The ready made tamarind paste had stones, sand or mud with a rusty, oily smell. Few years ago I started to make my own, by just soaking little tamarind in boiling water, cool it and then bottle it along with water and pulp, refrigerate it. The pulp absorbs water and becomes soft. Whenever needed I just dilute it with more clean water, squeeze and then filter to the dish directly while cooking....

Tequila Sunrise Am I the only person who wonders why it’s called a Tequila Sunrise when it looks just as much like a sunset when it’s certainly more appropriate to be drinking these??! 😂 Name aside, this is one of the most popular Tequila Cocktails around, the other being margaritas. Orange and tequila is a classic combination and it’s a refreshing drink that even people who don’t like tequila will enjoy drinking because really, you can’t taste the tequila at all!...

Quick pasta recipes are a midweek lifesaver, and this tomato pasta recipe with bacon is a 15 minute meal that’s great as is but can be loaded with extras – like vegetables and chicken! Bacon Pasta This is a quick pasta that’s made with a tomato pasta sauce and bacon. It’s a great way to turn some bacon into a quick dinner and you can fill it out with more vegetables if you so wish....

Serve these with store bought or homemade Flatbreads and a side of Pilaf or a spiced Middle Eastern Lentil Rice would be wonderfully on theme! Turkish Lamb Kofta Kebabs I was watching the latest Food Safari series called Fire the other night which showcases food from around the world cooked over charcoals and in wood fired ovens. I have neither a charcoal grill nor a wood fired pizza oven, but when I saw these Turkish lamb kofta kebabs, I knew straight away that these would be still be fabulous made on the stove or on an ordinary gas BBQ....

In this post I share how to make a good turmeric latte at home which you can also customize it to your preference. What is a Turmeric Latte? The term latte comes from cafe latte, or “coffee and milk.” It was originally an Italian drink of espresso and steamed milk. Nowadays there are many versions that either add on flavors, such as the mocha latte with its chocolate syrup, or don’t use any kind of coffee at all, such as the green tea based matcha latte....

Jus is more savoury and complex in flavour than say a typical gravy. If you have homemade beef stock or chicken stock on hand, this is a deceptively easy sauce that will elevate any dish to fine dining levels! What exactly is jus? If the word “jus” conjures images of Masterchef and fine dining restaurants, you’re right on the money! Jus is a French culinary term for what you can think of as the posh cousin of gravy....

These fritters are ideal to make with fresh corn cut off the cob, but can be made with canned or frozen corn. Serve for breakfast, lunch, dinner! Crispy Corn Fritters Regular readers know I hate recipes that make false promises. And I’d say that the greatest offender in this online world is exaggerated declarations of crispiness. So let me just get this out of the way first – you can’t do THIS ↓↓↓ with soggy corn fritters!...

Recipe 1 – I usually pack this for the lunch box with jeera rice, pudina rice, coconut rice, lemon rice or lemon pudina rice You can also use potatoes, beetroot or cauliflower to make this stir fry. An addition of very little good garam masala and kasuri methi is all that is needed to make this flavorful. If you have this vepudu karam, you can use it instead of garam masala....

Blini with smoked salmon If there is ever a time to get a little fancy, New Years’ Eve would be it. Break open the bubbles, toast the new year in…….. and let’s make a canapé that will impress the pants off your friends: BLINIS! Blinis with smoked salmon are a hors d’oeuvre that often appears on the menu of caterers and function venues a-like. And the reason is simple: it’s a classic that everybody loves....

After a show stopper Blueberry Cake? Try this one – 3 layers, studded with blueberries, plus a lemon cream cheese frosting! Sneaking in a quick blueberry recipe before the prices start hiking up again!! I get childishly excited when berries come into season. Specifically, blueberries. Raspberries never seem to be a bargain – or is it just me?? You’ve never seen a raspberry specific recipe on my site for exactly that reason....

Brazilian Chickpea Curry The sauce for this curry is swiped from Brazilian Fish Stew, a traditional Brazilian dish that’s been a reader favourite for many years now. It tastes like a coconut curry, yet it’s made with just 2 spices – paprika and cumin. Far simpler than most of the from-scratch curry pastes I’ve shared over the years! That fish stew really is all about that sauce, so it was inevitable that I’d start playing around with other ways to use it....

This is the sort of salad that’s ideal to serve on the side of rich roasts roasts like Pork with Crispy Crackling or a Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder. It’s versatile enough to be equally at home alongside other cuisines, like spice-laden Indian curries such as Chicken Tikka Masala or Goan Fish Curry, or Middle Eastern food like Chicken Shawarma. Creamy Cucumber Salad We don’t ordinarily associated creamy dressings with the word “refreshing”, but that’s exactly what this salad is!...

Dahi Kabab Dahi kabab translates to yogurt kababs where “Dahi” is a Hindi word for “Curd” (Indian yogurt) and “Kabab” here means a “Patty”. Also known as Dahi ke kabab, these are vegetarian patties made with curd as the primary ingredient. Various ingredients like spices, herbs & gram flour are used to flavor them. You will find numerous ways to make dahi kabab. Bread crumbs, onions, nuts, paneer and even cheese can be tasted in some versions....

Ivy gourd is commonly used in Indian cuisine to make various dishes like stir fry, curry or chutney. This veggie is believed to be good for digestion and keeps stomach gases suppressed. We usually make a simple dondakaya vepudu or this dondakaya curry to go with plain rice and ghee. This dondakaya pachadi is another dish that I make when I am left with some ivy gourds. There are not many different ways to make this pachadi....

Dosakaya Pachadi Dosakaya is the Telugu word for “Cucumber” and Pachadi means “chutney”. Hence the name. There are few different ways this chutney is made. In this post I share my Mom’s traditional recipe where raw cucumber is crushed with salt, cumin seeds, garlic and green chilies. A lot of people do not temper the chutney and finish off with some chopped coriander leaves garnish. But tempering makes a difference as it enhances the flavors and keeps the chutney fresher for longer....

In this post I share a simple recipe to make a delicious & flavorful drumstick curry that you can serve with plain rice. Simple everyday curries from South Indian cuisine, have a chunky curry base with a thin runny or watery gravy/sauce. They are much different from the restaurant dishes but yet taste good & healthy. This Indian vegetable drumstick curry is one of the kinds, made with pantry ingredients, easy to cook and makes for a comforting meal....

Fish cakes Fish cakes make a refreshing change from the usual pan-seared methods that I typically default to when it comes to fish recipes. It’s also a good way to make less fish go further because the fish is mixed with some kind of padding starch – potato in this case. 500g / 1lb fish used in these fish patties will comfortably feed 4 adults, if not 5, compared to a standard serving size for a piece of fish is 180g / 6oz per person....

Flourless Chocolate Cake This recipe is how I make flourless chocolate cake which is not the usual way but I think it yields better results with the bonus that it’s easier to make. That’s a double win in my books! Usually, flourless chocolate cake is made by beating egg whites then folding it through the batter to make it rise. However, I almost always found that the cake would rise while baking, but then collapse into a crater while cooling....

Serve with French fries and potato with gravy for an epic homemade KFC experience at home. Fried Chicken I’m going to call it (obnoxious as it is) – this fried chicken is better than KFC. There’s not a trace of soggy skin anywhere (all you closet KFC lovers know exactly what I’m talking about!) and the crust is thicker and craggier. Every inch of this crust is insanely crunchy, and there’s loads of those nubbly bits that get extra crunchy....

Homemade French Onion Dip Confession time: I’ve made shortcut French Onion Dip using a packet of French Onion Soup mix many, many times…. and in fact, here’s the recipe! BUT a REAL Homemade French Onion Dip, made from scratch by making your own caramelised onion trumps the shortcut soup mix version 10 times over. Thank you Ina Garten! I will never give up the packet soup mix French Onion Dip....