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Guymag | Wheat & Butter Halva
Do you know what one of the best parts about winter is? It’s that special fragrance that comes from generous amounts of ghee or butter. It’s the heady aroma of paratha being roasted in ghee, the sizzle of the spices when they touch the hot makkhan (homemade butter), the hiss as a rainbow of vegetables slide into the butter for a winter-special stir fry. A mention of halva that has been painstakingly slow cooked for that perfect balance of flavours is a must. After all, winters are synonymous with halva! Gaajar ka halva, moong dal ka halva, badam halva, doodhi halva, matar halva… (types of Indian puddings made of carrots, green mung beans, almond, bottle gourd, green peas) Amid this list of lavish…
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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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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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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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Sweet Ghee Rice | Mishti Ghee Bhaat
If it is a four-course Poila Boishakh special meal, then mishti ghee bhaat is a must! A traditional Bengali rice dish with sweet undertones, this rice is enhanced with dried fruits.
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Carrot & Date Rolls with Chocolate Drizzle
I never thought I would say this but my phone is having a mid-life crisis at the age of two! No, seriously! All was well till I finished watching the latest episode of Masterchef Australia Season 10 early on Thursday (say 1 am-ish). All continued to be well on Thursday morning as I shuffled into the kitchen, placed the phone on a stool and made the much needed morning cuppa. Suddenly, there was a buzz, a thunk and a crash. I turned and stared. My phone lay on the floor. The left corner shattered artistically with cracks creeping across the screen that was blinking like a disco light on the…
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How to Celebrate ‘World Vegetarian Day’?
I’ll be honest. I was a bit flummoxed when I first read that October 1 is celebrated as World Vegetarian Day! As someone born in India, vegetarian food has been a part-and-parcel of life as far as memory stretches. My family loves its fish, meat, seafood and what not. But we love our vegetarian food as much. So much so that you’ll see the lot of us sticking to vegetarian food during the relentless summers – easy on the digestive system – and on some festival days – for spiritual reasons. Curious, I went on an internet searching spree – starting with the Oxford Dictionary – and found some rather…
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Spice it up with ‘Harepyaaz ki Lehsuni Khichdi’ (Spring Onion & Garlic Khichdi)
In conversation with Urban Khichdi, a new food venture in Ahmedabad, that promises to satisfy your khichdi cravings. Khichdi, after all, is the hug in a bowl.
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Quick and Crunchy Flour Fritters
Made with just all-purpose flour and potatoes, these fritters are not something that I would define as healthy. But they are supremely easy to make and are the perfect dish to make when you open the doors to unexpected guests.
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Tea Time with ‘Nimki’, a Savoury Bengali Snack
An oval-shaped dining table dominates the living room of our family home. It’s the place where we eat our meals, yes. But there’s much more to that table. The dining table is where Baba* sits to sift through the daily mail and at the end of the month, attempt to make sense of my expenses. The table is where Maa prefers to solve the newspaper puzzles and crosswords. It’s my choice of seat with a cuppa as I read through gossip pages of newspapers or drool over the magazines I subscribe to. The table is where we dissect the ‘who said what’ and ‘why they said what they said’. It’s…
