Food I cooked in May

Khao Suey

Yesterday we fried Vadas - fritters made out of rice and urad dal batter, mixed with chopped onions, chillies and coriander leaves. It was so yummy. Apart from some minor oil splashes in the mini wok, due to accidental presence of water in the ladle, there was no incident. And I fried a lot more vadas later in the night, soaked them in water, to make Dahi Vadas. Yum! I love this summer food. Reminds me of multiple summer vacations at home. Today morning I spluttered some mustard seeds and cumin with a dry red chilli and mixed it with dahi, chopped coriander leaves, and ground roasted cumin powder. The dahi vadas were mouth watering. And the sambar the day before - sour and spicy - loved it!

Dahi Vada

Just Vada

Today I made Thai Green Curry. Of course procuring the Thai herbs was a challenge, so we decided to substitute with a ready-made ‘Thai Green Curry’ paste. Fried that in oil, put water and simmered, then in went the veggies - mushroom, tofu, carrots, capsicum, lots of coriander, green chillies - and at the end went in the rich luscious creamy coconut milk. And what a change of color to the gravy it brought in! Beautiful, and aromatic. It was delicious, served with steamed rice. I want to try the authentic version once - the chicken and Thai brinjal version with Jasmine rice. The herbs are so exotic- and thus pricey in this part of the world - galangal, kaffir lime, thai basil, lemongrass. Ah. I want to try it all.

Made Mitha Pulao, and Aloo Kasa Odia style - recipe by Sagarika. Loved it. I hadn’t ever made this. Oh so yum. Mooli paratha, paneer paratha, sewaiyan, besan chilla, egg soup, matar aloo curry, chole, dahi bhindi, rawa idli, aloo palak, stir fried veggies, vegetable fritters, custard, amba khata and what not - this lockdown plus this married life has made me a capable cook. I’m loving it. Mom says ‘starting mein cooking is like pursuing a hobby’. Well, let's see. Mr.Husband made Pav bhaji, oh so aromatic last friday- loads of butter, and huge quantities which we used also to make sandwiches the next day. It was heavy. I weighed one kilo extra that day. Ok, don’t laugh, we walked miles the next day on our terrace. Well, not miles, but a couple of meters obviously. 

We are in a phase of trying out other asian dishes- the oriental cuisine is so attractive - with easy to procure ingredients. He had cooked the most creamilicious Khao Suey once - the coconut extra cream and veggies, and boiled noodles in all that goodness of flavors. It’s a Vietnamese dish- with all the Indian essential spices. I loved that. Can’t forget the tastes in my palate, those flavours, that silky texture. I had made Turkish eggs the next day, I remember - cumin and chilli flakes in melted butter, garlicky yogurt, and poached eggs with toast - it was so worth the try. 

Turkish Eggs

Chicken grilled, mashed potatoes, stir fry veggies

In other news I have new supplies from Urban Platter - Dried Shiitake Mushrooms, Shiro Miso Paste, and Chicken Broth powder. And from Big Basket I have Rice Noodles, Tom Yum curry paste, Dark Soy sauce, and such interesting ingredients. I am so excited to make soups and stir fries. Keeping my fingers crossed that it all fits in perfectly into our fridge. Else it would be hilarious, grappling with expiry dates. 

What all did you cook this lockdown? Do share and recommend more recipes for me to try. Simple and easy ones please. I find it easy to follow recipes, but my cooking instincts are not that great. Like, I cannot know what to add to make a curry taste right. I am clueless. Haha! Have a happy weekend. 

Untill next time....