Posts

Coconut lovers, this double-coconut banana muffin recipe is for you! I’m confident you’ll fall in love with the sweet, bright flavors and contrasting textures in these little treats. These muffins taste familiar and comforting, given their fluffy, banana-infused insides. They’re also fun and tropical, thanks to the shredded coconut you’ll find on the inside and on the muffin tops. A little lemon zest brings all the flavors together. Like my healthy banana muffins, these muffins are also made with whole wheat flour and naturally sweetened (this time, with honey)....

Let’s rewind to my trip to Costa Rica last month with my grandmother. It was the last day on our group trip, and we arrived at Sibu for our final dinner together. Sibu produces the best chocolate I’ve ever tasted, and they greeted us with rum-spiked, spiced hot chocolate. I was literally a kid in a candy store all night as they presented a lesson in chocolate history (with wine and chocolate) and moved on to an incredible dinner....

About Hot Chocolate There is nothing more delightful than wrapping your hands around a mug of rich and luscious hot chocolate on a cold winter night. Or day! And when I need something to really uplift my mood, I turn to this homemade hot cocoa recipe. In fact, there’s always a block of chocolate in the kitchen for whenever a need arises – no matter what the weather. Making a delicious, satisfying mug of this chocolate drink is as easy as 1-2-3!...

Khoya Recipe - Homemade Mawa I was at my local Indian market the other day and I happened to pass by Khoya in the frozen food section. And it occurred to me that many of my readers ask me about a homemade version of Khoya since it is so hard to find in most supermarkets. So I thought to give it a try. The process of making Khoya, also known as Mawa, is actually very easy, but it is time-consuming....

Steamed carrots are a family-favorite veggie side dish for a reason! They are naturally lightly sweet, cooked to a tender, creamy texture and can be seasoned with your favorite spices to compliment any entree. I prefer steaming carrots using an Instant Pot. No hovering over the stove while they cook, plus they get evenly steamed without any tossing or flipping! And I love that the flavor is so easy to customize to whatever we are eating with the carrots....

Serve as-is topped with your favorite taco toppings or pair it with salsa chicken or carnitas! On weeknights, I’m all for easy and healthy one-pot meals. And this Instant Pot recipe is just that! Beans and rice are a classic combination, but typically you have to cook them separately on the stove before serving them together. With this recipe, you can cook dried black beans and long grain brown rice in the instant pot at the same time with easy, five-minute prep and even easier cleanup....

In case naming this website after my dog didn’t automatically qualify me as a crazy dog lady, I just did something even crazier. I ordered a dog DNA test. My curiosity about which breeds created my spotted companion got the best of me. I’m supposed to just swab the inside of her cheek and send the swabs back. My suspense is growing. What kind of dog is she? A blend of two pure breeds or lots of mutts?...

Mango Shrikhand is one of my go-to healthy-ish dessert options that satisfies my sweet cravings with minimum guilt. Also known as Aamrakhand, it’s a fruity twist on a traditional shrikhand. In this easy recipe, I cut the preparation time to less than half using Greek yogurt, which is naturally thicker than regular yogurt and adds extra protein giving you 13 grams of protein per serving. I typically make this mango yogurt dessert in spring and summer when mangoes are in season and naturally sweeter, which means adding less sugar to sweeten it....

What is the best way to eat peaches you ask? Maple Grilled Peaches With An Almond Cookie Crumb is it! Grilled peaches are simple and flavour-packed; soft and juicy, yet undeniably one of the best desserts you can make in under 15 minutes with a grill pan! Paired with a buttery, crispy and crunchy cookie crumb to sprinkle on top of these, who would’ve thought a healthier dessert could be so addictive?...

Meet the next edition of my giant salad challenge! This “Mexican” green salad recipe is quite possibly the prettiest salad I’ve ever had the chance to photograph, too. Romaine lettuce and mixed spring greens, purple cabbage and cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and red onion combine to create one stunning and delicious salad. The idea behind the salad challenge is that I’m challenging you (and myself) to make an enormous green salad and some homemade dressing to go with it....

I have been making this recipe after adapting it from a cookbook “Epicure’s Vegetarian Cuisines of India” by Asha Khatau. Here I have used whole green mung beans, but this dhokla can also me made with husked split yellow mung lentils. Moreover what I liked about this recipe is that it is very easy to make and taste delicious. It also does not require curd (yogurt). I liked this green gram dhokla recipe for its ease and of course health benefits....

About Mosambi Juice If you have yet to try the divine fruit known as Mosambi (Sweet Lime), you’re in for a real treat. With far less acidity than other varieties of citrus while still maintaining the distinct citrusy flavor of limes, this sweet fruit is a favorite for juicing. Sometimes the fruits themselves are not excellent for eating – they have a thick rind and a lot of seeds – but their sweet, limeade flavor and abundant juice makes them a perfect candidate for turning into homemade juice....

Serve this crowd-pleasing drink at your next party, alongside mulled wine, cheese straws, and baked Brie. We have three varieties of apple trees in our yard, and fortunately for us, they bear fruit one after the other. So, we end up with an uninterrupted supply of apples starting late summer through fall. 🙂 Apart from usual suspects like apple cake or apple cinnamon oats, we also make Spiced Apple Cider, also referred to as Mulled Cider....

About Paneer Gassi Paneer Gassi when translated in English, simply means an Indian cottage cheese (paneer) and curry (gassi). Traditionally, the recipe of gassi belongs to the Mangalorean bunt community. They are from the coastal districts of Karnataka and prepare this unique curry in their signature style. This Paneer Gassi Recipe is a vegetarian variation that I have created at my home, by following my aunt’s recipe. She makes excellent bunt style food at home....

About Peanut Chutney So like me how many of you like peanuts? It is a wonderful ingredient to work with. Some Indian curries made with peanuts taste simply delish. They not only add a ton of flavor but also help in thickening these curries. Peanuts are also known as groundnuts. If you love peanuts, you will go gaga over this South Indian recipe of peanut chutney. It is so good. This groundnut chutney recipe is also called Palli Chutney in the Andhra and Telangana regions of South India....

About These Pizza Puffs I’m so excited to be sharing this very simple and extraordinarily tasty recipe for pizza Puffs. Delicate puff pastry rounds are topped with pizza sauce, veggies, and melty cheese for a yummy, kid-friendly snack that is much healthier than the pizza rolls you can find in the frozen section of the grocery store. Less a recipe than a snack idea, this is an endlessly riff-able template that’ll come in handy for parties and celebrations....

I chanced upon this atukula dosa decades back in Chandra Padmanabhan’s cookbook: “Simply South: Traditional Vegetarian Cooking”. Since then I have been making them often. There are a few variations in making this recipe. What I share is an Andhra Style Poha dosa. The method to make poha dosa is slightly different than the one for regular Dosa. Here the rice and poha are soaked in buttermilk. Then ground and fermented for 4 to 5 hours....

Drizzled in melted chocolate and topped with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, these red velvet marble waffles were gone before I could reach for half a waffle. Yep. Valentine’s Day came early over here. I know a few people that are planning out menus and avenues and possible proposals for the ‘big day’…while I’m over here still wrapping my head around saying 2016 instead of 2015. What.just.happened?...

Meet my new favorite snack, spicy sweet potato hummus! It’s brilliant orange and bursting with flavor, both savory and sweet. I’ve been eating it with everything: pita wedges, bite-sized vegetables, toasted bagels and quesadillas. Whether you’re a vegan, vegetarian or self-professed carnivore, I’ve posted several savory sweet potato recipes you’ll love. This sweet potato chili is my end-all, be-all vegetarian chili recipe. It’s so good that I don’t even want to try any others....

Tips to get buttery pan seared steak on your table in less than 20 minutes — from start to finish. VIDEO at the bottom of the post! Steak Cuts Good quality steak cuts work best to make Steakhouse Steak at home: boneless Ribeye (Australian Scotch Fillet), New York Strip (Australian Porterhouse) and Eye fillet are the best choices, followed by Sirloin or Australian Rump. All of these cuts are shown throughout this post to give you the BEST steak recipe....