Nigella seeds are black and shaped like miniature teardrops. In Indian cooking, nigella seeds are typically used for tadka (hot oil tempering). When plopped into hot oil, the seeds release their flavor and taste like a mix of black pepper, oregano and onions. For this reason, nigella seeds are nicknamed “onion seeds”, though they are not truly onion seeds.
19 Jan
Like hot spicy food? Green chili fry (bhuni hari mirch) is just the thing for you. Coated with spices, quickly cooked in mustard oil, green chili fry on the side with an Indian meal will give your taste buds a delightful fiery kick.
28 Apr
This red capsicum curry (red bell pepper curry) is among the quickest dishes you could make when you’re pressed for time. It doesn’t take long to cook and more importantly, doesn’t demand meticulous slicing: large irregular chunks work just fine.
4 Sep
Capsicum and cherry tomatoes are tailor-made for worknight meals, with simple chopping needs and small cooking times. Combine with some pre-cooked tomato masala and you have a capsicum cherry tomato curry that looks so regal, it’s hard to believe how easy it was to create.
26 Aug
Few things compare to the taste and smell of just-fried onions. What’s usually an embellishment in meals plays starring role in this recipe: spiced fried onions strips with an aromatic peanut-sesame spice mix. Try it!
14 Mar
As promised in the last post on moong dal salad, here comes my recipe for eggplant tomato curry.
I most often use the fat purple eggplant for bharta, but on long workdays the whole roasting process seems too labor-intensive and I want to make a curry that moves from kitchen to dinner table quickly. This no-onion-no-garlic recipe is a godsend on such days. (more…)
8 Feb
Most Indian curries involve a little extra cooking of the vegetables. We like to keep the crunch for salads – curries are soft to the bite. With capsicum tomato sauté I make a departure from that general rule: here the tomato slices retain their shape, the capsicum remains a bright green.
This is a frequent weekday dinner dish for me, and not just for its ease of chopping and cooking. Nothing perks one up at the end of a stress-filled workday as a vibrantly colored dinner!
7 Aug
Do you realize that if you stack round parathas in a square lunchbox, then even with the largest paratha size your lunchbox can accommodate you leave more than 20% of its surface space unused?[1]
Does this er…criminal wastage bother you?
You can’t beat geometry. But you can pack parathas in your square lunchbox without an inch of space going waste. Let me show you how.
Kachumber – classic oil-free Indian salad made with easily accessible raw vegetables, dressed with fresh lime juice and green chilies.
Easy vegetarian rice dishes with a range of flavors and nutrients. Lemon rice, pesto rice, pulao and more. Ideal for quick workday meals.
Sattu jaljeera combines sattu (roasted gram flour) and jaljeera (cumin-based spice) in a no-sugar protein-rich healthy drink.
Tomatoes are an essential ingredient for most curries – but you CAN do well without them! A collection of Indian vegetarian curry recipes without tomatoes.
Hippenmasse, osaman, taftan and more. Arm your vocabulary with these beautiful food words, one for each letter of the English alphabet.
Crispy Spicy Plantain Fry
Ridge Gourd Potato Curry with Poppy Seed Paste
Mushroom Kasoori Methi
Bittersweet Baingan: Green Eggplant with Cashews and Jaggery
Quick Tasty Onion Fry with Soy Dressing
