Tangy Stuffed Bittergourd

I fell in love with this make of bitter gourd. I know there are lots of people out there who dislike bitter gourd. Some only like it dried, fried or fried crispy. I somehow have always liked bittergourd since childhood. I was the good daughter that my Mum had no issues with feeding veggies of all sorts.

I had tasted this make of bittergourd at our friends Binny and Vineet's home. Their maid had made this fabulous bittergourd and I believe we were on Lent that time so only vegetarian food. Binny shared this recipe with me last year and yes this was tried last year itself. Like I mentioned, I have a whole heap of archived vegetarian recipes for you friends and readers who have been asking me to post my veg. creations.

The health benefits of bitter gourd are plentiful some of which includes treating blood disorders, lowers sugar levels in blood and urine, improves energy and stamina, improved sleep patterns, is an immune booster and heals respiratory disorders to name a few.

This recipe is all too simple. Tomorrow being 'May Day', you may want to take it easy and make it simple in the kitchen.

You need:

• 5-6 whole bittergourds
• Salt to taste, some more to soak
• 1/2 tsp of Turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp Garam masala
• 2 medium sized onions, finely chopped 
• 2 Green chilies, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp Dry Mango powder
• 1/2 tbsp Coriander powder
• 1/2 tbsp of pickle powder(optional)
• Water to soak
• 1 tbsp oil

The Make:

Serves 2 adults | Cooking Time : 10-15 minutes | Preparation time: 30 minutes

1. Slit the bitter gourd lengthwise on one side only. Soak in salt water for 30 mins and then squeeze so any bitterness goes away.

2. In a bowl, add all the other ingredients  and mix.

3. De-seed and clean the interior of the bitter gourd.

4. Stuff the bitter gourd shell taking care not to overstuff as the stuffing may spill out while cooking.

5. In a pan, heat the oil. Lower the flame and cover and shallow fry the bitter gourd.

6. After about 5 minutes flip the bitter gourd on another side.

7. Repeat after another 3-5 minutes and uncover and cook until softened for a few more minutes if required.

Serve hot with rotis/chapatis or rice.

I hope this recipe of bittergourd brings about a change to your taste of this miracle vegetable!

Spicy, Tangy and Crispy Roasted Chicken

The last two weeks were super busy what with Easter, my little one's school annual day and my falling ill right after my little one fell ill. I actually had a very special recipe to share with you for Easter. I had failed to share it for Christmas 2014 (when it was actually made) or New Year 2015. I guess I just may share it before the next festive occasion. I also have a huge number of recipe creations archived and waiting to be shared with you. And yes my #vegetarian friends, I still have the whole heaps of recipes as promised to share with you that I tried over the 50 days of #Lent.  I thought of sharing this one first after the #Lent break. Trust you all have had a wonderful Easter celebration. School's out now so I hope I do get as much time with the blog as I had imagined!

I have no idea how time flies but it sure does! This recipe is inspired from one of my Mum's recipes of Crispy chicken (I will share the original recipe soon *fingers crossed*). I had started preparing the chicken quite late so you see there was a pinching into the chicken from the little one who could not resist to wait till I finished clicking pictures. Your home does get quite aromatic from this roast. 

To make this simple roast, 

You need:

• 1 kg full chicken, skin-on (cleaned well)
• 1/2 cup of plain yoghurt (curds)
• 1 tbsp smoked Paprika powder
• 1 tbsp of Cheddar Cheese powder
• 1 tbsp of Garlic powder
• 1 tbsp of Ginger powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 tomato, chopped and ground to a pulp
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• Breadcrumbs
• 1 cup of wheat flour
• Oil for greasing

The Make:

Preparation Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: Up to 1 hour, 15 minutes| Serves 3-4 adults

Although I made a full roasted chicken, you could choose to cut the chicken in to large or medium pieces thereby reducing the cook time to 45 minutes to 1 hour.

1. Leave the cleaned chicken in a colander to drain off any excess water. Then pat dry with a kitchen towel.

2. Add all the ingredients except the breadcrumbs in a large, wide bowl (large enough to hold the whole chicken) and whisk to a batter.

3. Next carefully, bathe the chicken in the batter. Make sure to cover all the crevices of the chicken and the inner cavity as well. 

4. On a large walled plate, scatter the breadcrumbs. Next pick the battered chicken carefully, holding it over the bowl to allow any excess to drip back to the bowl. 

5. Carefully roll the chicken onto the breadcrumbs covering every crevice. You can also stuff the cavity with some aromatics such as lemon wedges or rosemary.

6. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the chicken onto a lightly greased baking tray (or a greased aluminium foil paper, although I prefer the former) and roast for 1 hour. Check intermittently through the oven window to ensure that there is no burning. This works well in case of an oven that lights both on the top and bottom. If not you may need to turn the chicken, breast side down after 30 minutes of roasting.

7. Serve hot with your favourite bread rolls, salad and in my case Hummus.
*Note: For kids, you may want to reduce the smoked paprika to 1/2 tbsp (although smoked paprika is not as spicy)

Broccoli in Honey Mustard Sauce

This recipe came about when I felt like cooking up a tangy dish to accompany my crusted bread. Broccoli is a rich source of calcium and is especially the best option of calcium for those who cannot consume diary products. It also has Vitamin A, C, fiber and folic acid. It is known to control high blood pressure and may also prevent colon cancer.

Broccoli in Honey Mustard Sauce

I did not have much of a chance to click many pictures just the one above as we were quite hungry that night. I do recommend having this meal with a side of grilled potatoes or crusted bread. Worcestershire sauce as the name suggests was first made at Worcester, England under the brand name Lea & Perrins (coined from the surnames of its founders). To make this super simple dish,

You need:

• 1 medium size Broccoli (cleaned and florets separated)
• 1/4 cup of my Homemade Mustard Sauce
• 1/2 cup of Honey
• 1/2 tsp of Black Pepper or White Pepper
• 2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce (Veg option: Soya sauce)
• 3 cloves of crushed garlic (optional)
• 1/2 tbsp of cooking oil

The make:

Cooking Time: 20 minutes| Preparation Time: 15 minutes |Serves:2 adults

1. Steam or blanch the broccoli florets until semi-soft and drain.
2. Mix together the Homemade Mustard sauce, Honey, Pepper and Worcestershire sauce.
3. Heat a skillet and add the cooking oil. Toss the garlic (optional).
4. Next add the drained broccoli florets and add the Sauce mix and warm (do not boil).
5. Serve hot with a side of grilled baby potatoes or crusted bread.

Bon Appetit!

Andhra Chepala Pulusu (Tangy Tilapia Fish Curry)

I had been away for a little over a month in Kerala and have many posts to come to delight my readers. I have been asked many a time to post my Andhra cuisine adventures. Well here goes...

Tangy Tilapia Fish Curry (Chepala Pulusu)

Tilapia is a fresh water fish that is common to  Bengali cuisine in India. 'Chepala' indicates River fish or Fresh water fish. This type of 'Pulusu' preparation is indicative of the tanginess and is common to places like Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, India. Andhra dishes are quite spicy and are not for the faint hearted. This is especially because the Red Chilli Powder that you find in AP is quite spicy itself. I compare it with the likes of Kerala and it is nowhere close to the spiciness of the Chili powder in Kerala.

In most of my Indian dishes I nowadays use Kashmiri Chili Powder as it is close to the Sweet Paprika and not so spicy as the Chilli Powder I find here in AP. Also as you get older I believe the stomach lining can take only so much:)

As an alternate to Tilapia, you can use Mullet or Blue Warehou if you cannot find Tilapia in your local produce.

Remember not to stir this fish around much as I can guarantee it would break during the cooking process. When I indicate "stir" in this recipe, make sure you are rotate the pot around.

Ready to be served

This preparation goes well with boiled rice or even idlis or Appams (although Appams are not common to this region as much as in Kerala).

To make this dish,

You need:

1. 1 kg Tilapia fish - cut into medium size pieces
2. 2 onions - 1sliced finely lengthwise, 1 grated to a paste (with Cinnamon-optional)
3. 4 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
4. 2-3 green chillis slit lengthwise
5. 3 medium size tomatoes diced
6. 1-2 lemon-sized Tamarind pieces
7. 1 bunch of cilantro or coriander leaves diced finely
8. 1" cinnamon (optional)
9. 2-3 tbsp of Red Chili Powder (I used Kashmiri Chili Powder)
10. 1/2 tsp of Turmeric Powder
11. 1 tsp of Garam Masala powder
12. Oil - as needed or about 5-6 tbsp
13. Salt to taste

The make

Cooking Time: 35-40 minutes| Preparation Time : 30 minutes| Serves 6 adults

• Marinate the clean pieces of fish with 2 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, salt and 1 tbsp of Red Chili Powder. The longer you leave it to stand the better. You can do this for 30 minutes at minimum.
• Heat the oil in a rounded pan or a clay pot. Fry the marinated fish pieces about a minute on each side or until lightly brown. Once this is done, set aside the fried fish and add the sliced onion and toss till translucent on medium heat in the same pot adding additional oil as required.

• In the meantime, take the tamarind pieces and tomatoes in a small vessel and add boiling water to it and leave it to stand for about 5-10 minutes. Strain and remove all the pulp and set aside the strained juices.
• Next add the slit green chilis to the same pot and toss for about a minute and add the remaining ginger-garlic paste and toss till light brown.
• Add the onion paste and fry till a thick paste it formed. Next add remaining Chili Powder, Garam Masala and salt as required and blend well.



Bring to a boil

• Add the tomato-tamarind juices and stir well. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes on a medium-low heat. Uncover and add water as required for the gravy and bring it to a boil. 

• Lower the heat and add fried fish pieces and allow it to cook and blend in for about 5-10 minutes. Turn off the flame and top with diced cilantro.

Your Fish curry is now ready to be served with rice or idlis or Appams as per your choice. Bon Appetit!

Served up with rice

Tangy Three Pea (Black Eyed Peas, Cowpeas and Pigeon-Pea) in Sofrito (Spanish Tomato sauce)

It has been a while since my last post. This is because I am on vacation and also because I have been experimenting with some of my older recipes in a modern light and with a few new adventurous recipes inspired by some of my favourite popular chefs. That will follow in posts to come. I have had quite a few requests for international vegetarian cuisine. Today I have for you a Spanish inspired dish that I served with white long grained rice and brown rice. You can also accompany it with Spanish Rice.

Tangy Three Pea in Sofrito served with Rice

I chose the Black Eyed Pea, CowPea and Split Pigeon Pea as I thought it would make for a very good combination and I was right it did! Black Eyed Pea is commonly made over New Year's. It is said to ward of 'Bad Eye' and helps kick start the New Year on a clean slate!

You need:

• 2 bell peppers - finely diced
• 2 cups Homemade Tomato puree or 1 cup crushed tomatoes *Note if using commercial tomato puree, you can add just one can
• 2 cups Black Eyed Peas
• 2 cups Cowpeas or Red Lobia
• 11/2 cups Split Pigeon-Pea or Toor Dal
• 1 tbsp ground pepper 
• 1 tbsp paprika (optional - additional 1 tbsp if you like it spicy)
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 large onions diced small
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 cup vegetable stock (or beef or chicken stock. You can also add  2 cups of sliced chorizo if you are opting for the non-veg option)
• 1 bay leaf
• Optional - 1 tsp Asafoetida powder
• 1 bunch cilantro finely diced
• 1-2 dried red chilies

The make:

Preparation time: 8 hrs, Cooking Time: 1 hour, Serves 4-6 adults

Last stir in



Showing off my 3-pea magic



1. Clean and soak the Black Eyed Peas and Cowpeas overnight with at least 2-3 cups more water than the quantity of peas. Drain off before use.
2. Make a sofrito of the tomato puree, bell peppers, paprika, garlic and salt. Sofrito is a basic tomato sauce that is used commonly all over Spain. I have not mentioned this separately in another recipe as I did not make the traditional one made with crushed tomatoes this time. I basically used my Homemade Tomato Puree along with the above mentioned ingredients. To make the Sofrito, heat 1 tbsp of Olive oil and saute the onions and garlic until translucent. Add the bell peppers and saute for another 5 mins. Lower the heat to avoid the veggies from burning and add the tomato puree or crushed tomatoes. Season with salt and paprika. Saute for another 5-10 minutes. Set aside
3. Cook the peas in a deep bottomed pot or pressure cook for 10-15 minutes with Asafoetida(optional) and ground pepper.
4. Saute the dried red chilis in Olive Oil for a minute and add the sofrito. Add the cooked peas to the sofrito and top with cilantro. Serve hot with Spanish Rice or white long grain rice.

Served up!