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.

Masoor Dal with Bell Peppers and Avocado Ginger Mash

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What is your favorite lentil?  Indian brown lentil also called masoor dal, is my absolute favorite. There is something about the mild earthy flavor with aromatic Indian spices and spicy hot ginger, that is so comforting. It reminds you of how simple food that mother earth has blessed us with can be far more soothing and warming, warmth that comes from within, that no food out of box can do. That is the beauty of real food.

Lemony Coconut Milk and Sweet Corn Soup

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I was fifteen or may be sixteen, when I realized I could live ten days straight just on chicken soup. In a desperate attempt to lose couple of pounds I declared a ten day soup diet. Of course, in my not so well developed mind of fifteen, soups meant chicken soups, nothing more and nothing less.

Spicy Eggplant Roast - A Guest Post by Harini of Tongue Ticklers

India is a vast country and when I say vast I mean really vast. Each state, each region even each village has special cuisine. Even if one wanted, it is next to impossible to sample all the food in India, not that I’ll give up though.  So, today I wanted to bring to you a blog I have been admiring for quite some time. Harini, the author of Tongue Ticklers  is one of the few vegan bloggers in India and specializes in South Indian food, which is often naturally vegan and even gluten free. I always suggest friends with eating restrictions to embrace South Indian food which is not only delicious but often healthier as well.

Cold Lentil Yogurt Soup

A few years ago, a fine summer day M wanted Sarki. Now, I could barely remember what a Sarki was.  I was pretty sure the blame has to go on my mom, who most probably never made it at home.

Fatteh Hummus - Its not just a dip its a meal!

As a newly wed, coming back to Kuwait after spending quite a few years in India, was a weird feeling to say the least. One might say, it should be a good feeling, Kuwait is after all were I was born and bought up. But the life back in India got the better of me.

Mix Dal Tadka - Indian Lentils Soup

I was having a hard time naming this recipe of dal which is a generic name for Indian lentils in Hindi. What you think dal actually is ? A soup? A stoup? A stew ? Its certainly not a curry that is what I'm certain of. I actually kind of get irritated when every Indian dish is named as  curry. So I decided to stick with soup!