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February 2022

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Restaurant reviews

A true gem in the heart of Antwerp My search for true Indian food took me all the way to Belgium. There are more than 200 restaurants serving Indian food in the Netherlands but maybe I was bring little too adventurous. I ended up in Aahaar Delux, a 14 year old restaurant run in the heart of the city of Antwerp. The restaurant is very close to the Diamond market which is one of the most interesting attractions of Antwerp. In the last week of September one of my foodie friend and I took the journey to discover this gem of a place. Aahaar Delux is just 10 mins walking distance from the main central train station. Also if you haven’t been to Antwerp don’t forget to check their beautiful interiors of the central station. It looks almost like a royal palace. Good

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Basics

Is it daal, dal, dahl or Dhal? These are ways in which lentils or pulses are named. To be honest right way of writing or calling it would be either daal or dal, adding an extra ‘h’ makes the easy sounding word turn tough, but again call whatever you like it is the best known vegan protein naturally available today. There are more than 50 different lentil groups in India but we will focus on the most commonly used ones in the Indian kitchen. But before we progress, you have a question in your mind about the term ‘daal’, don’t you? Well the terminology is used in 2 situations: Dried Lentil/Pulse/Bean is called daal. For e.g. – Mung Beans is called Hara Moong Daal, or Split Yellow Peas is called Toor DaalAnd any dish or lentil soup prepared using this food group

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Basics

Spices are the way of life for any Indian kitchen. There is no Indian who can cook without spices, to add to our fascination of spices we even add them to our tea or use them for their medicinal purposes as well. And why won’t it be, India has been the spice capital of the world, the largest producer of almost all spices known. And hence we can’t think beyond them! Duh! In my kitchen I have an entire cupboard dedicated to the varieties of spices, two racks in my refrigerator and a special portion of my freezer as well. But for daily use I have this spice box or as we call it ‘Masala Dabba’ in Hindi for my everyday cooking. (Masala = Spice & Dabba = Box). It’s not always the standard ingredients as you see below, but keeps

By
Basics

Cooking the perfect rice is quite a difficult task as much as it might not be seem to be. For someone like me who has grown up eating rice for most of her meals, I do find it challenging to get those perfect strands of rice too. Every variety of rice cooks differently and behaves differently in water and heat. It is important to understand that there is no thumb rule applicable to all varieties. Below I have tried to just explain how to cook basmati rice in 2 different ways - Pasta method & Absorption method. P.S either of these two methods will bring you the best rice, provided you use a good quality rice brand. Pasta Method Absorption Method Types of basmati rice that is perfect for your recipes https://youtu.be/sxXejYJ16-0

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Fish & Meat

Every Bengali family has their own style of making this chicken curry and at my home it used to be cooked most of the Sundays by my dad. He claimed that it is his best produced dish till date. As children we definitely looked forward to Sunday for the special Sunday Chicken Curry by my father (Baba as I call him in Bengali). Over years things changed, I moved out of my home but the habit of having this Sunday Chicken curry kind of stayed. I try and cook this curry atleast 1 Sunday of the month and is kind of now a new tradition at my home and I am glad my husband loves it too. So yaay Baba, your recipe is loved by your son-in-law too! The stark difference in cooking this Sunday Chicken Curry – bengali style vs the

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Fish & Meat

This dish is closest to my heart as this reminds me of my Sunday while growing up. We always lived outside Kolkata (east of India) thus my parents created a very Bengali upbringing such that I am aware of my roots. And Kosha Mangsho is a remarkable remembrance of my roots. Growing up in a Bengali household always meant overeating on weekends starting from the breakfast on a Saturday morning. Kosha Mangsho used to be the highlight of lunch menu either on Saturday or Sunday. On certain important occasions it used to be complimented with luchi (Pooris made out of Maida). Kosha in Bengali means Dry or not too liquidy Gravy and Mangsho means any meat but Bengalis always connect a real meat to Mutton 🙂 Crazy na! Anyways I am glad to share my childhood memory in form of this dish with you

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Fish & Meat

Let me take you to the beaches of Goa where the sun shines always and the silver sand is by your feet. Have you already got transported? If yes, let me take you to their cuisine. Goan Chicken Xacuti is a spicy, tangy, savory dish which makes your mouth jump with several flavors at once. Xacuti also called as Shagoti in the local language Konkani is a complex flavored dish with white poppy seeds, sliced or grated coconut and large dried red chilies and is usually prepared with chicken or lamb. Goa encompasses Portuguese dishes yet keeping true to its local tropical notes and flavors. It is the local flavor of tamarind and nuttiness of coconut and poppy seeds which bring such complexity to the dish. It is an easy dish to cook but I am sure it will take you back to Goa through

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Fish & Meat

I think I have enough number of times proved my love for the land of Kerala in my posts. I have more than 30 recipes only from Kerala and I keep exploring more. The love for the cuisine started way back in childhood when we lived in Mumbai and had a lot of neighbours from Kerala. Back then selling Beef (cow meat) in Mumbai or Bombay back then was not illegal. And we have had Kerala Beef Dry Roast a number of times from them. I even remember having a beef pickle at a friends place and don’t seem to get a hang of the recipe yet. I wish I can replicate that flavor that I have etched in my memory. Kerala is a land of multiple religions and it is situated in the South of India. It is a coastal

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Fish & Meat

In het Portugees staat vinho voor ‘wijn’ en alho voor ‘knoflook’. Vandaar de naam vin d’alho, een overblijfsel uit het koloniale tijdperk. Dit gerecht heeft, in tegenstelling tot wat ze in veel restaurants beweren, niets te maken met aardappels (aloo in het Hindi). De meeste koks maken het ook superrood en pittig, terwijl het van origine niet zo extreem pikant is. Restaurants serveren deze curry met allerlei soorten vlees, kip en soms zelfs vis, maar het authentieke recept is met varkensvlees.   Goan Pork Vindaloo Voor de specerijenpasta2 el Kashmiri chilipoeder6 tenen knoflook2 cm gemberwortel1 tl komijnzaad½ tl zwart mosterdzaad½ kaneelstokje5 zwarte peperkorrels2 el kokos- of appelciderazijn2 el zonnebloemolieVerder nodig700 g varkensstooflappen (in blokjes van 5 x 5 cm)1 tl zout½ tl kurkumapoeder4 el zonnebloemolie1 tl jaggery (of palmsuiker, fijngehakt)1 ui (fijngehakt)5 g koriander (grof gehakt) Verhit een droge koekenpan op middelhoog vuur

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Fish & Meat

Don’t you think of water, fish, coconut and good vibes when you hear Goa! This is exactly how you will feel once you try Goan Prawn Ambotik. This is one such curries which combines all flavors and tickles all the senses at one go. In Konkani/Maharashtrian ‘Ambat’ stands for sour or tangy and ‘tik’ or ‘tikhat’ stands for spicy, this is exactly how this dish tastes. And a pinch of sugar is added to balance all those flavors. It is a perfect dish to make you feel ‘aha’ at the first taste. Goan is known for its use of fish and coconut in their food as they are available naturally. This dish doesn’t need to be only made with prawns but can be made with shark or any other sea fish as well. I happen to make it with prawns/shrimps, but