Recipes
-
Kovalam Beach | Buying fish at the seashore and a recipe of Beer Battered Squid
Buying fresh fish from the fishermen straight off the seashore in Kovalam… this was kind of an ultimate ode to fish lovers like us. The warm glow of the rising sun, the fresh breeze and the excitement of the buyers added to the bustle of the morning. It was already 6:30am on a Saturday morning and we hurried. We had to reach Kovalam beach to catch the morning haul directly from the fishermen. Although the beach was very close to where we live, I feared that if we reached late, the fresh catch would be dispatched to the adjoining Kovalam fish market and the surrounding fish markets in the city.…
-
Celebrating Pongal with Sakkarai Pongal and other dishes
Wishing you abundance and joy as new harvest is celebrated all across India. They may have different names… Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Maghi Bihu, Uttarayan, Lohri and others, but the intentions are the same. It’s a celebration of nature’s bounty and to her show gratitude. It also marks the sun’s transit to Capricorn, hence marking the end of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Needless to say, it’s the perfect time to release everything from the past and welcome a new decade by setting new intentions! I’m immersing myself into every new experience that I can get in my new adopted home, Chennai. Nothing can be better than a festive season or a celebration to…
-
Chettinad Chicken cooked in a claypot
One of the most exciting ways of exploring and learning more about a region is through its regional cuisine. I cooked Chettinad Chicken in a claypot, an affair that I have been longing for a long time. It turned out to be delicious and I'm currently obsessing over everything about it... the aroma, the texture and the excitement of cooking in a claypot.
-
Homemade spicy Chicken 65 for today’s lunch
Getting into the Chennai groove with a homemade spicy Chicken 65 for today’s lunch. I made two variations of it – with and without gravy. This is probably the closest any of my blogposts have gotten real-time! My last blogpost was kind of very long as I belted my heart out into how we have settled down in Chennai. The behind-the-scenes activities started in April 2020 and we moved into our home in Diwali. We finally felt at home by New Year’s eve… all of these culminating in a long emotional blogpost. The header image showed a meal that I had cooked a few days earlier, in the manner of…
-
Taler Bora or Palm Fruit Nuggets, if I may call them so
When Janmashtami or the annual celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna is in full swing, these fried mini Taler Boras make their entry… sweet – bitter – crunchy entry! My attempt at another futile translation… Taler Bora. Palm Fruit Nuggets? The last time when I translated Phulko Luchi to Bengali puffed-up flour flatbread, I was sure that some of Luchi’s crispiness and fluffiness got lost in translation. So this time, can I simply say how I love these fried balls of deliciousness? Or how they might just become extinct, washed away by the more popular fritters and branded nuggets? Or shall I add to the already existing confusion – how will…
-
Lachha Paratha – Love and ghee in every layer
We made Lachha Parathas at home the other day. They turned out to be smoky, crispy and slightly flaky, just like they should be – only a bit less oily and slightly thicker. Making the multi layered Lachha Paratha at home was another feat. Much like making Acharuli, the boat-shaped Georgian cheese bread at home. Or perfecting the Awadhi style Kolkata Mutton Biryani. The first time we made the Lachha Parathas at home, they turned out to be smoky, crispy and slightly flaky, just like they should be – only a bit less oily and slightly thicker. No matter how much ghee we poured (or love, for that matter) onto…
-
Grilled Eggplant in tempered spices | Big Z turned sixteen
This Grilled eggplant in tempered spices or Tadka Baigan was, as if a modern preparation with a desi soul, just like Big Z. Big Z turned sixteen… she was merely eight-year-old when my blog started! Today’s recipe is much like her, at least in temperament. Grilled Eggplant in tempered spices… baby eggplants in a spunky tadka of Indian spices. I used a mishmash of cooking techniques… grilling as well as a traditional chaunk or the tempering with whole spices roasted in pungent mustard oil and then poured onto the grilled eggplants. It was a burst of colours as well as flavours. I also tried out a variation of Doi Begun, the…
-
Perfecting the legendary Kolkata Biryani at home
The potato in Kolkata Biryani is my favourite part of the dish. In this Awadhi style of cooking, the dum pukht technique allows the the aromatic juices from the mutton to ooze into the fine grains of rice. They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. It’s certainly true in my case, but if I were to be specific about the kind of food, it would be Biryani and Mughlai food. Not any Biryani, but the Awadhi/Lucknowy style Mutton Biryani that we grew up eating in Kolkata. The Bearded Biker’s love for Awadhi Biryani made us hop into Lucknow for an evening, only to eat. His…
