I turned to one of my favourite books to address all of the above - A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman. I managed to use up the cocoa powder, inaugurate the new doughnut pan which I am in love with now, and get some super fudgy, sticky, not-so-sweet, delicious chocolate doughnut cakes. Win! The original recipe was for Dark Fudge Bundt Cake but that shouldn’t deter us. Make it into anything you like - a cake, bundt cake, cupcakes, or these lovely doughnut shaped ones if you have the right pan....

But I don’t always have eggs in hand. And, the beating of the egg whites until stiff in that recipe puts me off sometimes. So I decided to come up with a super easy eggless waffles recipe. Just to kick it up a notch, I made it with whole wheat flour (not atta, the pastry flour) and it turned out nice. I must say though, these waffles are not crisp when they get cold....

Phew. I had a busy month. In fact, it looks like it’s going to be a busy month ahead too. I took a ton of pictures (around 4000) during my one-month stay in New York. Around half of that is food or related to food. I stayed in Union Square in New York and couldn’t have asked for a better location. It’s always buzzing with some activity or the other and every weekend there’s a farmer’s market that is set up with the most lovely things to gawk at....

Pin Note that Tindora takes time to cook so this dish takes longer than regular Kerala-style mezhukkupuratti using other vegetables. Some more recipes for you to check out: Beetroot Carrot Mezhukkupuratti Stir-Fried Beans Kerala-Style Yam Fry (Chena Fry) Kovakka Mezhukkupuratti - Stir-Fried Tindora Recipe Ingredients: Kovakka / Tindora - 100 gms Onions - 1 medium Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp Chilly powder - ½ tsp Curry leaves - 1 strand Salt - to taste...

Ingredients: 1 marble-sized ball of tamarind (remember the lemon will make the rasam more sour) Half a lemon ½ cup cooked and mashed toor dal / thuvaram paruppu / pigeon peas (optional) 1 small tomato, chopped A 1" piece of ginger, cut into small pieces 2 green chillies, or to taste 2 teaspoon rasam powder A pinch of turmeric powder Salt to taste For tempering: 1 teaspoon ghee or oil Some mustard seeds A pinch of asafoetida / hing / perungaayam Curry leaves Coriander leaves (for garnish)...

Maa ladoo (also known as maladu, maa laddu, pottukadalai urundai) is the easiest sweet recipe you can make for Diwali, especially if you are a novice at making traditional Indian sweets like I am. Maa ladoo also holds a special place in my heart because growing up, it was one of my favourite ladoos and so we included this sweet in the return gift bag for my wedding. My mom, sister, and I made close to 500 ladoos the day before my wedding to pack and give away, since my mom insisted on the sweet being homemade as my wedding was a small one by Indian standards - 450+ guests!...

Malabar-Style Egg Curry Recipe Serves: 2 Ingredients: 3 eggs, boiled, shelled and cut into halves 2 large onions, sliced 1 cup thick coconut milk (onnaam paal) 1 cup thin coconut milk (rendaam paal or ½ cup store-bought coconut milk + ½ cup water) 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste 1 teaspoon red chilli powder 1 tablespoon coriander powder A pinch of turmeric 1 teaspoon garam masala (or pound/grind together 2 cloves, 1 small piece cinnamon and 1 cardamom) Salt to taste To temper: 2 teaspoon coconut oil (or any oil) ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds ¼ teaspoon jeera / jeerakam A few curry leaves...

Now, it may not look like much but these are amazing! The biggest advantage is their smart design. Since the spoon heads are elongated, they get easily into even the narrowest spice bottles and baking powder tins. Before I got this, I realised I was tapping my baking powder into the measuring spoon and spilling some in the process, not to mention measuring somewhat inaccurately. These are steel so using and cleaning is a breeze too....

Paal payasam made traditionally will have a pink hue from the rice used. Ok, don’t look for the colour in my payasam picture because we used regular rice this time. Onam is always a nostalgic time for me because Kerala is at its best then. There’s the smell of fresh coconut oil being heated for all the banana chips, banana leaves gleaming in the sun, the rains just checked and the heat manageable, flowers everywhere and athappoo designs being planned, women walking around in the traditional Kerala set sari days before and after the day, school vacation after first term… I could go on....

Learn how to make Batata Poha or Potato Poha. It is an easy and healthy Maharashtrian breakfast recipe using Indian flattened rice or poha, potatoes or batata, onions or kanda, and some simple spices. Oh and lots of peanuts because I like it that way! Needless to say, I didn’t grow up eating poha for breakfast, what with it being a Maharashtrian recipe and all. The first time I tried Batata Poha was at a food expo in my hometown when I was around 8....

South Indian Mixture Recipe: Mixture is possibly one of the most popular evening snack recipe in India. There are many variations to the classic mixture recipe with different ingredients that can be added. This recipe is how we make Mixture at home and it has all the usual ingredients and a couple of our own additions. I hope homemade mixture makes an appearance in your Diwali snack list this year!...

Confession: I didn’t know Soya Chunks were called Nutrela. Or textured Vegetable Protein (TVP). Anyway, my mom never cooked with it much and I have only ever known them as soya chunks or “chung chung” as Amma calls them, with emphasis on the ‘g’! Turns out TH really likes soya chunks and I try to make different things out of it as much as possible. Cooking it with potatoes and tomatoes is probably my favourite....

As part of this new diet plan, I started having stir-fries with different combinations of vegetables. Its very common in Singapore food courts to have ‘mixed rice’ stalls where basically you can choose a number of side dishes of vegetables and meat on a bed of rice. Most of the vegetable side dishes are a combination of 2 or more vegetables and this is one such combo that I particularly love....

Geetha Perima is an expert at cooking and made and shared this delicious Strawberry Milkshake. I love all sorts of milkshake, especially with strawberry (and vanilla milkshake, for some strange reason). Of course, it may be a good idea to ask her first! This strawberry milkshake goes to Pari’s Veggie/Fruit a Month , this month featuring Strawberries - an event conceptualized by Mharo Rajasthan . Geetha Perima is an expert at cooking and made and shared this delicious Strawberry Milkshake....

A Thai-style steamed fish recipe with a broth of chilli, garlic, and lime. This is a super simple fish recipe that you will find in most Thai restaurant menus. I was craving it so badly one evening (because Corona lockdown my friends!) so made it, ate it, and felt happy again. You need some very basic ingredients to make this: Thai Steamed Fish with Chilli Garlic Lime Ingredients Instructions Notes...

When choosing tomatoes to make tomato rice , always lean towards the more sour ones. You can also use Roma tomatoes (known as Bangalore tomatoes in India) but in that case I’d recommend a squeeze of lemon juice for the required tang in the dish. It’s also best to use peeled whole garlic cloves but I didn’t have any so used bottled crushed garlic that I usually stock up in my pantry....

But, I made it happen one weekend. I made TH trudge along with me all the way to the Cold Storage in Great World City Mall and I bought a tub of ricotta. I had all other ingredients for my spinach mushroom lasagna so, yay! Of course, you can skip the mushrooms if you don’t like them, make a mixed vegetable lasagna with zucchini, eggplant, capsicum, etc. The choices and creative flexibility for a lasagna is quite endless....

When I was taking the pictures at home in Kottayam (which explains the great light and the real banana leaf in the picture!), amma insisted that I highlight the health benefits of Yam , especially for women, so here goes: Elephant yam is naturally high in fibre content and our diet needs to be high in fibre for easier bowel movement - It is high in Omega 3 Fatty acids which helps reduce bad cholesterol in the body and improves good cholesterol levels - Consuming elephant yam, especially in women, increases estrogen levels which aids in maintaining the hormonal balance and also with PMS - Yam is a cooling food so ideal if consumed in summer....

Learn how to make Yam Fry or Chena Fry on a tawa. This recipe uses lesser oil and is healthier than the more popular Yam Fry Recipe on this site. Elephant Yam ( Chena in Malayalam, Senai Kizhangu in Tamil) is one of my favourite vegetables so when saw this different method of frying yam on a tawa or pan, I was intrigued. Yam is a popular root vegetable in Kerala, often getting incorporated into koottu, stir-fries, and even our popular Erissery recipe wich is an essential dish in the Onam Sadya and for wedding sadyas....

Click on the pictures for the recipe. Click on the pictures for the recipe.