Shimla Mirche ke Chawal | Spicy Green Bell Pepper Rice

Fried rice recipes are so easy to put together. A well spiced fried rice dish tastes wonderful warm or cold and makes for a simple and flavorful recipe for a packed lunch or a picnic lunch. Though fried rice recipes are often made with leftover rice, I love to make them with fresh rice too. They make a great one pot meal for lunch or dinner and then if I have any leftover I use it for the lunchbox. If you have an office microwave, you can carry this for lunch the next day too.

Lemon Quinoa | Lemony Quinoa Pilaf

South Indian style lemon rice is probably one of my favourite rice dishes. It is a delight both to make and to eat - the fragrant tempering, the hot and sharp tastes, and the beautiful yellow colour are so inviting! Its also so easy to make that it can be ready in a snap. It is also great to make if you have left over rice from a party or get together. Lemon rice is one of the dishes I love to make when we are planning a road trip or a picnic. It travels so well, tastes delicious hot or cold, and you never have to worry about the accompaniments.

Cilantro Millet

Millet is a grain I use quite regularly. I use it as a substitute for rice and sometimes mill it for adding to breads. My last stash of millet finished a few weeks. So off I went to my grocery store, down the organic aisle and to my great surprise - no millet!! Then I chugged off to the local coop - no millet, next came the wholesale organic store - and yet no millet. Oh well, I thought - I'll buy it online. A few clicks later - no millet - no stock anywhere!! Strange coincidence I pondered - all the millet in my part of the world has gone off the market just on the day I need it!!

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!!

Sambar Oats Bhaat | Savoury Oats and Sambar Porridge

While oats always means milky sweet porridge to me, it was never quite as tasty as when made savoury!! I have been using oats to make savoury treats for quite some time now. Initially I saw skeptical looks around me when I announced something like Oats Poha, Oats Upma, Oats Pongal for brunch!! But one bite and I had converts all around me:) Now I get requests for Oats Kichiri and Pongal all the time!!

Quinoa Pongal with Kale and Peas | Savoury Quinoa Porridge

If you are looking for a quick whole meal there is nothing like kichidi (kedgree) or pongal (porridge)!! Both are very similar savoury complete meals that combine and cook together lentils and rice often with a medley of vegetables and spices. When I was growing up, kichidi was a favourite meal at least once a week. Pongal is something I was introduced in my college days over shared tiffins!!

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!! 

Saboot Moong Dal Pulao | Whole Mung Bean Pilaf (with Coconut)

Right in the middle of all the festive cooking, the deep frying, the sweets, the savouries, isn't it just typical that one should crave simple home cooked food!!!! I have been making festive treats ever since the beginning of the Navratras and all I wanted to eat yesterday was some simple everyday khana (food) - chawal (rice), dal (lentils), dahi (yogurt) - sigh!!

Hara Masala Makai Pulao | Spicy Green Corn Rice

Last night I made this simple Corn Pulao with Gajar Koshambir (Carrot Salad) for dinner. We were just back from a long weekend and craving some good home cooked food. I already had some Arhar | Toor Dal | Pigeon Pea ready in the freezer. So while it defrosted, I decided to rustle up something special as well as quick.This Corn Pulao is a little different, as I decided to add cilantro to the cooking process. This gave it a really fresh and tangy taste which was balanced beautifully by the sweetness of the corn.

Kathal Pulao | Rice with Tender Jackfruit

Kathal or raw Jackfruit is not available in my part of the world. Even Indian stores do not carry it. The only way to indulge any craving for Jackfruit is to get it canned from Asian stores that import it from Thailand. I remember Kathal largely from my time in Delhi. My Mum would get it from vegetable vendors in the Sarojini Nagar market when it was in season. Kathal is not an easy vegetable to prepare, just the peeling, cutting, separating the seeds and removing them from their tough shells is a cumbersome task. This is usually made even more difficult by the sticky sap that oozes out of the peel when it is cut into!! We were kids in school and for us it seemed more like an adventure - to get to the delicious flesh of this wonderful vegetable!! And so the end result was always more than worth the trouble.

Quinoa Rajma Pulao | Quinoa Pilaf with Red Kidney Beans & Poblano Peppers

Our weekend was hot and hectic. Temperatures are once again soaring in our part of the world and the extremely unusual hot weather is back. On days like this, the kitchen almost becomes a no-entry zone for me!! Our cooking range is electric and it generates a lot of heat, much more than a gas range would. Its worse if  two or more burners are on at the same time. Even the evenings are unbearable, so I am keeping cooking to a minimum.

Masala Tamatar Bhaat | Spicy Tomato Rice

Whenever I want to make tomato rice, I hunt around for the tangy yet sweet pink tomato!! Piled high at green grocers in the big vegetable markets of New Delhi, these tomatoes were firm yet wonderfully juicy. No winter salad would be complete without them. Tomato purees and tomato paste was not widely available in those days and my Mum and Grandma made do with the fresh version for all those wonderful winter recipes.

Fada / Dalia ka Upma | Healthy Broken Wheat Porridge with Green Peas and Sweet Corn

Sunday breakfast is always special. Sometimes I get round to making it so leisurely after morning tea and papers that it kind of morphs into a brunch! In the good old days when I had a proper desi mixie, I'd make idli, dosa, vadas, dal cheelas, all of which my husband just loves. While we miss these, I now have the opportunity to explore a different range of healthy breakfasts that we had been missing out on!!

Delicious Dal Dhokli

Chilly temperatures always call for especially delicious treats and comfort foods. And last week, while it was snowing like no tomorrow, I decided to treat us to some hearty Dal Dhokli. While Dal Dhokli is basically a Gujarati dish, similar dishes are made in Rajasthan, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh too. The seasoning in the various versions differs, and I will blog other version @ Annarasa too!! Dal Dhokli was particularly popular in Mumbai where I spent part of my childhood.

Moong Dal Khichdi | Split Yellow Mung Bean Khichree

Kichidi - that delicious melange of rice and lentils - is the ultimate comfort food. And moomg dal kichidi comes out at the top. In this version, I have added a tomato and potato to make the dish extra nutritious and comforting.

Soya Nugget aur Palak ki Tehri | Soy Nuggets and Spinach Rice

Here is a really indulgent little recipe for a comfort food I love to prepare in the winter. Rice, spinach, peas in home made (by Mum), Kolhapuri masala, drenched in fresh cream and ghee!! Yumm!!

Delicious Macaroni and Cheese Bake

Mac & Cheese is the ultimate comfort food! We adore mac and cheese round here. I generally use different ingredients each time I make mac and cheese and so have developed several versions of this lovely dish. A couple of weeks back it suddenly turned cool around here. There was even frost on the ground!! Craving something very comforting and warming, I decided decided to make a classically creamy baked version of mac and cheese.