My husband has always wanted vegetables in his Maggi, I don’t know if he’s always eaten it this way, or it got triggered when we got married and I used to re-create my university staple Korean noodles with vegetables in them, sort of justifying it as a wholesome meal. This also goes to using pantry staples or non-perishables as a base, and then adding whatever bits and bobs you have on hand to make an excellent non-boring and non-depressing meal. Read more…
I have been a follower of @passionateaboutbaking and her drool-worthy picture perfect Instagram handle for years now. When she put up a picture of a little whole wheat cake the other day, I just had to try it out. Not because it looked divine (which it did), but more so because I have consciously tried to give Sitara more whole grains rather than refined flour, and this seemed like an incredibly fun baking experiment to get dirty with, on the Sunday janta curfew.
I will express gratitude for being able to get back to this page after the better part of a year, as a way to find something that I understand, that I am familiar with, that I can hold on to, at unpredictable and unprecedented times like this (except for Contagion – they definitely called it back in 2011). At the end of 2019, I was determined to do a great many things for my mental and physical (hello SOHFIT!) health this year, as well devote time to Joie De Vivre, and my stationery line. Gratefully, I got through about 75% of the first SOHFIT challenge of the year, ending abruptly due to a family emergency. But that 30 odd days that I did stick to the challenge, taught me Read more…
With COVID-19 taking over the mind space of a lot of us, the social distancing protocol, especially for us in a densely infested metropolis like Bombay, has become paramount to our physical health (I will need hours of emotional assistance after spending all my waking hours in the confines of our home, at the mercy of my infant and toddler). Devising (and getting them to voluntarily participate in) games, activities, and constructive play has always been something I’ve very happily passed on to the experts. But Sitara and I do love to bake together, and she’s now partaking in the cooking as well. Right before #flattenthecurve went mainstream, we enjoyed a yum cha feast, and ever since then the concept of dim sum (or maybe she just likes the way it sounds?!) has fascinated her and one confinement day, we decided to make dim sums using whatever was on hand, i.e. Read more…
Wanting something noodly (yes, it is a word. Yes, I coined it myself) and quick resulted in this bowl of black pepper noodles being amped up with some vegetables, some nut butter and a few but aromatic garnishes. I always end up buying more ready to eat noodles than I can make, which worked out great on a day like today! I started with Koka’s Black Pepper noodles, followed the instructions, added my twist and voila! A hearty 5 minute meal for one (and a half).
Pomelo isn’t the regular, run of the mill kind of fruit you’d just find, lying around your house. But if you do find it, you know, just lying around the house, be sure to make this salad with it! My Pomelo Salad uses humble ingredients like coriander, mint. peanuts, shredded coconut, onion, chilli, sugar, soy sauce and peanuts to give that amazing mouthful of sweet, savoury, nutty, sour, spicy and crunchiness, all in each and every bite! Pomelo salad is a staple Thai salad, which can also be replaced with grapefruit or even raw papaya.
I’ve buried my nose in Samin Nosrat’s book, Salt Fat Acid Heat, which explores how to cook, rather than what to cook using a recipe. Of course, the book does have recipes, but the fundamental idea that sets this book apart from a “cookbook” is that the book makes you understand the rules elements of cooking – how to use acid, how to cook with fat, how to season your food with layers of salt, how to apply (or not apply) heat. AND, the one essential unwritten rule that would take you the furthest when you pick up an apron is this: TASTE, TASTE, TASTE. Read more…
