Basil For The Soul

They say it can get you addicted. "Don't drink it", they say, "it's not good for your health in the long run." "It will dehydrate you", "the high is not worth your health", the warnings come from well-wishers every now and then. The supporters, on the other hand, claim that an occasional drink actually has its benefits, that it's almost medicinal. The science column in the newspaper throws up a new number every week telling you how many drinks per day is ideal. I, however, am not engaged in this debate because I lost myself to the beverage a long time ago. When an eligible bachelor, in an obvious attempt to discreetly gauge my 'teetotality', talked about 'the food at Toit' , and  asked me, "So, what's your poison?", I shamelessly admitted to my weakness, "Coffee". It hadn't always been like this between us, coffee and me. Sure, we were friends from childhood. Every night, my mom wo...

                                  Day Two of my trip to Delhi to meet my best friend's adorable one-year old. As Tanvi rounded up her morning chores, I babysat her little one. We played fetch with her toys- she'd throw them out of her cradle and I'd fetch! I was still marvelling at my new-found ability to do baby talk in Hindi when Tanvi came in with breakfast- Sabudana Khichdi and samosas! Sabudana Khichdi and samosas: I have had Sabudana before, as Sabudana (or sago) Vada at Goli Vada Pav outlets in Bangalore. They're little white pearls that become translucent on cooking. And I'd realized that it was the same "javvarisi" that they'd make a payasam out of in my college hostel in Tamil Nadu. The translucence got me curious and I looked them up online to see what it really is. So, sago/sabudana is the starch of cassava or tapioca that they extract and put through a gelatiniza...

Here's one for the days you wake up late and hungry. Or a one-pot recipe for when you don't want to wash a ton of dishes later. The champion among upmas- gothambu rava upma. I would say upma actually refers to a basic preparation of just about any key ingredient cooked with a tempering of mustard, urad dal and curry leaves, a spoon of grated coconut and a dash of salt. Because besides your typical gothambu (wheat rava) upma, semiya/vermicelli upma etc, we also make 'kappa upma' with tapioca, 'bread upma' and even 'idli upma'! Yup! They're all super easy, maybe I will share the recipes with you in upcoming posts. So today, I will share with you the most basic wheat rava/ Bombay rava upma recipe, as taught to me by my Mom. It's one of the first dishes I learnt to make when I started living alone. And as any novice will agree, if you are not taught right, there are a million ways to get even boiling water wrong! So I will share 2-3 p...

A few months ago, I visited a dear friend of mine, Tanvi, in New Delhi. It was a short visit, just a long weekend but a heavenly three days for my taste buds! We are both foodies, so it was only natural that every meal she planned for me was one to remember. From her home-cooked rajma and laccha parathas to dining on fine Italian, each dish was perfect and one that I simply must share with you all! Quinoa burger : Quinoa. My lesson started from the right pronounciation, it's "keen-wah", folks! Tanvi brought out this very interesting point that non-vegetarian burgers have such protein-packed patties with all their meats. But for us vegetarians, the default option is to go for potatoes, which ends up as carbs on more carbs. And the quinoa burger addresses just that. Her Patty was a mix of quinoa with finely chopped onions and tomatoes, some fresh green peas, mixed herbs and just a tiny bit of grated cheese (cz we just love cheese!). Set between two soft buns, her quinoa ...

Does your vegetable tray ever go beyond the okra, carrot, beans routine? Did you wonder how the menu never felt so repetitive back home? I did and that's when I realized that I've been picking the same vegetables and using the same turmeric-chilli powder-jeera-corainder grind Everytime and an occasional garam masala. To bring in vareity without going for expensive pastas and fancy ingredients, I went back to my roots- Kerala! Yes, it's true. They use coconut everywhere, but well, you'll discover that's where the magic lies! Olan is a coconut milk based dish that's almost always a part of the traditional feast, the 'Sadya'. However, it's not an all-exclusive fancy dish that does not make its way into daily meals. My mother used to pair it with sambar, pulinkari or mambazha pulissery. And the combination with rice is just out of this world! The vegetable vendor had two very conveniently cut quarters of pumpkin and ash-gourd, so I deci...

Don't have spare time to cook an elaborate meal? Or got hungry before you could decide what to order? Here's a quick and healthy oats dosai recipe I came across when I couldn't bother waiting for food delivery. A quick scan through the fridge told me I had no veggies and no curd. Just some almost wilted coriander looking to be salvaged. So I'll share here first the no-curd recipe I found at that point at antoskitchen.com : For 4 servings: 1 cup oats 1/2 cup wheat flour 1/2 cup rice flour Salt to taste Soak the oats for five minutes. Blend in a mixer. Add the other ingredients to the puree, add water and your batter is ready! Yup, as simple as that! Now come the fun additions. Here's what I did. I had some leftover 'poduthool/podithooval' powder from the previous day. Translated to common speak, that's a  dry roasted and powdered mix of rice, urad dal, peppercorns and Curry leaves. And it just made so much sense to add this to th...