Mango Salsa/salad

I had read that a mango salsa tastes really good with grilled fish. However, whenever I make grilled fish...my kids eat it as it is ....or with some rice or furikake. So, usually I make it plain and at last minute. This time I made effort to plan and make this salad ahead...so that we could enjoy with our grilled salmon.

Bharvan bhindi / Stuffed okra

Bhindi or lady's finger as it is popularly known in India, is my favorite vegetable. It makes a very tasty stir fried dry vegetable(side) in an Indian meal. A few weeks ago, I had seen a very tasty picture on this blog, and I wanted to make this recipe. However, it took me a long time to find the picture again. When I read the recipe, I realised I use the same stuffing for brinjals(eggplants). So, I knew that the recipe would be a success.....:) 

Torcettini De St. Vincent (Sugar Crusted Twisted Cookies from Valle de Aosta)

It's that time of the month again....WE KNEAD TO BAKE TIME... :) and this time I made it to the deadline. This month's baking challenge is about Italian yeasted cookies. I had never heard of them, till +Aparna Balasubramanian announced the challenge at the beginning of this month. The recipe is quite simple and low on added sugar. The cookies are flavorful, somewhat like pretzels...crispy on the outside, and bready on the inside....

From Aparna's description:

""Torcettini are smaller versions of Torcetti (meaning small twists), and these pear/ teardrop shaped twists are made of a dough of flour, yeast and butter which are shaped and then rolled in sugar before being baked. These biscuits/ cookies are synonymous with the town of Saint Vincent in Valle d'Aosta, a small mountainous region in North-Western Italy, even though they’re well known throughout the Piedmont region as well.

This recipe is adapted from the one in Nick Malgieri’s “A Baker’s Tour”. Traditionally these biscuits/ cookies are shaped by rolling out bits of dough into “ropes” and then pinching the ends together to form a “teardrop” shape. These are shaped by crossing the rope of dough near the ends to pretty looking twists.""

I made them chocolate flavored, and covered them with orange zest flavored sugar and sprinkles. 

Summery cool and fun recipes with watermelon and kids

Yep, it's summer season in India and it will be soon in rest of the world. Singapore has tropical summer kind of weather all throughout the year, so we can enjoy this season and all the activities associated like swimming, water parks, hiking, adventure sports, etc anytime. Summer has 2-3 month long vacations too. So,  how do you keep your kids busy....?? I have some easy fun recipes that you can do with your kids. (With your supervision/help). So starting a new category of recipes, which the kids might like, or which you can cook with them.

This post is about some fun  recipes with WATERMELON.

Watermelon "cake"  

Watermelon and fruit kababs

Watermelon-orange juice

Did you like them.....?? 

Very simple to make, even your kids can make them with little supervision.

Let's start...... :)

Tindora (gherkin) stir fry

Last week, I was invited to a friend's house....and she treated us to homemade Andra feast. (regional cuisine from the state of Andhra Pradesh). One of the vegetables, she made was gherkins. It is known by various other names like tendli/tondli/tindora/ivy gourds, etc. I think, my mom used to make this vegetable, and I didn't like it so much, when I was younger. I have lived abroad, most of my  married life and in Japan, where we do not get this vegetable at all. In Singapore, you get it, in certain shops in Indian market, but as I thought I didn't like this vegetable, I never bought it ....until I ate it at my friend's house. 

Indian Vegetarian cuisine, will have many dry "subjis" (or vegetables). Vegetables are stir fried on high heat in a pan, with mustard/cumin seasoning with curry leaves and then cooked on low heat with the pan covered after adding the powdered masalas(spices). You  can use the same method, same spices and different vegetables and get a different taste/recipe every time. When I bought the gherkins, I wondered how would I cook them, google searched and I liked this recipe....made it with the spices and ingredients, I had in my kitchen.

Salmon fish cakes

Salmon is an all time favorite in my house. My kids love it grilled, pan-fried, baked, with spicy thai sauce like this, or well...any form. Usually, I salt it and bake it in a foil and that is it......A meal with some rice /salad. I wanted to try a new recipe with salmon, so I tried something similar to this recipe with the ingredients, I had in my kitchen.

A very yummy recipe for an impressive appetizer/starter, again as my other recipes quite simple and quick to make. This is how I made it....:)

Panch-mel dal ( A dal/soup made with 5 different legumes)

Panchmel dal, as the name suggests it is made with 5 different legumes. Toovar(pigeon peas)/Chana(split chickpeas) and split moong dals are used in equal quantities, though some recipes use red lentils too. I didn't have chana dal, so I used masoor dal(split red lentils) for this recipe. In Rajasthan, this dal is poured over baatis ( a preparation made of baked balls of dough), I have posted the recipe for "baati" here.