Lettuce Salad with Thai Peanut Sauce Dressing

Next to Indian, the cuisine that we heart is Thai cuisine and we visit different restaurants often. Each restaurant has its own specialty be it Pad Thai, Thai ginger curry rice, sweet sour vegetables, basil noodles etc that we love.  There is this one restaurant that makes an awesome peanut sauce dressing for their salads and so I go there only to eat their peanut sauce.  Now DH thinks it is a stretch to drive all the way just to eat salad and I grudgingly agree. So I took upon the challenge of making this at home.  A few searches…

Instant Besan Dhokla/ Khaman Dhokla Recipe

Khaman Dhokla is a traditional Gujarati delicacy, beloved for its soft, spongy texture and delightful flavor. Made primarily from gram flour (besan), this savory steamed snack is not only a treat for the palate but also a nutritious option, as it is rich in proteins and carbohydrates. Traditionally served during breakfast or dinner, Khaman Dhokla is versatile and works just as well as a light mid-afternoon bite or a satisfying tea-time snack. Years ago, I often relied on the ready-made Khaman Dhokla mix by Tarla Dalal, which produced consistently flavorful and well-textured dhoklas. These mixes were a staple in my…

Indian Flat Beans Curry/ Chaprada Avere Palya/ Papdi ki Sabzi

Indian Flat beans are referred to as chapparada avare in Kannada and as Chikkudu kaya in Telugu, Val papdi in Guajarati. In Bangalore where I grew up, these beans were readily available and my mom used to prepare it often. But here in the US they are not readily available and had almost forgotten about it. However few weeks ago a good friend of mine got a bagful of beans for us and so I got an opportunity to prepare this dish. The combination of this curry along with tomato rasam, yogurt rice forms a comforting meal. This dry curry…

Spring Berry Salad

Call it a spring salad, summer salad, or any name you like, this dish is perfect for any season. Just one glimpse of this vibrant, colorful salad is enough to brighten my mood and lift my spirits. I wouldn’t mind eating it every day, provided someone else makes it for me, of course! The flavors and vivid textures of fruits, vegetables, and nuts blend so well that, while enjoying it, you may not realize you’re eating something so healthy. The inspiration for this salad comes from Jaya. We visited her house for dinner, where she and her husband treated us…

Dry Mushroom Curry/Mushroom Fry Recipe

Growing up, mushroom was a rarity and something that did not get cooked often in our kitchen. But after living in the US for a while, I have developed an acquired taste to it and now beginning to like it. On the other hand DH and the kiddo have had no problems and like pretty much anything made with it. This dish was something that DH made for the kiddo over the weekend and we all enjoyed it. This is a no-fuss, straightforward recipe which do not require too many ingredients. While preparing this dish, DH added only half of…

Microwave Besan Laddoo

For the recent Ganesh Chathurthi, I asked my kiddo which sweet he wanted to eat that day, so that I could make it for him. “Yellow laddoo,” he replied without a blink. It caught me by surprise, as I did not get the usual “nothing,” a characteristic reply, especially when I ask him about desserts. Unlike his mom, he is not a dessert person, and the only dessert he loves is something with chocolate in it, like the chocolate chip cookies. Occasionally he might eat some yellow laddos aka Besan Ladoo. I did not have the time to prepare traditional…

Stuffed Capsicum/ Bharvaan Mirchi

Indian style stuffed vegetable dishes that I know of are notorious for being complicated and time consuming. What with the roasting of spices, grinding, stuffing and cooking it can take up a better part of the day. I have this experience while making the stuffed brinjal, a traditional coconut based stuffed dish.  But this stuffed bell pepper dish on the other hand is quite easy to dish out and looks elegant too. There is no roasting of spices or grinding and since the capsicums are baked, they do not require the baby sitting. I am really excited about this recipe,…