I am going to make red pepper soup! The declaration cut through my reverie like a knife as I dreamily strolled through the aromatic, vibrant farmer’s market stalls on a crisp October morning. What a great idea! I thought to myself as I wondered if someone in the skies was giving me a not-so-subtle hint….
Category: Recipes
Chicken Pulao
The delicious smell slowly wafting up to my room is an enduring memory of Sunday lunches growing up. It was a tradition carried over by my mother from her parent’s homes when she was growing up. Actually, I believe my paternal grandparents had the same tradition. Our family loved Sunday pulao and had many ways…
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…
Kale in a Smashed Tomato Sauce
A rustic, versatile side dish packed with flavor! Kale simmered in a smashed tomato sauce. Ingredients: 1 bunch kale, stalks removed and chopped 3 plum tomatoes, whole 1 tsp. garlic 1 tsp. mustard seeds 1/4 tsp. ground clove * 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom * 1/2 tsp. paprika salt and black pepper to taste Olive oil…
Lemony Potatoes
As the weather warms and we head too slowly into summer, I have started an herb garden. Aside from the incredible fragrance and burst of green in the home, it makes me think of delicious and creative ways of using the aromatics. The blooming oregano on my windowsill is the inspiration for these most deliciously,…
Dry Pepper Curry
Mirchon Ka Salan My take on an old classic. Pepper curry is one of the dishes that evolved in the melting pot of Hyderabad Deccan under the princely Nizam dynasty of India. The cuisine is a unique blend of Turkish and Arabic foods of the Mughals with the local, southern Telugu and Marathi cuisines. It is a wide-ranging spread of finely…
Crisp Bitter Gourd
Crunchy Karela We are not born with a love of bitter. The taste for coffee, dark chocolate, bitter greens develops over time, if at all. Taste buds get seasoned and crave complex flavors. For most of us bitter emerges after sweet, savory and sour. The bold, beautiful bitter gourd falls squarely in this category and…
Black Carrot Halwa
Kali Gajar ka Halwa A variation on a much-loved dessert that i discovered recently. I have eaten and enjoyed red carrot halwa all my life. This version is less sweet, packed full of anti-oxidants, believed to have warming qualities and definitely more exotic. A deep, lovely purple, it is a specialty of Lucknow and is…
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