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Cottage Cheese & Green Peas in Yoghurt Sauce | Dahi Matar Paneer
I had always found it odd that some of the best cooks around me wouldn’t eat some of the foods they made. For instance, an aunt of mine makes some amazing Thai non-vegetarian food but she never tastes any of it. Why? Because she gave up non-vegetarian food decades ago for health reasons. Then there is a friend’s mother who cooks the best biryani I’ve eaten; she makes all of it without even tasting the biryani to adjust seasoning. She doesn’t eat rice and non-vegetarian food. So there! I’d always wondered at the strangeness of the situation and how these women managed to cook without wanting to eat the food…
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15 Must-Visit Places in England #Part2
Me: What plans this weekend?She: Weather apps say it’ll be a sunny weekend, so we’ll probably do a bit of gardening.Me: Ah! That’s nice.She: And perhaps drive to the Bristol city center for a stroll along the bay and an early dinner.Me: Okay bye. And that, my dear friends, is just a sample of the kind of conversations I have with my elder sister – she lives in Bristol with her husband – during the English summers. Suffice to say I love and miss the English summers. That’s not to say I don’t love summers in Ahmedabad – give me the mango season, the late-night drives for ice creams et…
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15 Must-Visit Places in England #Part1
I am missing the English summer. There is something rather charming about the English summer, including the unpredictable showers. It is these unpredictable summers that made me realise why ‘weather’ is always a popular topic for conversation among the English. Until last year, England had been THE summer getaway place – it was where I could vanish to, switch off from connectivity and lose myself in an ambiance of choice. Over the years of visits, the urban landscape of most cities and towns has undergone a drastic change – as is expected of modernization. But there’s no changing the energy that makes each English city/town so unique! If you happen…
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Nutty Nutrition Powder
“To health drink or not” – this is the question that plagued my mother since the time a friend of hers raved about a nutrition drink, especially for senior citizens. While the friend claimed to have felt a difference after regular consumption of the drink, Maa was not convinced owing to the ‘chemicals’ and ‘sugar’ contents. Her concerns, when relayed to the family doctor, got us the response “Make a natural nutrition drink at home”. The doctor’s logic was rather simple. Why put chemicals into your body for nutrition when you can get the same from products already a part of the household? “Dried fruits & nuts are the perfect drink supplement.…
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High-Protein Millet Salad & a Conversation
A few months ago, I took part in an Instagram giveaway. Like always, I didn’t win that giveaway (I never do!) but I did start following the profile of the person who won it. I was awed by the photographs on their feed and the way they made salads look like such a breeze. Imagine my surprise then when I realised that the amazing photographs and tantalizing recipes were the work of someone I had studied with in high school and college! From being the topper in school and college to making a name for her in the advertising world, Bhumika has achieved a lot over the years. And Lime…
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Ginger Chilli Chai
I was looking through old photo albums a few days ago and unearthed the one of a family trip to Malaysia where the elder sister and brother-in-law were settled. This was roughly a decade ago when I was younger and was learning about food, always ready to try something new but still wary of the unknowns and unidentifiable on the plate. We never clicked photos of the food we were eating but a photograph reminded me of the trip to a chocolate factory and my first rendezvous with chilli beyond the way we use it in Indian recipes. I distinctly remember being floored by a bar of chilli-flavoured chocolate that my…
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Crispy Neem with Coconut | Neem Narkel Bhaja
If the post title has not made you shudder and click away, then consider yourself smothered in a hug from me! I understand that sometimes it takes courage to even read about certain food items, let alone trying them or eating them. Mention squid or muskmelon and I want to run away. And there are several who follow suit when it comes to the idea of eating bitter neem leaves. But ‘bitter’ has been part of our daily meals since forever now. As is the case with meals from all regions of India, the Bengali meal too is balanced to satiate the six basic tastes. This, in turn, covers a variety of…
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How to Plan a Trip with your Best Friend
My life wish list and travel wish list have one thing in common – ‘Travel With The BFF’ is scribbled on both in capital letters. That’s how much I’ve wanted to travel my best female friend(s) since… forever. I prefer to travel solo most times but I’ll never say no to an occasional trip if the company is good. And who can be better company than your BFF (best friend forever/best female friend) who has known you and your eccentricities for a few (if not several!) years. I’ve managed to travel with both my BFFs in the past two years – a trip to Kerala with one and a journey…
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Stir-fried Red Spinach | Lal Shaak
As a child, I used to be fascinated with the concept of a red coloured vegetable and immediately made it my favourite. What tickled me pink was the rice turning pink when mixed with red spinach. Seems it was officially my favourite food and the only time I liked the colour pink! Yes, I never appreciated the various hues of pink until I grew older and wiser and discovered hot pink. But that’s a story for another day. Going back to the red spinach or lal shaak as it is known in West Bengal, this lesser-known cousin of Popeye’s favourite food is filled with all things healthy. It should be…
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Raw Mango Chutney | Kaacha Aamer Chaatni
One of the best things about summer in India is the abundance of mangoes! Walking into a fruit store these days makes me feel like a kid in the candy store – so many varieties of mangoes to choose from! My father tends to go overboard while mango shopping but thanks to my mother, we don’t end up covering every surface at home with the ‘king of fruits’. The mango crop in Gujarat has been a little unsatisfactory this year, says my father and the newspapers. But that doesn’t seem to have stopped the average Gujarati – and by that, I mean any person living in this Indian state –…
