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Recipe: Something To Relish – South Indian Roast Potatoes

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When it comes to recipes, sometimes just having one of a certain dish isn’t enough. I have shared my own version of roast potatoes on this blog in the past, but lately I have felt inspired to start making them in the Tamil Nadu style more often. As someone born and brought up in Chennai, this dish is one that I have known and enjoyed all my life, as will anyone who loves a spicy accompaniment.

When I said I was feeling inspired, this was in part because one of my favourite pastimes is surfing the Internet for all things to do with food. I love looking up and reading about the subject, seeing what people out there are making, and watching videos not just on trends but also on classic dishes. They may or may not be authentic, but they are exciting just the same. I choose whichever I am interested in, tweak the recipes a bit based on my preferences, and they often turn out yummy. Through this blog, I am a part of that community too, and contribute to it. It feels special to know that we are all inspirations to one another, and to me this is true whether in the art world or in cooking or in writing or in so many other arenas. Online and offline, my passion for recipes – creating them, discovering them, and sharing them – is joy-bringing, I love being gifted or gifting nice cookbooks too. It has long been a dream of mine to publish one of my own, and this is the year in which that will come to fruition.

Coming back to the South Indian-style roast potatoes, let me just say at the outset that it’s okay to indulge in carbs and a little extra oil sometimes. I try not to do either too often, so when I do I choose my favourites and make sure I relish them. This dish is one I have become such a pro at that I even make the masala at home, powdering and keeping a fair quantity to use as needed. I have shared the recipe for that too, and recommend that you take a little extra time to prepare that too. You’ll taste and smell the difference it makes.

The aroma and flavour truly take me back to my school days, when many of my friends would bring curd rice in their tiffin boxes with roast potatoes on the side. The moment that lunch was unpacked was special: the fragrance of deep-fried, well-seasoned potatoes would rise. It would be irresistible. We loved sharing our lunches, as I’ve shared in earlier posts like this spinach rice recipe.

I will admit: carb-consciousness has made me like potatoes somewhat less now than I used to, or at least eat them less often. But as a child and a teenager, I simply adored them. So much so that when I first started learning how to cook, I told my mom that the first dish I would prepare on my own would feature this ingredient. I had also been inspired by my older brother. When our mom travelled, he would make my sister and I sit in the kitchen and watch as he prepared potato sabzi and roti for us. So at around age 14 or 15, under her supervision, I made a simple sautéed potato dish with barely anything but salt. Salt, heat and oil are all that’s really needed to make a potato taste good, anyhow.

Still, what a long way I have come since that basic fried potato dish! From nothing-but-salt to grinding my own spices, from the easiest way to the elaborate and the innovative. I continue to learn every day, and the journey goes on. I am so glad to have you along on mine, sharing recipes that make life more delicious.

South Indian Roast Potatoes
(Yield: Serves 2)

250 grams potatoes
Salt to taste
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
¼ tsp mustard seeds
½ teaspoon urad dal
¼ tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp asafoetida
A few curry leaves
2-3 tablespoons oil
3-4 Kashmiri red chillies (whole)
2 tablespoons onions (finely chopped)

Spice powder
1 tsp urad dal
½ teaspoon methi seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon channa dal
1 teaspoon oil

Boil, peel and dice the potatoes. Set aside.

In a pan, begin to prepare the spice powder by adding the one teaspoon of oil. Once it has heated, add all the spice powder ingredients and roast until golden. Remove onto a plate and allow to cool. Now blend coarsely and keep ready.

In the same pan, add the 2 tablespoons of oil, and once heated add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and urad dal. Once they turn golden and splutter, add the red chilies, curry leaves and asafoetida.

To this, add the onions first. Sauté and then add the potatoes and the freshly-made spice powder. Sprinkle with salt and turmeric powder. Mix this all together well. Allow to roast until it all comes together well and the potatoes are slightly golden at the bottom.

This dish works as a great accompaniment for dosas, rotis or any kind of rice dish. If you’d like to explore more potato dishes or more South Indian flavours, there’s more in the blog archives where this came from!

 

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Recipe: A Herbal Curd Curry – Methi Kadhi

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On the first Sunday of every month, through my childhood, my mother would make my siblings and I stand in a line and consume a very bitter Ayurvedic powder, which was mixed into a quarter glass of water for each of us. This was a non-negotiable, and we hated it, dreading those Sundays for that very reason. We were forced to drink it up because her claim was that it cleared the stomach of any bugs, infections or worms and contributed to overall good health. I don’t know exactly what was in that powder, which was from a brand that has now long become obsolete, but I presume it contained fenugreek leaves – known in Gujarati as methi – because of the taste, as well as its medicinal potency. It took many years, but eventually I realised my mother was right. I believe her now, and I use methi liberally in my cooking. It even makes its way into a yogurt-based curry known as kadhi. As a result, methi kadhi is both nutritious and tasty.

I have shared a kadhi recipe in the past, and this is a variation that, as mentioned, boosts the healthiness quotient. That recipe contained a few grains of methi, which I also add to various dals, whereas this one utilizes fresh leaves. Fenugreek is extremely beneficial in both seed and leaf form, and is considered by many to be a superfood. A herb that originated in the Mediterranean region, it has been cultivated in India for at least 3000 years and plays a major role in North Indian cuisines. It is known to lower blood sugar and cholesterol, improve digestion and fertility, support the immune system and even enhance skin and hair health.

I mentioned recently that I enjoyed sprouting microgreens as a kid, and methi was among the seeds I used. My sister would also grow hers separately, and we would compare notes. I don’t think we ended up consuming our homegrown herbs, but I do remember the pure joy of seeing the small shoots. Nowadays, I buy the fresh green leaves, but I prepare my own kasoori methi or dried fenugreek powder at home. It is methi season now, and the best place to prepare the powder is at my home in Ahmedabad. The combination of the winter sun and general climate there are ideal for this, whereas Chennai is more humid year-round. The leaves dry up in a day or two. I store them to use through the year, and I make enough for my homes as well as my children’s.

There are two varieties of methi that are generally available. There is one with small, thick leaves that doesn’t grow more than 6 inches, and a bigger, bushier variety. I prefer using the small one when I need fresh leaves, and the bigger one for powdering. While I feel the former is more potent in taste, the yield quantity I require for the powder is better achieved by using the latter.

Kadhis don’t appear on my dining table that frequently, because I prefer to serve dals and lentils daily instead as they contain more protein. In fact, I ate it much more frequently as a child as my father loved it and thus my mother would prepare it very regularly. I myself preferred it to dal back then, and enjoyed it when combined with a plain khichdi. This means that when I prepare any kind of kadhi now, I look forward to it all the more, since the dish was a childhood favourite that has become infrequent.

Methi Kadhi
(Yield: Serves 4)

1 cup yogurt
2 tablespoons besan (split brown chickpea flour)
1½ cups water
1½ cups methi (fenugreek leaves)
1 tablespoon ginger + green chilli paste
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons ghee
Salt to taste
½ teaspoon jeera seeds (cumin)
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
½ teaspoon asafoetida

Take the yogurt in a bowl. Add the besan and water to it, and beat well until there are no lumps. Set aside.

Clean and finely chop the methi leaves. In a kadai, add the oil and once it has heated, add the methi leaves. Sauté until tender. Add the ginger+green chili paste.

To this, add the yoghurt and besan mixture. Add salt and cook until the raw flavour of the flour leaves and the mixture thickens. Stir continuously as it cooks, otherwise it will separate.

Now, prepare the tempering. In a frying pan, add the ghee. Once it has heated, add the jeera, cinnamon stick, cloves and asafoetida. Pour this over the kadhi.

Your methi kadhi is now ready to serve. As mentioned, it pairs perfectly with khichdi.

While there is an Indian belief that curd should be avoided at night and during winter, I would suggest that even if you follow that custom, the use of methi and besan in this kadhi provide a counterbalance. Don’t deprive yourself of this deliciousness, in any season! I may eat less of it now than I did growing up, but I certainly still do!

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Recipe: Packed To Go – Paneer & Mint Paratha

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What has become a challenge for me recently, cooking-wise, is figuring out how to pack nourishing and interesting lunches for the office-goers in my home. While I love having a hot Gujarati thaali ready for them, it isn’t always possible for them to come home mid-day. Sometimes, they have to travel a little far, as is common in India, or the day’s schedule is especially busy. It is always better to have home-cooked food in any case, and I prefer that they do so. This means that quite often lately, my mornings begin with a question: “Oh gosh, what shall I prepare for them today?” This is different from the regular daily musings over what to cook, because time is of the essence. The food has to be packed, and made to suit various likes and dislikes, before they leave. This paneer mint paratha is a recipe that came about to fulfil exactly this need.

I know that some of my readers may wonder why these lunchboxes aren’t prepared in advance, but that is because in India it is customary to cook fresh food each day. It is rarely carried forward, except for specific dishes, such as those in the Second Helpings series that I did long ago. Leftovers are consumed as soon as possible, and innovatively. Even so, fresh, hot, home-cooked food is just a preference and a way of life for most Indians.  I think there are many reasons behind why this is the norm. One is that culturally, we don’t believe in wastage so we tend to cook in exact quantities. More often than not, even if we can afford to waste food, we prefer not to because the high levels of poverty here make an impression on us and make us conscientious. The idea is to cook only as much as is required, consume all of it, and then make more food for the next day.

Coming back to the paneer mint paratha: as I said, it is one among several recipes that I’m able to make fresh in the mornings and pack off with my loved ones for their workday lunches. My own workday therefore begins even earlier than theirs, but I’m fortunate to have household staff who help me cope with the demands of a very active kitchen that functions both for my family as well as for re:store. If you have a similar lifestyle, juggling other people’s schedules and preferences while also working either at home or beyond it, dishes like this will come very handy. The same is true if it’s your own lunchbox that you’re packing for.

A good lunchbox has to have a fair bit of thought behind it. The items in it should keep well and still maintain their taste and texture hours after packing, even if reheating is not possible. Items that may spill need to be very carefully packed. Something like this paratha, which doesn’t require a curry and is flavourful on its own, is a safer bet. That said, some curd or buttermilk on the side rounds out the meal, as does a pickle or chutney. These enhance the experience of eating on the go. I really believe that there should be something to look forward to during such lunch breaks, even if they are short and without frills. Filling the tummy is only one aspect of it. Even if eaten straight out of a lunchbox while pausing for just a few minutes, the meal should be appealing and rejuvenate the person who eats it so that they can carry on with the rest of their busy day.

I also came up with this particular paratha because I’ve been growing some herbs and basic vegetables in my garden, including tomatoes and – you guessed it – mint. These grow fast and are pretty easy to cultivate too. Little experiments like this are a lifelong fascination for me. As a child, I would sprinkle mustard seeds on a steel plate and be fascinated by the little shoots that appeared when I would check on them a few mornings later. That always excited me and made me proud. Now, we call these microgreens and incorporate them into healthy diets. Growing various sprouts or certain herbs ourselves is not difficult at all, even if we don’t have the space to grow plants.

Mint works especially well in summers as it has a cooling effect, but I feel it’s great at any time. It pairs well with so many other ingredients, and always gives a very refreshing touch to a dish. The paneer here can be replaced with peas, for instance. Or you can keep the paneer – that is, retain the protein boost – and include peas too. This is a compact lunch, flavour-packed, healthy and very delicious. Whether you’re eating it on the go or in a more relaxed way at home, you and your family are sure to enjoy it too.

Paneer & Mint Paratha

(Yield: 5 parathas)

Paratha

1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup maida
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons oil
¾ cup water

Filling

1 cup paneer
2 tablespoons mint leaves (finely chopped)
1 tablespoons coriander leaves (finely chopped)
¼ teaspoon aamchur powder
¼ teaspoon chaat masala
½ teaspoon green chili-ginger paste
Salt to taste

Ghee for frying

First, prepare the dough for the paratha. In a bowl, add the flours and the salt. To this, add water. Make a tight and smooth dough. Set aside for at least 30 minutes.

Prepare the filling by adding all the ingredients to a bowl. Mix gently. Set aside.

Now, roll out the dough into 5 balls. You may find that you have some extra, which you can use for plain parathas.

Using the help of some flour, dust 1 ball and roll it out into a disc. Repeat with all five. Place a spoonful of the filling in the centre of each disc and seal the edges by folding the corners of the dough. Gently roll out the filled discs into small parathas.

Heat a griddle on a medium flame, and place a rolled-out paratha on it. Allow to cook on both sides with the help of some ghee. Roast both sides well until golden. Repeat with the remaining parathas.

Your paneer mint parathas are now ready. You may want to serve them hot with pickle or chutney of your choice, or else pack them into a lunchbox that you or a loved one can look forward to, a little later in the day! If you’re a fan of Indian breads, don’t miss my post on different rotis. There are also a range of paneer dishes to explore on the blog.

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Recipe: Warmth For The Season – Spiced Sweet Potato Soup

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For us here in India, this is the time of year when we get lovely, fresh vegetables and fruits throughout the country. Most of them have brief seasons – at most, a couple of months. When we have a period like this when the weather is gentle and the markets are full of just-harvested goodies, it’s a time to be appreciated. Even here in Chennai, it can feel a little chilly in the best way nowadays: the way that calls for soups and warm beverages and a feeling of coziness. Today I am sharing a soup that has its base sweet potato, which is available year-round, but which I feel is especially delicious come December.

This also happens to be that short window between Diwali and Christmas when one isn’t feasting with friends and family, and can therefore focus on more mindful and lighter eating. This spiced sweet potato soup ticks all the boxes. It is given its piquancy through garlic, ginger, pepper and shallots and has the sweetness of its core ingredient elevated through coconut. It is nourishing, filling and perfect to enjoy in this pleasant temperature. Ginger is a warming ingredient, which is just what is needed. It’s important to eat appropriately for the weather, and Nature tends to give us exactly the kind of produce we need for specific times and climes.

It really is such a pleasure to pick out ingredients for a soup, which is a dish that can contain just about anything. I’ve chosen very simple and accessible ingredients for this one, but you can play around and come up with a recipe or a style that suits your tastes. The sweet potato is baked before blending, so if you follow the method below, you could choose to replace it with carrot or pumpkin, or any other vegetable from their families.

Truly, and not just for this recipe but for any cooking you do at all, there is such a treasure trove of harvests to explore out there. I’ve been taking quite a lot of domestic flights lately, and I think many of us are flying within the country more than ever before, for work, for leisure, or to visit loved ones. Wherever I travel, I head to the markets and explore what is seasonal and local there. For instance, I just returned from Ahmedabad with bags full of lovely vegetables that we don’t get in Chennai, along with lots of fresh lentils and millets that are grown in Gujarat. It is similar wherever I go. I find it such a thrill to visit a bustling vegetable and fruit market, no matter where I am, and even if I don’t make any purchases (since not everything can be carted back), I will at least be photographing the produce. I admire them and enjoy the colours and scents and even learning about the crop through talking to people. I usually either come away with something I can cook with once I’m back home, or else with images that preserve the memory of that trip forever. I also sometimes return with my curiosity piqued. For example, I’ve been seeing water chestnuts lately but don’t really know how to use them except in a salad. I’m eager to find out how, and will share a recipe if I hit on something really good.

Speaking of memories, soups weren’t really a big part of my growing years, because they don’t suit the Chennai weather for most of the year. Now, of course, our palates have become more diverse and we have begun enjoying not only warm soups like this one, but even cold ones like gazpacho! It’s all about picking the right one based on time, place and occasion.

Sweet Potato & Ginger Soup

(Serves 2)

2 cups chopped sweet potato
6-8 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon minced ginger
5-6 shallots
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste
¼ teaspoon pepper powder
1 tin coconut milk
1-2 cups vegetable broth

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the sweet potato, shallots, ginger and garlic cloves on a baking tray. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle olive oil. Mix using your fingers.

Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and slightly charred.

Remove the tray from the oven and once the sweet potato, shallots and garlic have cooled a little, blend them in a mixer jar along with the coconut milk and 1 cup of vegetable broth. Use more if making a larger quantity.

Remove from the jar. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper if required.

Top it off with a squeeze of lime if you would like to add more tang. Garnish the soup to your preference (I used coriander leaves and roasted pumpkin seeds). Your spiced sweet potato is ready to serve, and just right for the season! You can explore more of my soup recipes here.

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Recipe: The Scent of Childhood – Rose Shortbread Cookies

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Every time our uncle visited from the USA when we were growing up, he would hand my siblings and I a beautiful, round, dark blue tin filled with shortbread cookies. When the tin was opened, these lovely and aromatic delights would be layered inside. As children, we waited for these treats every year and we would inevitably start fighting over them before dividing them up between the three of us. The emptied tin itself was a thing of joy, and never discarded. These precious memories made me smile recently, as I began planning ahead for my Christmas baking here at re:store. I decided to put a batch of rose shortbread cookies in the oven for old times’ sake, and I wanted for you to be able to do the same too.

Do you remember those cookies from far away too? Many of us grew up with these tins of shortbread cookies, and both the contents as well as the packaging itself have a nostalgic quality for us. They are a favourite of my mother-in-law as well, as they were enjoyed by her generation when they were younger, too. It’s funny how our love for this cookie has travelled through generations. My grown-up kids love them, I love them, and their grandmother loves them. Perhaps it is similar in your family as well. Nowadays, I visit London often and buy shortbread cookies there every time. There is something about bringing them back from a trip that just feels special.

There is also a bakery in Pune that makes shortbread cookies that are almost like the European original. These have their own distinct taste, but I would say they are a close cousin. Relatives coming from there sometimes bring me a box of these. That’s right: a box rather than those classic tins are what cookies tend to be packaged in in many places nowadays.

That takes us back to the tins themselves. Back when the cookies were annual gifts from my uncle, I would save the tins and keep various things in it. Handkerchiefs, stationery, school items and so on would go into them. Each time I opened one, the scent of the cookies – already eaten and enjoyed – would still rise from it for quite some time after. That scent itself would make me anticipate my uncle’s next visit, year after year, and it would also seep into whatever I kept in the tin.

I will let you in on a secret: I enjoy collecting anything kitchen-related, and can be a bit of a hoarder when it comes to such objects. So I still have a few of those old cookie tins in my home. When I bake shortbread cookies, I pull a lovely dark blue tin out, line it and store my own homemade cookies in it too. They then evoke the childhood experience all the more. And that lovely buttery, sugary, freshly-baked fragrance is once again retained in that tin for some time after, with any knick-knacks stored in it taking on that aroma too.

Receiving them as a gift is wonderful, and baking them at home brings an equally good feeling. They may not turn out quite like the store-bought ones, but they will be imbued with the joy of making a treat from scratch, which is a pleasure of its own. You can also add personal touches that suit your preferences: for instance, the addition of rose to this recipe is my own take, incorporating a beloved ingredient into the treat.  Often, when I eat something that I really love that is a bit difficult to make, I take it up as a challenge to achieve the perfect flavour and taste – or at least the perfect flavour and taste for my version, to be replicated and enjoyed many times over. That’s how it was with these rose shortbread cookies too, and I think that that is the right spirit to approach any cooking and baking in general!

Rose Shortbread Cookies

250 grams cold unsalted butter
50 grams powdered sugar
115 grams sugar
1 heaped teaspoon salt
250 grams maida
2 teaspoons rose water
2 tablespoons rose petals

Using a hand blender or a stand-mixer, beat the butter in a bowl until it is soft. Now, add both sugars along with the salt. Beat for 2 minutes or until the mixture is fluffy and has risen. Add the flour slowly, little by little, and beat on low. Now, add the rose water.

Once it comes together, using your fingertips, fold the dough gently.

Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 24 hours before using. You could also freeze the dough for 3-4 hours before using.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 160°C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Make 2 balls of the dough and roll one out to ½ – ¾ inch thickness. Using a cutter, cut into the desired shape. Making sure the cookie dough shapes don’t become too thin else they will spread while baking. Sprinkle rose petals on top.

Gather all remaining bits of the dough and repeat with the other ball.

Arrange the cut cookies in a tray, keeping a distance between each, as they will spread while baking.

Bake until golden. Keep a close watch and make sure they don’t turn too dark or remain partially baked.

Remove the tray from the oven. Allow the cookies to cool in the tray for about 10 minutes. Then, remove and place in airtight tins.

These shortbread cookies are delightful on their own, or with tea. They are sure to evoke some fond memories for you – and perhaps be a part of new ones that you’ll make with your loved ones too. For more baked goodies, do check out my blog archive. If you’re in Chennai and are looking for some special treats for Christmas and New Year, do explore the re:store menu and get in touch!

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Recipe: A Healthy Start To The Day – Hummus Toast With Veggies

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Trying to incorporate a lot of protein into my meals is how this hummus toast loaded with veggies came into being. It’s just perfect for right after my workout, when I’m most hungry. Putting it together is easy on mornings when there has been hummus and pita bread at home for dinner the previous evening. The leftover hummus is put to good use with this lovely toast, or else eaten as a snack with fruit later in the day.

Hummus originated in West Asia and is a versatile dish which utilises protein-rich chickpeas. I have shared two very appetizing hummus recipes on this blog so far. If you would like to make the hummus rather than buy it, you could choose from this coriander hummus or this curry leaf and green chilli hummus. For a plain and basic hummus, just eliminate the flavouring ingredients from the recipe.

The boost of protein aside, another reason why I enjoy this hummus toast with veggies as my morning meal is probably because of the novelty factor. It is so different from the kind of breakfasts that I grew up with, and I often find myself dreaming about travels past and future when I prepare something from another cuisine. Instagram also inspires me, and I love learning about dishes from everywhere, and figuring out how to fit them into my repertoire at home.

While authentic Indian breakfasts are absolutely wonderful, and traditionally wove the logic of seasonality into them, they also tend to be carb-heavy. I am not trying to find fault with them at all, for I understand that they were primarily designed for people from historical periods when everyone needed to labour a lot more, and usually had much less to consume or choose from. But as we move with the times, we need to adjust these diets to suit our contemporary needs. Now, for our present lifestyles, we need fewer carbohydrates and much more protein. I still remain an advocate of Indian cuisine, but I am equally a believer in adapting, evolving and exploring!

You can use any chopped salad as a topping for this toast, although I’ve suggested my preferred ingredients below. I’d also like to share a tip about cutting vegetables. In the morning, I make sure that my vegetables are finely chopped because I have a tendency to gobble breakfast up as quickly as possible post-workout. Knowing this about myself means that I not only cut my vegetables in a certain way at that time, but also that I cut them differently for my lunch preparations. When cooking for the afternoon meal, the vegetable slices are always larger in size, so that I take my time to chew them properly and digest them better. Small changes like these make us more mindful about both cooking and eating. It’s all about calibrating our choices so that they suit us well.

Hummus Toast With Veggies

1 slice sourdough bread
2 tablespoons hummus
Salad (as per recipe below, or make your own)
1 tablespoon olive oil

Veggies
¼ cup parsley (finely chopped)
¼ cup coriander leaves (finely chopped)
¼ cup cucumber (finely chopped)
2 tablespoons onions (finely chopped)
Salt to taste

Toast a slice of sourdough bread. Add the dollop of hummus and spread it over the toast.

Put all the finely chopped salad ingredients in a bowl and mix.

Sprinkle the salad over the hummus on toast. Finally, drizzle some olive oil. Your hummus toast with veggies is now ready to be enjoyed.

I have shared many toasties here on this blog. You probably know that I am a big fan of sourdough, based on how often I have used it in recipes here. It tastes fantastic on the day it is baked but turns hard by the following day, which is when it becomes ideal for toasties. So this hummus on toast with veggies joins that list too, bringing more pep – and of course, more protein – into my mornings, and hopefully yours too!

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Recipe: Soothing The System – Simple Bajra Khichdi

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Here in India, with Diwali having just gone by, we are now officially post-festive. Having eaten all the yummy goodies we can – which included, I hope, some of the recipes I have shared here, alongside your own family specialties – it is now time for a bit of detoxing. Leaning towards lighter meals after the festivities, as well as fasting beforehand, are parts of our culinary traditions too. A simple bajra khichdi is exactly the kind of dish that tends to be preferred at this time, soothing the body after all the feasting, and it is what I’m sharing today.

It is necessary after festivities to streamline one’s diet so as to give one’s digestive system a rest. In general too, eating mindfully is a sensible choice. I want to emphasize here that detoxing is not about shedding weight. To me, that is not important. What is important is listening to one’s body, removing from one’s consumption habits what doesn’t suit it, and maintaining one’s health. Season-based eating habits are obviously a part of this.

Even up to my mother’s generation, the cycle of fasting first so that the body is prepared for feasting, feasting during the celebrations, followed by eating very simple food, was just a part of the rituals and traditions. They didn’t give it much thought, even though to us today it seems to be highly intentional. Perhaps it will help to remember that the concept of detoxing is nothing new. The only difference is that so much is available to us 24/7 nowadays that restraint becomes a choice, and moderation was not a way of life as it was earlier. That said, one definite improvement is that more and more of us are learning how to use the right bins when disposing of kitchen and other waste, aware that our consumption doesn’t end with eating or tossing.

I want to linger on the subject of detoxing, not only in terms of food but taking a more holistic perspective. It is something I think about a lot myself, and try to inculcate in various aspects of my life. Now that I am older and more conscious of the surroundings – and here I mean especially about pollution and the planet, a topic that I’ve written about before – the necessity for curbing excess and being mindful feels stronger than ever. I believe I speak for many of us, for I know from conversations I’ve been having that a desire for more simplicity and less consumption is something that we have been feeling collectively.

I’m thinking therefore of detoxing as a sort of umbrella term, encompassing one’s body, one’s home, one’s relationships, one’s schedule – life itself, really. Let me use a small and practical example here: I have been detoxing my wardrobe. This means removing items I don’t require, and learning how to purchase wisely so that fewer pieces that have more longevity and can be valued over time are selected over quantity. I want to buy less and hoard less. I tell my family, some of whom have big shopping habits, “You must enjoy and appreciate beauty, but that does not mean you should own all the beauty you enjoy.”

This thought applies equally to nature, and how we operate as travellers. When we visit a place, we must remember that preserving it is more important than simply taking it in for our own pleasure.

Then there is shedding negativity, both within ourselves and in terms of whom we choose to have in our circles. This can be quite complicated, but it is also an essential part of well-being, for we do absorb others’ energies.

There are so many aspects of our lives that could do with occasional detoxification, and food just happens to be one of the more obvious ones. Coming back to this simple bajra khichdi, it is a satisfying dish that is full of goodness and nutrients. It contains bajra or pearl millet, which is a preferred grain in Indian winters as it takes longer to metabolize and therefore helps keep us warm. It is also high in iron. I have spoken about these facts before, and encourage you to explore more bajra and millet recipes on this blog. For now, this one is just right for this time of year, both in terms of season and in terms of our social calendars!

 

Simple Bajra Khichdi

(Serves: 2-4)

1 cup broken bajra grains (pearl millet)
½ cup yellow mung dal
3 cups water
2 tablespoons ghee
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon asafoetida
1 green chilli

If you’re unable to find broken bajra, just blend coarsely or even hand pound the grain. Rinse and soak the bajra along with the yellow mung dal for at least 4-6 hours.

Change the soaking water, then pressure cook, adding the salt and turmeric, along with 3 cups of water. Use less if required. Cook until the grains are tender and the consistency is soft.

Heat a kadai. Add ghee, cumin seeds and asafoetida. Once the cumin seeds splutter, add the green chilli and the cooked bajra. Stir until the ghee is well mixed.

Your khichdi is now ready to be served hot. I would pair it with kadhi. This will make for a very filling lunch or dinner, and it definitely in the comfort food category in every way!

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Recipe: A Diwali Take On A Daily Treat – Gujarati Thaali

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The thaali as a concept is very common across Indian households. It is basically a meal with a variety of components, and the composition of each thaali varies depending on the region. It used to be a daily affair in many households, but in contemporary times more and more people have opted for lighter or more quickly prepared meals with fewer dishes involved. There is still a Gujarati thaali served in my home for lunch every day, but as my adult children set up their homes, I don’t see this happening. The thaali then becomes much more occasional and deliberate, and perhaps even festive. For that reason, I felt it would be ideal to share what goes into a Gujarati thaali with Diwali just a few days away.

A Gujarati thaali essentially contains roti, rice, a grain, a kachumber (which is a kind of salad), one or two vegetable dishes and a sweet. These are the basic elements. In my home, I do a rather non-traditional thing and eliminate the sweet dish more often than not. However, on special occasions like my mother-in-law’s birthday, a shrikhand will be included in the thaali. If I am doing trials ahead of sharing dessert recipes for this blog, those will show up there too. There’s an exception to this no-sweet tweak: when it’s mango season, aamras (sweet mango pulp), will be present on a daily basis. Of late, I am offering seva to Shrinathji at home, which means that there is prasadam once a week, and this goes into our thaalis too.

This brings in novelty now and then. The regular thaali can also be made more exciting with the addition of something like sabudana vada, paniyaram or yam chips, which can be prepared ahead of time and served again at tea-time as snacks. I tend to avoid fried goodies in my thaali, but these little things can make lunch more worth looking forward to now and then.

The regular thaali itself can be something really important. It is said that eating together itself holds families together, and I am a believer in this adage too. When it comes to something like a thaali, or any meal that is put together on a daily basis, it therefore becomes a part of the bonds that a family shares. My husband works nearby, so it is convenient for him to pop home for lunch on most days. My children are all far away, but when they come home, there is always a hot thaali available at lunch, and while they may have something else prepared if they prefer, the traditional option is always available.

I am so glad that my kids still honour a request we made when they first moved away, which is that they all return home for certain special occasions. They are made all the more special because of the effort taken. After all, that’s what family is about – taking that extra step to bond and to build love that holds for generations to come.

That brings us back to the festivities. Diwali happens to be one of those celebrations that we all gather together for, which is one of many reasons why it is one of my favourite festivals. I’m eagerly anticipating how in just a few days, over the dining table, there is going to be so much camaraderie, noise, chatter, shouting, fighting and affection – each in the right portions, exactly like a thaali should be presented too. Our Diwali lunches are one of the highlights of the year, and an elaborate thaali is always served. Having this experience, year after year, is something I wouldn’t trade for the world. This is the spread in the thaali this year: peas pulao, bottle gourd thepla, raita bhindi, mixed dal, simple salad, potato roast and of course the once-annual laapsi for dessert. I am happy to share this year’s thaali with you too. Most of these recipes have already been shared over the years, and are linked below along with two new ones for your enjoyment.

I would also like to take this auspicious moment to share something that I’ve been working on for a while. This year, this blog turned 8 years old, and it has really been a journey of growth, discovery and enjoyment. Over time, I have grown in my conviction about my own work, encouraged by well-wishers like you. I am happy to share that I will soon release a cookbook, featuring selected recipes from this blog along with an array of new ones. I want it to be a keepsake that can be passed from hand to hand and from kitchen to kitchen. First and foremost, it is so that my children will have something solid through which to reminisce about their growing years and their family, and to replicate some of their comfort foods and festive favourites. Beyond that, my book will also be for you – and for everyone who loves the experience of preparing a meal. I’ll share more about this project in the coming months. In the meanwhile, I wish you and yours a wonderful Diwali!

Gujarati Thaali

Bottle Gourd Thepla

Mixed Dal

Salad [make a simple one of your choice; for more elaborate ones, see the archive]

Roast Potatoes

Laapsi

Peas Pulao

1 cup cooked basmati rice
1-inch stick cinnamon
2 cloves
1 cardamom
1 star anise
Salt to taste
½ cup cooked/tender green peas
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon ghee

Heat a pan. Add the ghee and once it is hot, add cumin seeds. Once they splutter, add the cinnamon, star anise, cloves and cardamom.

Sauté and then add cooked green peas, cooked basmati rice and salt. Mix well and gently until it all comes together. Your peas pulao is ready.

Bhindi Raita

1 cup curd
¼ cup finely sliced bhindi (okra/lady’s finger)
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons coconut pieces
1 green chilli
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon + ¼ teaspoon oil
¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
2-3 dry red chillies

In a blender jar, grind together the coconut, green chilli and cumin seeds until coarse. Set aside.

Heat a pan and add ½ teaspoon oil. To this, add the finely sliced bhindi. Allow to cook on a low flame until the vegetable is golden and slightly tender on both sides.

In another bowl, add the curd with the ground coconut-green chilli-cumin mixture, along with salt. Mix well. Add the sautéed okra and mix gently. Refrigerate until serving.

In a heated pan, add the remaining oil, mustard seeds and red chilli. Temper and pour on top of the raita before serving.

Whether you make all the dishes at once and serve them on a thaali, or try them out one by one, I hope that you’ll find much delight in this year’s Gujarati-style Diwali thaali!

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Recipe: For Both Fasting & Feasting – Sabudana Vada

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Maharashtra and Gujarat are neighbouring Indian states, so there is a great deal that is shared between them. Many Gujaratis migrated to Bombay in generations prior and adapted to its culture, as a part of my family did too, and certain customs overlap as a result. A similar climate means that certain types of produce are grown in both places, which then of course go into the cuisines. Like poha, the sabudana vada is a dish that originates in Maharashtra but is often thought of as Gujarati because it is a staple for us too.

Sabudana vada is a deep-fried delight with a mashed potato base, and with sago pearls (made from taro root) added to it. Something that is unique about it is that it is a dish that is popular during certain kinds of religious fasts, but it is also so tasty that it makes its way into festive arrays as well. With Navaratri just having come to a close this year, and with Diwali not far away, it’s the perfect time to enjoy this crispy snack.

While I definitely encountered sabudana vada during childhood travels to Bombay, to me its most resonant memories from my growing years are from life at home in Chennai, where it was a dish that my mother prepared very often. Specifically, it was one of the few dishes that she consumed during her customary fast on the 11th day of each month, known as “agiyaras”. Other ritual-related specialties would include buckwheat or barnyard millet (“moraiyo”), depending on the event, the season and so on. There were also certain kinds of fasts in which grains were to be avoided, in which case the sabudana vada was perfect.

For any fast in which a single meal could be consumed during the day, such as on agiyaras, the starchiness of sabudana vada would offer energy through the day. It would be had alongside some form of dairy. I would enjoy these meals along with my mother while I was growing up, although I did not myself fast. She was also very connected to the Gujarati community in the city, and I would go with her when she went to the temple.

In this way, she inculcated certain traditions in me that I still have great admiration for. I have tried to pass them on to my children as well, even while I respect that they are free to choose the religious or spiritual paths that call to them – if they choose any at all. I have always felt that it is important for them to be aware of what is there, and what we as a family have believed in for generations. No matter what they decide on when they are older and wiser, a grounding exists that they can return to if they feel it is right for them.

This is because while I have an expansive definition of spirituality, I have found that the grounding that I had because of my own upbringing has given me a great deal. For instance, I take very seriously a ritual that I perform at home, which is the worship of Srinathji. I believe in the value system of family, which is why I accepted Him graciously into my home, and I follow closely all the practical customs. This is a part of my legacy from my parents, and I hope that it will be carried on through future generations. My children have observed these rituals of mine just as I observed my own mother’s devotion all those years ago.

I experience spirituality in other ways too, but this is the practical ritual that happens in my home daily. It is “seva”, or service, and I do it sincerely. The link between food and faith is also something that I contemplate. For instance: fasting and feasting always go hand in hand in communities around the world. There are so many beautiful customs out there in which abstinence and prayer are followed by celebrations – and all the deliciousness that come with these. All festivals have religious origins, even if they are more secular and may have other significance nowadays.

Still, whether you are fasting, feasting or simply having fun, this sabudana vada is a beautiful addition to your repertoire.

Sabudana Vada

(Yield: 15-20 pieces)

1 cup sabudana (sago pearls)
2 medium size potatoes
1 tablespoon green chili-ginger paste
Salt to taste
2 teaspoons sugar
Juice of 1 lime
3 tablespoons peanuts (coarsely ground)
1 tablespoon coriander leaves (finely chopped)
Oil for frying

Soak the sabudana for 4-5 hours. Drain for at least 1 hour. Set aside.

Boil and then mash the potatoes while they are warm. To this, add the drained sabudana.

Then, add the salt, sugar, lemon juice, green chili-ginger paste, coriander leaves and peanuts. Using your hands, blend everything until the mixture comes together.

Now, make discs from this mixture of 3-inch diameter and 1-inch thickness.

Heat the oil in a kadai and drop each vada gently into the hot oil. Allow to cook until golden and turn over. Make sure both sides are well cooked and brown. Drain on a tissue paper.

Serve with a chutney or sauce of your choice. I really wish I knew the recipes of all the incredible Maharastrian chutneys that sabudana vadas are served with in Mumbai. I would love to learn, and am excited about the trial-and-error process. If you happen to know some, drop me an email at indulgeatrestore@gmail.com or a DM on Instagram, won’t you?

Sabudana also features in a khichdi-like stir fry that is another favourite of mine. I have yet to master it in the way my mother had, but once I do, you can be sure that I will share that recipe with you too.

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Recipe: Charmed Out Of My Bias – Caramelized Bananas

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The festive season is about to begin here in India, and sweets galore are going to be produced, shared and consumed across the length and breadth of the country. It will be almost impossible to avoid consuming significant amounts of sugar at this time, but aside from moderation, we can also tweak the dessert offerings in our own homes and serve sweet but balanced treats. This will add a touch of novelty too. These caramelized bananas are a perfect addition to a more thoughtful celebratory menu.

Bananas provide not only a great sugar rush, but they are high in potassium and kept on hand by many gym-goers as they replenish electrolytes. Living in a country that produces over a quarter of the world’s bananas, and especially in a region where the plant is prevalent everywhere, my exposure to the fruit and the plant are certainly high. The plant itself is one of my favourites, and is beautiful to look at. I frequently use the stems and flowers in dishes, such as this banana stem buttermilk. I do bake the fruit into a loaf now and then, or cook it in a kela nu shaak but to tell you the truth, I am personally not a great fan of it. The fact that I thoroughly enjoy these caramelized bananas is therefore a testament to their tastiness.

The first time I had them was on a surprise holiday with my husband. We went on a really long trek wherein we got lost. Two hours later, we found the little spot that we were supposed to reach, and here, the organizers of the journey prepared a freshly-made picnic for us. It is difficult to carry a lot of items on a tedious hike, so the meal contained simple ingredients. Bananas, being such a portable fruit and good for after a workout like an outdoor trek, were a practical part of the menu, in the form of this dessert.

Despite everything I said earlier in praise of the fruit’s nutritional qualities, my longstanding dislike usually trumps my desire to consume it. Still, a few bites of this dish during that picnic were all it took to charm me. You can imagine my surprise when I found myself carefully observing as more caramelized bananas were being prepared, mentally noting how to make them myself later! They were made in a jiffy, too. I knew right then that I’d found a lovely dessert that would be easy and quick to make, and possibly healthier than most traditional treats.

I believe what made me like them so much was the use of cinnamon and other spices, which flavoured my far-from-favourite fruit in a lovely way. Who knew that a fruit we take for granted and a few ingredients common to an Indian kitchen could result is something so delightful?

Caramelized Bananas

(Serves 2)

1 tablespoon butter
2 small bananas (cut lengthwise)
¼ cup sugar (use less if you prefer)
3 tablespoons water
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon grated ginger
A pinch of salt

Heat a flat pan. Add sugar and allow it to melt. Once it has melted, add water and stir continuously so it all comes together. Now, add the ginger, cinnamon powder and salt and keep stirring.

While the sugar is melting, heat another pan and add the butter. Once it melts, place the sliced bananas on the pan and allow them to turn golden on both sides.

When the sugar syrup is ready, add it to the bananas. The mixture will splutter so be careful. Sauté for a minute on a medium to high flame. Turn off the flame and allow to cool a little.

Serve with fresh cream, or just on their own.

These caramelized bananas really changed the way I think of bananas for the better. They are such a simple dessert. I can attest that they satisfied someone who doesn’t even enjoy the fruit, which says a lot about how tasty they are!

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