User's blog

Category: Food Thoughts

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • Manic Monday – Menu Planning

    Almost every weekend, we go through some combination of farmer’s market, local market, FreshDirect shopping.  I make mental menus of each day’s meals.  Having Surya home during the day means my menus also have to take into account her lunch.  We don’t always stick to the menus I come up with – because invariably life/work/cravings […]

  • Hungry Desi in Cook Vegetarian

    Exciting news – Hungry Desi was featured in Cook Vegetarian’s round up of vegetarian cooking blogs.  I was excited to be in the company of 101 Cookbooks, Allotment to Kitchen and Tinned Tomatoes.  Here’s a copy of the article. [ipaper id=51268043 mode=tile] [ipaper id=51268250 mode=tile] I would have loved to have shared it sooner, but […]

  • Spilled Masala

    As I was wiping the contents of my spilled masala box from my floor (after having just refilled it), I couldn’t help but think it looked beautiful.  The reds and yellows and darks brown with white grains of salt between.  Any suggestions for a caption for this photo?  Here are some that came to mind […]

  • 100th Post and a Giveaway: Le Creuset Mortar and Pestle

    Note: This contest has now ended. Congratulations to Meera, lucky #2!  Thanks to everyone for entering and sharing your favorite Indian dish!  I have some fabulous new ideas. I neglected Hungry Desi’s first birthday.  And then its second birthday.  So I am ringing in my 100th post to Hungry Desi with a giveaway.  A little […]

  • Review: POM Wonderful

    I first tried POM Wonderful’s pomegranate juice when it was relatively “new” to the market a few years ago.  It was really bitter tasting and came on way too strong.  So when POM Wonderful emailed me to see if I was interested in trying a free sample of their pomegranate juice, my initial instinct was […]

  • An Apology and India Return

    First, An Apology: Dear Hungry Desi, You’ve been neglected for sometime, and I owe you an apology.  There’s the usual list of excuses.  Work got busy.  Really busy.  Surya owns my free time.  All of it.  We’ve been away visiting India.  Now we’re back but jet lagged.  I’ll try not to lean on those excuses […]

  • New York Indian Food Favorites

    New York is a city exploding with ethnic eats.  It can be hard to navigate through the authentic, the cheap but still good, the cheap which tastes cheap and the expensive and worth it.  I’ve been getting a lot of questions about good Indian food in New York.  I’m always hesitant to create a list […]