This Italian preparation of chicken cacciatore has its origins in Central Italy when it was prepared by hunters in a typically no-fuss manner.   The authentic Italian cacciatore recipe used rabbit game as much as it did chicken, slow roasted with vegetables and herbs.  Wine would also be thrown in as a form of marinade,  and paired with polenta or cornmeal hot porridge.  Hard crust, long rise breads were also the preferred combination with Italian chicken cacciatore.  Even though the rise time would endure half a day, the resultant enhanced flavour of the bread ma ..read more

When you’re an onion lover as I am, you’ll deal as many onions to a dish than necessary.  You’ll have to agree, however, that onions elevate the taste of any dish that requires its use. Be it onion fried rice, or a biryani topped with fried onions or onion fritters or a French onion soup – onions are a delight to the taste buds. When I have fried onion rings in the past, I’d find that the fried rings grew soggy within minutes of frying.  This is precisely why I avoided attempting fried onions rings until I tried this combination for crispy fried onion rings recipe.  This recipe ..read more

What are chickpeas and what are its benefits? Falling under the family of legumes, chickpeas are known to be packed with nutrients and fiber.  High in protein, it can keep the hungry appetite at bay, instilling a feeling of satiety. What do chickpeas taste like – they taste nutty and feel firm in terms of texture.  The fact that it keeps hunger at bay, is a good excuse to avoid adding calories to the plate in the form of other foods.  Naturally, the body weight stays down.  That chickpeas aid in digestion is another of its attributes which is why chole masala or as com ..read more

Malvan cuisine is a cross between Maharashtrian and Goan cuisine.  Seafood and chicken are its predominant dishes, not that vegetables aren’t part of their repertoire.  It will be unusual if you have’t heard of the popular Malvani bottle masala where spices and chillies are pounded into fine powder which is stored in “bottles” or airtight glass jars all the year through.  This is where the term “bottle masala” earns its name and is used liberally in their typical Malvani chicken kadi or paaplet saar among others. My early memories of East Indian cuisine lie in its ..read more

The curries of the south are known to have a spicy edge, especially the ones local to Kerala.  Hailing from Goa myself, makes the experiments with fried fish curries of southern India a meritworthy experiment. The key ingredients of Kerala curry preparations lie in their use of coconut oil which exudes an unmistakably strong flavour (favourably so). If you can manage to come by Malabar tamarind, it would be a valuable addition to helping acquire the typical taste of a fried fish curry Kerala style akin to the one you’d enjoy when visiting the state. Of course, I didn’t have this variety o ..read more

I can’t begin to describe how thrilled my confidante was on the day she received her ticket to paradise – at least that’s how she described it.  Her first step towards a stairway to heaven, so she said.  I couldn’t fathom what element it was that fostered her happiness, but it made me smile too.  The rest of the day elapsed in a blur of feverish excitement, as we turned towards another part for visiting places in Pondicherry. Paradise Beach I remembered visiting the Promenade from the day before.  An idyllic setting, worth a memory recall.  We went there again, acros ..read more

From time to time we travel to see places, to expand our horizons. Every so often we travel, for leisure and pleasure. Sometimes we travel on a journey, of the soul. Swaying coconut trees by the beach And that was Pondicherry for us, a journey of spiritual discovery of sorts.  Especially to my confidante and friend on whose insistence I made the trip – eventually.  Pondicherry had been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember, but cannot figure out why it did not feature in my travels until recently.  Perhaps it was for an international destination that I’d skipped it ..read more

Seafood in any form is welcome to non-vegetarians and being an avid seafood lover, there is no dearth of this marine food in my eager kitchen.  Prawns – small or large prawns – are unfailingly stocked in my icer.  In my view, prawns can be used in soups, appetizers, as well as main fare which brings us to our dish for today “Garlic Butter Prawns”.  It combines well with almost any gravy, or rice based dish and is the most versatile in the seafood family. Prawn tempura While one can dish out a tuna salad, a prawn balchao pickle, lobster cakes, shrimp  Tuna fish salad coc ..read more

When friends and followers urged me to offer a no-frills homemade coffee recipe, with no elaborate use of a frother or a plunger.  So, I came up with this coffee recipe which I term as an easy peasy homemade coffee recipe.  It tastes as good as a whipped coffee, with natural foam to make the coffee drink seem like a Dalgona coffee at least as far as its creamy texture goes.  Print Easy Peasy Coffee Recipe No elaborate plunger or frother goes into this simple-to-churn coffee recipe. All you need to do is to shake the ingredients in a bottle to give it a whipped coffee feei, then ..read more

This red hot and spicy  chutney has its origin in Rajasthani stye local preparation, having obtained the recipe from a village belle I met a long time ago at Jaisalmer.  It’is unlike the typical sauces and chutneys available in the commercial market.  Far from the typical Schezwan sauce, chilli garlic sauces and branded chutneys that flood the Indian stores.   I managed to wean away the belle’s house recipe, and also had the delight of being offered a hearty homemade meal with it.  Of course, information isn’t proferred free of charge as is common in these parts ..read more