Panfusine

Grill baby grill is my motto during summer. (of course I can cheekily say so given that its in the comfort of my kitchen with the stove vent on at full blast.) Uber simple to assemble, Grilled paneer slabs cut into cubes, Black beans from the can, corn off the cobs grilled on the stove top, and fresh blueberries. spiced with smoky ancho chile powder, and lime. mmm... mmmm... Good!

This was an experiment done on a wing and a prayer, tried to satiate my deep craving for 'kadugu mangai' (baby mangoes in a mustard brine), a classic South Indian pickle that is a staple in my kitchen. Up until this year, these baby mangoes were simply unavailable. Sooo, instead of the mangoes, I decided to look outside the crisper drawer and before I knew it, I was stuffing an entire head of Napa cabbage liberally sprinkled with kosher salt and turmeric into a large glass jar. A month later, poured out the brine, combined it with raw mustard seeds, asafetida and arbol chiles, and gave it a whirl in the smoothie blender. The net result, a delicious kimchi (a tad salty though), that paired well with the tambrahm favorite - Yogurt rice!

I have a dear friend from school who lives in the City of Kolhapur in Maharashtra. When I visited her  at the  gorgeous heritage resort  she owns there en route to a holiday in Goa, she gifted me with a spice blend that I treasured to the last speck. It sat  at the bottom of my freezer and was doled out for special dishes just like Saffron is rationed out in many Indian homes. Its a lip smacking flaming  hot blend of onions, garlic and the famed Kolhapuri Mirch (red chili). I marinaded cauliflower florets in a paste of this spice blend , salt and oil, and roasted it in a 450 F oven. Finished with a handful of green coriander berries, this was a fabulous treat paired with roomali roti.

This was originally intended for my main blog 3 years ago , but it got diverted as a contributed recipe to a very prominent Indian Newspaper based out of Chennai. Little did I realize at the time what a bunch of sub standard unprofessional freeloaders they'd turn out to be. This soup was inspired and adapted to Indian flavors from Ree Drummonds recipe but took on a marked South Indian tinge with the finishing touches of pickle oil and 'kadugu mangai sauce'. Copying and pasting the entire recipe since it was mine in the first place! Cream of Broccoli & green pea soup (makes ~ 4 servings, Prep time: ~10 min, Cooking time: ~ 20 min) You need: • 1 1\2 cups Broccoli florets (no stalks) shredded through a grater • 1\2 cup fresh, frozen or dried green peas • 4 tablespoons Ghee • 2 medium sized onions finely diced • 1\2 teaspoon powdered cu...

Ever since I stopped buying the brand name wonder bread  type of loves at home, and switched to the artisan variety sold in the bakery section instead of the bread aisle, we seldom have slices that get the chance to go stale. The flip side - I keep having to visit the Grocery stores almost thrice a week. It was purely by chance that i completely overlooked half a loaf of rosemary olive bread of the organic kind. Cut the slices into cubes and toasted it lightly and tossed it into a salad with fresh mozzarella heirloom tomatoes ans  freshly picked basil. A generous sprinkle of sea salt and a drizzle of EVOO and voila a delicious light lunch perfect for summer.

T'was just another Summer afternoon, The kids were home for the summer holidays, getting bored, there's only so much summer reading you can force them to do, and the Indian mommy in me could no longer caution them against going out in the afternoon  (I've solemnly refused to use that horrid excuse of 'You'll get a dark tan if you stay out in the mid day sun'), and so we decided to head out to Terhune orchards for the blueberry picking. The kids never say no to outings to the orchard, they LOVE the trip there, the cute yellow dogs and the cats,  the chocolate crinkle and Snickerdoodle cookies, and they positively trip over grabbing buckets and heading joyfully towards the berry bushes... ... And there it ends, the younger one loses herself in her delightful imaginary worlds where she probably thinks she's hacking her way through virgin Amazon jungle, sighing at every branch that brushes against her legs, picks 2 or 3 berries as if they were a new as ...