The key flavor of the Chicken Ghee roast comes from spice paste that you make by roasting a few whole spices. Curry leaves adds a very refreshing flavor and cooking in ghee adds that rich aromatic taste to the dish and the beautiful aroma of ghee. I prefer to make the dish with homemade ghee, but you can definitely use store bought too. Ingredients you need: Chicken - I used a mix of bone and boneless chicken....

I am not a big fan of Dal, but I do have a few favorites. Dal Tadka with jeera rice (cumin flavored white rice) and a few slices of cucumber for the refreshing bite in between. Dal in India is lentil stew and Tadka is tempering. Prepared with three variety of lentils, Dal Tadka is thick in texture. You temper it with ghee and whole spices, making it utterly comforting at every spoonful....

Every once in a while, I crave for a crumbly cake, one that doesn’t demand any extraordinary baking skills or requires any fancy gadget. I want it easy-going and a little bit healthy, if possible. Thankfully, I have few such recipes that save my day and makes baking effortless. Filled with dried fruits, nuts and a hint of coffee, this crumbly cake absolutely won my husband’s heart. He has a challenging palate when it comes to cake, trust me!...

Brussel Sprouts Salad Turmeric or Haldi as we say in hindi, has been an integral part of not just Indian kitchen but our lives, I have to say. If there was a king (or in my opinion a queen) of spices in India then it has to be haldi (turmeric). Be it dadi (grandma) tossing it with salt and mangoes before spreading them out in the terrace to dry for pickling....

This week, we tried Shiitake mushroom and Bok Choy. I know it’s very common in US, but in India, I never saw these mushrooms or bok choy. I moved to US recently and my husband doesn’t remember if he ate them in some dish or not 😀 Anyways, I remember that i have never eaten them before, so it still meets the criteria to fall under Project 52. My initial plan was to stuff them or grill them, but yesterday morning, I was so confused about what to cook for lunch and therefore, I made them with noodles....

OK, enough of admiring the grass on the other side that always looks a lot greener. Let’s get down to business, I mean food 🙂 As usual, I was watching Giada’s show on Food Network few days back and she was cooking for her kids. In fact, she was basically cooking with them like a training class. She prepared a lot of kid’s food, shakes and cookies. One dish that caught my attention was Mac and Cheese muffins....

Then there are weekends when the poor guy gets so busy with his work that we hate to even call it a weekend. So, while he spends time with his laptop, I try to get busy doing what I love doing. Like, bake a tart, make it look pretty, take out my props and do some photo shoot. If summer is all about sorbet, ice cream, smoothie, stone fruits and berries....

We make Paneer at least once a week as it is my go-to source of protein. It is loved by all in the family. While there are various different ways I cook paneer, this simple air fried paneer has become very regular on weeknights. Ingredients for Air Fried Paneer Paneer - You can use homemade fresh paneer or store bought. Sometimes the store bought paneer can feel very hard. One pro-tip is to slice the paneer in cubes, and then soak in hot water with a little salt....

Almond Orange Snowflake Cookies These Almond Orange Snowflake cookies is so rich from almond with a subtle orange taste. And the icing is super easy too! This holiday season, I am in a totally different rhythm. I am baking cookies like never before and thankfully every single recipe is working out magically. Of course, my little fella is over the moon happy with his Mommy’s new favorite activity. He is always looking for what I am baking next and even started making some requests....

What is Crème Brûlée? Crème Brûlée is baked custard topped with granulated sugar which is blow torched to burn and caramelize. As you crack the crystalized crystal sugar with a gentle snap the creamy custard oozes out. At every spoon you get a little crunch from the burnt sugar with creamy custard! It is this contrast of texture that makes it Crème Brûlée so delightful and divine. You need just 5 basic ingredients Heavy CreamSugarEggVanilla extractpinch of salt...

What are Cream Puffs (Choux Pastry) Choux pastry, or pâte à choux is a famous pastry from France that is prepared from a butter and flour dough. It doesn’t need any baking powder or baking soda or yeast. On baking the dough puffs beautifully creating a pocket inside for filling. This Cream Puff recipe is full proof, and you will find airy pockets in every single one of these puffs....

After he leaves for school, I sit down with my smoothie and think back. Was it really necessary to rush him? He wanted to take time brush his teeth. So be it. Just a few seconds more, may be a minute. I could have let that happen. Why did I even get mad? Of course, I couldn’t have allowed him to continue playing with his toys. It was school day....

In Indian cuisine, you will find countless recipes where potatoes play an important role as the star of the dish. It is consumed a lot, and so far I have not come across a single potato dish that I don’t like! If you enjoy potatoes, you will definitely love this Jeera Aloo Recipe. What is Jeera Aloo Jeera is Cumin Seeds in Hindi, and Aloo is Potato. Jeera Aloo is a quick, minimal side dish that is often prepared on busy weeknights....

Some states in India can get extremely brutal hot during summer, and Kolkata is one such state. During those months, you would want to focus on light meals that will soothe your tummy and help you stay hydrated. I always lean towards light dishes, like Lau Diye Munger Dal, Shoshar Shukto, Tetor Daal and any dish that calls for raw mangoes. Kacha Aamer Tok is also referred to as Aamer Ambol...

Lemon Mint Cake was my first blog post! Way back in 2011 when I had started my blog with the name ‘sunshine and smile’, this Lemon Mint Cake was my very first post. It had one really bad photo taken with phone, but the recipe was solid. Since then this cake has been baked and loved by a lot of my friends. And after so many years, I just felt the need to republish it with better photos, content and a video....

I always store shrimp in my freezer for busy days. It thaws faster and cooks really quick making it perfect for days when you need a homemade meal in a jiffy. This dish comes together in less than 20 minutes. Masala Shrimp Ingredient list: Shrimp (any size will work, but the cooking time will differ accordingly) Red Onion – You can use white onion too, but red onion always works best for Indian dishes....

What is Nankhatai? In India we refer to these cookies at Nankhatai biscuits and the local bakery would make it fresh, melting in mouth delicious. Growing up, I was a picky eater and there were only few varieties of biscuits or cookies, I liked. Nankhatai was one of those that I was always excited about! Unlike American cookies, most Indian biscuits are prepared with ghee (clarified butter). It is not only a healthy fat but also gives that beautiful caramelized flavor to the cookies....

Paneer Paratha is not common in Bengali household and so it took me a while to learn how to make this popular Indian breakfast. With a few initial failures and several years of making it on repeat, this Bengali girl feels very proud to say that she makes very delicious Paneer Paratha. If you get the stuffing right, the dough right, and if you roll it evenly, the stuffed paratha will puff beautifully, and you will scream with joy!...

Pear Chocolate Cake I have baked this pear chocolate cake a few times in the past and thankfully it was always appreciated and relished till the last crumb. Pear and Chocolate is such a perfect combination and works beautifully in a cake. I normally like to add cocoa powder in my chocolate cake. However with this particular pear chocolate cake, I go for only chocolate, which makes the texture quite fudgy....