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Recipe: An Eggs-cellent Breakfast – Egg Stir-Fry

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As I’ve been whining over so many recent posts, I’m on a stay-off-carbs personal menu and this can sometimes be quite a challenge! The key is in creating meals that are not only healthy but also delicious, even as one watches what one eats. Here is another recipe in this category, a breakfast egg stir-fry that I have quite often.

While eggs are what I usually make this dish with, I sometimes substitute them with paneer or tofu, depending on the mood of the morning. The lovely part of this recipe is that whether you make it a vegan one or an egg-based one, it gives you a protein high that will carry you through your tasks all the way till lunch time. It’s perfect for a post work-out breakfast, and it also happens to be grain-free – just what the doctor prescribed!

It is said that a high protein diet helps you cut down on your sugar cravings. I’ve seen this proved true, in terms of my body’s own requirements. It’s no secret that I have an incredible sweet tooth, as the plethora of desserts I’ve shared will show you, if not my penchant for baking for others. Let me let you in on something: there was a time when I used to bake a tiny little cupcake using the batter of every cake order, under the pretext of ‘tasting’ it. Needless to say, that was quite a few tiny little cupcakes enjoyed, all in the name of quality control! I no longer do this, and I suspect that including more protein in my morning meal may well be the reason why.

That’s not to say that I restrict myself. I only mean that I no longer have an irrepressible sweet tooth. When I do indulge myself, it is mindfully done. The lovely variety of cake orders I’ve been fulfilling lately – a celebratory red velvet, a vegan vanilla lavender, a sugar-free date, an eggless almond – have certainly inspired me to make those tiny little cupcakes on the side for myself too. One should give in to temptation now and then, as long as it is within the limits of one’s overall healthy eating plan. If you feel like a slice or two of cake, I’d be more than happy to bake you one, and you’re welcome to tease me about the tiny cupcake on the side. Get in touch!

There are always reasons why our bodies crave any kind of food, be it sugar or spice or something else altogether. Listen to your body, understand what it’s really asking for, and give it the right nourishment. As is famously said, you are what you eat.

To return to the subject of our protein cravings and needs, it isn’t true that vegetarians or vegans have trouble meeting this quotient. I tend to eat a largely vegetarian or vegan diet, but flexibly so. Whether I put eggs, tofu or paneer into this dish is entirely a question of that day’s likes or dislikes. I’m a moody eater, and can be put off even by favourite ingredients for phases, just as I can be obsessive about certain ingredients for phases. I find that listening to my body’s likes and dislikes is a part of healthy eating, and it’s a skill I learned slowly. Healthy eating is never just about the ingredients or portions alone.

Egg Stir-Fry

(Serves 2)

 

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup finely chopped onions

3 boiled eggs (sliced)

2 cups chopped veggies (broccoli, bell peppers)

Salt to taste

½ teaspoon amchur powder (optional)

½ teaspoon garam masala

1 pinch of turmeric

½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder

¼ teaspoon black pepper powder

A generous sprinkling of coriander leaves

Heat a pan and add the olive oil. Now, add the onions and vegetables. Many vegetables complement eggs, so add whatever you prefer. Personally, I avoid starchy ones and use bell peppers and broccoli quite often. It’s a combination I like, and so I usually stick to it. Tomatoes are also a good choice, so do toss them in if you enjoy them.

Stir on a high flame until golden, then add the spices.

Mix well. Finally, add the boiled eggs. Garnish with the coriander leaves, and serve. Enjoy this delicious start to your day!

If you’re a fan of eggs, you may also want to try out a somewhat more extravagant (or should that be eggs-travagant?) and extremely filling Middle Eastern/North African dish known as the shakshouka, my recipe for which I shared here. As always, I’d love to know your thoughts!

 

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Recipe: Brass Tacks Comfort – Simple Khichdi

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Rounding off this series of grain-based, khichdi-like dishes is the simplest, most quotidian version of all: a frequent-use Gujarati-style khichdi. If you’d like to catch up first, we began the series with the work-intensive and tummy-filling seven-grain khichdo and then went on to the versatile breakfast/dinner meal of bajra ghensh). Today, we come to an extremely basic dish, one that is sheer comfort food. What I’ve come to see over the years is that meals that one takes for granted in one’s own home are sometimes novelties in another’s. This is why I often share unassumingly familiar recipes alongside original and unusual ones. This classic khichdi is one among the former category.

Like many staples that are good for our health, khichdi is the kind of dish that kids turn their noses up at. At least, my siblings and I just hated it were growing up. So our mother would negotiate a lot of deals to work around our aversion. In those days, all our food was homemade, so this would take some extra effort on her part. If there was going to be khichdi for dinner, she’d serve something exotic that she learnt at her Continental cuisine or baking classes for lunch. We also cottoned on to the strategy: if there was a special snack in the evening without it being an occasion or a holiday, we knew she was going to put a bowl of khichdi on the table for dinner!

As adults though, it’s a different story. Our palates change and we begin to enjoy food that is good for us, feeling the difference in our bodies when we consume it. In fact, this subcontinental staple (which is eaten in similar forms like pongal in South India) is so relished that it even caught the fancy of the British during the colonial era. They enjoyed a version with fish, a dish they called “kedgeree”, and popularised it in England for a time. It was an import similar to mulligatawny soup, which came from the Tamil dish called molaga-thanni. Some form of khichdi is believed to have been eaten in this part of the world since ancient times, but the recipe reached its pinnacle in the kitchens of the Mughal empire, where its richly spiced and garnished versions are recorded as having been among the favourites dishes of various rulers.

For us at home though, khichdi is neither fancy nor fishy. Every single Gujarati household consumes this khichdi as a comfort food, as well as a frequent meal. During festive seasons or after important occasions like weddings, when the feasting is in full flow, someone or the other will finally say, “Bas (‘enough’), make khichdi today.” That is shorthand for being done with heavy meals, and wanting something that will make the gut smile.

In fact, when I say it is comfort food, I mean that quite literally. It’s the dish that is most commonly made in a home that has just undergone a bereavement, when the family just needs something basic to meet their nutritional needs as they tend to the necessary rituals. Most likely because of its association with grieving, khichdi is never served during celebrations. After them, certainly, as I mentioned above. But never as part of a special event. Neither is it served while entertaining guests. It is very much something that is all about family and simplicity. As we rarely get to encounter another family’s khichdi, I can only guess that the variations between recipes must be innumerable.

So no, khichdi is not special. That’s the best thing about it. It’s a brass tacks dish that gives the body the basics, and uses ingredients that are likely to be in the kitchen at all times. It is comprised mostly of moong dal and rice, with a bit of salt, turmeric and ghee. If it is served with accompaniments, crispy pappads and a bit of kadhi are usually enough. Some potato curry or other vegetable may round out the meal more, if desired. I’ve mentioned kadhi, a type of gravy, a couple of times recently. I’ll be sure to share the recipe for that soon.

Another recipe I will share soon will be for theplas that use leftover khichdi. As I’ve said before: cuisines across all communities in India are innovative when it comes to leftovers. We see poverty everywhere in our country and respect food, acknowledging it as a blessing from God. This in turn becomes a part of our religions too, which discourage food wastage.

Simple Khichdi

(Yield: 2 persons)

 

75 grams rice

25 grams split mung beans

3 cups water to soak

2 cups water to cook

Salt to taste

¼ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

2 tablespoons ghee

 

Wash and soak the rice and dal together for approximately ½ an hour to an hour. I have used split mung beans, but you can try this with other variants including pigeon pea/toor dal. Doing so will change the khichdi somewhat. Toor dal grains will separate like rice does, whereas split mung beans will create a thicker concoction.

Once soaked, discard the soaking water. Place the rice and dal in a pressure cooker along with the cooking water. Use a medium flame. Allow to cook for approximately 20 minutes or 3 whistles, or until the grains are tender and soft to touch.

Allow the pressure to decrease, then open the cooker.

In a small pan, add ghee. Once it is hot, add the cumin seeds. Let them fry until they change colour. Add this cumin-filled ghee to the khichdi. Stir gently and serve hot.

This grain series concludes with this simple and flavoursome recipe. I hope you’ve enjoyed trying out the gamut, from the work-intensive, “holiday special” seven-grain khichdo to the nourishing breakfast that is bajra ghensh, to this basic khichdi that is the ultimate go-to dish. Traditional Gujarati cuisine is something I’ve delved into many times on this blog, and I hope you’ll have a delicious time exploring a wide range of meals, snacks and desserts that I’ve shared here over the years.

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Recipe: A High-Powered, Low-Profile Legume – Horse Gram Dal

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Sometimes it happens that I chance upon a wonderful dish somewhere, and as I’m never shy about asking for recipes, I decide to find out exactly how to replicate it myself. But then, the story of how that dish wound up at that table turns out to be more complicated, and I’m unable to get to the source. There was a horse gram dal that I had at a friend’s house once, but it had been made by someone else and I didn’t have access to the original recipe. I was intrigued not just by its fine taste, but also by the use of a legume that I’ve encountered relatively rarely. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that dal since, and between my inability to obtain a recipe and my own culinary inquisitiveness, I set forth on a series of trials to create a version that I would want to serve – and to eat! – again and again.

Fortunately for me, I had an accomplice in this endeavour. We have a new cook at home, Prem, who shares the kitchen space with me. He is a wonderful chap, and we’ve been getting used to each others’ styles and quirks. I am very particular about who enters my kitchen, and the cryptic but tangible measure of “good energy” is extremely important for me. He definitely has that. The problem though? He is as meticulous as I am, maybe even more so. He talks constantly and questions everything I do, because of which I call him my second mother-in-law. He rattles off 25 questions about each thing, and nags me about certain details, with food wastage being a pet peeve of his. When I arrange something on the shelves, he’ll come in two minutes later and rearrange it to his own preference. I tease him for his pedantic nature, and he teases me back. I’m not complaining; the kitchen has not become a battleground at all, but is now a space for shared experimentation. We came up with this horse gram dal recipe together. In fact, to give credit where it’s due, it’s more his than mine.

I must add this suspicion here: I think there may be a secret ingredient that he adds to this dish once I’ve stepped out of the kitchen, but you know how determined I am when it comes to cracking a recipe! I think I’ve done it, and between him and I, we have pretty much perfected it. This wonderful dish has actually made me forget what the original horse gram dal I enjoyed at my friend’s home tasted like. Now, this is the only rendition I know, and it’s served in my home several times a week. You may recall from my recent Gujarati dal recipe that toor dal is very beloved in my home. It’s been quite exciting to introduce a new dal that actually challenges the multi-generational staple!

While doing a little research on horse gram, especially since it’s an ingredient that strangely enough isn’t a staple itself, I was tickled to find that it is also called Madras gram! In Tamil, it’s known as “kollu”, and it seems that it is native to the subcontinent and has its own names in various Indian languages (it takes its English name from its prevalence in horse feed, where it was used because it gave the animals such a boost of energy, just as it does for us). In terms of health quotient, horse gram is high in iron and protein, and is used in traditional medicine systems to help treat kidney ailments, mumps and jaundice. It’s certainly a legume that we could all be eating more of. So I would also like to use it in more dishes, and if you’re open to sharing your recipes, you know that I’m all ears!

Perhaps it is just like so many other traditional foods that have slowly been declining in common usage. As a sustainability and authentic food revival enthusiast (as I’ve discussed various times on this blog, such as in this black sticky rice pudding recipe) this has me very intrigued. Do you use horse gram in your cooking? I’d love to hear about your memories, experiences and theories about why it’s become less popular.

Horse Gram Dal

(Yield: Serves 3-4 people)

½ cup horse gram dal

3 cups water

2 tablespoons oil (+ 2 tablespoons)

¼ tsp cumin seeds

1 finely chopped onion

3 blended tomatoes

1 teaspoon garlic-ginger paste

1 teaspoon dhaniya-jeera (coriander-cumin) powder

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon rajma masala

1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder

1 pinch asafoetida

1½ heaped teaspoon besan (chickpea flour)

Salt to taste

Soak the legumes in water, overnight. Make sure that they are completely immersed. In the morning, the dal will double in size.

Rinse the soaked dal and put it in a pressure cooker. Add 3 cups of water and allow to cook until the legumes are soft and tender to the touch.  Allow to cool slightly.

In a kadai, add the oil and cumin seeds, and allow them to splutter. Then, add the onions. Sauté until they are brown.

Next, add the garlic-ginger paste. Sauté again and add the chickpea flour. At this point you will need to add more oil, about 2 tablespoons, until the concoction looks like it does in this video.

Next, add the chili powder, coriander-cumin powder, turmeric, salt, asafoetida and rajma masala.  Mix, and then add the blended tomatoes. Now, sauté for about 3-6 minutes or until the oil separates.  Finally, add the dal, along with the water it was cooked in, to the mixture.

Stir and allow to boil for no more than 5 minutes. Serve with roti, rice or however you usually take your dal. I can’t wait to hear what you think of it!

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Recipe: Love At First Sip – Nandi’s Special Chai

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The new year has dawned, and with it much hope and optimism for what is to come. As I said in my previous post, which was a recipe for a festive boozy hot chocolate that I hope you enjoyed, every one of us has learned so many lessons recently. If we would just take time to reflect on them, we would all see how much we have to be grateful for. As for me – and if you’ve been on my journey here right from the start, you may already know this – I do a lot of my reflecting over a cup of delicious, hot chai. As I was doing so the other morning, enjoying the gentleness of that early hour and my solitude in my garden, my thoughts drifted to the tea itself. I had been making it in my special way for so many years that I had almost forgotten how unique it is. It’s my pleasure to share it with you today, and perhaps it will become your special way too.

Even though tea is now a ubiquitous part of my life, this wasn’t always the case. The humble beverage was once an aspirational one for me, as it often is for children. Growing up here in India, neither caffeine nor sodas were permitted for children in most families of my generation. We were always given milk instead, or a milk-based healthy drink such as Bournvita. Tea or coffee were drinks we could only watch adults consume, knowing they were forbidden to us!

For me, the most vivid childhood impression of tea was always from the summer holidays when my mother’s entire clan of nine siblings would meet along with all of their own children. From wherever we were in the country or the world, we would descend on their sleepy little hometown. That meant that 50 or 60 cousins would be under the same roof, and you can imagine what happy times these were. As for the adults, I would often notice how they would chatter all night long over cups of freshly-made tea. To me, tea represented their bond. I always associated it not only with grown-upness, but with a sense of camaraderie.

Funnily enough, both of my siblings grew up to reject caffeine, even though as kids all of us and our army of cousins were constantly asking when we would be able to try some chai for ourselves. This meant that I only became properly introduced to it in my mid-20s, once I’d gotten married. It was love at first sip, happily infused of course with the knowledge of fulfilling a long-held childhood wish.

Over time, I began to infuse my cuppa with more than just memories. Playing around with different flavourings over the years, I found a version that is perfect for me. My special chai uses both lemongrass and ginger. I have one cup of it every morning, and a half cup every afternoon. The time I spend with my tea is always a pleasant and even meditative few minutes, with and without company.

It won’t surprise you to know that I’m quite particular when it comes to each ingredient in this tea. I tend to use homegrown lemongrass, but I am also partial to Maharashtrian lemongrass. Lemongrass tea is extremely popular in there, where it’s called “leelee cha” or “green tea”, in reference to the colour of the leaves, not to be confused with the other variant of green tea. So whenever a dear one is coming via the state, I insist that they bring me some. My husband is in Mumbai at the moment, and I’ve told him he isn’t permitted to return home without some lemongrass leaves from a local vendor! I’m so obsessed with having lemongrass in my tea that whenever I’m falling short of the ingredient, I tell the rest of my family that they’re just going to have to go without it and hoard it all for myself.

Complementing the spicy lemongrass is the equally piquant ginger, which is always freshly crushed. As for the tea leaves themselves, I used to have a fondness for the citrusy tang and rich colour of orange pekoe, but later it was several variants of tea sourced from the Nilgiris mountain range that became my favourites. Lately, with travel and access being more restricted, I’ve discovered some lovely Indian supermarket brands for good quality tea leaves too. I’m not a fan of tea bags, and believe that powdered tea leaves are one of the secrets to a great chai.

That reminds me of another cherished tea memory of mine. I’ve spoken many times about my travels to the Nilgiris (such as in my harra bhara kebab recipe, vegan passionfruit shrikand recipe and plum chutney recipe). Many lifelong Chennaiites like myself will have decades of holiday reminiscences from time spent in the coolest climes of Tamil Nadu. Among these for me are memories of a dear family friend who lived in the hills, Mrs. Bosen. She ran a kindergarten school, and my kids too have fond recollections of going there to play with the little ones and teaching them the alphabet. She represented the summer holidays to us, and we loved spending time with her. Her tea was so legendary that whenever she invited us over, we would adjust our entire schedule for the day around arriving just in time to have it. It was simply incomparable, and continues to be our benchmark for brilliantly-made tea even though the lovely lady herself is long gone. Sometimes, when the evening tea has come out exceptionally well, one of us will still remark, “Doesn’t this taste like Mrs. Bosen’s tea?”

I often feel that the water used in tea, an ingredient we take for granted, also makes a difference. Does tea sipped in the Nilgiris taste so much better because of the water there, in which leaves grown there are steeped? Or is that just the taste of nostalgia? Either way, I always make my tea with mineral water. Chennai has hard water in the taps, and soft water is certainly preferable for tea.

That said, I’ve certainly enjoyed a pan-Indian experience when it comes to tea. While I like mine with just a little splash of milk, in many parts of the country it’s made so that it’s often more milk than tea. Once I learned the reason for this – i.e. milk used to be a symbol of affluence, and from being a status marker it simply became a preference in many places – I understood that it’s all about the context. I may not have liked the variants with over-heaped chai masalas had I made them at home, but having those in North India in the winters where the extra helping kept me warmer made sense. Similarly with sugar, which I personally take less of, but I could appreciate in situations where it was used to turn a tea into a type of dessert too.

A confession: wherever I travel, no matter where else and how else I drink my chai, I always carry powdered tea leaves and some lemongrass with me, because I simply must have it my way at some point in the day. I’m sharing this recipe with you in the hope that it becomes your most trusted style of tea too.

Nandi’s Special Chai

(Yield: 1 cup)

1 full cup water

¼ inch ginger piece (crushed)

2 pinches of lemongrass leaves

1 teaspoon tea leaves

2 tablespoons milk

Honey/sugar to taste

Boil the water along with the fresh ginger and lemongrass leaves in a pot. When it begins to boil along the edges of the pot, add the tea leaves. This will happen within approximately 2 or 3 minutes.

Once it’s properly boiling, add the milk. As I said, I use just a splash, but you can adjust the quantity as required. You can certainly make this recipe with almond milk too. I often do, whenever I’m in a vegan mood myself.

After about 30 seconds, switch off the flame and cover the pot with with a lid. Covering it ensures the flavours will blend nicely. Let it sit for another half minute.

Now, strain the tea. Enjoy your cup with honey or sugar or neither, depending on your preference. If you’re like my husband, who hates mugs, I’m sure that proper tea cups are a must in your serving style. If you’re like anyone in my home, a slice of cake may tempt you too!

That first sip – ah, so satisfying. Tea is one of those things that anyone can learn how to prepare, but which becomes simply sublime when someone has a knack for getting it just right. I happen to be that person in my household, by unanimous vote. Although I’ve taught every single one of them the very same recipe I’m sharing with you today, they insist that I make it best, and so I’m always the designated tea-maker. Perhaps that’s because of the special ingredient, which is not so secret at all – love.

 

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Recipe: Navaratri Happiness – Handvo

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Handvo is a savoury cake made with lentils, from the Gujarati repertoire. Growing up, I would see it being made by my mother in the traditional way: in the backyard, she would prepare it in a heavy-bottomed brass pot placed on charcoal. She would pour the batter – containing lentils, rice and vegetables – into the vessel, then cover it with a heavy iron lid and let it cook. This was how it was made in most Gujarati homes back then. The funny thing is that although I enjoyed watching the elaborate process outside the kitchen, I found the dish itself quite boring. My mother had given herself a culinary education, learning baking and international cooking styles at a time when such classes were considered unusual, and as a child, I much preferred the foreign dishes she was learning to whip up. Over time, my appreciation for traditional cuisine blossomed, and this is why I am sharing the recipe for this handvo today, during the auspicious period of Navaratri.

I recall that my mother would make a large pot of handvo only about once a month or so. She would bake it in the evening and we would have it fresh for dinner, with the leftovers becoming our breakfast. The baked handvo comes out looking like a cake in height and shape, with a beautiful crust on top, which as kids we prized and fought over (for a dish I had thought dull, that was my favourite part!). So our mother had to divide it equally amongst us all. During Navaratri, however, handvo became our nightly staple. There’s no real link to the festival itself, except that this was my mother’s go-to during that very busy time of year. Even though the process seemed complicated to a watching child, it is actually a simple one-pot meal. It’s also lovely to have during the monsoon season, which usually coincides with the festival.

For us, Navaratri meant having a quick dinner and then heading out for the garba, a wonderful celebration that my siblings and I looked forward to with great anticipation. In those days, those nine nights of dancing, feasting and prayer were one of the major highlights of the calendar for us Gujaratis in Chennai. No more than 50 to 70 families would get together over the nine nights, and some of these families we’d only get to meet annually, so it was a very special occasion for the whole community. I remember how the fathers would be responsible for blocking the hall and all the event logistics, while the mothers would make the prasad  for the Goddess. Each evening would begin with a prayer, followed by the distribution of prasad, and then… the moment most of us would be waiting for: the dancing would begin. First, the women would begin dancing in a circle. Then, the children would come in, and finally everyone else would join. There would be competitions too, and I would always win a prize.

Garbas and dandiya these days don’t bear much resemblance to how they used to be while I was growing up. Now, they are just another party. The ones in my memory were very graceful and traditional, with a sense of propriety. The whole family used to be involved in those days, and the occasion was about keeping our culture alive. Even the little love affairs and marriages that used to come out of these events all happened under the watch of the parents, and with their blessings. Everything was about a sense of family and community back then, and I cherish those memories. Something about the handvo, which always preceded those evenings of fun, invokes them for me.

There are many varieties of handvo, which use different kinds of grains and dals based on what is in season; warmer grains like bajra are used in winters, while lighter rice and millets are used in summers. Rice leftover from lunch is also used, as are seasonal vegetables, the most common of which is the bottle gourd.

Over the years, the brass pot in the backyard kind of disappeared, and nowadays we see handvos being made in casseroles and glass containers that can be stuck in the oven. This year, I’m making my handvo the same way too, especially as I know that this is how most of you will try out this recipe. In fact, I felt tempted to modernise the method a step further and try out a batch in my waffle pan, as well! (If you’re one of those cooks who uses such tricks-of-the-eye to convince your fussy eaters at home to eat simply and well, this may be something to try out too!)

There are a few other keynotes that make my re:store style handvo distinct from the traditional kind. Firstly, I’ve eliminated the usage of rice, so as to ensure that the dish is carb-free. Most importantly, rather than bake a single large cake-like handvo and cut it into pieces, I’ve experimented with preparing individual portions, similar to dosas or crepes. I find that making the handvo in this method makes the cooking process easier and faster. The fermenting and soaking still require a day’s advance planning (unless you use readymade dal powders), but the actually frying up happens much faster than baking.

Handvo

(Yield: For 3-4 people)

1 cup toor dal

¼ cup urad dal

¼ cup moong dal

½ cup channa dal

¼ cup dahi + 2 teaspoons lemon juice

¾ cup grated bottle gourd (+ optional methi leaves)

¼ cup coriander leaves

2 teaspoons oil

¼ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon green chili paste

½ teaspoon ginger paste

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt to taste

 

Tempering:

2 teaspoons oil

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

½ teaspoon sesame seeds

¼ teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon carom seeds

A few curry leaves

 

Clean the dals and soak them in sufficient water for 5-6 hours.

After this, remove the water and blend the dals coarsely. Add the dahi and lemon juice. Allow to rest for 3-5 hours.

Once the soaking and fermentation processes are completed, add the vegetable of your choice and the remaining spices to the batter. While I’ve made the batter from scratch, you may wish to use readymade dal powders instead.

Heat the oil in a flat pan. Add all the different seeds. Wait till they splutter and then add some curry leaves. Immediately, add 2 cups of the batter. Spread it a little, as you would a thick dosa or uthappam, then lower the flame. Cover the pan with a lid. Allow to cook for about 5-7 minutes. Now open the lid, and be careful as it would have trapped a lot of steam. Flip the handvo. Repeat the same process on this side.

After the handvo cooks and turns golden on both sides, remove it from the pan and make the next one. Cut into pieces and serve with green chutney or sweet mango pickle.

Over a few trials, this was the easiest method of preparing handvo that I discovered. You may of course choose to bake it instead. In that case, put all the batter in a bake-proof bowl. In a small pan, sauté the oil and seeds. Once they splutter, use a spoon to gently drizzle the tempering evenly on top of the batter. Bake at 160°C for half an hour, then slice and serve with the condiments.

The days of brass pots in the backyard and wholesome garba gatherings may have gone by, but the great thing about food is that it lets you keep making new memories. I wish you and your loved ones an auspicious Navaratri. I’d love to know if my easy, uthappam-inspired handvo finds a place in your festivities!

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Recipe: Tic-Tac-Taco – Indian Tacos

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If you’ve been following this blog even for a short while, you’ll know that we are huge fans of Mexican cuisine in my home – both authentic and Indianised, or should I say re:store-ised, versions. This Mexican-inspired Buddha bowl is one example of how these flavours are enjoyed by my family. I’m very happy in my own world of fusion tastes, and am always on the lookout for how to make simple meals more enticing. I happened to come across a photo of Indian-style tacos, but without a recipe, and this inspired me to come up with my own. One day, I had some leftover roti dough, and had the brainwave of putting them to use in this way. The soft taco shells were therefore made by hand, and the entire recipe was made from scratch.

If you think about it, there are already plenty of versions of Indian tacos out there. The kati rolls that are a very popular form of street food fit the bill. They’re perfect for eating on the go, and fit easily into office and school lunch packs. While those are rolled, these tacos are open-faced. I’ve chosen to fill them with two Gujarati staples: potato sabzi, and a salad called kachumber. Where Mexican tacos use red bean paste, I’ve opted for a sweet mango pickle. The overall effect is a fun, international twist on simple Indian cooking.

This is a recipe that lends itself to variety. Replace the pickle with another that you prefer. You may want a spicy or tangy one, if you don’t have a sweet tooth. Substitute the potatoes for a different filling of your choice. Make a Jain version without potatoes or onions. Eliminate the Greek yoghurt dressing and make it vegan. Simply consider the recipe below as a base for your own versatile experiments.

I’ll let you in on a secret… We have a Mexican dinner night every week at home, with crispy tacos and other dishes that veer towards the slightly more authentic (although, as I explained in my Buddha bowl series, authenticity isn’t what I aspire to as much as sheer enjoyment is). I thought that this soft shell version would be a great way to serve a traditional Gujarati meal without anyone thinking that it’s boring. It’s so very delicious no matter if you eat it in a taco or a thali, but the appeal of food so often comes down to presentation. This is why, in addition to the plain rotis and the yellow theplas, I also tried out a roti made with spinach purée for an attractive green appearance. We all need a burst of colour now and then to get us going, and for me, cooking has always been something that fulfills this need – beautifully!

Indian Tacos

(Yield: 6-8 tacos)

 

Taco Shell

Theplas or rotis (recipes here)

Pickle of your choice (I like to use a sweet grated mango pickle), or a sauce of your choice

 

Potato filling

200 grams boiled potatoes

3 tablespoons oil

3-4 cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons finely chopped onions

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 finely chopped green chilli

Salt to taste

 

Kachumber

¾ cup finely chopped onions

1 cup finely chopped tomatoes

1 cup finely chopped cucumber

2 tablespoons finely cut coriander leaves

1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 finely chopped green chilli

Salt to taste

 

Greek yoghurt

1 cup yoghurt

2 cloves finely crushed garlic

6-8 finely cut mint leaves

Salt to taste

 

Paneer

½ cup grated paneer

 

Mash the boiled potatoes coarsely with your hand while they are still warm.

Heat a pan and add the oil. Once the oil is heated, add the cumin seeds. Allow them to splutter. Then, add the garlic and the potatoes. Allow the potatoes to become crisp, then add the onions. Add the remaining spices and stir well. Allow to sauté and turn golden slightly. Remove from the flame and set aside.

As for the kachumber, simply put the ingredients together in a bowl and set them aside.

Then, whisk the ingredients of the Greek yogurt together until they are blended well.

To assemble the Indian tacos, place each soft roti or thepla in a taco holder. Use the recipes here, and just add some puréed spinach to the dough if you’d like to make the green ones in my photographs.

Spread a layer of the pickle or sauce of your choice onto the Indian taco shell. Then add a tablespoon or so of potatoes. Top this with the kachumber and the Greek yoghurt dressing. Add a squeeze of lime if you like, then sprinkle the grated paneer on top. Finally, a garnish of coriander leaves will finish the dish off perfectly.

These Indian tacos are a great way to pep things up a bit and get the family to eat more, even though each of the individual components is part of a fairly typical and simple Gujarati meal! It’s all about the presentation, and the taco style makes everything all the more attractive and adds a sense of novelty to the meal. I particularly like to make them in smaller sizes because there’s an irresistibility quotient to them, just like with cupcakes, and no one can stop at just one or two!

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Recipe: Biting Into Delight – Chocolate Cupcakes

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Many of you know that I picked up the camera because of re:store. What began with taking product shots and creating images for the blog grew into a deep love of food styling and photography, gradually becoming a major component of my work. Cooking and photography are my twin passions, and I have dedicated myself to both through challenging myself, studying and learning, and lots of trial and error. Despite knowing the amount of effort it takes to get really good at something, like anyone in today’s era, I also get excited about attractive new creative forms. I’ll see some interesting content that someone else has shared, and go, “OMG, I have to do this!” So it was with stop motion video. Having seen some charming stop motion videos online, I made it my mission to produce a couple for re:store.

Tada! Here is the first: some cute, classic chocolate cupcakes. Do click on the link to watch the video on Instagram.

Let me tell you, that one minute of fun was a whole day’s work! I’m so glad that I had a friend’s daughter, Anushka, to work with me on the technical aspects. What this experience has taught me is that it isn’t about learning 75 different things, but being able to focus on the handful that one is really drawn to, so as to become good at those. There are so many eye-catching possibilities out there today, but I can’t manage them all, and neither should I aim for that. I need to give myself time to get through one learning, and let it naturally lead to the next one. This dilemma or distraction I had, about whether or not to begin studying stop motion video production, ultimately reminded me that this is how my businesses have grown from inception anyhow. Step by step, following a logical flow of studying, experience and growth, and knowing when to accept help. Doing the next best thing of delegation and collaboration helps me focus on what I am good at, and what is in my control.

Authenticity is a really important part of this blog, and all my work at re:store and at Nandi Shah Photography. Every recipe I share is something that I enjoy, and have prepared, served and eaten multiple times before I decide to showcase it. These are my recipes, containing my touch. For every shoot, I cook, style, photograph and edit everything myself. There’s a lot of love and attention that goes into each post, and there’s already a lot on my hands. In addition to my work, the current scenario has me responsible for the well-being of an entire household, including geriatric family members, and I must use any spare time I have from those responsibilities thoughtfully.

Still, I’m glad I indulged my curiosity about stop motion videos. I deliberated over what recipes would look good in this format, and these chocolate cupcakes were one of two (a different one will be coming up next weekend, so stay tuned for that as well). Even though it’s not a technical skill I want to learn for myself anymore, I enjoyed the process – having company, laughing, joking, learning more things about my camera, and of course, making the cupcakes and enjoying them with tea once the production was all done.

Subsequently, I baked these chocolate cupcakes all over again for the photoshoot for this blog. That was a separate endeavour, and I felt right back at home, doing what I love to do (and striving to better my best each time).

In addition to how they’re perfect for cute videos, I feel like although I’ve shared a variety of baked goods here before, I haven’t done any cupcakes. I also wanted to share something sweet, after several main courses. These classic chocolate cupcakes are a popular product that we get a lot of orders for, but I thought I’d share the recipe for those who want to try them out at home as well, in the spirit of spreading joy in this time.

 

 

Chocolate Cupcakes

(Yield: 12-15 cupcakes)

 

Cupcakes

1½ cups flour

½ cup cocoa powder

1 cup granulated sugar

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

⅓  cup oil

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

¾ cup buttermilk

 

Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

3 cups icing sugar (and a little extra, if required)

A pinch of salt

2 tablespoons fresh cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Preheat the oven to 180° for 20 minutes. Prepare the cupcake pans with liners.

First, prepare the dry mixture. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.

Now, prepare the wet mixture. Whisk the sugar, oil, egg and vanilla extract together.

Mix the flour mixture and the milk, alternating them, into the wet mixture. Beat them all together until the batter achieves a smooth consistency.

Scoop the batter into the prepared pans. Fill the liners to a ¾ level so that the batter has room to rise. If you’re fairly new to baking, you may want to check out this recent post of mine, which has a primer with tips you may find very useful.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool, then top with frosting.

To prepare the frosting, beat the butter until it turns fluffy. Now, add the icing sugar and stir with a spoon. Be gentle, or else you will have the icing sugar dust all over. Once the two have come together, beat well. Add the salt and vanilla extract and beat for approximately another two minutes. If the butter cream is thick and difficult to spread, then add the cream a teaspoon at a time.

As I said earlier, these cupcakes are actually a part of our menu and one of our fastest-moving products. At re:store, we avoid artificial sweeteners that contain harmful chemicals, switching them out for natural or unprocessed ones, and use good old-fashioned ingredients (eggs, butter, oil and cake flour for instance – the basic elements of a cake)  of the best quality available locally. If you’re in Chennai and would like a fresh batch of these cupcakes from the re:store kitchen, especially with the festive season coming up, we’re just a phone call away. They’re delectable at tea-time, and ideal for gifting. As you can see again in the stop motion video, we give a lot of importance to packaging and the finished look of each product.

I’m currently very busy in the kitchen, and happily so, conducting trials for more delicious goodies, and am so looking forward to expanding the product list. Do stay tuned for some lovely new treats from re:store in the coming months, as well as new recipes on this blog as always!

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Recipe: Garlicky Goodness – Asian-Style Buddha Bowl

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Having travelled through the tastebuds from right here in South India to Mexico and the Middle East and North Africa, the internationally-inspired Buddha bowl series on this blog arrives at its final destination: back on this continent. As I’ve said earlier, every one of these dishes qualifies as fusion cuisine, a tribute influenced by foreign flavours but by no means authentic. The same goes for this delicious, garlic-infused bowl of goodness, reminiscent of cooking from East Asia.

Indians have been very fond of Asian cuisines for the longest time, and what we eat here is really its own sub-cuisine, commonly known as Indo-Chinese food. While I’ve loved ordering these dishes while dining out, I had always been under the impression that Asian cooking involved too many ingredients or prep and that it somehow wouldn’t work for me. All this changed with the lockdown, which has had my daughter living here with us for the past few months. It’s a joy to have her safely here, rather than alone in Mumbai during the pandemic, and what she’s brought along with her is her love for Asian-inspired recipes. They are her own cooking go-to. Somehow, these dishes seem to come together rather naturally for her, and they taste fabulous. Due to her influence, I’ve been leaning towards (and learning how to make) this cuisine more and more, and enjoying the homemade versions, which tend to be healthier.

Fortunately for us, the ingredients are easily available and fresh. The recipes my daughter and I make together are all vegetarian or vegan, which suits us both. We have lunch together daily, and it’s wonderful to share dishes that I’d always only associated with the restaurant experience. I belong to a generation for whom Indo-Chinese food usually had something to do with a social or celebratory occasion, as I described here, so some of those special memories are also evoked at home now too. Nowadays, due to the large expat population in Chennai, we are lucky to also have a proliferation of Korean and Japanese restaurants, giving diners lots more wonderful variety when it comes to international food. My Asian-influenced and daughter-inspired Buddha bowl below, however, takes its cues from the Indo-Chinese restaurants that I was first exposed to. As a relative newbie to recipes like this one, I can assure you that this one is so easy and so tasty to make that you’ll be whipping it up in no time too!

Asian-Style Buddha Bowl

(Serves 2)

Garlic Rice

2 cups cooked rice

2 tablespoons finely sliced spring onions

2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic

1 tablespoon sesame oil

½ tablespoon light soy sauce

Salt to taste

Garlic Bok Choy

1 tablespoon crushed peanuts

½ tablespoon sesame oil

1 bunch cleaned and dried bok choy

½ tablespoon sliced garlic

½ teaspoon grated ginger

2-3 finely cut shallots

¼ teaspoon honey

Salt to taste

A pinch of chili flakes

A dash of lemon

Tofu

6 – 8 slices tofu

1½ tablespoons light soy sauce

1 tablespoon hot water

A pinch of sesame seeds

¼ teaspoon honey

¼ teaspoon sesame oil

Broccoli

1 cup sliced broccoli

Salt to taste

Garnish

Cilantro (finely chopped)

Spring onions (finely chopped)

Chili flakes

 

As with all Buddha bowls, each component must be made separately and brought together only when you are ready to serve the meal. Begin by preparing the garlic rice. In a pan, heat the oil. Add the garlic and allow it to sauté until it is golden and aromatic. Now, add the rice. Stir. Add the salt, soy sauce and spring onions. Mix well and set aside.

Then, prepare the garlic bok choy. Heat the oil in a pan. Once it is hot, add the garlic, ginger and peanuts. Stir them together. Now, add the bok choy and the honey, allowing the flavours in the pan to coat the leaves well. Sprinkle salt, add the dash of lemon and stir. Set aside.

I prefer the leaves to be a bit raw and crunchy. However, if you like them cooked well and wilted you may make them this way. You may also replace the peanuts with cashew nuts. If you have a nut intolerance, you can avoid the nuts altogether.

To prepare the tofu, first stir all the ingredients except the tofu together in a cup to make a sauce. Set this aside. Now, sauté the tofu lightly in oil.

To prepare the broccoli, drop the sliced vegetable in hot water for a few minutes. If you prefer to, you may sauté it next, or leave it as is. Remove and sprinkle with some salt.

Start assembling the bowl by plating the rice, followed by the boy choy and the broccoli. Finish these off by adding the tofu, which you can top with a teaspoon of the prepared sauce. Place the remaining sauce near the bowl to use as a dip for the tofu and even for the vegetables, if you like them crunchy like I do.

Before serving, garnish the bowl with the cilantro, spring onions and red chilli flakes. As I said right at the start of this series, a beautiful bowl allows the eyes to feast first, and I encourage you to pick one out that elevates your experience of the meal.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these Buddha bowl recipes, which pay tribute to different cuisines that I have loved. For other meal-in-a-bowl dishes, do click on the link and see some of the recipes I’ve shared over the years that fit the bill. Some of my favourites include two Indian classics, the dal dhokli and khatta mung, as well as another Asian-style dish, a stir-fry. I hope you’ll check them out!

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Recipe: Travelling Through Food – Mexican-Influenced Buddha Bowl

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As promised, the Buddha bowl series now goes international, after the comfortingly familiar South Indian Buddha bowl. This is a Mexican-influenced Buddha bowl, and I’m making sure that you notice that I emphasise the word influenced.  My family enjoys Mexican-style cuisine very much, and I always end up making the more popular dishes, such as tacos, salsa, nachos and even my vegan take on chili, which you may remember from awhile back (this is a vegan recipe too). But over the years, whenever Mexican friends have visited my home, as much as they relish the meals I put together for them, they also tease me by saying that my style is Indian-Mexican, not authentic. I’m proud of this though. To me, fusion cuisine is all about feeling inspired and bringing different worlds together.

I’ve only spent one night in Mexico, en route to Cuba several years ago. That night, my family and I enjoyed dinner at a really nice restaurant, where we ordered a delicacy featuring black ants as a key ingredient. While I didn’t have a bite, my kids found the dish crunchy and tangy and very exciting. What to us was an adventurous dish was just local cuisine in another part of the world. Most of the Mexican food we had tried before was in the USA, and that too must have been one degree removed from authenticity. So to return to today’s Buddha bowl, let’s just say that it has a hint of Mexico, my culinary interpretation.

I often make this Mexican-influenced recipe for lunch, and the current abundance of avocados on the market is all the more reason to do so. These come from Karnataka, where the climate is conducive for their growth. Perhaps it’s because of my Macrobiotics background, but I feel that when all the ingredients in a dish are locally sourced, they tend to go together better. Aside from the fruit, the bowl contains cilantro rice, beans, vegetables and two types of salsa.

I was thinking about the term “Buddha bowl”, and although I know it’s a recently coined term, I believe I can imagine the thought process behind it. Could it be that it was because the Buddha carried a bowl for alms, and as he went from home to home, always received a motley combination of foods, just like the different components of this modern dish?

Carrying a bowl to seek food alms also exists in the Jain community, which many members of my family belong to. My sister, who lives in Mumbai, frequently has saintly women and men come to her home. They carry a bowl, called “patra”, and are supposed to graciously accept whatever is offered to them, although they can request a preferred quantity so that there is no wastage. The alms they receive are called “bhiksha”. Their arrival is considered a blessing, and whatever has been cooked at home that day will be shared with the monks, who are known as “Mahasatiji”. In the Stanakvasi sect of the Jain Shwetambari tradition, there is no idol worship, so the preaching of these monks is sacred and so is their presence. Whenever a Mahasatiji has come by while I’ve visited my sister, I’ve noticed that it feels like a special occasion. There is some protocol involved: the person offering alms needs to have bathed, there is some chanting, and then the Mahasatiji will bless the home before moving on to the next one, where the next person offering alms will look into the bowl and determine what to offer. If my sister had offered roti, for example, they will ensure they offer something that goes with it.

The Mahasatijis also ask for a teaspoon of chickpea flour, which they use to dry wash their patras. They won’t even waste this, as they will let this dry and eat it as well. They do not use soap due to the chemicals, and refrain from electricity too, so they take the stairs up six floors to my sister’s house. The tradition has many principles based on nature and doing no harm.

The patras themselves are made of natural wood, with lacquer, and I have seen them being sold as antiques as well. Perhaps I noticed this because I am always looking for interesting crockery and props for my photoshoots. What kind of vessels do you serve your Buddha bowls in? I’d love to know, as you try out more of this series.

Mexican-Influenced Buddha Bowl

(Serves 2)

 

Beans

½ cup beans (soaked overnight)

2 tablespoons tomato purée (find my recipe here)

Salt to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon chipotle cooking paste

 

Tomato salsa

2 tomatoes

Salt to taste

3 slices jalapeño

1 tablespoon cilantro

1 tablespoon finely chopped onion

1 tablespoon olive oil

 

Pineapple salsa

2 cups finely chopped pineapple

2 tablespoons finely cut jalapeño

2 tablespoons cilantro

2 tablespoons finely cut onion

Salt to taste

Spicy red sauce

 

Cilantro Rice

1½ cups cooked rice

1 tablespoon oil

¼ cup finely cut cilantro

½ lemon

2 slices jalapeños

Salt to taste

 

Vegetables

2 cups sliced bell peppers

1 cup whole corn

1 teaspoon oil

Salt to taste

Pinch pepper

 

Topping

1 avocado

Salt to taste

Olive oil to drizzle

A squeeze of lemon

Prepare each component, and keep them separate until you are ready to assemble and serve the bowl. Here is the method for the beans. First, pressure cook the beans in water. In a pan, add the oil. Now, add the purée, chipotle paste and salt. I used my fabulous all-purpose tomato puree, which you will surely find convenient to have on hand for many recipes too. Stir. Finally, add the beans. In order to make it in a slightly more gravy style, I added some of the water that I had kept aside.

Next, here are the methods for the two salsas. For the tomato salsa, begin by roasting the tomatoes directly in a low flame until the skins are charred. Peel the charred skins and chop finely. Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl. Mix well and refrigerate until use. For the pineapple salsa, simply combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Refrigerate until use as well.

Now, onto the cilantro rice. In a pan, sauté the rice in oil. Add all the other ingredients and stir on high until it all comes together. You can replace the rice with any grain of your choice.

The vegetables should be sautéed in oil on a pan, and seasoned with salt and pepper as you stir.

Assemble the different components in two medium-sized bowls and add the toppings. Make sure you slice the avocado just before serving, or it will lose colour. Remember what I said in the previous Buddha bowl post about the aesthetics of this serving style and feasting with the eyes first. This dish is best enjoyed warm. You may wish to sprinkle some crushed nacho chips on top for texture too, and I think my kids wouldn’t mind some authentic, crunchy black ants either, if we could find that recipe! As you can see, I’ve also added a bit of green salad on top, as I do love my veggies.

I mentioned earlier that there are avocados galore on the market now, so be sure to come back for the next post, where they will be a starring ingredient…

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Recipe: You Won’t Stop At A Slice – Cheesy, Spicy, Garlicky Sourdough Toast

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When it comes to any dish that I’m a novice at, I love making it as often as possible so that I can learn from each attempt. Novelty is part of the motivation, but improving my success rate is the real goal. The more you use your hands, the better you get at anything. For you, this may be true for one of your own creative passions, and for me this is all about baking and photography. This was certainly the case for me with sourdough. Those of you who’ve followed my sourdough journey through my Instagram Stories over the past couple of years will know how enthusiastically I’ve pursued working on it. Sourdough is all the rage everywhere at the moment, since the pandemic has made so many people  explorers in the kitchen, so it’s especially exciting for me to share this sourdough toast recipe today.

I bake sourdough every other day, and ever since I began doing this, my family doesn’t eat any other kind of bread. They prefer this natural variety to yeast-filled commercially-produced bread, and we use it in many ways. I make pizza bases, loaves and more all the time, and use them in main courses, sides (such as with a lovely minestrone soup, the recipe for which I promised you recently and will share soon) and snacks. At home, we are all very into daily exercise and healthy eating, so we have lots of one pot meals, and a slice of sourdough on the side is always nice. I find that this sourdough toast especially makes for a filling lunch, and that helps us reduce the number of heavy meals we have at supper time.

The idea of making a simple, yet fabulously delicious, sourdough toast came up during our planning for my husband’s birthday recently. This is not an innovative recipe as such, yet it’s one that suits the occasion of a celebration during lockdown. It’s a lovely appetizer using wholesome and easily available ingredients for a small celebration. We decided to have a picnic in our own garden, and I was thinking about which healthy dishes I could make to balance out the indulgence of the white cake I’d be baking when I came up with this idea.

Now, the white cake itself has a funny story behind it. You see, my husband adores the tea cake from the McRennett bakery, which many of us who grew up in Chennai will associate with childhood memories. As it happens, I can’t stand that cake, as it has a very strong vanilla essence smell. We have a running joke in the house that no matter what fabulous thing I have baking in the oven, my husband will say, “I’m going to get a McRennett cake!”, knowing it will tick me off. This year, I turned the joke on him by saying that I’d order him that tea cake for his birthday and not bake any of my own specialties. Secretly, I had a plan to prepare a cake that was inspired by his lifelong favourite, but which I would elevate with my own twists to a level that would make him forget the original. He must have gotten a whiff of my plan, because he said to me that if I could achieve the softness of the original, he wouldn’t mind trying mine. Well, I baked a lovely tea cake with real vanilla and pretty white icing (I rarely ice my cakes at re:store, so you know this was a special treat!) which he enjoyed very much… but it didn’t quite unseat the McRennett as his favourite!

Oh well! At least I can safely say that this cheesy, spicy, garlicky sourdough toast was the hit of the picnic! I’ll always associate it with the memories of the fun we had that day, spending time together as a family in our garden. That’s the thing about food prep: when something is made to suit a particular need or occasion, the dish also gains meaning. Is it for a daily meal, is it for a special person, is it for an event? By thoughtfully planning the lockdown birthday picnic menu to feature a healthy but delicious snack like this, and making sure I prepared it in a way that was also special, the dish became impressed upon my memory and in my culinary repertoire.

Before I share the recipe, here’s a quick note on sourdough itself, just in case you’re curious about what it is. It’s the traditional, ancient way of making bread, which people around the world used for millennia before baker’s yeast was invented. It’s based on natural fermentation, with air pockets created by the same, and it rises beautifully. You can keep the starter going for ages, just like yoghurt. For me, it took a few miserable failures before I managed to get mine going. Before that, friends generously shared their own starters with me, which I fed and nurtured, but there’s a different kind of challenge and a sense of achievement when you’ve made your own. The learning is continuous, especially when you have to take into account variables like weather conditions. Sourdough maintenance is like plant maintenance.  Making sourdough in Chennai weather is a struggle, as the natural temperature is not really conducive, while air-conditioning dries out the starter. I’ve managed to make a few chips and freeze them just in case my sourdough dies on me, and I’ll need to start it all over again. In the meanwhile, we are truly enjoying the bounty of the current batch.

I am almost sure that foodies following this blog have either been making their own sourdough, or have access to a store-bought loaf, so I’ll jump right ahead to what you can do with it, rather than spend time on how to grow it. In case you don’t have it on hand, you can use white bread or any bread you like.

Cheesy, Spicy, Garlicky Sourdough Toast

(Yield: 4 slices)

 

4 slices toast

1 teaspoon oil

2 cups chopped vegetables (bell peppers, onions, garlic, coriander or parsley, cooked corn)

1 tablespoon chopped jalapeño peppers

¼ teaspoon grated ginger

Coriander chutney (alternative: pesto)

Salt to taste

Chili flakes

Butter as required

1 cup grated cheese (alternative: tofu/paneer)

Heat a pan and add the oil. Add the garlic and ginger, and then add the chopped vegetables. Stir-fry on a high flame. This mixture doesn’t take more than 5 minutes to sauté. Add the salt. Set aside. Allow to cool.

Prepare the slices of sourdough by buttering them lightly. Next, spread the coriander chutney (or pesto, if you prefer) over the butter.

Now, add a heaped spoonful of vegetables over the chutney/pesto. Top this with grated cheese or tofu.

Place the bread in the oven and allow to toast/bake for about 10 minutes or until the cheese melts and the slice of sourdough turns golden underneath.

Remove the slices from the oven and sprinkle with the chili flakes. Serve warm.

This cheesy, spicy, garlicky sourdough toast called to mind a variety of toasts my family has enjoyed over the years. When I was growing up, my mum used to make a version of masala and mashed potatoes with toasted bread. My husband is an ardent fan of  Bombay toast, as you may remember. In lieu of either, my sourdough toast – rich in fresh vegetables – is healthier, without skimping on taste.

Feel free to substitute the vegetables or even the spices as per availability and preference. You may want to increase the quantity of some based on your taste as well (I’m personally a big fan of corn and bell peppers too). If you prefer to go vegan, just replace the butter with olive oil, and either tofu or paneer are tasty and healthy alternatives to cheese.

This version has become my go-to every time I feel like having a snack. When I’m done with my workout and feel peckish, I whip up a slice or two. I sometimes also have it drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkling of salt without adding the spices. Given the lockdown and the limited vegetables that are on hand on some days, I improvise the ingredients. No matter how I make it, it’s unbelievably tasty!

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