South Indian Style Mushroom and Peas

I was wondering what combination of vegetables I haven’t had in a while, so thought of mushroom and peas. For some reason, this combination hasn’t ever clicked whenever I have had it. This time with the South Indian Masala twist, it worked.

Recipe inspired by https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/.

Kaddu ki Sabji (Pumpkin Curry)

What is that one vegetable that you thought you would never make yourself? Well this qualifies for me. Peeling the skin takes forever or maybe I am just an amateur. But once you get past that hurdle, the sweet-tangy flavor takes you back to all those love-hate moments of eating kaddu. For garnish, I roasted the pumpkin seeds for that extra toasted flavor.

Recipe inspired by https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/.

Baingan Bagara

1001th way to make eggplant curry in India.

Recipe inspired by https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/.

Coriander Chicken Curry and Beetroot Raita

I keep going back to that one page in my hand-written recipe book where Mother listed 6 different versions of making Chicken. One was the dhania (coriander/cilantro) version. I was not sure what qualifies as enough dhania but this was super delicious. Topped it up with beetroot raita – oh man, that color.

Recipe inspired by Mother.

Cheese and Bean Enchiladas

The end of to the Mexican Week with Cheese and Bean Enchiladas. The recipe was super simple and the Enchilada sauce was amazing – saved the leftover sauce to use as a dip!. Also, ended up celebrating the successful defense of my dissertation prospectus!



Recipe inspired by the NYT Cooking.

Coconut Rice with Bok Choy, Beans and Fried egg

A recipe with the least amount of ingredients, so simple to make and yet so flavorful. This has to be one of my favorite meals I have ever had.

Recipe inspired by NYT Cooking.

Spaghetti Puttanesca Tahdig

One may call it blasphemy! If you read the cookbook, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, then one word that will stick with you is tahdig (burnt edges of a pilau). A coincidence that I saw this recipe in NYT by Samin Nosrat while reading her book. Made it with one of my favorite pasta sauces – Puttanesca. It was a whole new experience! A pasta bake or a cake?

Recipe inspired by NYT Cooking.

Bengali Aloo Dum

Mustard oil and potatoes – you can never go wrong with this combination.

Recipe inspired by Ma.

Tofu Banh-mi

I don’t think I have ever had a Banh-mi. The food trucks usually never have a vegetarian version. We had these spiced Tofu which we used and pickled our vegetables. It was delicious!

Recipe inspired by NYT Cooking.

Spicy Bean Tacos and Mexi-hattan

Opning night in our Mexican week. The salsa was made of onion and pomegranate molasses – I was blown away by it. Mexi-hattan is a twist on the Manhattan with Mezcal.

Recipe inspired by NYT Cooking.

Summer Salad with CousCous

For a hot summer day, a light salad for lunch.

Recipe inspired by the leftovers in the fridge.

Fish Fragrant Eggplant and Peppers

I have made it once before, but this time it was better because the flavors were stronger. I also learnt the name has nothing to do with fish sauce but is because the ingredients are similar for cooking fish! The photograph also features the debut of a bowl I made in Japan.

Recipe inspired by the Cookbook “Every Grain of Rice“.

Pasta Cacio-o-pepe

Another of my favorite pastas with memories of my lovely ex-flatmates, K and S. Reading the cookbook, I was determined to see the effect of salt on pasta. So this was an exercise from the book.

Recipe inspired by the Cookbook “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat“

Bengali Baingan Bhaja

Another meal from the Bengali food week. Frying eggplants is definitely not my favorite part of any meal. The meal however, was yummy.

Recipe inspired by https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/.

Beetroot Kanji

Last year, I had it in the most unexpected place – an Indian food truck in rural Vermont by an Indian guy who had written a book on fermentation. The name of the book escapes me now. But Kanji (minus the beetroot) has been a big part of childhood summers, often had with vada. So, I was determined to make my own batch. A week of fermentation and this was potent and just perfect.

Bengali Aloo Bharta with Mezcal Campari Sour

A day in Darjeeling at my uncle’s place is incomplete without a simple lunch of rice, dal and mustard oil flavored potatoes. Simple and hearty. We had the bharta with some sesame spice we got from Kyoto and a Mezcal Campari Sour.

Green Gazpacho

A perfect recipe for that (very) hot summer day. A blend of greens with some home baked sourdough bread (not pictured).

Recipe taken from the Cookbook “Plenty“.

Mirza Ghasemi,with whisky sour

The only vegetarian dish I could find during my first visit to an Iranian restaurant in Watertown last year was Mirza Ghasemi. I fell in love with the dish then so I came back home to look through my Persiana Cookbook to see if they had a recipe. And it did! A favorite eggplant version with Naan.

Recipe taken from the Cookbook “Persiana“.

Corn Pizza Toast

Really just wanted to use an old packet of frozen corn!

Indian Street Food Fest with Gol Gappe, Aloo Tikki Chaat, Sweet Corn and Gin and Red Wine Sour

There is no dinner like a table full of different kinds of chaat. This was nostalgia given folks back home were raving about one such night of their own. Any trip to Delhi is incomplete without a trip to Nathu Sweets (forever loyal) and stuffing my face with Gol Gappas, Bhelpuri, Aloo Tikki Chaat and Papdi Chaat. An ode to all those times!