Tindora/Tendli/Dondakaya Ivy Gourd Rice

I remember what my mother would say about cooking: “thinking is the hard part, while the actual cooking and cleaning is the easy part”. I did not think of it much then, but now that I shoulder the responsibility of cooking I totally understand what that means. First of all coming up with a menu that satisfies everybody’s taste is challenging, and then factoring in conditions like, “will the menu item 1 go well with menu item 2, will the kid eat it, will it be time consuming etc” Phew! Then it is totally going in circles.  As a result…

Sweet Pongal (Huggi)

One convenient reason why blogging makes it worthwhile for me is because I can refer to my own recipes online anytime for years to come. I know it sounds silly, but it is true.    A few days ago while contemplating what to make for dinner; it occurred to me that it had been a while since I made the delicious Cheesy Vegetable Pulav. I decided to make it that evening, but could not remember the exact ingredients that went into the masala and so I scrambled to check for the recipe in my old diary. I usually scribble down recipes…

Bell Pepper Rice / Capsicum Rice

  Growing up in India, the only color of Bell Pepper that I had seen was green and was amazed by the plethora of colors available here in the US, red, orange, yellow all bright and vibrant colors. Even though it is very hard to choose, my personal favorite is the red color. Whenever cook with these, I make sure that they don’t loose their color. For this rice dish, I follow the same steps as “Chitranna” but also add Bell Pepper along with onion. . They not only add vibrant color, but they also add a good amount of…