Healthy living

We Indians love our pickles!!! It is an ubiquitous part of all our meals!! Served and eaten in minuscule quantities, this condiment adds flavor to our meal like none other!! Our pickles are nothing like the western pickles! Our pickles are fiery and usually bright red in color due to the presence of red chillies in them. Even our green colored pickles or pickles of any other color are still spicy. There are very few that are on the sweeter side and they too have chilli powder in them. While most of our pickles has vegetables that have been soaked in brine, it is not a requirement. We can make pickles without brine. Of course, the shelf life of pickles made without brine is much lower than those made with brine. It is pickle season now in India. We pickle all kinds of vegetables, some fruits like mango and even fish!! It is truly delicious!! Those who follow me know that I don't make anything that is tedious or time consuming!! Simply because I don't have that kind of time! Chec...

Sago/sabudana or tapioca is very commonly used during fasting in India. There is Sabudana khichidi, Sabudana vadas, Sabudana thalipeeth. Sago pudding or kheer is a popular dessert made for special days. I am very fond of Sabudana on a regular basis, be it religious days or not. I could eat these items anytime. Recently, my mom introduced me  to Sabudana idlis. I have made many kinds of idlis: regular idli , varai idli, mallige idli , sannas , kulith idli , cucumber idli , cornmeal idlis, quinoa idlis . But Sabudana idlis , I have not made. I decided to try mom's recipe as she was raving about these idlis. She also told me to make sure that I serve them with saagu , kurma, matar paneer  or any such curry or not the regular sambar . You know what they say!! Mom is always correct!!! Well it w as definitely correct in this case! The idlis were soft, fluffy and delicious! I served it with saagu and it made for a truly delicious breakfast! It is a great solution for next day br...

Mother's Day is this weekend!! You don't have to make anything complicated or expensive for your mom on Mother's Day! You could make her a simple but delicious breakfast! Something as simple as pancakes! The good thing about pancakes is their versatility! You could make them with fruits like berries or bananas, nuts like walnuts or pecans, flavors like vanilla or cinnamon or chocolate chips!  If you don't like any of that in your pancake, you can top the pancake with a variety of toppings: sliced bananas, strawberries, berries, chocolate chip,chocolate syrup, maple syrup, honey.. Pretty much anything one wants. I would however stick to the healthier options. Here is a simple recipe that you can use to make the pancakes. Servings: makes 8-10 medium sized pancakes Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 25 mins Ingredients: Milk: 1/2 cup Egg: 1 Melted Butter/ oil: 2 tbsp Flour: 1 cup Baking powder: 1 tsp Salt: 1/4 tsp Sugar: 1 tbsp Butter/oil: for greasing the g...

It is Cinco de Mayo today !!! Cinco de Mayo commemorates the victory of the Mexican army over the French forces at the Battle of  Puebla .  It is celebrated with great pomp in this part of the world. This was just a reason for me to make Tacos. Everyone in my home loves tacos; any kind! We love vegetarian tacos, bean tacos, fish tacos, chicken tacos.. You name it, we like it; except the ones with meat in it. You see we don't eat meat. Tacos are nothing but some kind of vegetarian or meat filling in the middle of a small tortilla ( roti) that is usually topped with lettuce/shredded cabbage, onion, sour cream, taco sauce and shredded cheese. When I make tacos at home, I make it healthy by switching the sour cream with Greek yogurt and using low fat shredded cheese. I sometimes skip the cheese in mine altogether. I also substitute lettuce with shredded cabbage. I also sometimes top it with baked butternut squash. You can make a vegetarian version using just butternut squash and ...