Panfusine

Grill baby grill is my motto during summer. (of course I can cheekily say so given that its in the comfort of my kitchen with the stove vent on at full blast.) Uber simple to assemble, Grilled paneer slabs cut into cubes, Black beans from the can, corn off the cobs grilled on the stove top, and fresh blueberries. spiced with smoky ancho chile powder, and lime. mmm... mmmm... Good!

Summer time is Salad time.. and I''m not a fan of putting salads together, or maybe I like the way it sounds being called a 'Salsa' (invokes savory spicy visions) I made this over a year ago, and it qualifies enough to be called semi home made, canned corn & beans, with fresh avocado mashed in. spiced with finely minced green chilies, shallots, cilantro & lime.

Pomegranates are out of season in Summer, just when they are most needed to fill that niche of colorful, delicious and healthy salad ingredients. But then currants fill in that niche beautifully, ruby like spherical pearls, they're perfect for this traditional South Indian Kosmalli/Koshimbir salad. Sweet tart and bursting with Juicy flavor.

Seems like like just yesterday, when I was on the phone with my cousin Uma from Ohio and this seemingly scatterbrained idea came to my head of making a 'different' set of Diwali goodies. and just as a semi tipsy individual is bound to let loose a string of nonsensical ideas, there I was, doing something similar, thanks to the giddy euphoria that only a newbie blogger can possess. 'Lavender Badam Halwa, Lehiyam, no wait, Let me make that Lehiyam truffles' shot off my motor mouthed brain,  with little thought given to whether it was even possible.. But then, those very random thoughts are the kernels of what have turned out to be some of my favorite recipes that have become a part of my annual Diwali Tradition. Diwali is the jewel in the crown of all Indian Festivals, literally, the festival of lights, It signifies the return of Ram, the Prince of Ayodhya to claim his rightful place as king after defeating the demon King of Lanka, Ravana, who had abducted Sit...

As the Festival of Navratri goes, this is the big day, the grand finale. Mythologically speaking, this was the day, the lascivious demons, Chanda, Munda & Mahishasura and the worlds first one man clone Raktabhija (from the sanskrit Rakta- blood, bija - seed. Legend has it that when each drop of his blood fell to the ground, an identical clone would rise. The goddess countered that by giving rise to Kali (the terrible one) who literally stuck her tongue out to drink every drop of Raktabija's blood before it hit the earth. Mahishasura put up quite a fight taking multiple forms before his final morph into a buffalo( Mahisha) at which point, the goddess pins him under the lion she is riding on and proceeds to eviscerate him. Who says Mythology is  dull? The prasad (offering) that I'm posting today is an edamame sundal. Edamame, like fresh green chickpeas has a delicate buttery texture that makes it ideal for South Indian stir fries. Its unlikely that you will easily st...

I will notch it up to mere coincidence, although the cheery optimist in me is already trying to draw inferences and 'sign's. I'm sitting here typing away and watching THE movie that got me started blogging. Julie and Julia.  Earlier this morning I had a moment of serendipity that may have been staring at me all along for the past 3 years. In my face, yet eluding me, thanks to the never disappearing pile of pure knick-knacks that kept piling up on top of my dryer in the laundry room. You see, the main grip I had about my kitchen is also its best feature - huge skylights that keep in bathed in glorious sunlight while pottering around in the kitchen. But all those photons did not provide for the best lighting when it came to clicking photographs, especially in summer. In contrast, my laundry room has a window with diffused sunlight that streams though at a perfect angle.. Here's to hoping that I can take fill advantage. Back to Julie & Julia - I'm going ...

Its been quite a while since I even opened up the blog, While I returned from my summer vacation 2 weeks back, turns out my mojo & motivation was happily following Newtons 1st law! Well, better late than never I say! Trying to minimize white rice from the daily diet is harder than one thinks. For one, the pearly whites are so accessible and the devious temptation in the form of shorter cooking times is often hard to resist. But its well worth the effort to make a hearty protein rich dish like this quinoa and Beluga lentil salad. Yes it does take some time (~15 minutes) to cook the lentils and quinoa separately, but those minutes are well spent prepping the vegetables that are tossed in almost equal volume. You need: 2 cup cooked Quinoa (I used a blend of tri colored quinoa) 2 cup cooked whole Beluga lentils (or whole plain Masoor dal) 1 diced Zucchini (I ran it through a spiralizer and made them into a spagetti 1/2 cup finely diced red onion 1 large tomato finely chopped ...

What do you do when you want both semi junk and Healthy rolled into one..You make this salad. I'm a sucker for Indian junk foods and my favorite has got to be the Bhel Puri . but plain puffed rice with just the veggies and none of the deep fried additions.. just does not cut it. The mouth feel textural factor is so crucial and using Farro was the perfect solution. You need: 1 package pre cooked Farro (I used one pack from Trader Joe's) 1 cup dice heirloom tomatoes 1 cup diced kirby cucumbers. 1 cup diced Candy onions 1/2 cup fresh blueberries 1/2 cup fresh raspberries For the Dressing: 1/3 cup Cilantro Mint chutney 1/4 cup EVOO Juice of 1 lemon 1  tablespoon Honey a couple of cracks of pepper Salt to taste In a small smoothie blender jar combine all the ingredients for the dressing (except for the salt), pulse until the mixture has a smooth creamy consistency. Cook the Farro as per the instructions of the Package. Drain and combine with the diced tomatoes...

After this past bone chilling cold winter, I'd promised myself that I would not say a word or whine about the weather no matter how blazing hot the summer got. Now, I'm beginning to think that I may not have to worry about breaking that promise. The cold weather never seems to be ending! This time of the year brings with it a slew of  some special produce produce. Blink & they're gone for the year. While I wait for the first bunches of ramps to make their appearance,  I'm enjoying the bountiful supply of fresh, tender green garbanzos. There's no dearth of dishes that this delightful produce can be the star of.  Grilled and served up with a sprinkle of sea salt, or, sauteed with fresh coconut & slivers of raw mango, spiced up with a fiery tempering of mustard & curry leaves. The list could go on & on & on... I'm addicted to Hummus, but often succumb to picking up a tub from the supermarket simply because when ...

February 9 1994: There are a limited number of day's in ones life that will never ever fade away from memory. They are etched, nay seared into your neurons, and nothing short of a catastrophic even will ever delete or write over those bits of information. No, I'm not including birthdays, anniversaries and other special social events in this. These are special bits of time unique to each individual, and the significance of these days are unique to each person who cherishes them. February 9, 1994 was mine. It was the day I landed at Jan Smuts International Airport (as it was known then) , Johannesburg. A new country of which I knew nothing , other than the negative political reputation that was flashed across the media. Trepidation mixed with wonder and the deep internal  intuition that there was a life altering phase ahead of me. Its just that on that day, I had no idea HOW much South Africa would reward me and demarcate the next 3 years as the happiest & successful ...

I had no idea of what I would be blogging about, or even if I was going to post today. Yes, there are a couple of posts sitting in my drafts column, that I was to publish in the next couple of day, but it was never going to be plain Idlies.  So, back to basics? What are Idlies ? Answer: they're basically spongy steamed cakes made with a fermented rice and Urad lentil batter. The perfect healthy blend of protein & carbs,  The fermentation confers a depth of Umami and one of the best things is that you can pair the cakes with just about anything, Sugar, ketchup, Sriracha, and the usual chutneys, the milaga podi, Sambar & yes, Fresh home made yogurt. The purpose of this post is not about sharing a recipe for idli. Its a classic national dish and there are countless sites you could get it from. Its about discussing the myriad ways that one could shape them. I've been making unconventional Idlies  way, way before I even knew that there was such a thing a...

 Ever notice the best festivals & feasts usually occur towards the end of the year? I think it has everything to do with the days getting shorter. In South India the season kicks off with Krishna Jayanti in September, followed by Navratri, Diwali, Karthigai, Combined with Labor day in September, Halloween, Thanksgiving , Christmas & New Year celebrated in the US of A, thats a lot of festive days to look forward to. No wonder it gets dreary once January 2nd comes around, but then by that time, the days begin to stretch out longer again. The concept  probably precedes religion, or co-evolved along with it. With the end of harvests, It was time to huddle up and and spend the cold months waiting for the seasons to change again. Festivals must have been a natural social response in the absence of  much to do and of course to dispel the invariable fright that darkness brings. Well, I'm certainly not complaining, the plethora of opportunities to indulge in kitche...

  Kootu or vegetable stews are an integral part of South Indian cuisine. Just about any vegetable, be it a root, shoot or fruit, bud, blossom or bean, doesn't matter, chances are that a South Indian has already made a kootu out of it. The kootu is a low maintenance recipe, vegetable of choice, boiled with a pinch of turmeric, thickened with either a paste of coconut, chile & cumin or cooked & mushed up dal. A shot of sizzling tadka (with mustard, Urad dal, a single arbol chile, a pinch of asafetida and Curry leaves) and voila, a nutritious stew, all set to be served up with steaming hot plain rice. Asafetida takes the place of onion & garlic in South Indian food, especially dishes from the Brahmin community. Yea, we were born to be a bunch of nerdy geeks whose grandmothers shuddered at the mere mention of those smelly bulbs that incited base, scandalous emotions. They usually added cinnamon & Fennel to the list as well. And God forbid, you were ever cheeky...