khamang’ kakdi koshimbir or cucumber salad. It’s like a cucumber raita, only better. A well-balanced thali will usually include this cool cucumber koshimbir to offset the spicier dishes. […]
We take so many things for granted in our kitchen; if we want to make a quick ‘chole’ we can easily grab a tin of chickpeas from the store cupboard, pop it open, pour it into a pan with some fried onion, garlic, spices etc. turn up the heat and a few minutes later it’s […]
Turichya ghugrya / तुरीच्या घुगऱ्या aka whole pigeon peas or whole toor beans with pearl millet flatbread / बाज़रीची भाकरी is a winter staple where I grew up in India and a meal I fondly remember having at my grandparents’, all of whom were farmers. They knew their food way better than I do today. […]
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 […]
If there was ever a festival that celebrates the seasonality of produce, it’s Makar Sankranti – the first Hindu festival of the year that’s celebrated across India under various names. And this ‘bhogichi bhaji’ is just a beautiful way to commemorate this festival through food. The day before Makar Sankranti is Bhogi and it’s the […]
If you are lucky enough to be hosting friends at home for a Christmas party (or any other party come to that) you’ll need to think of something for your guests to munch on. A lot of traditional Indian food doesn’t lend itself to the party buffet. Take the pav bhaji, for example, it’s quite […]
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 […]
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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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