Phool Gobhi Rassa | Cauliflower in Coconut Milk

Good quality cauliflower is a rare and prized vegetable here in winter. While in Delhi, we got some of the best cauliflower in this season. However with inches of snow covering the ground here we rarely get to see a decent head of cauliflower between December and March. All the vegetable comes from the warmer climes and has for so long sat in some cold storage chain that it becomes a challenge to cook it. But sometimes you get lucky and I got some really beautiful organic cauliflower at my local market the other day. I wanted to do justice to this lovely vegetable and so chose this delicious and simple curry to enjoy it in!!

Moth Usal | Sprouted Dew Bean Curry

Moth Usal is a classic Maharashtrian dish. There are many ways of preparing usal and every family has its own unique twist to the recipe. Sometimes the usal and its curry are prepared separately and mixed only at the time the dish is served. Some like peanuts in the sprouts, and the amount of chilies in the recipe vary from negligible to fiery!! Some like only green chilies in this recipe and others swear by red chili powder. The common factor is the goda masala (though the version with kolhapuri masala is popular too), onions, and the sprouts!!

Parsi Style Aloo Curry | Potatoes in a Rich Creamy Gravy

Many years ago, my Mum purchased the Parsi food classic Jamva Chaloji by Katy Dalal. She absolutely loved the book and recommended it to me many times. I never really got the opportunity to buy it and when I wanted to, I found it unavailable. Last year however, I was lucky enough to find a copy of it at a Landmark store in Mumbai.

Chole Panjim | Chickpeas in Coconut Gravy | Goan Style Curried Garbanzo Beans

Here is another of my favourite recipes. I love to make it in the winter when we feel like eating a heavier meal as well as something really spicy. I came to know of this recipe many years ago when holidaying in Goa I visited a family who laid out a real Goan style feast for us. Though I have always been partial to Chole, this version left me speechless. The flavour, the texture, and the heat level were all so different from the North Indian versions I had been accustomed to!! I just loved it. And when I made this recipe over the weekend I could not help but wonder why I had not shared this yummy recipe with you until now!!

Peas Nutri-Nuggets Curry | Curried Peas and Soy Nuggets

I love cooking with soy nuggets, they are so versatile and wonderful! What I like most about them apart from the fact that they are nutritious is that they absorb the flavour of pretty much any curry they are cooked in. I always keep a stash ready in my pantry especially for days what I want to make a one pot meal or simply a quick curry.

Caramelized Fennel and Onion Tart with Feta Cheese

I have been wanting to make something with fennel and bread for so long I can't even remember. Every time I bring some fennel home from the supermarket, it lands up in a bake or a soup!! Last friday I saw some super fresh and crunchy fennel at the local market I picked it up immediately. I also got some fresh yellow onions and a nice batch of feta cheese to go with it - the result was this yummy tart!!

Mushroom Pepper Pulao | Mushroom Pepper Pilaf

There is nothing a like a wholesome one pot meal on cold winter evenings. These days we are right in the middle of a cold spell, cold days and even colder nights. There are inches and inches of snow on the ground and pretty much everything is frozen. Luckily we have lots of sunshine and bright days that make the early sunset more tolerable. Thanks to the sunlight we see an endless stream of birds on the trees and the occasional squirrel and wild rabbit too!! 

Eggless Tutti Frooti Panettone | DB December 2011

Absolutely loved this Challenge!! I have always wanted to make Panettone but was put off by the idea of so many eggs in the dough. But the fact that the Daring Bakers decided to make this lovely holiday bread encouraged me to think of ways of making an eggless version of the same. Just back for a a long vacation I set to work on the recipe and find ways of eliminating eggs from the recipe. After several permutations I managed to replace the eggs with either milk or a mix of water and flax meal. But then I realised that this bread uses a lot of butter too. I decided reduce the butter by half in the recipe, and then replacing half of that with oil.