User's blog

Month: June 2011

  • Key Ingredients – Really Juicy Tomatoes

    Have you ever made a dish once, had it turn out perfect and then made it again following the same steps with still good – but not great – results? Sometimes I chalk this up to kitchen karma. But really it may be the quality of the ingredients you’re using. When I was recipe testing […]

  • Simple Peanut Sauce

    A great simple sauce uses pantry ready ingredients that you’re bound to always have on and imparts a deliciousness with layered flavors that masks it simplicity.  We all have a few of these up our sleeves.  Sometimes they are so simple though that I forget them. There’s a great sweet and sour Indo-Chinese sauce we’ve […]

  • Key Ingredients – Indian Chilies

    Many of my recipes call for “green chilies.” Green chilies used in Indian cooking are small, heat packed chilies. They are about the 2 inches to 3 inches in length. Unless we go to the Indian grocery store though, these chilies can be tough to come by.  What do you substitute for these green chilies? […]

  • Are “No Substitutions” Policies Ok?

    As a lifelong vegetarian, I almost always ask for substitutions at restaurants. If the answer is no, then fine – so be it. But I also almost always call ahead to ask if the chef is cool with making substitutions to accommodate a vegetarian diet. If the chef won’t do it, then you probably won’t […]

  • Paneer Makhani Recipe

    As promised, here’s the paneer makhani recipe that I shared at yesterday’s New York Times Cafeteria.  Their team did a great job of recreating the recipe. It was a lot of fun to step into their kitchen to be greeted with the smells of an Indian home kitchen with packages of authentic Indian spices littering […]