Pancharangi Dal | Panchmel Dal

Cozy Comfort Food. Three words to describe the dish of the day - Dal. When you want to feel that cozy under a blanket feeling not outside but inside you, I say make dal. It is warm, hearty and healthy. No guilt trips to the gym either. Dal is such an essential part of Indian cooking. From north to south, east to west, every region has their version of dal. I have so many dal recipes with me that I rotate frequently, some have made it to the blog and some may never make it here. Try out this Spinach Dal or this Restaurant Style Dal Fry sometime. For those...

Shavige Payasa | Semiyan Kheer | Vermicelli Pudding

Happy New Year!!! I hope you had a great New Year's Eve!! I ended 2016 with a sweet note. Read about it here. In our culture, we start everything new with something sweet. I'm starting the new year with this sweet treat - Vermicelli Pudding or Semiyan Kheer or Shavige Payasa. Not that I need excuses to eat desserts, but then it is January, and I have resolutions made that I don't want to break in the very first week. So, I just had one little bowl. But what a bowl it was, rich, sweet, fragrant, everything a kheer is meant to be. Shavige Payasa is...

Vegan Coffee Walnut Brownies

This is my LAST post of 2016 and it's been a wonderful year, definitely better than the last 2. The year had me complaining a lot about hectic schedules but it also had me winning an award at work (yay!!), completing 5 years of a wonderful marriage, taking a memorable vacation to Cambodia with the people I love the most in the world. It has also been the year where I have blogged the most. This is my 70th post of the year. It is much less than how often I would like to write but it is a start. So while I sign off this year, I'm leaving you with a little treat...

Beetroot Chickpea Pancake

I was so tired last night that I did not do any preparation for breakfast. I did not even give a thought on what I should be making. Not a good thing considering my mornings are like "hurry"-canes. I'm in a hurry to do everything, all because I keep snoozing my alarm. Every day when I'm running to catch my bus, I decide that tomorrow I'll wake up just 10 minutes early, so I can walk gracefully to my bus stop well before the bus arrives and the very next day I'm again running down the stairs and the road, hoping the bus hasn't left me and gone. Luckily...

Creamy Pumpkin Soup [Vegan]

I've been flip flopping on my desire to indulge one last time in December and eating healthy so my January resolution is easier to achieve. Last night I was all set to eat in, make some delicious whole wheat pasta with my quick home made Tomato-Basil sauce. But I gave in to Temptation by 7pm and joined Gee in eating out. We went and ate tacos and cheesy sandwiches. Not at all sorry cause the food was awesome and I enjoyed every bite of it. While we did not order any soups yesterday, they had a lot of house special soups that inspired me...

Garlic Stuffed Karela (with Step by Step Photos)

Happy Holidays!!! The last week of the year is HERE! As the new year inches closer. and with it the new year's resolutions, I'm giving in to all my indulgences one last time. After all there are just 7 days left for 2016 to end. While I'm filling up on all those chocolate cakes and french fries, I'm also bringing out the family favorite indulgences. One of them is my Mother-in-law's Garlic Stuffed Karela - Baby bitter gourds stuffed with a spicy masala of garlic and red chilli powder and fried in lots of oil. This is a tried, tested and loved recipe. It...

Bean and Grilled Veggie Sliders with Coriander Cashew Sauce

I finally got around to making these Bean Burgers. I'm a big fan of Burgers and a bigger fan of Bean Burgers. If I see a Bean Burger on the menu, you can be sure I'm ordering it. Regular Bean Burgers are usually just mashed beans shaped into a patty and fried. They are mushy and generally low on spice. So when I set out to make my Bean Burgers, I knew I wanted to add another element to it, another flavor, something that would make my Bean Burger tastier and juicier. TA-DA! Grilled Veggies. Grilled veggies are the best, aren't the? Low on calories,...

Pathrode Dosa | Uppu Menasu Dosa | Uppu Khara Dosa

Happy Weekend Guys!! Isn't it a wonderful feeling that you get to wake up when you want and for once your life is not ruled by technology. No alarms to snooze, no water heaters to be turned on, no bus / train to miss. So Saturday breakfast is usually something relaxed, that does not need too much effort, but definitely not something like a zero effort cereal. I love cooking traditional recipes on weekends when we get to sit down and enjoy a meal while it is still hot. Pathrode Dosa also sometimes called Uppu Khara Dosa or Uppu Menasu Dosa is a dish from...