I haven’t posted any Tamil recipes in a while, not because Siv is not cooking anymore, but because he has a tendency to stick with a few tried and tested recipes whenever he does. I think I have posted all the dishes that he regularly makes. Today when he said he wanted to cook goat, I asked him to cook something new aka a bloggable dish, as I’ve been having a creative block lately. So he immediately made a call to his mom, asking for ideas and she gave him …

I am one of those people who start salivating at the mere mention of the word Chettinad. It is the spiciest cuisine I have come across and you all know spice is my favorite flavor. Now, whenever I mention a region in a dish title, I know what’s going to follow next – the authenticity police will be here in no time. What I really want to tell them is – screw you! The explanation that follows is for those who are genuinely interested in the background of a dish. …

I can hear the collective yawn already – No, not another Biryani recipe! Hasn’t she posted all the possible variations out there already? Well, no, I haven’t even scratched the surface yet. Every time I make Biryani it turns out a bit different, so you should really thank me for not posting the hundreds of variations that I could. In fact every chicken or lamb curry recipe I have can be converted into a biryani recipe. But don’t worry, I promise this one is different, it is not just a …

After I started blogging, I bring back quite a few Indian cookbooks every time I visit India. Due to the generous exchange rate, you get about 10 Indian cookbooks for the price you’d pay for an average cookbook here in the US. I am a total novice when it comes to the different regional cuisines of India, so when I pick up these books I make big plans for cooking my way through each one of those and dream about being an expert in all those cuisines. But after I …

I have a folder in my browser favorites called Recipes-to-Try and it is overflowing with all the links I have been collecting over the past year… I have tried so many recipes from other bloggers, and I normally thank them through comments or e-mail, but I have never taken the time to take a picture and write a post about it. The reason behind this is nothing but sheer laziness.
All the food bloggers out there know how much hard work is involved in cooking, taking a decent picture, coming up …

Wish you all a fabulous Valentine’s day! Siv and I are not too big into V-day, it is just another occasion to go out and eat. But over the past few years, Valentine’s day has become the worst day to go out for dinner. Every place is crowded, you have to wait for at least half an hour before the table is free even after making reservations. And the worst part is, even the normally good restaurants churn out mass-produced, over-priced crappy food in the name of Valentine’s day prix-fix …

Comfort food is something you crave to come home to after a few days on the road. Comfort food is usually synonymous to familiar food. It is something so personal, one person’s comfort food can send another person running for cover. For most of us, it is something that we grew up with, associated with a warm childhood memory, a special meal that only one’s own mother can really make perfect. So it is not surprising that Siv and I have different dishes that we call our comfort food.
Growing up …

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I forgot the last time we were in town for Thanksgiving and Black Friday. For those outside United States, Black Friday is the day after thanksgiving, the official start of the Christmas shopping season. Most stores open very early in the morning, some even open at Midnight, and has amazing sales. People line up before the stores open to get to the limited doorbuster deals. I have never been to a Black Friday sale, I always thought people must be crazy to go shopping at odd hours in …

I’ve been posting a lot of meat based recipes lately, so time to post something pure vegetarian. Yep, trust me, I didn’t sneak anything in, no fish sauce, no minced meat, no shrimp paste, nothing. It is a Tamil recipe, I think. Siv gave me the recipe, but he has never made it before. He makes a great mushroom dish – a thick gravy, which is very tasty, and I know that is his mom’s recipe. When I wanted to make a quick side dish with mushrooms, he told me how …

Chettinad cuisine is originated in the southern parts of Tamil Nadu state comprising of Madurai, Tirunelveli and Karaikudi regions. This cuisine is well known for its hot and spicy, aromatic non vegetarian dishes like Chicken Chettinad, Pepper Chicken, Fish Varuval etc. Chettinad cuisine is so different from the traditional healthy vegetarian cuisine of the Tamil Brahmins, but when I think of Tamil cuisine, the first word that comes to my mind is Chettinad – just my type of dishes! 
When I mentioned to Siv that there is an event called Regional Cuisine of India …

I am very lucky to be married to a guy who not only shares my passion for food, but is a fantastic cook as well. But even though both of us work full-time, somehow cooking is my responsibility in our house. It is not something that Siv demands, he doesn’t expect me to cook every day, he cooks when he is in the mood, and expects me to do the same. But I have a voice in my head that tells me that the kitchen is my domain, and cooking …

This is another one of my mother-in-law’s recipes, perfected by Siv. She is a fantastic cook, but somehow I always like Siv’s versions a little better. I guess the secret ingredient makes all the difference; yeah I’m talking about “Luvvvvvv” . Okay, he is sitting right next to me, and I need someone to load the dishwasher.
My favorite crab preparation is the Red Curry Crab at Malay Satay Hut, our favorite Malaysian restaurant. This is a very close second. Siv made it sometime ago for a party, and I …

Growing up in Kerala, fish was the staple of our diet. I don’t think we had gone two days in a row without some kind of fish. Sometimes we would even have fish for breakfast! Fish curry with Dosa, Idly, Chapatti, Appam, you name a dish, we can have it with fish! Being a working mother, my mom didn’t have time to cook three different dishes for three different meals, I guess that was one of the main reasons for us to have fish for breakfast!
My mom used to make …