Tadka Dal - Everyday Indian Lentil Soup

India and dal are synonymous to each other. One can't be in India if they haven't had some version of dal, whichever part of the country they may be in. It's not like we talk lengths about it or how it should be made. For most cooks can blindly make dal, a little bit of this and that lentil, a few spices from the masala dabba (a spice box used by Indians to keep day to day spices), a trusty pressure cooker and a pot full of dal is always simmering away.

As much as dal is a necessity, so are the condiments served with it. Achar (pickle, usually lemon or mango), kachumbar (an onion salad) and if it wasn't enough some papadam (wafer-thin lentil crisps) to crunch on are always stationed close to a bowl of dal. While roti is fine, fragrant white grain rice is the lustrous companion one craves. Slurping through the dal coated rice is truly what composes comfort food for most Indians. In my family, it is a twice a week affair, but many vegetarians will tell you that they have some form of dal everyday along side a vegetable preparation. 

Green Goddess - Quinoa, Avocado, Peas and Pistachio Salad With Coriander Basil Pesto

Couple of years back, I started growing Italian basil. There is a local variety that's good for flavour but I somehow always missed the lighter hued, crisper Italian basil that holds much better in recipes. It grew rather well.  Every once in a month I could gather enough basil for a jarful of pesto and I treasured it more than saffron. I added it to pretty much everything for a day or two. Pesto paratha? Yes. Pesto curry? Yes, been there. But of all things, we savoured a sprouted wheat berry salad with coriander basil pesto and cherry tomatoes and it became a regular at dinners. And then, I stopped making it.

Well that and I got pregnant, I travelled, then I travelled more and my basil plant died. Amongst the new responsibilities of being a mother, getting meals ready for my family and just trying hard to be good at everything, I forgot all about my balcony herbs.

Chana Bateta - Chickpeas and Potato in Tamarind Sauce

If you ever happen to be in India, outside a Bohra pilgrimage place, you will likely spot a stall with chickpeas and potatoes simmering on the stove, stationed closely would be suspicious looking neon red liquid, a deep brown tamarind sauce and chopped red onions. On placing an order, the vendor wearing his rugged topi (a white and golden threaded Bohra cap) takes an earthenware bowl from the tall stack and ladles in heaps of chickpeas and potatoes. He will ask you if you liked it spicy, and even though the thoughts of the burning sensation crosses the mind, it is inevitable to answer - yes.

My favourite has to be the vendor in my own town or the one found in Mumbai. They both have different approach to it. The former adds red chilly liquid and tamarind followed by fresh sprinkling of chopped coriander. The one is Mumbai adorns his with fresh chopped onions, diced tomatoes and sprinkle of red chilly powder along with tamarind sauce.

Restaurant Photo Shoot - GIA

I recently did a photo shoot for a local deli/cafe called GIA and unlike others it is all about wholesome, rustic and home style food. I'm in love with their quinoa salads and have whole new love for quinoa now then ever.

Clearly then, the guidelines for the shoot were real, unpretentious and realistic food with no restaurant like styling which was very refreshing to see. Here are some of the photos from the shoot.

Spicy Minced Meat Samosas

If I told you this is my grandma’s recipe, it would be both true and false. 

It's true because in the most vivid memory I have of her, she is sitting on a green painted metal chair in the verandah instructing my aunts who are sitting on the floor with three large plates. One plate was stacked with whole wheat paper thin wraps covered in lightly damp cloth, another with pile of cooked lentils or cooked minced meat. The third plate was where they placed folded samosas. We kids would run around the verandah and were handed the folded samosas to eat while we passed by. The tradition has been handed down from my grandma to my aunts to my mom and now to us. So what makes it false?

Kadhi - Spiced Hot Yogurt Soup

Comfort food, is not just for the soul, it is soothing and nourishing to the body too. It is warm and hearty, sometimes complex in flavour to something as simple as a peanut butter sandwich. It comes laced with sweet childhood memories but also dipped in the sourness of lonely moments when only food rescues you. It is what the heart yearns when it's grey and cloudy outside, but also what you want to serve your family on bright sunday morning gathered around a table, a room filled with laughter and chatter. Real and unpretentious, comfort food never gets old.

For most North Indians, one form of dal (lentils) or other is not just comforting, it is a daily grind. Followed closely by Kadhi, a chickpeas flour and yogurt soup often served with a lentil and rice pilaf called khichri. It is best eaten sitting on the floor, touching the earth, feasting on what came from it and into our souls made of earth. Spoons are acceptable but real comfort comes with mixing the soup and rice with your bare hands and poaching in some spicy lemon pickle or just fresh green chillies with each bite, alternated with crispy papad.  It is an alchemy of flavours in their simplest,  most unglamorous form.