Time flies and how! This year’s Diwali is also over. But then hope you all had a wonderful and a blessed Deepavali. We had a crazy time both on the home front and the work front and so could not post any Diwali related sweets and savories. Compound to that both me and my son [...]

Malabar Spinach is also referred to Indian Spinach, Ceylon Spinach.  It is called as pui shak in Bengali, Vaali bhaaji in Konkani, basale soppu in Kannada and as bachhali in Telugu. Typical of leaf vegetables, it is high in vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, and calcium. It is low in calories by volume, and high in [...]

Avarekalu is the name for Hyacinth Beans in Kannada. This is also known as the Val Bean, Wild Field Bean and Indian bean. Avarekai is available in Indian stores under the name ‘Surti Papdi Lilva’, usually in the frozen section.
 
These beans have a slight bitter taste compared to the other beans, but adds great [...]

The health benefits of Beets are immense. They provide protection against Heart Disease, Beets’ Betaine Helps Lessen Inflammation, increases stamina, reduced blood pressure etc. June through October is the best season for finding beets and sure enough, we are finding beautiful beets along with its leaves in our grocery store.
In our house we are fond [...]

 
Raw Jackfruit called ‘Kadgi/Chakko’ in Konkani plays an important role in Konkani cuisine. The raw jackfruit has mild flavor, with unique texture and unlike the ripe fruit does not have a sweet taste and goes well in making curries. Growing up, this used to be one of my favorites and I used to love anything [...]

 
Typical Konkani cuisine involves lots of coconut in everyday cooking. It is not uncommon to see even 2 coconuts being used the same day even for regular cooking. Thick chutney for morning breakfast of idli/dosa, coconut based curry for afternoon lunch along lavish sprinkle of coconut gratings for salad, side dish and dry curry (playa) [...]