Tamatar Bhaat | Tomato Rice with Edamame Beans

With the Memorial Day weekend, the week seems to be going by very fast. Holidays on a Monday always do this to me - by the middle of the week, I am looking up the calendar to check if we are at Tuesday or Wednesday!! Do you feel the same way? Our weekend was quite busy, but we were able to make our first trip of the season to one of our favourite local farms!! I had an email from them announcing that the asparagus was in and though I have been buying at our local store, I was really really keen to get a fresh batch from the farm. So off we went - and I am so glad because we were lucky enough to find some early rhubarb too!! I got a good batch of each and I will be penning down the recipes for both early next week!!

Home Made Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

After a short break, I have been baking bread again and this time I am sharing with you a recipe for baking delicious Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread at home. Yes, right there in your own oven!! No running to the bakery wondering if they still have a loaf left or making do with store bought bread. No worrying about preservatives, additives, excess sugar or indeed salt:)

Green Chutney | Cilantro Chutney Sandwich Spread

I have received many queries in my mailbox about the bright green chutney photographed with the Theplas in the previous post. So here is the recipe. We usually carry Theplas on road trips or picnics. As a rule I prefer not to carry any condiment with them as it tends to get all messy in the car. However this time I decided to make my favourite thick chutney to go with them. We enjoyed the theplas and chutney at a beautiful wayside rest stop with strong sugary tea that I had carried from home in a flask!

Masala Methi Kanda Thepla | Seasoned Mixed Grain Flatbread

Thepla is just one on those eats that is not easily available in our neck of the woods. I do try and get a fresh batch of Thepla whenever I visit Chicago. However I have found of late that I am not satisfied with the quality of the theplas available both over the counter and frozen. Even our favourite mithai shop (indian Sweets Store) has disappointed. I did make theplas quite often some years back, but have not been able to do so in recent times as it can be a time consuming exercise. In fact, today is the first time I am making them again in a couple of years!!

Artichoke, Ricotta, and Chickpea Calzone | Italian Kitchen

Calzones make for a hearty and filling snack in a picnic basket or an entree for a meal on a hot platter. I love making calzones as they are so easy to put together, can be refrigerated for up to three days and taste super hot or cold!! Just add a salad and a cup of milk and you are good to go.

Chow Chow Curry | North Indian Style Chayote Squash Curry

 

Chayote Squash or what is commonly known as Chow Chow is not a vegetable I was familiar with in my childhood. I don't remember seeing Chow Chow in a big vegetable markets in Delhi, though I am sure some smaller vegetable vendors might have carried it regularly to customers accustomed to using it. I remember eating a lot of Doodhi (Bottle Gourd) and Karela (Bitter Gourd) but Chow Chow was never on our platters. So it comes as a sort of irony that today I can buy Chow Chow in any supermarket or farmers market I visit, but I get to see the best quality Doodhi and Karela only in season at my local farm.

Banana, Butterscotch, Cardamom Blondies | Eggless Baking

Last weekend I made a super delicious cake. It had all the flavours I love including cardamom, banana, and caramel!! Yes I made the unbeatable Banana, Butterscotch, and Cardamom Blondies!! The aroma of this cake as it baked in the oven was so wonderful that I could not wait to get a pot of water going to enjoy with it. But I resisted the temptation as I had a little time on my hands and decided to use this to glaze it.  To make it especially pretty I pulled out a box of sprinkles and decorated it with some pink and purple sprinkles on the top. Doesn't it look beautiful. Yumm!! This cake is superb with afternoon coffee - the flavours seem made for each other. We loved this cake and its going to be a keeper in my recipe box:)

Masala Matar | Green Peas Masala

Regardless of season I always keep green peas in my refrigerator or freezer. They are perfect for adding to pretty much any curry or dal and also make great stuffing for parathas, pooris, and kachoris!! Fresh peas tend to be so sweet and delicious that I generally make very simple recipes with peas. They taste best when they are just a little undercooked and not over seasoned. But once in a while I like to indulge and make curry rich dishes that include peas. My brothers visit last weekend was one such occasion and I wanted to make loads of special food to spoil him.

Winners: Street Food / Dhaba Food and Giveaway

Its here! I finally have the winners of the Street Food | Dhaba Food Recipe and Giveaway @ Annarasa ~ Essence of Food. Let me begin with a hearty Thank You to each and every one who participated in this Food Event and sent in all those delicious recipes. I received a total number of 70 recipe entries - 69 of which were collected via Inlinkz on the Contest Page and one that I received via email from a non-blogger. After a review of these entries and adding together the additional possibilities for entries via Twitter and Google Connect as per the rules, I used Random.Org to generate the two winning entries.

I would like to begin with guest posting the recipe sent to me by Jeeja Jaison who sent in the delectable recipe of Fruit Chaat. You can find her at her FB page: Manna N Quail. Here is what Jeeja writes: