The murgh rezala is a celebration.Of the happy blend of Bengali and Muslim cooking, of the sophistication of the subcontinent’s food, and of India’s composite culture. A rezala refers essentially to the sauce in which the murgh or chicken is cooked. Food historians estimate that this dish evolved when the descendents of Tipu Sultan were forced to leave their royal abode in Srirangapatna, Karnataka and exiled to Kolkata, Bengal, by…
It’s both delightful and amazing how a humble dish such as this radish pachadi or radish chutney can so dramatically elevate a simple home-style meal of rice and dal. Telugu cuisine, both from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is famed for its pachadis – the word is used for both chutneys (which are generally ground or pulped) and pickles (which usually have chunks of the fruit/vegetable). In this case, the radish…
Prawn pickle, whether it’s eaten with dal and rice, spread on hot toast, or enjoyed with crispy dosas and fluffy uttapams – everyone has their favourite way of relishing this tangy seafood treat. I’ve always had store-bought prawn pickle, but this time the abundance of prawns sold by my fish lady inspired me to make my own. Eating homemade pickle is like eating vegetables from one’s kitchen garden, it’s a…
This post should be titled, pudding in a pinch. My oven was on the blink for a few days and I had a craving for dessert and necessity (happily) drove me to throw together this pressure cooker pudding. It was so silky and airy in texture and yet so intense in flavour that I decided as an afterthought to write a post on it. My pressure cooker pudding takes all…
My red fish curry was born from my love of fish curries from the western coast of India. It’s not ‘authentic’ in the sense that it incorporates elements from Malvani, Goan and even Malabari cuisines. Although each of these regional cuisines is different in its basic flavours and in the way it combines seafood, spices and other aromatics to create unique dishes, more than a few ingredients are common to…
Today I’m sharing an Odia mutton curry with you. My mother, 72, is a gynaecologist who also works with HIV positive people and tuberculosis patients, besides dishing up a mean Odia style mutton curry. A pure vegetarian (who didn’t even eat eggs) when she joined med school, she discovered the pleasure of eating meat when she started seeing Dad, a fish and meat eating Odia classmate. From then to now…
I refuse to call coconut milk rasam mulligatawny soup with coconut milk just because the English (read British) decided to call rasam by that ridiculous if not incorrect name. Rasam or milagu (pepper) tanni (water), a literal translation from Tamil, according to me, is actually anything but that – pepper and water. Rasam or charu (in Telugu) like this coconut milk rasam has a unique aroma and flavour that comes…
I should call this post sukha chicken for bachelors because of how easy it is to cook this dish. But plenty of bachelors are great cooks so I’ll just say that this is arguably one of the easiest chicken dishes to make. Perfect for newbies, it is a go-to dish in a pinch or when time’s at a premium. Sukha chicken or dry chicken is simple and yet disproportionately chock…
This post on pineapple gojju, is about pinning a food memory from my Bengaluru school days on the blog. It’s a testimony to all the delicious gojjus – tomato, bitter gourd (bitter melon) and onion – that I ate at Kannada weddings and delicious, home-style meals. I used to visit my aunt on weekends (boarding school rules); and became great friends with her neighbour’s daughter and was lucky to share…
Lasooni tikka or lehsuni tikka is a little less famous than its cousin the murgh or chicken tikka. But in my book, it gets more points for its bold, garlicky, savouriness. This past weekend we ate fresh, homemade whole wheat pitas with meaty mounds of velvety lasooni murgh tikkas and crunchy salad nestled within with a dousing of tangy mint chutney and a creamy cashew nut sauce. What a lunch…