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Indian Cure for a Cold: Tomato Garlic Rasam
Tangy, spicy heat massaging my vocal cords. Roasted mustard seeds, cumin, garlic and pepper steaming towards my nose. Each maintaining a soft cadence under direction of the nutty paste of toor dhal. Filling my belly. Warming my throat. Reviving my olfactory senses. Cold cold go away. Please don’t come back another day. R and I were not […]
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10 Essential Indian Spices
One of the best care packages I ever received was a full set of basic Indian spices that my sister put together in labeled jars. Having the right spice on hand or not can take a great recipe and destine it either to a long, sad life in your junk drawer or earn it a spot in the […]
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Ready Made Goodness – Cheddar Cheese Masala Burger
About a year ago, my sister signed me up for Martha Stewart Living. I love reading the magazine, I really do. Although, I’ve never actually made anything from it. When I hang a holiday wreath, I don’t cut stenciled leaves from gold foil and staple gun them to a wooden frame. I buy one – and […]
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Mumbai Mama, Take Me Home – Vada Pav
Country roads, take me home, to the place where I belong…John Denver was singing about the mountains of West Virginia but his song resonated with me as I read about prominent Mumbaiites like Suketu Mehta urging the world to run to Mumbai – not away from it in response to the recent terrorist attacks. I agree with Suketu’s […]
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A Very Desi Thanksgiving
I’ve never characterized Thanksgiving as just “a day to be thankful” – it’s always been more about a day of good food, parades and family because I just don’t understand limiting thankfulness to one day. A thing as difficult as say parades, however, I do understand limiting. The loss of life and terror we saw this past […]
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Chili When Chilly
When winter hits, thoughts of a steaming bowl of hearty, vegetarian chili makes the wind slapping my face, the ringing chill in my ears and frostbite in my fingers seem a little less awful. A stockpot of it warms up our house and our bellies for a few days. I like to top mine with […]
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Nutella Ricotta Stuffed Pancakes and Roasted Home Fries
Last night, we met some friends for dinner at Cafe Ino, and I didn’t manage to save any room for their nutella panino. We woke up this morning to hear what could only have been ginormous raindrops hitting our skylight, and I knew it was a perfect day for a decadent brunch. We made nutella […]
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Saucy Soba Noodle Stir Fry
Last Sunday, after a low key, relaxing spend-the-night with friends in Warwick, NY, we wanted a low key, relaxing dinner to cap off the weekend. Stir fry is great because we just gather a few of our favorite veggies, throw them into the wok, pan fry or *grill a block of tofu and hit the […]
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Black-Eyed Peas and Aloo Sabji
For the longest time, black-eyed peas were filed away in the gray matter of my brain as a high school cafeteria side dish likely to be flavored with ham hocks. I might have been confusing them with pinto beans for years. I finally learned how tasty they are after trying Guru the Caterer’s black-eyed peas with […]
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(Vegetarian) Unchicken Tikka Masala
N, a good friend of mine who is a self-described “recovering corporate attorney who enjoys writing, traveling and the arts,” introduced me to veat when she brought Veat Makhani to a potluck dinner a few years ago. R and I were immediately hooked on her makhani dish and on veat. Veat’s a nice alternative when […]