Every culture has a version of samosas - fried or baked pastry with savory fillings like potatoes, peas, or ground meats. My mom used to make samosas from scratch, and they were always served hot for the guests. Our little family would turn into a small commercial enterprise. I would roll the pastries, my little sister would put the filling in, and my mom will fry the samosas. Dad was the floor manager taking out the hot fried samosas to our beloved guests. Traditionally, samosas are deep-fried, but I think the baked version tasted even better! Guilt-free samosas? Count me in! When the issue of obesity in the western world is discussed, the media is quick to point out restaurants … [Read more...]
A Healthy Snack – Roasted Lentils with Green Mango Salsa
Jugaad (Hindi: जुगाड़) - Jugaad is a term applied to a creative or innovative idea providing a quick, alternative way of solving or fixing a problem. Jugaad literally means an improvised arrangement or work-around, which has to be used because of lack of resources. Jugaad sums up the lifestyle of millions of people in India. I saw my parents buy a dress for me, which got passed on to my little sister. When she outgrew the dress, it was turned into a pillow cover. When the cover started showing holes, it was turned into cloth to clean our bicycles with. Poor dress. Jugaad is most visible if you are traveling in India by train. Four people might be sitting on a berth that's meant for two, … [Read more...]
Birthday Cake – Almond Cake with Honey
I met a boy 21 years ago, the boy was 13 then. He was a slender kid with curly hair who rode around his bicycle on the dirt roads in India. He could solve math problems faster than anyone I have known. I was an emotional girl, who saw beauty in flowers and dreamt of the ocean. He read "Think and Grow Rich" while I read "Pride and Prejudice". We were polar opposites from the beginning. He lived in a hostel, away from his parents. I thought the reason why he wanted to be friends with me was the homemade meals he got to have at my place sometimes. He was full of big dreams; he told me he wanted to see the world and take me with him. I listened to him intently as he told me what America would … [Read more...]
Pumpkin Soup with Coconut Milk Panna Cotta
Even before I attended culinary school, I was an adventurous home cook. I read a lot of food magazines, watched every episode of top chef, and drooled over amazing pictures on my favorite food blogs. I like to think that everything I have read about food, every picture, and recipe I have come across has contributed to the cook I am today. Nothing has changed me more as a cook than my training at the culinary school. If I had to describe my style of cooking before culinary school in one phrase, it would be "more is better". If I had to enhance a dish, I always looked to do more. More ingredients, more sauces, more spices - I thought these things made my dishes "more awesome". My … [Read more...]
Celeriac Mash with Wild Mushrooms
You know what mushrooms go well with? Other mushrooms! If you have fresh wild mushrooms on your hands, throw them on a skillet and they compete with each other to see who can outshine the rest! Luckily for us, British Columbia has lots of forests and rain, ideal for wild mushrooms. BC is famous for wild mushroom foraging and a lot of that loot shows up at the farmer's markets. Mushroom is a versatile ingredient! You can serve mushrooms with meat or fish, sprinkle them on a pizza as it pairs well with spicy meats like salami or sausage, or use them to enhance the flavors of a risotto. I personally think of mushrooms as vegetarian meat because of their earthy flavor and meaty texture. … [Read more...]
Chocolate Soufflé
Soufflé, when executed perfectly, is a thing of beauty. A soufflé should rise like a warrior who has conquered the world. A soufflé should have a crusty exterior and a soft and moist interior, like a tough cowboy who cries while watching chick flicks. Serving a soufflé is like having sex - it's all about right timing! The culinary school I attended ran their own restaurant in Vancouver as a part of the practical training for all students. During the last month of our training, we were in charge of the restaurant - prep work, cooking, service - all of it. Soufflé was on the dinner menu and invariably was the ultimate test of any team's cohesiveness. When the expeditor shouted an … [Read more...]
Whole Roasted Snapper with Cherry Tomatoes and Guacamole
I was on the eating-out-is-cheaper-and-more-fun-so-why-cook-at-home diet for a few years. I thought cooking was tedious, time-consuming, and often times more expensive than eating out. Once I discovered some simple cooking techniques, I was amazed at how convenient cooking at home can be. Slow roasting fish or meat is one of these simple techniques I often turn to in my daily cooking. A whole fish generally costs about 20% cheaper than fillets or steaks. The bones in a whole fish make the dish more flavorful. Most stores will gut and scale the fish for free, which can be a messy process in a home kitchen! The rule of thumb in roasting a whole fish is to cook it slowly on a low temperature. … [Read more...]
Lentil and Eggplant Vegetarian Meatballs
Anup and I love change, and it reflects in our past addresses. We have lived in three different countries, and seven different states over the last ten years, and I think we are just getting started. It has been a little over two years since we moved to Vancouver, and we are already itching to go somewhere new. For a while, we questioned whether something was wrong with us, as we saw many of our friends buy houses and settling down. But now, we have made our peace with it. We are wanderers! All this moving around and traveling has influenced the way I cook. I love cooking with Indian spices, but being a classically trained chef shows up in some of the french cooking techniques I use. I was … [Read more...]
Chickpea Flour Crepes with Summer Berry Marmalade
Some foods, you associate them with feelings. Maybe it reminds you of a special occasion, a certain period of your life, or a special memory you created with someone. I have many such foods and memories associated with my Grandma. One such dish - Puda, a simple savory chickpea crepe - makes me nostalgic. My grandma was my hero in the kitchen. She gave me some of my first cooking lessons - from making a cup of chai tea to baking a perfectly round roti bread. While I learned a lot of traditional Indian recipes from her, the most important lesson I learned was to cook with love and patience. For her, the journey of cooking was as important as the final destination of a meal served on the … [Read more...]
Orange, Avocado & Arugula Salad
It has been a busy summer - I invited my parents over from India, Anup has been quite occupied with one of his business ventures, and I started blogging! I didn't realize how much work goes into creating a blog, especially if you are full of self-doubt, like I am! I try out a recipe, cook it once, take a bunch of pictures and invariably decide to cook it again differently. Once a post is ready, there is social media. Oh, how it has turned me into a social zombie. Social media is a stream of activities that seem to never end or lead to anything in particular. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest - how these tools have taken over my life. There is so much noise around us that it is easy to get bogged … [Read more...]