Entree

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani – Best and Easiest Dum Biryani EVER

October 3, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

If you love biryani, this hyderabadi chicken biryani will WOW you. This layered biryani is so flavorful and will become your go to biryani recipes. You will love this easy and delicious recipe!

Can anything be more marvelous than a big pot of Biryani? Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani.

Woke up bright and early ready to embark on the art of making biryani.

We sit down to a mountainous task of peeling those tight headed mini garlic. Turmeric washed chicken gets a soak in a home made slightly sour but sweet yogurt, fresh ginger-garlic-green chili paste, red chili powder and the freshest garam masala. A squeeze of lemon splashes into an eye while I mix with my bare clean hand.

Precision cut onions get piled up on a steel plate just to be dumped in a kadai of hot oil, to get golden fried and caramalized( NO STORE BOUGHT fried onions). The marinated chicken gets cooked in an abundance of oil mixed with ghee, to a perfect 80% percent. On the side, the pleasant fragrance of basmati can be whiffed in the second floor as she starts dancing around in a large pot with spices. A steam rises to the face as I carefully drain the water separating the rice that look like glistening pearls not wanting to stick to each other. The rice is not fully cooked, because she needs to soak in the juices of the flavorful chicken when layered, later.

I line up everything like an organized morning assembly at school.

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Pumpkin Dal with Beet Greens

September 27, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Cozy and comforting Pumpkin Dal or Poosanikai Kootu is perfect for autumn and cooler months. It’s easy to make and with the addition of beet greens adds so much more flavor.

Happy Autumn!!

It’s that time of the year when pumpkin and butternut squash is in abundance, and I’m all about pumpkin recipes, be it sweet or savory. I’ve been eating this pumpkin kootu or pumpkin dal from when I was a baby. I’ve always liked the slight sweetness in my curries and this one with chapathi or just plain rice is phenomenal.

Authentic South Indian everyday food/recipes uses very less spices, simple local ingredients and never over the top hot. It’s always fresh and few ingredients. This recipe uses channa daal for it’s bite and texture, creamy which also holds it’s shape. This pumpkin dal works best with channa dal/split yellow chickpeas or even split yellow moong daal.

Flavorful Indian food is so much faster and you can get the most authentic taste with just a few ingredients.Thanks to my mom for yet another healthy and delicious recipe that is a staple at home….

Peanut Butter Ginger Chicken

September 16, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Marinate and Cook: It’s as easy as that. This Peanut Butter Chicken is an impressive and delicious dish. With gingery tones, warm spices and the sweetness from the peanut butter and honey, it will WOW you. Enjoy with pilaf, quinoa, naan or roti, SO GOOD!

Every time I post a recipe for chicken, I say it’s a new favorite of my boys. It is;). When a recipe turns out well and it’s the most requested, I jump to share it with you. Like many of your favorite chicken recipes on the blog, I hope you love this one too.

This Peanut Butter Chicken is such an impressive meal, the kids loved! I say impressive because of how easy it is to put together and how flexible this recipe can be. Adding peanut butter to this recipe adds richness and a robust flavor. When a dish tastes like it’s been slow cooked or seems fancier than it is, I think it’s a winner. …

Chayote Spinach Kootu with Kootu Podi

August 5, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Chayote kootu with spinach, made with a special kootu podi is simple, yet overflows with flavors and leaves you questioning what spice is added in it. It embodies the way I like to cook — that is to say, in a way that lets each ingredient shine.

A soothing bowl was needed because everything is getting overwhelming.

Don’t you prefer every day very much like another? I know, who likes it… Especially since we are going through that. With everything that’s going on, housework has doubled (don’t know why, or maybe I do), office work seems slow, I’ve been in my PJs a bit more than I’d want to, haven’t seen any of my friends in a while, and, to top all that, stress takes over with more reasons than one. You call a friend and everyone talks about the same situation, the same work, the same chores… I don’t blame them. It’s hard on everyone….

Spicy Thai Basil Chicken

July 23, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Stir fries are fast, easy, and delicious. This Thai Basil Chicken will wow you! An incredibly flavorful recipe that truly tastes just like your favorite Thai restaurant take out, or even better. Serve over some rice and a quick impressive meal is ready in no time.

We’ve eaten our share of bad Thai and great Thai food too. One of our favorites, if not the best is Khin Khao, a Michelin star Thai restaurant in San Francisco. Their flavors are subtle and not a single ingredient is overpowering. I definitely love their approach to recipes, and I was definitely inspired when I made the sauce for this Spicy Thai Basil Chicken.

There is so much nuance to Thai food, it’s not just food that’s as hot as it can be. Anyway, the Thai food that we have here is not Thai enough. It is, in fact, in complete adherence to the spirit of approachable Thai food. No doubt, the food is called Thai cuisine, and is cooked widely, especially if you take the common majority’s favorite ‘yellow or green Thai curry.’ But, is that authentic? No, but it’s relatable and palatable for all….

Fried Cauliflower Potato Curry in Peanut Sesame Paste

April 26, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

This Cauliflower Potato Curry dish is perfect for a weeknight dinner and for a party! It’s loaded with delicious spices and a special paste, and comes together so easily! The flavors are unique and will WOW you.

After I posted this picture of Instagram, I got so many requests for a detailed recipe for this. And you know that another curry recipe was coming, right? Looks like you guys love curries, Chickpea with Spinach Curry, I knew I had to keep these curry recipes coming. There’s my Quick 20 minute Thai Green Curry, my Mixed Daal with Vegetables and even my favorite of the blog Navratan Korma. Now finally – this Fried Cauliflower Potato Curry in Peanut Sesame Paste. SO GOOD! This is such a different, amazing, mouthwatering and comforting curry that you’ll be making it over and over again….

Chettinad Prawn Masala

March 2, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Chettinad Prawn Masala has few spices, and big bold flavors. This is a recipe from the Southern part of India. This dish comes together quite quickly and very flavorful.

South Indian Curries are always close to my heart though. South India offers a variety of quite spicy curries. The spices are pretty similar in a lot of the curries, just vary a slight bit. But, to my amazement a simple fennel can change the whole flavor of the curry or a few curry leaves. Most of the time a chicken, mutton or even a fish curry is a slow cooked one. This one comes from a place called Chettinad. The local cuisine is simply one of the the most spiciest I’ve ever tried, Chettinad Cuisine….

Asian Jalapeno Chicken and Beans

February 23, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

This perfection of a meal comes together 20 min from start to finish. Quick and Easy Asian Jalapeno Chicken and Beans is loaded with flavor and boosts of textures. Better than take-out and so much healthier!

If you are like me and looking for quick and easy weeknight dinners, and I mean, who isn’t? Stir fry dinners are the way to go. You get your protein, your veggies, your everrrything in one skillet and less than 2o minutes later, the family is at the table eating a healthy dinner.

I am a huge fan of one skillet dinners and make them at least a few times each week.

And this Asian jalapeno chicken isn’t even breaded nor fried, so this is really more of a “skinny” dish, all smothered in a simple sauce, a sauce that you’ll clearly want to pour or dip in many things….

20 TASTY Quick Healthy Recipes Ideas

January 1, 2020 By Asha Shivakumar

Here are my top 20 tasty quick healthy recipes to get you back on track for the new year, or to give you some ideas to change up your menu to keep eating healthy, interesting, and exciting.

Here we are in 2020, and many of your New Year’s resolutions may surround health or fitness. To have a sustainable healthy lifestyle, you cannot cut one group of food completely. In fact, doing that might just make you crave that particular section more. Unless you are allergic to certain foods, I would not recommend cutting out anything. I personally believe in eating everything as long as you’re conscious. If you like desserts, try making healthier desserts with coconut sugar or maple syrup and have just a small portion of it to satisfy your sweet cravings. Eating is important! Fueling your body with good food is good for your body and mind….

Caribbean style vegetable stew

November 25, 2019 By Asha Shivakumar

Caribbean food, essentially, is a kaleidoscope of delicious flavors that met to become something new and amazing. If you’ve never immersed yourself in the wonders of this region, you have to start with this recipe. This Caribbean style vegetable stew is AHMAZZING! I’d say its got the touch of Southern Indian and Bengali touch from the mustard, and the locals bring in the fried plantain element to this with toasted coconut. It’s a riot of flavors. Get cooking!

Caribbean food has global influences, combined with indigenous ingredients and techniques. It’s played a paramount role in defining the evolution of the modern Caribbean cuisine we know and love today. From soups and stews to desserts, many of the region’s signature staples surprisingly trace their beginnings back to the European and Asian countries where they originated. These global influences, combined with indigenous Caribbean ingredients and techniques, have played a paramount role in defining the evolution of the modern Caribbean cuisine we know and love today. …