Every year in summer, millions of jackfruit trees festoon themselves with the largest fruits on Earth – delicious, mouthwatering jackfruit! The produce is so generous in nature that hardly a fraction is consumed by humans and by monkeys, cattle, squirrels, birds, and elephants. The rest ripen and drop to the ground to enrich the earth…
Snack
Mirsange Happolu – Red Chili Papad (Vegan + Gluten Free)
Do you know what a Konkani person working in a different state or living abroad when he/she thinks of home? Nine times out of ten, it is for hot paej (rice gruel) and crisp, deep-fried, spicy mirsange happolu (red chili papad). In traditional Konkani households, often, supper consists of hot rice, over which is poured…
Odi – Spicy Crisp Rice Fries (Vegan + Gluten Free)
For most Konkani people among the Brahmin community, no meal feels complete without a handful or two of freshly deep-fried, crisp, spicy, yummy odis. In fact, odi is so delicious that you can enjoy a pile of rice and dali toye with no other accompaniment but just some onion odis (piyyava odi in Konkani) or garlic odis…
Chili Cheese Biscuits
Can you imagine a town set upon a warm and cozy tropical island in the ocean, saying it has no salt? Well, it happens to be one of the ironies of life, of the people of the beautiful mountain district of Kerala. Wayanad is the milk-shed of Kerala, a land of cows, whither tanker upon…
Biscuit Fritters (Vegan)
Any tourist visiting the magically beautiful state of Kerala should not go back without visiting a few of the tens of thousands of ‘teashops’ (chayakada) all 0ver the state. Teashops attract regular visitors not just because of the delicious ‘kadis‘ (snacks) they offer, but also because they are the temples of gossip of the local…
Cashew Cookies (Vegan)
After my marriage, I moved to my husband’s ancestral home in the coastal town of Telicherry (now Thalassery) in Kerala. I knew practically nothing about baking at that time. Every other evening, my husband would bring home fragrant, freshly baked bread, buns, and a variety of cookies and cakes from the famous Mambally’s bakery. This bakery,…
Masala Curd Vada – A delicious deep-fried black gram snack (Gluten Free)
My dear friends, I apologize for not having been able to post new recipes for you, these last few weeks. It was pepper season here and I had to do my part in picking, threshing, drying and cleaning our organic black pepper. I love the work, and this is the only black pepper I use…
Rava Unniyappam – A sweet evening snack (Vegan)
Homemaking mothers often ponder on what dish to prepare for their hungry kids coming back from school at four in the evening. Rava unniyappam is an excellent treat which you can cook easily and is always loved by children and adults alike. The batter can be prepared at noon and the rava unniyappams can be fried…
Indian Mint Fritters (Vegan + Gluten Free)
Plectranthus amboinicus or Coleus aromaticus is a thick-leaved, creeping, perennial plant of immense medicinal benefits to mankind. Also known as Indian borage, Indian mint, Mexican mint, Cuban Oregano and Spanish Thyme, this wonderful plant has graced the courtyards of Indian households for centuries. While the Konkani people lovingly refer to it as sambraguli, the Malayalis call…
Kadgi Podi – Tender Jackfruit Chips (V+GF)
There were several jackfruit trees embraced by pepper vines in our land when we bought it more than 8 years ago. To add to their number, my husband planted around 25 different varieties of special, grafted jackfruit plants. To my delight, some of them have started to blossom now. This morning, he brought in a…