All posts tagged: Easy

Mango and Bocconcini Skewers

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As it’s Mango season in India, I thought I’d pay homage to the king of fruits by featuring him in a simple recipe that lets his flavours shine through. Apparently the reason (which I found out only last week) the Mango is called the ‘King of Fruits’ is because kings in ancient India used to pride themselves on the possession of large mango gardens. They were also highly prized in Ayurvedic healing and cooking. They balance all the three doshas. A Mango is ready to eat when it is soft to touch and yields to gentle pressure. Green mangoes can be ripened at room temperature, however once ripe store them in the refrigerator and eat them within three days. The best use of a mango is to savour it by itself or eat it with a dollop of fresh cream. (My favourite type is Alphonso and Begampalli). If you want to take it up a notch, then read on. This appetizer recipe is of a different kind – A no-cook but full of flavor one! …

Aqua De Pepino – Cucumber Cooler

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Featured in Tastespotting.com on 14th June 2012. No, the cooler does not taste vegetal. If anything, it’s brilliantly refreshing. And this was the recipe that I said, you could make side by side with the Tzatziki. (It’s such a waste to be throwing away fresh cucumber juice!). Or if you’re in no mood to grate, strain, squeeze and extract the juice of one cucumber – just use prepackaged cucumber juice. (Though I strongly recommend the fresh version – the colour is unbelievable!). You can either use vodka or a gin with this recipe, substituting one for the other brings no great change in taste. If you are a teetotaler or are making this for a younger audience, by all means skip the alcohol. It’s just as exciting to serve on a balmy summers eve.  Aqua De Pepino – Cucumber Cooler Prep time: 10 minsServes: 2 What you need: 400 ml Cucumber Juice (from 2 Cucumbers)5 tsp Sugar Syrup 120 ml Vodka2 Lemons (Juice of)Lemon and Cucumber slices to garnishIce Cubes to serve What to do: …

Summer Pasta Salad – a la Infinitea

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I’m more of a summer person than a winter person. Or so I thought, till I got baked in the sun the past couple of days. The heat has been unbearable. I have the fan on full speed at home and there’s still no respite. Being Bangalorean, I always think I don’t need an AC in our pleasant city. Boy, am I wrong! The only time I’m happy these days, is when I’m in the car and I have the AC on full blast in my face or when am under a cold shower! Which leads me to change my earlier notion of what weather person I am – I am an opti-weather person. I don’t like it too hot or too cold, too dry or too rainy, too windy or too still! I’m not fussy, but that’s the weather I would like. If wishes were horses, right? But I still concede that when it comes to satisfying my weather requirement, no other city in the world gets it as close to perfect as Bangalore. …

Easy Vanilla Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting

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Once you get the basics right then everything else is a breeze. My first cupcake was a vanilla cupcake. Somehow adding the chocolate as an additional step made it feel like advanced baking! Now here’s the best part. I made my first cupcake (in my whole life) in March last year! After which I’ve been stuck with the cupcake bug and been driven to try all kinds of mini joys. So now you know that I wasn’t born with a ladle in my hand nor did I have supreme baking talent. The key to success is the 3P’s – Practice, Practice, Practice! (Like the joke – Rumor is that a pedestrian on Fifty-seventh Street, Manhattan, stopped Jascha Heifetz (the greatest violinist of our time) and inquired, “Could you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?” “Yes,” said Heifetz. “Practice, Practice, Practice!” So there you go … if I can bake, so can you. And starting you off is this Basic Vanilla Cupcake Recipe. And just to add some pizzazz, we have a nice and …

Sun Dried Tomato Pita-Pizza

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Featured in Tastespotting.com – 19th Mar 2012 I know I have a penchant for extremely long, all-encompassing titles to the post. But trust me this one is the modified version of the original title, which was – Sun Dried Tomato Pita-Pizza with Ham, Mozzarella and Basil. When I read that, it struck me that the entire recipe was in the title itself. Wow! My job is done right? Just chuck whatever I told you onto the pita and bake it in an oven. No really, Pizza making is that simple! (If you’re not kneading the dough that is – which I am not. I don’t have the arms for it!) I also am not rich enough to invest in a Kitchen Aid, so I will be cheap and buy some readymade pizza bases and get the job done. No one has to know! I know the true blue Italians are turning in their graves, but honestly who has the time to appease everyone these days?! My motto is to ‘get the job done’. I’m pretty …

Simple Chicken Curry for Complicated Days

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There are days that are easy, breezy and simple. And there are days that can grate on your nerves that burrowing your head deep into a pillow seems like the only way out. Unfortunately, even that option is but a distant dream when you have to finish gazillion things in the limited span of 24 hours. It’s not every day that I spin through life in a haze. I actually like my little routines of measured slowness. (Now the definition of slow for an Aries can be very different from the rest of the world, but nonetheless!). And there have been more days than I can count on my fingers, that ordering takeaway is the norm. But when everything seems to be spinning out of control, I crave desperately for a home cooked meal. (Mommy…can I come home?). Oh wait, driving there is going to take me a good part of an hour, eating there another, and driving back another hour! I can’t spare three hours in a time strapped continuum. Famished, cranky and hungry …

Cherry Chocolate Muffins and Love as I know it…

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Yes, we all know Valentine’s Day is around the corner. And though I personally don’t do cart wheels because of it (overrated to say the least!), it does make me think about Love. It’s a bit like this Muffin. Don’t give up on me yet… I know not everything is about food, but the comparison makes it easy for me to rationalize the subject in my head! I started out with a recipe for this muffin from a completely trusty source. The recipe seemed simple and the pictures were gorgeous enough to make me want to try it right away. So I dived headlong into it. The results were ‘nice’ but I felt sorely cheated. Not because it din’t taste good or look divine, it just din’t hit the spot like how I pictured it in my overly imaginative mind. So did I mope around whilst eating it, knowing all well that this is not what I wanted? Hell no! I knew the ingredients were right but the quantities didn’t add up. So I rolled …

New Year Treat – Bestest Brownies I ever made!

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Here’s a treat for you and me this 2012 – the Bestest (ya, I know Wren and Martin are turning in their graves) Brownies I ever made. So first – HAPPY 2012! May we eat, drink and be merry cause tomorrow we may have to die-t! (Mayan calendar doomsday prediction and all). And second – you guys HAVE to try this recipe. Make it your New Year resolution. At least you’ll end up keeping one! Why is this so amazing? Well, its made of cocoa not tempered chocolate. Yes, you heard me – Cocoa. I know all the purist will disagree that only molten, melting chocolate can produce the best brownies but I have to admit, your preconceived notions will be shattered like mine. This recipe is all over the net for the best brownies ever – so a thousand or so people can’t be all faking it. And more importantly I would not tom-tom my a$$ off about some not quite there product! (Well, atleast not till April Fools Day ;). So go ahead …