A unique take on chholay, a North Indian chickpeas gravy, this time cooked with tea bags.     PrepTime 10mins – CookTime 15mins – Serves 4     Ingredients: 1 cup chickpeas/ garbanzo beans soaked overnight at room temp. 1 chopped onion 1 potato – diced 2 tea bags 2″ ginger piece – minced/ finely grated 1 finely chopped garlic clove 3 ripe tomatoes – finely chopped 1/2 tsp turmeric pwd 1 tsp cumin pwd 1 tbsp coriander pwd 1 [...]

A thick dark spicy gravy from the Southern-Indian state of Tamil Nadu, boasting strong peppery notes & a rich coconut flavor.       PrepTime 10mins – CookTime 15mins – Serves 4       Ingredients: 1 chicken cut to medium pieces 1 cup curd/ yogurt 4 tsp garlic-ginger paste 2 tbsp fresh coarsely ground peppercorns few drops lime juice cooking oil 3 large onions – finely chopped 2 ripe chopped tomatoes 1/2 tsp turmeric pwd salt – to taste [...]

An authentic Goan appetizer of potato patties with minced-meat stuffing.         PrepTime 15mins – CookTime 15mins – Serves 6     Ingredients: 3 large potatoes – boiled, peeled & smashed. 250 gms minced meat (beef or your choice) 1 cup boiled and finely chopped vegs (or frozen peas & cut carrots, capsicum/bell peppers) 1/2 cup chopped coriander 1/4 tsp pepper pwd 1/4 tsp cumin pwd 1/4 tsp turmeric 1 finely chopped onion 1/2 tsp garlic-ginger paste 1 [...]

A creamy medium-spicy North-Indian spinach(palak) gravy with cottage cheese (paneer) cubes.       PrepTime 10mins – CookTime 10mins – Serves 3     Ingredients: 2 bunches spinach 1 bunch coriander 1 chopped large onion 1 cup cooking cream 1/2 tsp cumin seeds salt to taste 2 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp peppercorns 1 green chili 1/2 kg paneer/ cottage cheese – cut in 1″x1″ cubes 3-4 cardamoms/ 1/s tsp cardamom pwd 1/4 tsp ajwain (optional) 1/2 tsp turmeric cooking oil/ [...]

An authentic Goan chicken curry of mint, coconut & coriander!       PrepTime 10mins – CookTime 15mins – Serves 4       Ingredients: 1 full chicken cut to medium pieces (1000-1100gms in all) 1/2 tsp garlic ginger paste 2 sprigs curry leaves salt to taste 6 tbsp desiccated coconut 2 green chillies 1 cup mint leaves 2-3 cups coriander leaves 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 1/2 tsp pepper corns 1/2 tsp turmeric pwd 2 large onions chopped finely 1/2 [...]

A famous street drink of tea (chai) with certain flavorful condiments for a flavor burst!       PrepTime 2mins – CookTime 5mins – Serves 1       Ingredients: 1.25 cup water 1/2 tsp tea leaves 1/2 inch ginger 1 cardamom/ 1/2 tsp cardamom pwd 1-2 tsp sugar 1/4″ cinnamon stick or 1/4 tsp cinnamon pwd 2 tbsp condensed milk (unsweetened) 2-3 dried rose petals/ 2-3 drops rose water Cooking Instructions: 1. Boil water & add all ingredients other [...]

An Indian dish from the state of Maharashtra featuring baby brinjals/ eggplant stuffed with a spicy peanut sauce & cooked in the same gravy.       PrepTime 10mins – CookTime 10mins – Serves 4       Cooking Instructions:   8 small brinjals (golf-ball size) 2 handfuls peanuts (w/o the skin) 1 cup dessicated coconut 2 green chillies 1/2 tbsp pepper corns salt to taste 1/2 tsp turmeric pwd 2 chopped large onion 1/4 -1/2 cup curry leaves cooking [...]

An Indian sweet snack from the state of Goa – basically, banana pancakes.         PrepTime 5mins – CookTime 20mins – Serves 8   Ingredients: 6 bananas 2-3 cups milk 2 eggs 6-8 tbsp sugar (more if bananas aren’t too ripe & sweet) 1tbsp clarified butter/ ghee 1 cup all purpose floor/ maida (or whole wheat flour for a healthy option) oil to pan-fry the pancakes or oil-spray     Cooking Instructions: 1. Mix all the above ingredients [...]

A famous street-side snack from Bombay – rainbow sandwiches with mint sauce/pudina chutney, cheese & ketchup.       PrepTime 5mins – CookTime 5mins – Serves 5           Ingredients: 15 slices bread (edges cut off) 5 slices cheese singles 5 tbsp ketchup/ 1 large tomato sliced into 10 slices slices of 1 cucumber 1 large potato 15 tbsp butter 1/4 tsp pepper For the chutney: 1 bunch coriander leaves 1/2 bunch mint leaves 5 tbsp dessicated [...]

An Indian sweet of cottage-cheese dumplings in rich flavored sweet milk – the ‘quick-n-easy’ part is using ready/canned Rasgullas instead of making the dumplings from scratch; 5 mins is all it takes!       PrepTime 5mins – CookTime 5mins – Serves 7     Ingredients: 1 can rogullas (10-15 pieces) 4 cups milk 1/4 cup sugar a few saffron strands that has been soaked in 1/4 cup warm milk 1/4 tsp cardamom powder       Cooking Instructions: 1. [...]