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When we eat out at a Middle Eastern place, Falafel is TH’s vice. He loves anything fried and falafels are no exception. Considering how ridiculously easy they are to make at home, I have tried to deter him from ordering Falafels outside but once he very rightly pointed out that I say this all the time but never really made Falafels at home - ever! So here they are, a quick and easy snack recipe that’s kid-friendly and you can make in bulk in advance if you are entertaining....

Kadala parippu payasam (or kadalai paruppu payasam) is a delicious jaggery-based payasam typically made during festivals and Onam in Kerala. Amma makes payasam as easily as she makes a regular dish and most often, all you need to do is ask for it. The Onam Sadya is obviously incomplete with payasam and we often make two payasams for any Kerala sadya. I love payasam made with jaggery and coconut milk more than milk-based ones like paal payasam....

Moong dal chutney or thogayal , an easy chutney with moong dal (paasi paruppu in Tamil, cherupayar in Malayalam) that is a lip smacking combination with rice and kuzhambu, especially kara kuzhambu . I use a lot of moong dal in my cooking, especially in the form of kootu and moong dal tadka but this is the first attempt at making a thogayal with moong dal and I must say it was a success....

Mushroom Peas Curry / Matar Khumb Curry Adapted from Neeta Mehta’s Punjabi Recipes Serves 4 What I Used: 200gm/about 4 cups mushrooms, washed and chopped into 6 (I used white button mushrooms) 1 cup green peas 2 cardamoms/elaichi/elakka 2 cloves/laung/grampoo 1 tablespoon dhania powder / malli podi 1 teaspoon red chilli powder 2 teaspoon garam masala A pinch of turmeric powder 4tbsp oil Grind together to a puree 2 large tomatoes 1 green chilli Grind together to a paste 1 large onion 6-8 flakes garlic 1" piece ginger How I Made It: 1....

Or atleast, that’s what I did. Chammanthi is a Malayali’s comfort food. Although it can be roughly translated to chutney in English, its not watery like chutney tends to be. Pacha Manga Chammanthi is almost always served with kanji or Indian congee, to balance the blandness but I served it with fresh, hot dosas! Pacha Manga Chammanthi Serves 4 Ingredients: ½ of a raw mango or about ½ cup peeled and chopped raw mango ¾ cup grated coconut 3 green chillies A small piece of ginger 1 shallot 2-3 curry leaves, optional Salt to taste...

Paneer Tomato Salad Recipe Ingredients: Ripe red tomatoes - 2 Paneer / Indian cottage cheese - ½ cup, cubed Capsicum / green bell pepper - ½ cup, cubed Black pepper powder - 1 tsp Chaat masala - ½ tsp Lime juice / vinegar - 1 tablespoon or more Salt - to taste Mix the chaat masala, pepper, salt and lime juice/vinegar well together. Mix the tomatoes, bell pepper and panner together, adding a bit of salt....

This red capsicum chutney goes great with dosa, idli , bajji, rice, and chapati. The capsicum lends a nice sweetness to it which is quite addictive. So if you are looking for a nice and easy chutney recipe without coconut, then try this and let me know how it went. To prepare this red capsicum chutney in bulk is much quicker since capsicum is not as moist as tomatoes and needs lesser time to reach the grinding consistency....

With a healthy dose of spinach, tomatoes, and cheese , you can choose to make this recipe eggless or keep the one egg in. After all, the egg gets divided between almost 8 large muffins. If you prefer to make eggless spinach feta muffins, just replace the egg with 2 tablespoon plain curd. I haven’t tried this but I don’t see much reason why this wouldn’t work. The ingredients in this muffin recipe are super simple and (almost) all are healthy too....

Kimchi is an integral part of every household and apparently there are more than a hundred varieties of kimchi. My Korean colleague tells me that her mom makes it in bulk and stores it, especially when the cabbage used to make Kimchi is in season. My favourite Korean dish is Bibimbap, closely followed by grilled Saba fish, mainly because it’s a great one pot meal and has pretty much everything a meal should contain....

The only preparation you need to do in advance is to wash and soak the chickpeas either overnight or before you leave for work so that its all soaked and ready when you get back and need to make dinner. Confession: on some nights, I get lazy on the way back in the train and drag TH to have dinner outside. On those nights, I come back, drain the soaked chickpeas and stick it in the fridge....

Basic Potato Salad Recipe Serves 4 What I Used: Potatoes - 3 medium-sized ones (I used russet potatoes) Spring onions - ¼ cup, very finely chopped (You can also use celery or leeks or even cilantro instead of spring onions) Mayonnaise - ½ cup (I used Kraft mayo, out of a bottle) Cream - 2 tbsp Greated cheddar cheese - 2 tablespoon (optional) Lime juice - 1 tablespoon or more Salt - to taste Pepper - to taste How to make a Basic Potato Salad:...

With each spoonful, I kept asking TH, “isn’t this delicious?” as if I wasn’t responsible for the deliciousness. It really was that good. Its super easy to make and there are no exotic, hard to find ingredients either. Check out more easy dessert recipes on Edible Garden. Chocolate Banana Hazelnut Crumble Serves: 6 Ingredients : 2 ripe bananas ¼ cup brown sugar (white should work too) ½ cup hazelnuts (or almonds) A generous pinch of powdered cinnamon (optional) 100gm chopped bittersweet chocolate (you can also use milk chocolate or semi sweet - choc chips not recommended since they are designed not to melt) For the crumble: 100gm / ¾ cup plain four (or, try atta) 55gm / ¼ cup chilled butter 10gm chopped bittersweet chocolate (I omitted this) A pinch of salt, if using unsalted butter...

Pin Recipe Source - Baking Bites Makes about 24 cupcakes Ingredients: ½ cup butter, room temperature 2 cups sugar 3 large eggs ¾ cup sour cream (low fat or full) - can be substituted with yogurt or cream mixed with a teaspoon of yogurt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all purpose flour 2 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt ¼ cup cocoa powder 2-oz dark chocolate 1 cup water, boiling...

Our visit turned out to be a bit of a bummer because we reached around 6pm and most of the stores were shutting down. To avoid disappointment, go earlier in the day. In spite of that, I managed to find some good stuff. This brown plate is the first thing I picked up. It’s actually a sushi plate and came in a few different sizes. They are meant to be bought as a set I think but in true food blogger fashion, I bought just one....

So here is to her and her special day. Happy B’day Amma 🙂 Pin Kadalai Kuzhambu Recipe (With Coconut Milk) Serves 2-3 How to make Kadalai Kuzhambu: Soak the chickpeas overnight in 3 cups water. Pressure cook and keep aside. Or, just use canned chickpeas. Use ½ cup warm water and blend the tamarind with your hand to extract the juice. If using paste, dilute it in ½ cup water....

Kerala Peas Masala Recipe : I’ve been wanting to try a good Kerala Style Peas Masala recipe for ages now. I rarely make appam or puttu and that’s what this peas masala recipe goes best with but it went beautifully with chapatis too, I must say. Now, I really don’t want to give you more reasons to think I am weird but in the interest of full disclosure, I want to admit that when I went to Delhi on work for a week earlier this month, I brought back fresh vegetables from the farmer’s market....

Most kothu roti recipes I have seen have a mix of vegetables or use a list of spices which I am sure add to the flavour and taste of the dish but I wanted a quick snack using what I had in hand and this simple kothu chapathi recipe hit the spot. There are many variations to this but I doubt if you will see a simpler kothu roti recipe anywhere!...

Paal vadai, pal vadai or milk vadai is a unique and different Diwali sweet recipe. Although Amma insists it was often made at home, especially during Diwali, I don’t recall this sweet being part of the celebrations at all. Read on for how the recipe of paal vadai unfolded. Pin Paal Vadai Recipe Ingredients Instructions I was lamenting to Amma on the phone on Sunday saying how I had wanted to make some sweets for Diwali but nothing really happened....

The wet market is overflowing with all kinds of mangoes now, mostly raw. Ripe ones are ridiculously expensive so we just eat them as is without bothering to waste even a morsel making any drinks or dessert out of it 😀 Here is what I made with some nice and tangy raw mangoes. Pacha Manga Curry Pacha Manga Curry-Manga Curry Serves 2 Ingredients: Raw mangoes - 1 cup, cubed Chilli powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - a pinch Salt - to taste Grind well together: Coconut - ½ cup Jeera - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - one pinch For tempering: Mustard seeds - ¼ tsp Fenugreek seeds - ½ tsp Curry leaves - 1 sprig Dry red chillies - 3 Oil - 1 tbsp...

Paneer Amritsari is a twist on the regular paneer tikka or paneer starters you might be used to. Originating from Amritsar in Punjab, this paneer appetiser recipe features Indian cottage cheese cubes marinated in a blend of spices and gram flour (or besan), then deep or pan-fried until crisp. It’s often served as a starter with mint chutney and lemon wedges and will be sure to be a crowd-pleaser. I first tried Amritsari paneer when my cook from a years ago made it for TH, who is a vegetarian....