Having a loaf of Banana Bread always comes so handy on busy weekdays. Especially if you are like me who loves breakfast food but doesn’t like to make it in the morning. So a pick-me-up breakfast is my anyway choice. VIDEO OF BROWN BUTTER BANANA BREAD Brown Butter Banana Bread The recipe for this Banana Bread uses brown butter and brown sugar to add that nutty, rich taste. I also like to add walnuts to the bread....

White Chocolate Bark In our house, I go for dark chocolate while Arvind loves white chocolate. The kiddo doesn’t care as long as it’s chocolate. Now, as much as I like dark chocolate, I don’t really go for a bar like my husband, who can finish an entire large bar of white chocolate in one sitting. Beginning of the year, I got a little too excited and bought a ginormous bag of white chocolate for Arvind....

What is Chicken Salli? Chicken Salli is a Parsi delicacy and the word “salli” refers to the potato stick. The dish is referred by different names, apart from the common Chicken Salli. Jardaloo Salli Marghi (“Jordaloo” means apricot, “Salli” are the potato stick and “Marghi” means chicken, Murgh Salli, Salli Boti (here “Boti” refers to red meat), are few of the names I am aware of. The recipe calls for chicken or read meat that is cooked in aromatic spices, dried apricots and then topped with fried matchstick potatoes....

I remember Dad bringing these toasted cookies which tasted like cake but were hard, crispy and perfect to dunk in a glass of warm milk. We would call it cake biscuit. These biscuits were baked fresh in a local bakery and Dad used to always bring those in small batches to last a week. It was only after several years did I learn the actual name of those biscuits. Biscotti!...

Why you should try this Homemade Granola This homemade granola recipe is the perfect solution for both nutritional and delicious. It is definitely a great snack too, especially when you are craving something sweet but want to stay away from guilty indulgence. The store bought granola are always loaded with more sugar. The best part of making homemade granola is that you can customize it your own way, add just as much sweetener you prefer....

Of late, I don’t make as much dessert as I used to because we are just trying to cut down on our sweet consumption. So, whenever the sweet craving hits, we just go for something store bought where we have the option to pick just a few. Three doughnuts or three muffins or mini low calorie kulfi from Costco. You get the point! I was hoping that Avyan would reach a phase where he could hog on desserts....

When it comes to comfort food, Korea offers a plethora of dishes that are both satisfying and packed with flavor. The name “mayak” (meaning “drug”) isn’t meant literally, but rather indicates how addictive these eggs are. These marinated eggs are a testament to how a few humble ingredients can create an addictive culinary experience. Ingredients you need for Mayak Gyeran I do believe there are various versions of the same dish, and I added what I could find at home....

What is Mooli Paratha ? Paratha is an unleavened style of Indian flatbread and when you stuf it with grated white radish/ daikon radish, it is called Mooli Paratha. Unlike Aloo Paratha, Mooli Paratha is little tricky as mooli/ daikon radish is a water content vegetable and if you do not follow the right steps, the filling will burst out turning into a soggy mess. I am saying this from my experience....

Moong Dal Ladoo A quick sweet treat to welcome Ganpati Bappa! This year, the 10-day festival starts today and Indians all over the world, especially in Maharashtra, must be all excited and busy making all kind of Bappa’s favorite food. His favorite happens to be all kind of sweets, especially Modak and Ladoos. I am hoping to make some Modak for him too but these Moong Dal Ladoo will defitely cheer him up until then....

So while I wait for the heat to cool down, I am trying my hands on every summer drink possible. One of our favorites is Raspberry Lemon Iced Tea and we have been having them a lot these days. It’s has a perfect blend of sweet and tart with the hint of tea and the sexy red, which makes it more appealing. For a berry lover and tea lover, the combination worked much delightfully on my palate than I had expected....

I updated this old post from 2017 with the most recent photos of our soft gingerbread cookie. But if you scroll down you can see the photos from the last two years too. Hopefully I can keep updating this post with new photos every year! Soft Gingerbread Cookies The is the time of the year when you can’t help but indulge, go sugar high and drink a few extra glasses of wine....

What is Kundru? Kundru in english is Ivy gourd or Coccinia grandis, also sometimes known as scarlet gourd. It is very popular in Asian cuisine. People tend to often confuse it with pointed gourd but keep in mind, these two vegetables are completely different. I didn’t grew up eating this vegetable. It is not very common in Bengali cuisine, and I was introduced to this by my husband. Kundru happens to be one of his favorite vegetable, and it took me a few attempts to finally appreciate this vegetable....

Avyan loved all the attention and although people say that babies don’t usually feel that much, I think that’s not entirely true. After they left, Avyan was looking for them and in his own language tried to communicate something. He was, however, quite cheerful that once again he got mummy’s full time attention. During this time, there was a lot of cooking happening. While I didn’t miss that part, I sure did miss sharing recipes with you guys....

What makes a good Pizza? Is it the toppings or the crust? In my book, both plays a very important role. The foundation is the pizza crust which should have that bite, and crisp texture. The recipe needs no gadget and even if you don’t bake at all, you can make this effortlessly. This is the same technique I use to make my no knead bread, Focaccia with tomato and rosemary....

But we still manage to enjoy cake with our evening tea, while Avyan pokes around, tries to take the parchment paper out, feeds us in between as he nibbles and makes a mess. Life is still beautiful! Mawa or Khoya is reduced milk that is used in a lot of Indian sweets. It also makes a perfectly moist cake. Although I grew up seeing Mom baking cakes quite often and whipping up loads of Mawa in her giant heavy bronze wok, I never saw her baking a Mawa cake....

My Bengali palate loves fish in any form but anchovies are not something I ate before. Every time, I see Jamie Oliver adding few fillets of anchovies to his salad dressing, I get tempted. So finally, I gave it a go knowing at the back of my mind that Arvind might not enjoy it. I was correct! The boy didn’t grow up eating fish but he eventually started enjoying different kind of fishes....

What ingredients goes in Tel Potol? Tel refers to oil in Bengali. Tel Potol is prepared with mustard oil and at the end of the cooking you add mustard oil once again for the pungent aroma. In term of spices you only need nigella seeds. Little salt and sugar for taste and turmeric powder for color. You do want to add fresh green chili at the end mainly for mild heat and flavor of green chili....

At the end of the shopping trip, I reach home with at least two half eaten bananas that finally end up in the refrigerator, forgotten for the next two days. As most of us know, overripe bananas or in my case, ignored bananas work best in fritters or cake. And I assumed that our little fella would love the idea with his favorite fruit in it! Well, he did lick the chocolate off the top and then nibbled for a while before he was done with it....

Bengali Fried Rice is also referred to as Vegetable Pulao or Bengali Ghee Bhaat. This is a classic Bengali dish served on special occasions like birthdays and wedding parties. The fried rice doesn’t call for a long list of spices or vegetables. We keep it very simple, as we serve it with spicy curries. Ingredients you need Ghee - I like to use my homemade brown ghee to prepare the rice....

I learned to make this dish from my Mom several years back. This is not one of those standard regular chicken curry, which makes it unique. The list of ingredient is not a lot, and you don’t even need a lot of spices to make this Indian chicken curry. Ingredients for Caramelized Onion Chicken Curry Red onions - I like to use red onion in this dish, but you can use yellow or white onions too....