Chili Baby Corn | Indo Chinese Kitchen

Chili Corn is another dish that is a favourite at Indian Style Chinese Restaurants. Sometimes though I find that it had a little too much chili for our taste. Last week when it was raining cats and dogs here, we were craving some nice hot Chinese food with rice I decided to make Chili Corn. We enjoyed it with Jasmine rice that I had picked up from my last visit to the wonderful Asian store in our city!!

Spinach and Broccoli Mac & Cheese

Who does not love Mac & Cheese - its the ultimate comfort food. Deliciously simple and creamy with loads of cheese, Mac & Cheese in it many avatars has won the hearts of kids and adults alike. We love Mac & Cheese around here, but I always try to make a variation around this theme. This recipe is something that came to me as I sat down to plan dinner last week. I wanted to make something with broccoli and spinach, maybe add it to a pasta sauce or make a pesto of it.

Chili Tofu | Indo Chinese Kitchen

Chili Tofu is a take on the very popular Chili Paneer served in Indo Chinese establishments! I tasted Chili Paneer many years at Sakoni's - a Gujarati restaurant in Wembley, London. It was such a popular dish that Desis (colloquial for South Asians) living in London would plan special trips to Sakoni's just for a stab at the dish. I was dragged across town by just such an eager friend. Unfortunately at the time the dish I was least impressed with was, you guessed it, Chili Paneer. I am guessing that it was overshadowed by other delicacies like Chaat, Lassi, Samosa, that I focused on during the meal!!

Spicy Vegetable Chow Mein | Indo Chinese Kitchen

Continuing with the theme of Indo Chinese food I began last month, I made some delicious Vegetable Chow Mein!! Chow Mein is a staple at Indo Chinese restaurants and is typically a spicy main dish. Served with a side of some equally spicy dish with a sauce, its a whole different experience from meals at regular Chinese restaurants.

Vegetable Manchurian | Indo Chinese Kitchen

Our city is cosmopolitan in character and this is reflected the wide food choices available in restaurants here. Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indian, Caribbean, Peruvian, Afghan, Lebanese, Fusion, Korean, Vegan, Deli, French Bakeries, you name it and its available. But did you notice I left out Chinese cuisine. This is because this is possibly the one city in country that does not have a single Chinese restaurant with good food. Not even a a cheap and cheerful variety. This has become so obvious that people actually discuss it and not many send out for Chinese take-out, a staple of many other cities!

Bite-Size Raspberry Jam Biscuits | Eggless Raspberry Jam Biscuits

Many years ago, I came across the jammie biscuit in England. Pretty yellow biscuits, with a sticky baked jam center really made my day. I loved them with my afternoon cuppa (shorthand for a cup of tea on the British Isles)!! They also reminded me of the jam biscuits we ate as kids back in India. The only difference was that in India, the filling was mixed fruit jam, a species of jam rarely found on super market shelves elsewhere, while in England, the filling was always raspberry jam, or apricot preserve!!

Masala Chana Dal Vadas | Spicy Lentil Fritters

This year I decided to make some typical and traditional treats for Diwali. Apart from the sakarparas and namakparas, I thought it might be a good idea to have some nice food from the South for Choti Diwali and something from Delhi for Diwali. So I made tamarind rice, masala vadas, and sambar on the 27th! And while I often make tamarind rice from scratch at home, I usually make my sambar using MTR sambar masala. I always plan to make the sambar masala at home but just never get round to it. So this time I decided I just had to make the masala at home and I did. And I have to confess - the sambar was the best I have ever tasted. Well, enough said about my adventures with masalas and onto the Masala Vadas!! (And of course, you might well ask: what did you make for Diwali? Keep tuned for some delicious Delhi Chaat!!)