Mirchi Bada recipe- Fried giant green chilies are stuffed with tangy potato filling and coated with a thick batter of gram flour is a spicy yet delicious tea time snack. I remember my mom making these at her kitty parties and the stuffing itself was very flavorful and satisfying. During our travelling days whenever we crossed Jodhpur; only the sight and smell of these mirchi bada’s was enough to make anyone’s mouth watery....
Festive season is around the corner and my kitchen is all set to prepare sweet delicacies and savory snacks for Diwali. Namkeen mathri, Gur pare, Kaju katli, gulab jamun were the common ones prepared in my mom’s place and the tradition still continues. Today I am preparing this crispy and flaky salted crackers also referred to as mathiya or mathri for Karwa chouth – a must have for the fast....
A staple in every household during summer months – Salted mint lassi recipe also referred to as namkeen lassi. Very cool and refreshing! Savory mint lassi is a traditional Indian summer drink that is prepared by blending yogurt with spices until its frothy. In Punjab, no meal is completed without having a full glass of lassi. Still remember my childhood days when we returned from school, mom always had lassi ready and waiting for us in the refrigerator....
Never, she wrote, would she go back to canned. Ha! What’s a girl to do? Rose’s note reminded of the joys of cooking beans in the slow cooker (see Slow Cooker Gigante Beans) and of perhaps a slow cooker’s strongest play: bean cookery! I immediately pulled out my crockpot, dumped in a pound of dried black beans along with a few aromatics, covered it all with water, and let it cook way....
These Tilgud Ladoos are easy to make and ready in under 15 minutes and the best way to counter the winter chills! In winter, til (sesame seeds) sweets like til peanut sukhadi, peanut gajak, and til rewadi are consumed to mark the harvest season around India. Til ke laddu (Tilkut), or sesame seeds energy balls, are traditional Indian sweets prepared during the winter festivals of Makar Sankranti and Lohri. Ghee enhances the overall flavor of the ladoos while providing them with moistness and texture....
They are made with wholesome ingredients, and fresh strawberries are deliciously gooey with a perfect crunchy topping on a buttery shortbread crust ~ an absolutely scrumptious way to fix your strawberry cravings on the go. And imagine all kinds of wonderful treats you can make with them. They’re so versatile that you can create just about anything ranging from mousse to ice creams, daiquiris, flavored water, breakfast granola, and much more....
Last week, a flat-rate box arrived at my door filled with the most amazing sight: dozens of Meyer lemons. Could anything be more heart warming for a Northeasterner this time of year? When the high for the day is 21ºF? With snow in the forecast for Friday? Maybe only that the box came from one of you — thank you, Ellen! You are a dear. With so many lemons on hand, I made lemon cream, which I poured into a tart shell my aunt had thrown together in record speed....
Aloo Bonda or Batata wada is an all time favorite tea time snack. A savory spicy Indian appetizer -prepared with potatoes and spices are dipped in besan/ gram flour batter, deep fried and enjoyed with green and tamarind chutney. Traditionally batters were made with lukewarm water, spices and sometimes baking soda was added to add that extra crispiness. But I’ve come up with a version that results in crispy aloo bondas- they are as crispy and tasty as the traditional version....
I’ve had this recipe for cacio e pepe spaghetti squash bookmarked since last fall, when I first found myself flipping through Skinny Taste’s latest cookbook: One and Done. The only thing keeping me from making it has been the spaghetti squash itself, which is something I would cook more often if I didn’t find it terrifying to open. But a few weeks ago, upon stumbling upon an America’s Test Kitchen video offering winter squash-opening guidance, I felt inspired to give it a go....
This past fall, while teaching cooking classes, I met a man named Len, who loved to bake and who always showed up to class a few minutes early, ready to help with any remaining prep work, always with some sort of baking adventure to recount. Before the last class, Len asked me if I had ever made bialys, which he had learned to make at a “bagels and bialys” cooking class held at the local community college....
This recipe for blistered shishito peppers with avocado crema comes from Susan Spungen’s new cookbook, Open Kitchen, which I wrote about last month. Just like Susan’s recipe for “Grilled” Romaine Ceasar Salad, this one is equally simple, delicious, and stunning. Truly, this has to be one of the easiest of easy appetizers I have ever made. In a nutshell, you: This is the kind of dish that will have you dreaming of a future dinner party, of having friends once again gathered around your table, surrounding this inviting platter, arms reaching in one after another, plucking shimmering, sea salt-flecked peppers from the heap, swiping them through the bright, tangy avocado purée....
Surprisingly, the day has gone smoothly. My sole concern now centers around the very large Tupperware sitting in my refrigerator filled to the brim with chocolate truffles. I went a little overboard this year, making over 300, in an effort to use up all the remaining chocolate in my refrigerator and pantry before the move. I emptied nearly every bottle of booze in my possession as well — Grand Marnier, Brandy, Marsala, even a splash of Sake....
Photo by Eva Kolenko, Styled by Jeffrey Larsen Panettone classically is baked in large paper molds (as pictured above) but if you can’t find them, you can fashion your own (see recipe notes) or simply divide the dough in half and bake it as the original recipe in two 1-qt Pyrex bowls. Over the weekend, inspired by a photo in the King Arthur Flour catalog, I made mini panettone and sprinkled the just-baked, butter-brushed domes with pearl sugar....
And so this week, the stars aligned for peanut noodle salad, a refreshing meal that would make great use of a heap of cucumbers and scallions, one that would not require turning on the oven. On Tuesday, I made these soba noodles, a recipe I’ve loved for years but which on that particular day left me wanting — the noodles tasted gummy, the dressing unbalanced. Eager to get it right, the following day I made the same salad using a different dressing, the peanut-ginger dressing in this chopped salad, and I used frozen udon noodles, whose thick texture I love....
This cabbage soup, a vegetarian variation of Paul Steindler’s cabbage soup, is one of my favorite recipes to make this time of year, foremost because I always seem to be swimming in cabbage but also, of course, for its texture and flavor: slightly creamy, loaded with vegetables, infused subtly with caraway, whose citrusy notes along with the vinegar pair so well with the cabbage and other vegetables Dill, too, which I just learned is in the same family as caraway, brightens the stewy flavors just before serving....
On Christmas Eve my mother served this torta caprese — a flourless, chocolate-almond torte originating from the Isle of Capri — for dessert. Not a single person sitting at the table, nine in total, turned down seconds. Later that evening, Santa even helped himself to thirds. I love this class of cakes, those that can stand on their own, that don’t beg for layers of buttercream, pools of crème pâtissière, or glazes of chocolate ganache....
Or you can eat it as is straight out of the jar – it’s that good! Why in winter? Because that’s the season when carrots, turnips, and cauliflower begins to flood the market. Wherever you look, the local vegetable markets are overflowing with red, orange, and dark-purple carrots. It’s a rare sight! Red carrots are commonly used for gajar ka halwa and gajar gobhi shalgam ka achar. Dark-purple carrots are turned into a delicious winter drink – kanji....
Good morning! Today, I’m guest posting on my friend Phoebe’s award-winning blog, Feed me Phoebe. The subject is Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. PS: There is a giveaway! Check it out.
When my friend Holly, one of the most reliable cooks I know, told me she had a great challah recipe, one she learned from a wife of a rabbi, and offered to show me how to make it, I nearly leapt into her arms. Shortly thereafter on a Friday morning, after dropping the kids off at school, I joined Holly at her house for coffee and a challah lesson. When I arrived, Holly had already made the sponges — 1 cup water, 1 cup flour, 1 packet yeast — which looked alive and ready for action....
These soft, juicy, and perfectly flavored dough balls, swimming in cardamom and rosewater-infused syrup, are guaranteed to tantalize your taste buds. Closely related to the popular classic Gulab Jamun, these beautiful hued kala jamuns get their color from a slightly longer frying time, when the sugar in the dough caramelizes for an extra depth of flavor. The extended frying time also renders Kala jamuns a somewhat chewier texture than its lighter-colored cousin....
