…a grey-white bloom on the skin. It is ethnic to India, especially to North India. It belongs to the cucumber family & is an elongated gourd which grows from creepers. Padwal is slender, cylindrical & tapering at the ends. While selecting padwal for cooking, avoid padwal which is yellow, puffy, have sunken water-soaked sections or are wrinkled at their tips. For stuffing padwals, select slightly thick ones & thinner ones for preparing c…
…and freeze. To Freeze Pesto: Pour the pesto sauce in ice trays, top with olive oil, cover with cling film and freeze. Once frozen, remove the cubes, store in a zip loc bag, label with date and the weight of each cube of pesto and re-freeze. Thaw the required cubes of pesto when ready to use….
Idlis are an all time South Indian favorite. These fluffy steamed rice & lentil cakes are a great comfort food for breakfast, lunch, a snack or even at dinner. Idlis are paired with chutney, sambhar & other accompaniments.They are great for children too. Here’s the recipe for soft, spongy & delicate white moon shaped idlis which my hubby loves & enjoys at any time of the day.. J Ingredients : 2 Cups Boiled Rice 1…
South Indian cuisine is incomplete without sambhar & chutney. What makes it unique is that one can enjoy it with various chutneys & sambhar. Ideally I love to have idlis with sambhar as well as chutney but one can enjoy it with any one of these too. Today’s post is the chutney to go with the idlis I posted earlier.. Enjoy steaming hot idlis for breakfast or as a snack with this inviting chutney! J Ingredients : ½ fresh Coconut (scraped…
…at only sausages but just a very small portion. On my previous vacation in South Goa, I bought these wonderful homemade sausages in Loutolim. I was not happy with the popular branded sausages which are easily available & I wanted authentic homemade ones. On request, Fatu, our good neighbor helped me get these fresh, juicy homemade sausages which had the right amount of spice. I am not fond of pork or sausages. I have not been eating pork &…
…do serve this as a speciality in restaurants, beach shacks in North & South Goa. Some home stays also do serve this unique & special dish. To prepare ambot tik, fresh & fleshy fish with minimum bones is preferred. Shark is used because it has chunky flesh with just a single bone. The masala paste & the shark fish used to prepare this delicious gravy/sauce adds a distinct flavor of spices to the dish. Ambot Tik tastes better the ne…
…ferent names or /and spelt and pronounced differently in various states of India too. It is a great comfort food. Many a time, babies are also weaned and fed as their first solid food. It is also given to persons recuperating from illness especially from fever and cold. In Goa, the village folk like to eat their hot bowl of Pez between 10 am and 11 am. Some Goan families also like to relish it in the evenings, before dinner time. Pez is bland and…
…i rice but jeera rice is also a nice option. It can be relished with fresh Indian flat breads too. Here is my version of Rajma Masala which we like very much. Do give this recipe a try. 😀 Ingredients : 1 cup Rajma (Red Kidney Beans) 2 med. Onions (peeled & finely chopped) or pureed/paste 2 fresh ripe Tomatoes (pureed) 2 tbsps. Tomato Sauce or Ketchup (optional) 1 tsp. fresh Garlic paste ½ tsp. fresh Ginger paste 1 tbsp. Coriander pwd. ½ tsp. C…
…here are numerous variations in cooking up a simple Potato Bhaji. All over India, people do take pride in the way they prepare it. Different states have their signature Potato Bhaji or Aloo/BatatachiBhaji. In Maharashtra where I live viz. Pune, every household in villages, towns and cities prepare it depending on the occasion it calls for. It could be for a normal everyday vegetable or tiffin, different for a thali meal in restaurants, a special v…
Savory puffs are very popular in India. Almost every commercial bakery has assorted puffs in various shapes displayed proudly in cane baskets on their counter tops and in the glass display counters. They are baked to perfection; golden, light and crisp. Besides, they are reasonably priced and affordable. Unfortunately, the pastry dough is not sold so one is left with limited choice of fillings to choose from and the flavor also tends to get mono…