By Meal

Sizzle Sauce 3-Chili Paneer

I am not sure when we first had it, but when we did, it became a favorite. Let us say that where Thai food is concerned, this dish doesn’t get much ink. The curries are certainly very popular, be it red, green or jungle, for the sautéed dishes, anything stir fried with basil will do […]

Grandmothers could fill books on practical measures for sustainability, respecting ingredients and getting mileage from having very little resources. Many of them have lived through wars or belong to early settling immigration communities where they had to work very hard for what they had. My nanima was certainly amongst this generation of people. The word […]

France is getting busy. And why not? After-all, this Saturday is one of the most important national holidays of the year for them. It is this July 14th back in 1789 that brought democracy and freedom to it’s people, a time when the aristocracy fell from grace and were forced to surrender their all-entitled ways, […]

Like many areas of our life, different foods trend at different points of time. Part of this comes from a shift in awareness, globalization, a greater understanding of seasonal and local and health factors. However, there are also a number of dishes that simply fell off the radar. These are perfectly lovely dishes which perhaps […]

As many of you know, I have begun my apprenticeship at Michelin-starred, Indian fine dining, restaurant ‘ Tulsi NYC’. The French Culinary Institute taught me many skills and yet I had only scratched the surface. This month, I reached out to Chef Hemant Mathur, founding partner of Tulsi NYC, to expand my understanding and skills […]

Somebody at the farmers market recently introduced me to Shiso leaves and scallion micro greens. Breaking off the respective leaves, I mulled over them in my mouth for a few seconds. Interesting flavors I thought. The Shiso had notes of cumin, but very slightly. I wasn’t sure how I would use them in cooking but […]

Sizzle Sauce 3-Chili Paneer

  There’s always that one stand at the Farmers market that intimidates me. This time it was the chili stand. I love fresh chilies , especially when they are long and thin so I can snip them with my teeth. But here, it was a pick ‘n’ mix of shapes hitting different parts of the […]

Espresso shot with sprite, cottage cheese with finely-diced ginger and chili, chips (or crisps depending on which side of the pond) doused with Tabasco sauce – these are just some of the atypical combinations my mind drifts in to. My latest infatuation is Gobi-Aloo (remember Bend It Like Beckham?) with Sundried tomatoes. Gobi-Aloo is the […]

We hit the 90’s consistently for 2 weeks. It was time to take the bags and leave this town where the heat was trapped-in by sky-scrapers. Luckily, I got an invite from my friends Shivani and Mahir to come out to New Jersey. A garden with a pool that was shaded by trees, it was […]

Last Sunday unintentionally, the morning was calm. No kiddy birthday parties to run to, no soccer practice to get ready for. As the kids anchored down to some stacked paper and a bundle of crayons, I had a chance to hear myself think in my mecca – the kitchen. Some eggs and a half-filled mason […]

  The kids are off still off from school. Last night I needed to make dinner whilst keeping my little guys entertained. I decided to put them to work as we made sweet potato gnocchi for a cozy supper. It was fun and as long as they were approximately the same size, I wasn’t a […]

I am not sure when we first had it, but when we did, it became a favorite. Let us say that where Thai food is concerned, this dish doesn’t get much ink. The curries are certainly very popular, be it red, green or jungle, for the sautéed dishes, anything stir fried with basil will do […]

This summer has been quite eventful. The plan was to spend three weeks in London, but known for his spontaneity, the hubby decided to whisk us away to Dubai. The UAE certainly knows how to pamper it’s visitors and the city does not fall short of any amount of indulgence. One can get carried away […]

Grandmothers could fill books on practical measures for sustainability, respecting ingredients and getting mileage from having very little resources. Many of them have lived through wars or belong to early settling immigration communities where they had to work very hard for what they had. My nanima was certainly amongst this generation of people. The word […]

Last week, I was invited by Haven Havens Kitchen to take part in their cooking class. For those of you who live in New York City, Havens Kitchen is a most charming cooking school with a feel of Nantucket, a backyard farm, flip flops and Lionel Rand’s ‘Let there be love’. The pace in that […]

Like many areas of our life, different foods trend at different points of time. Part of this comes from a shift in awareness, globalization, a greater understanding of seasonal and local and health factors. However, there are also a number of dishes that simply fell off the radar. These are perfectly lovely dishes which perhaps […]

Bacon seems to have experienced a tipping point in recent years. As many would agree ‘everything tastes better with bacon’. Does credit go to its fat content welding all the other flavors together and generously coating the mouth? Or should we credit this cured meat with its intensely smoky flavor? The answer is both. A […]

Last week we broke convention and made a savory habanero cheesecake for the holidays. How about approaching the one vegetable that is as synonymous with thanks giving as giving thanks? What if we swapped out the candied yams with cumin and coriander crusted yams? I am not suggesting this out of pure rebellion; I am […]

Next Thursday is Thanksgiving. The very thought of this holiday prompts us to scribble away our mental menu items: Turkey, candied yams, pumpkin pie. Wait! What if you blew your guests away with twists on conventional dishes? Perhaps pan roasted sweet potatoes, spiced with toasted coriander and cumin seeds and what if cheese cake was […]

About 6 yrs ago, I was expecting my first child. It was a period of exuberance with the first belly bump, the first kick! Pregnant ladies deserve a lot of pampering. Shoes, handbags, food indulgences are all on the menu for a 9 month period. That was until my doctor had told me to cut […]

My family and I have spent many evenings feasting on Tibetan potstickers: Momos. This is one dish that does not discriminate between the young and the old. Pretty parcels of dough with fillings of seasoned ground meat or vegetables transports children to some far off Wonderland of the East. Momos may be another version of […]

Walking around NY, one can’t help but notice all the ‘corn’ sold at the various fruit and vegetable stands. As a child, I loved corn, but in recent years, our dear friend has taken quite a beating for featuring in pretty much everything we eat and drink and turned many of us into corn-o-phobes. Of […]

Last summer, my brother got married to Alexandra. He made us wait for many years and finally the day came when he decided that he would be getting married. When he told me that he was proposing to his girlfriend it was a very emotional moment…still remember it. Since Alexandra came into the family, his […]

Grandmothers could fill books on practical measures for sustainability, respecting ingredients and getting mileage from having very little resources. Many of them have lived through wars or belong to early settling immigration communities where they had to work very hard for what they had. My nanima was certainly amongst this generation of people. The word […]

France is getting busy. And why not? After-all, this Saturday is one of the most important national holidays of the year for them. It is this July 14th back in 1789 that brought democracy and freedom to it’s people, a time when the aristocracy fell from grace and were forced to surrender their all-entitled ways, […]

Like many areas of our life, different foods trend at different points of time. Part of this comes from a shift in awareness, globalization, a greater understanding of seasonal and local and health factors. However, there are also a number of dishes that simply fell off the radar. These are perfectly lovely dishes which perhaps […]

As many of you know, I have begun my apprenticeship at Michelin-starred, Indian fine dining, restaurant ‘ Tulsi NYC’. The French Culinary Institute taught me many skills and yet I had only scratched the surface. This month, I reached out to Chef Hemant Mathur, founding partner of Tulsi NYC, to expand my understanding and skills […]

I have been out of touch for a few weeks and would like to say that I really missed writing the blog. The reality, I sheepishly admit, is that I didn’t get to miss it much as I was swept away by my vacation in Santorini. This Greek island with parched mountains, clusters of white-washed […]

Today I saw a lady eating a purple yam on the train. My initial reaction was to find this odd and a little disgusting. Surely there must have been a more preferable locale to consume such a snack. She immediately became the social outcast on the train. Of course, she would have seemed less odd […]

Ingredients

Ingredients

  A few weeks ago, I met Trudie Styler at the launch of her product line ‘Il Palagio’, sourced from her garden in Tuscany. Honeys that range from mild and unimposing, such as, Acacia to fuller bodied honeys, like chestnut and thousand flowers. Wines whimsically named after Sting’s songs – Sister Moon and When We […]

Over the last few days, I have seen a bunch of bananas go from raw to ripe, to then slightly over ripe. Watching this metamorphosis was quite incredible – the life of a banana from youth to heyday to today, looking a lot less pert. Whilst over ripe bananas in their original state are not […]

Anyone that grew up in the U.K. would attest to how the school dinner hall was the birthplace of mastery in how to avoid eating. The canteen or ‘dinner hall’ was policed by old ladies with blue rinsed hair, and in the eyes of a 6 year old, they were evil. As for the food; […]

The festive season has unleashed an insatiable appetite. Will I ever locate that tiny amount of restraint, once safely guarded in my will power? I am finding myself amidst strange conversations on the trajectory of ‘you only live once’. Sound familiar? Torn between guilt and pleasure I opt for ‘guilty pleasure’ and ask my cousin […]

A few months ago, I came across Monica Bhide’s post on  ‘Once Upon A Story’ where she provides a glimpse on Parsi food and a very popular dish for fried eggs on potato chips. Parsis came to India by way of Persia, settled in Bombay and developed a cross-cultural cuisine of Gujrati (simple vegetarian)-Persian food […]

Last Sunday unintentionally, the morning was calm. No kiddy birthday parties to run to, no soccer practice to get ready for. As the kids anchored down to some stacked paper and a bundle of crayons, I had a chance to hear myself think in my mecca – the kitchen. Some eggs and a half-filled mason […]