Spices and herbs are the lifeline of any cuisine. The way each cuisine of the world had been using spices and herbs, is a wonder that unfolds with each bite we relish with our senses. The classic flavor combinations have been time tested and it is not so much of a surprise that each one of the classic flavor combinations is good for health as well in terms of micronutrients and assimilation of nutrients in general.    Last month I received a spice box from Foodie Trails and Australia Tourism and the contents were really interesting. Seeing some tart fruit powders like Davidson Plu ..read more

  Horse gram is a type of lentil that I got introduced to quite late in life but once I got to know about this lentil about 20 years ago, I had to experiment with it out of curiosity. New ingredients have always been a pleasure work with and if someone says it's good for health, I feel even more enthusiastic. Since I got reminded of how I discovered horse gram, let me tell you the little story as well. My husband's first posting was in Dhanbad, a mining town in Jharkhand which was then part of Bihar and we used to get many tribal hawkers come with their wares mounted on bicycles. Since t ..read more

Soups are sustenance during the harsh winter months. This almond coriander soup or almond cilantro soup as it is called in many countries, is something I love making whenever I have good coriander leaves in excess, usually in peak season.  In India the season for coriander is winter and a lot of it is grown for the leaves. All over India we have so many dishes where the coriander leaves are used as the main ingredient, the kothimbir vadi, Bhopali rezala, harey alu, dhaniya patta vada are some of those dishes. Apart from that our green chutneys can't be imagine without green coriander le ..read more

Cakes are a treat for everyone.    Sometimes the popularity of a food becomes such a case that it starts ruining its food value. Food value is the sum of all the good nutritional and flavour qualities a food has naturally. Once a food become too popular, it becomes the pawn of the market to generate more profits and the food value degenerates. Cheap processed ingredients replace good quality genuine ingredients and the food item has to not just taste good it has to stay on the shelf for longer so there are better chances of it getting sold. Being sold is the prime motive of a proce ..read more

Sabudana khichdi is one of the favourites since childhood. When I used to do Navratri fasting in the 80s I would make sabudana khichdi in huge Kadhai at home because everyone wanted generous portions of it. I learnt supplementing the sabudana khichdi with paneer and seeds or nuts back then because that was the only big meal I used to have during the nine days of Navratri fasting. Later I started doing minor changes to the recipe because this was a favourite and sabudana or sago pearls aren’t the healthiest of ingredients even though they are are neutral, considered cooling and Ayurveda appro ..read more

Fermented pickles are not an accidental occurrence. Fermentation itself isn’t an accidental inclusion into human dietary habits. Fermentation was there before humans evolved so there is no question whether humans tasted the first fermented foods before or after a certain milestone of evolutionary process. They tamed the process of fermentation after they started cultivation of food for sure.  And how.  Humans always knew fermented foods are good for their gut even though they didn’t realise (in prehistoric times) there is a thriving population of bacteria in their stomach that he ..read more

This Amla and curry leaf pickle is one of the best immunity boosting condiments that’s easy to make and versatile enough to include in several meals every week.  What’s more? In the times of lockdown many of us aren’t getting a regular supply of vegetables so this pickle could compensate for the vegetables, providing comparable nourishment in terms of vitamins and minerals and even fiber content. The pickle uses huge amount of curry leaves that are high in vitamins and minerals as well as fiber and of course the other i ..read more

I have been talking about cranking up our immunity a lot these days. I believe all the fitness and diet parameters we work for have a role to play in keeping the immunity alive and kicking but there are times when we are indisposed which is normal if our immunity is strong. Regular exposure to pathogens is normal and it helps build our immunity too. For example, when we do gardening with bare hands, when we eat street food and take public transport we are exposed to a lot of pathogens that may cause potential health issue but our innate immunity takes care of it with the help of first ..read more

Pressure cooker, one step marinara sauce is something you must have in your fridge all the time if you want to make some quick meals a few times a week. Marinara sauce is a multipurpose sauce that can be used to make pasta, to slather a pizza base or even for making sandwiches and rolls when you just want some home made food on the go. You can make this sauce chunky or blend it to make smooth to your liking and it will be your multipurpose tomato sauce with whatever food you want to pair it with. Imagine if you blend this marinara sauce really smooth in your blender and keep refrigerated ..read more

Immunity and healing isn’t optional for anyone but a lot of people have illnesses and underlying health issues that compromise the immunity and healing processes for a short while and sometimes even for lifetime. In the times of a pandemic COVID-19 caused by Coronavirus, we have to boost up the immunity for everyone, the healthy individuals as well as the ones who have had health issues that compromises their immunity.  The question is, how do we boost the immunity? Let’s understand how our immunity works, in layman terms. Yes, our immune system is complex and it will be good ..read more