mooli.life

I made Ratatouille!

I have been obsessed with ratatouille since I saw the movie by the same name in 2007. Loved everything about it, the animation, the music, the city and the sentimentality of a rat who outwits a food critic with a simple dish that reminds him of his mother. I must have seen the movie half…

Scrumptious Chicken and Spinach Saag

Many winters ago, I had gone for a vacation with some friends. Zain had stayed behind. Along with him, what I missed very much was cooking in my kitchen. I daydream about cooking on my trips away, is that normal? To figure out ingredients, smells and taste of dishes I enjoy and think of how…

Roasted Radishes in Salted Butter

I love radishes! So much that they are the inspiration for my blog (mooli = radish in Urdu). In addition to being delicious, radishes are full of fiber and antioxidant vitamin C, along with other vitamins and nutrients, including compounds called glucosinolates, which are being studied by researchers for their role in reduction of the…

Mixed Pepper Pickle

Throwback to the summer; the Farmer’s Market was overflowing with all types of peppers this summer. So beautiful, in a plethora of colors and sizes, ranging wide across the Scoville scale. Mouth-watering and numbing! Definitely not in season anymore but the pickles are keeping us ‘warmed up’ in these frigid, snowy times as a fiery…

Penne with Arugula and Parmesan

it is such a dreary day. There has been bad news in the family and I have no motivation to eat, much less cook. The gray weather outside is not bringing any cheer either. The world just seems so bleak. What a year we have had! So much can be said about that but back…

Summer’s Swan Song

So we moved recently. Well, relatively recent. In May. At the height of the pandemic. The uprooting was especially difficult given the world that we found ourselves in. Organizing movers in the days when even a look could feel too much and breathing in another’s vicinity felt ominous. The poor movers, essential workers, handling the…

Cooking for the times: Two Peas and Beets

A can of chickpeas, another of black-eyed peas and a beet. These are the things that I jumped out at me when I opened the pantry today for lunch ideas. Seasoned and tossed with some herbs. Perfect. On a different note, I went to the grocery store to get some herbs today. On the way,…

Cooking for the times: Roasted Cauliflower

As more online grocery services now show a dwindling inventory of fresh produce and no delivery dates in the near future. While grocery stores are now likely unsafe, really one of the few places where people are still in such close proximity, some with no masks or gloves, use of kitchen ingredients is getting more…

Little Rainbows

I felt especially cooped up today. Went for a run in the morning. Paranoia has a way of creeping in till you are behaving in a way alien to yourself. The moment I stepped out and put on my headphones, I teared up. The world felt strange and ominous and so very loved and missed….

Turmeric Ginger Pickle

Times are strange. We are all home. Sheltering ourselves from what seems like the malignant outside. Covid-19 has put to bed the city that took pride in never sleeping. There is a pause everywhere, like we are holding our breath, waiting for the next thing to unfold. A morbid fascination to turn on the news….

Swiss Chard and Garam Masala Butternut Squash

The farmer’s market this Sunday was bursting with seasonal greens and all sorts of delicious vegetables. I was late to get Nael from a sleepover so quickly picked some that caught my eye, ‘Orange Fantasia’ swiss chard (delicate, bright yellow/ orange stalks more tender than the red variety), bright fragrant turmeric root, freshest baby greens…

Finding Courage

I stood at the door frozen, unable to enter my empty apartment. As if by doing so, I would be trailing in dirt, defiling a sanctuary. Just 10 minutes ago, as I got off the bus into the midday madness of traffic across the street from home, I had received a callback for follow up…