Here is a great kitchen sink, healthy veggie cutlet. I know in the United States – a cutlet implies a thin piece of breaded, fried meat but in India it is a mish mash of all kind of veggies and /or ground meat made into patties.
You can substitute the veggies with what you have on hand and add ground meat if you wish. I love the addition of quinoa which makes these a complete meal. I usually serve them hot with mint chutney. Click here for recipe.
I have to say – I make kickass scones!
I always have them handy in my freezer for the slew of scone lovers in my life. You can make these plain or with berries which adds a wonderful fruity bite to them. You can use fresh or frozen berries. Just bake them a minute or two longer if using frozen.
I love eating my scones with clotted cream (if possible) and jam. My nephews bury their scones in whipped cream. Do what you will with these scones – they are truly a favourite in our household.
Click here to print recipe.
Roasting veggies is always my go to way of making everyday vegetables. I especially love roasting sweet potatoes and decided to add a little spicy kick to my usual recipe by adding some spices. It turned out really delicious. You can eat these as a side dish, top green salads with them or just eat hot and crispy off the pan as we do. Click here to print recipe.
There’s nothing that spells comfort more than a fried rice with huge hunks of egg in it! When we were growing up – we always asked for “extra egg” in our rice – in fact we still do. Here is my quick recipe for a scallion and egg fried rice. Click here to print recipe.
I love bulgur – one of my favorite dishes is Mujadara ( a Middle Eastern lentil, onion, bulgur dish) which my dearest friend Rula Baki makes to perfection. It’s what made me fall in love with bulgur so much and now I use it all the time in my kitchen.
Here is one of my go to dishes which combines lentils and a bunch of roasted veggies with bulgur. Its really easy and you can substitute th vegetables with anything you have in your fridge ( sweet potatoes, asparagus etc). I prefer to use a coarse grain of bulgur – my favorite one is Duru which has vermicelli in it too but you can use any kind. This dish so so versatile that it can be served alongside pretty much anything or be a meal in itself. Click here to print recipe.
This onion dip is my go to appetizer when I am entertaining large groups (remember when we used to do that). It’s a really easy recipe and the dip is absolutely addictive. It keeps really well in the fridge for several days. I usually serve it with Cape Cod chips ( love the crunch on their chips).
I came late to the party of #nationalcookieday – not that I’m very aware of these things but I do have a cookie recipe that my daughter made a few times that is share-worthy. This recipe for Giant Crinkled Chocolate Chip Cookies was adapted by Julia Moskin in @NYTcooking from @SarahKieffer’s recipe.
I must say they are exceptionally pretty and taste rather good too! Happy banging – that’s what makes these cookies beautifully crinkled.
Manni Sel is one of my very favorite Sindhi dishes. Sindh is a province that used to be in India before partition, but is now in Pakistan. Manni Sel is usually made with rotis or bread ( Indian bread) that is at least a day old. These rotis are soaked in a delicious cilantro and mint based gravy.
I don’t make rotis so I just use Trader Joe’s tortillas as a substitute. They work great. You could use any of your favorite tortillas or rotis in this recipe. Make sure that when you cook this dish – you don’t put too much of the rotis in it – as it will become too dry. Keep the dish nice and gravied as the rotis tend to continue soaking the gravy long after the cooking process is done. This dish freezes really well too.
Nobody makes Manni Sel better than my best friends mother, Veena Thani does. I just love all her recipes because they are simple, really healthy and so so yummy!
I love quick desserts made with berries and this one is a real winner. The crispy streusel topping gives way to a really moist cake reminiscent of a coffee cake but just so much better. Try this one with a cup of chai (which I’ll be posting next).
Bitter gourd (karela) is a vegetable that I really didn’t grow up loving. The only way I could tolerate it when I was younger was when it was deep fried and covered in spice.
This spicy sautéed karela recipe however, changed my whole relationship with this vegetable for me. Maggie who makes the best Trini food ever – makes Karela in the simplest, most delicious way.
You can make this dish as spicy as you wish – just increase or reduce the number of chili peppers – and you can use whatever peppers you have but tasty peppers is the key to this recipe. This recipe is best cooked in a cast iron or nonstick pan.
All I need is a bowl of dal to go with this karela and life is good!
