We belong to the think tank that does not believe in mixing anything sweet with savory. For example : I cannot come to understand Pineapple Rice, Kashmiri Pulao or Zafrani Pulao. With such a palate, I generally try to avoid adding sweet ingredients in my main dish. Having said that, Mango Salsa was quite intriguing to me. I could not for the life of me imagine how the sweet mangoes could co exist well with ingredients like bell peppers, onions and jalapeno(!!). Seemed v weird until I could take it no more and tried it myself. I was all prepared to make a horrible face and say “Blech!”.  But oh boy! Was I glad??????? You bet I was. Mangoes sure can exist in harmony and yet be charming enough. We loved it so much that I made it 5-6 more times until I was left with no mangoes.

The crunch of the bell peppers, mild tasting onions, minimal heat from the jalapeno went hand in hand with the sweet mangoes so well. I salute the genius(...)
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Post tags: bell peppers, cilantro, jalapeno, lemon, lime, mango, mint, onions

One question I am oft asked at Chef In You, is how I manage to cook my day to day meals with a full time job. Oh well, to be truthful, I don’t cook elaborate meals daily. Most of the time its quick and easy ones which I resort to feed my loved ones. Time and energy permitting, I then think of  other elaborate meals. But I can be very fussy when it comes to the variety just like any other kid out there. I need color, need the variety. I cannot for the life of me eat the same thing day after another. I get easily bored. In this case, I have no one else to blame but me. Hence I have many under 15 minute meals which I keep under my thumb that I can prepare at quick notice without making it monotonous.

I am not one to skimp on rich/fried foods. I love it all. I don’t believe in deprivation and certainly love indulgence – though in moderation. I do not think of eating that (...)
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Post tags: carrots, cilantro, cream cheese, lemon, mascarpone, parsley, peas

Till date I have been unable to decide if I really like to cook or if I like to feed my loved ones more. Why this lingering doubt? Well if I really liked to cook, then I should love to cook all the time right, including when it comes to making something for myself? Naah! I hate cooking for myself and suddenly find myself to be one of the laziest bum around! I HATE it. Period. That’s when I start wishing my dear mom was around to pamper me with her delicious food while I display my slothful tendencies Its time like these when I tend to think that I indeed enjoyed pampered childhood (which trust me I never did…but as I said as an afterthought it makes me think this way). To have warm food waiting all ready for me when I got home from work  in those days seems like a blessing to me now. I could just ask my mom to prepare some specific dish cos I was craving for it and find it waiting for me when I got home late at night tired and worn out. It was such a pick me up. Makes me so nostalgic and sad sometimes. Now if I crave something, I have no choice but to move my otiose backside to make it myself which makes “craving anything” not worth it!

But a girl’s got to eat – so when it comes to making lunches for (...)
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Post tags: bay leaf, carrots, celery, cilantro, jalapeno, lemon, Paneer

This has happened so many times that by now I should have learnt my lessons (which I probably might not!)  So what am I talking about here? Well listen to this. Has it happened to you that after creating something, you were so pleased at having “invented” something only to soon realize that it already existed? And that this was just sheer coincidence that you happened to “discover” it on your own? Oh well, this has happened at least 10-15 times for me – enough to stop me from assuming that I chanced upon something on my own. But every time it happens, I still end up feeling that perhaps with a small percentage I might be a food genius or something (but nah!! I am surrounded by “friends” and enough geniuses to “kindly lemme know that I am not! $%@#%). And this is exactly what happened recently.

We happen to have a plum tree in our backyard which is in a generous mood. Too many plums and so little time before they fall to the ground – rotten. I am frantically trying to use as many as I can. I made the usual Plum Jam, (as a gift to someone), Plum preserves with raisins (for us), plum Bread, a plum crumble cake and recently an upside down Plum and Berry Cake (for a get together) and DRAT! I still have lots of plums in the tree. Because of all this immense  heat in our part of the world, we are gulping down liquid like a Shrek Family! I also happen to have a lemon tree and thus I was enjoying lemonade every evening. While going to pluck some plums for eating and also some fresh lemons for cooking, a thought suddenly struck me. Why not try and make Plum Lemonade? If strawberry lemonade and cranberry lemonade can be tasty why not plums?. How come I never see plum lemonade?  I set to work on the idea and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. I told about this invention of mine(!!) to my colleague and she was like -

“Oh yes, I always make it during plum season” (!!!!).

The only consolation was the method. She makes it using a sugar syrup added to plum sauce and then add it to the frozen concentrated lemonade  while I have kept it simpler and without store bought ingredients.

I love the lemon taste but the distinct flavor that the plums added to the lemonade (...)
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Post tags: lemon, plums

I rely on Soya beans and its by products for our day to day source of protein along with the more obvious ones like Legumes etc. Among that is Tempeh which I love. Its texture is close to that of a meat and it does look weird. But don’t get fooled by its looks cos its immensely versatile and nutritious. I use it more often in dishes which call for Bacon. They also wonderfully crisp up and add that delicious crunch. This was another of those recipes which got deleted during my migration to this new domain – about which I already mentioned about here. So when I made this again recently, I thought I will blog about it once again.

This was actually, I think, my first very recipe with tempeh. I got Tempeh only after I saw it in this recipe and it looked so tempting that I had to get it. After this, it actually made me a lover and have from then on, tried in various other recipes and experimented with it. If you are getting started with tempeh or if you don’t like it yet, then this is a must try for you. It might make you a fan of Tempeh just like it did for me. This also makes for a different evening snack for kids who wont know that it made with tempeh. The aromatic Lemongrass and other ingredients mask its otherwise almost bland taste and makes this totally delicious. Its my family fav. Do give it a try, it might become yours too.

(...)
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Post tags: cilantro, eggs, garlic, ginger, lemon, lemongrass, soy flour, tempeh, tomato

I know I have talked about this – like million times already in this blog. At the risk of becoming monotonous and boring, I am repeating it once again – I am a WHOLEGRAIN lover. I cannot get enough of them. And esp. in this country with the variety of whole grains at my disposal , I cannot help being ecstatic. Just like the paparazzi can blab even in their dreams which restaurants/locations celebrities go to, anyone who knows me will find me at local Whole Foods market in case they find that I seem to be missing at home. Most often (exception of few other boring places which sadly have to be visited!), I can be found at either Barnes and Nobles store or Whole Foods. I am like a kid in candy heaven! Like a dog trying to catch its tail, I keep going round and round the aisles of these stores without getting bored or embarrassed (ppl must think I am silly for looking at the same aisle again and again! I care less!)

Anyways, all this passion has to be culminated into something right – yes – cooking it sure is. Amongst other fresh smelling books, Cookbooks aisle is a must visit place  and in one such recent visit I chanced a look at my messiah. Author Lorna Sass.  Woman after my own heart and soul. I latched on to her wholegrain book – noted down few recipes (which you will see in the coming days for sure!) and came home to make it the same day. Oh Boy! Was I overjoyed!!!!! It was like a whole new world was opened up for me. My husband shook his head in resignation at my mirth over some “silly whole grain cooking” – but his face was worth watching when I set our dinner table with this delicious dessert.

At first he was skeptical since (...)
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Post tags: allspice, anise, apple butter, baking powder, baking soda, blackberries, brown sugar, buttermilk, cinnamon, cornmeal, cornstarch, eggs, lemon, nectarines, pastry flour, peaches, pecans, plums, vanilla extract, walnuts

There are multiple ways to cut fat in your baked goods without compromising a lot on the taste of course. While I don’t believe in enjoying a healthy food that TASTES healthy (read as : Bland, Earthy and a Blech!), I scout for recipes which are nutritious without making the consumer feel like a nobody. I am more of instead of 10 tbsp of butter cut 5 tbsp from it by substituting something healthy and low fat instead.  There’s so much in the markets nowadays to make such healthy substitutes but I find that one is sometimes better of not using them cos the ingredients list to make this healthy doesn’t look such so ideal themselves. Preservatives, sugars etc make it worse.

So when I found this recipe for Apple Butter which I could whip up right at home in about 15-20 minutes I was ecstatic.  Apple Butter, homemade tastes much better than the store bought ones. There are many recipes and variations for making apple butter with most of them relying on store bought apple sauce.  This recipe uses fresh apples and also uses a natural sweetener (if using) – Maple Syrup. Mildly spiced, these are a dream to have in your fridge.  This recipes gives you a spiced and sweetened version of Apple Butter which you can skip so that you can use it in all your baked goods without the butter overpowering the taste.

I also use it few other ways which I have elaborated below the post. (...)
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Post tags: apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, Dry ginger, lemon, maple syrup, nutmeg, vanilla extract

Sometimes I think I never learn. Experience does teach you stuff but well – I just don’t seem to learn from mistakes. Like, take this instance. How many times should I have to experience that taking photos while kids are around is not a task to be taken for granted. How many times has it taught me that, the more appealing the food, the less time I have for taking a picture? And if its going to be something like Ice cream, do I have even one small chance? And even if, these kids were patience personified, would the ice cream b e patient enough to pose for me on a hot day without melting? Nope! Well this is exactly what happened. I should have taken a picture before the kids arrived but the lazy me was busy doing other work (lazing of course!).

Remembered that there is something called taking final picture of a dish for a blog which she runs called Chef In you…..and rushed to take a picture. With the kids surrounding me and the heat getting to the icecream,  it was sure  getting next to impossible, this is the best I could do! Phew! Thanks for listening to my excuse for the lousy picture

We all have our “first dish” memory right? I have mine when it comes to every aspect of cooking – like my first cake, my first bread, my first flatbread etc. And this was my first Ice cream. Making this was a thriller since I had assumed that one needed an ice cream maker to make yummy ice creams. Well – not really!  Agreed it has advantages but its not the end of the homemade ice cream world if don’t own one. To test the theory out, my first ever try was this Mango and Coconut Ice cream from the Indian Chef Sanjeev Kapoor. Every summer, when the markets are bursting with the sight and smell of mangoes, I make this! This is your solution to buying the store bought ice cream containers. Nothing beats the feeling when you know exactly what ingredients have gone into a dish and how fresh the fruits were. Somehow I always get the feeling that people enjoy it even more when they know its home made.

The richness of coconut mingled (...)
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Post tags: coconut, coconut milk, cornstarch, cream, eggs, heavy cream, lemon, mango

May be few of you can relate to me when I say this – I hate coking for myself. The one common logic that’s applied is, if you are passionate about cooking enough to blog about it constantly, then how can you hate cooking. Period. I dunno! When it comes to making anything for myself, I can be the most laziest bum around. My better half will run away at the sight of whatever I throw in if  only I have to eat it! Its so boring, what else can I say. For a long while, I was content with pasta – but it can get very monotonous, don’t you think? Sometimes, I made use of canned beans to make myself a burger. At times when I am in the middle of my work, to go and cook something  can really get frustrating. (I work from home). Most of my kitchen disasters happen then since I keep something on the stove and forget about it in the middle of breaking my head over some code. Then the new and improved version of me arrived – where I started taking care of balancing my meals which made it almost hard to keep up my lethargic attitude.

That’s when I started making simple adjustments – Couscous, Semolina, Brown rice pilaf’s, savory wholegrain bread pudding , soups, salads – started making their way into my lunch plate. They were v simple, got done in a jiffy and I could still afford to be my lazy self But most of the time, they lacked that color and depth in flavors, I so needed. That’s when this salad started making its regular way into my table. My mom has always been making this (but sliced thinly not chopped this way)- but only last year or so did I come to know that it actually has a name – its called Kachumber.

One site tells me that:(...)
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Post tags: cilantro, cucumber, cumin, jalapeno, lemon, tomatoes

Sometimes it can indeed get boring and monotonous to make the same things again and again. But by making  few changes, either by way of adding new ingredients, adopting a different cooking process or something as simple as changing the way the dish is presented can provide that much needed difference. Just because I love trying out new ingredients (whatever I see in the groceries around me), I do not always feel inclined to try a new type of dish. I mean, its great but I am not one to buy one bottle of spice or sauce when all I am going to use it for is ONE recipe! I see these Food network chef’s using a small bit from a huge bottle – well they sure can afford to do that – but not me! I try to look out for/ create new things in the kitchen mostly with regular ingredients in my pantry. Trust me – if you look for it, you will be astounded at the variety that’s available out there in your own pantry!

Keeping that in mind is this recipe for Couscous patties. I enjoyed a similar recipe in my colleagues house where she had added cheese, eggs and bread crumbs along with few vegetables to regular couscous to make deep fried croquettes. They were MIND BLOWING! I loved them and got her recipe. I made changes with few things to suit my needs and whatever I had on hand. I ended up using almost same vegetables since I had them but made them eggless and shallow fried them instead of deep frying. I also made them into patties instead of cylinders. Lets go to the recipe directly now shall we?(...)
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Post tags: bell peppers, carrots, cilantro, couscous, cumin-coriander powder, eggplant, garlic, lemon, tomatoes, turmeric, yogurt