Aloo Methi Curry Recipe | Simple Vegan Potato Curry

Learn how to make Aloo Methi Curry ~ Vegan potato and fresh fenugreek leaves in spicy tomato gravy

Fried, boiled, baked, mashed, stuffed, being stuffed(?!), roasted, grilled…

The above mentioned are some avatars of potato that come out of my kitchen at least once or twice a week. There is something about Potato, isn’t it? The unassuming tuber grows out of sight, underground and when pulled up it looks like a part of the earth. Have you ever seen it competing with other colourful vegetables or trying to take away the spotlight from other vegetables? This spud is neither good looking with frills of cauliflower, nor has beautiful glossy colours of bell peppers. This tuber neither has the clear complexion of white eggplants, nor the radiance of sweet corns. It is oddly shaped unlike slender beans or round tomatoes and sometimes even comes with ugly black spots on its muddy body! Have you ever seen any vegetable seller singing its songs of praise, trying to attract his buyers? When he is praising the goodness and beauty of other vegetables, you will find the dirty sack of potatoes sitting quietly in some dark corner, trying very hard to stay out of spotlights and looks of admiration!

Ingredients for Aloo Methi Curry

That is how I see the potato; humble, unpretentious and highly adaptable. Cook it with any ingredient, vegetables or spices and it transforms into something irresistible. The down to earth and simple looking raw potato transforms into an exquisite and tantalising dish!

Achaari Aloo Gobi Recipe | Vegan Potato and Cauliflower Curry with Pickling Spices

Learn how to make Achaari Aloo Gobi ~ Vegan potato and cauliflower curry with pickling spices

My love for pickle is a talking point with my family and friends, so much so that I end up being a butt of their so-called ‘pickle’ jokes! I belong to the very rare group of species who can survive not tasting a piece of sugar-loaded sweetmeats for rest of their life but go berserk when a meal is served without a piece of pickle adorning the plate. So extending my love for pickle into a lip-smacking bowl of curry is one of the best ways to satisfy my never-ending cravings for something spicy and uplifting. Enter Achaari Aloo Gobi, a delicious and one of THE best vegan curries that you can make to jazz up even the most mundane meal.



The word ‘Achar’ means pickle in Hindi and this recipe of Achaari Aloo Gobi is built on the basic pickling spices; mustard, cumin, fennel seeds, nigella seeds, fenugreek seeds, and red chilli which are prominently used in North Indian pickles. The touch of sourness comes from the amchur power which is a dried mango powder instead of vinegar which is used in most of the Punjabi pickles. This dish is how a pickle should be, spicy, astringent, and sour. Unlike the dry version of Achari Baingan or gravy based Achaari Paneer Curry, this Achaari Aloo Gobi Curry is semi-gravy based dish.

Vegetable Thai Red Curry Recipe | Vegan Thai Red Curry

Learn how to make Vegetable Thai Red Curry ~ Vegan Thai red curry with mixed vegetables and tofu

The season of a warm bowl of rice topped with a generous ladle full of fragrant curries is here. Frankly, who doesn’t like a bowl of fresh, aromatic and warm curries on a cold day?! Especially when it is deliciously fragrant and delicately flavoured curries like this Vegetable Thai Red Curry. One whiff of this steaming fragrance of spicy curry puts the heart at ease, calms down the violence of hunger, eliminates the tension of the day and awakens the appetite.

Ingredients for Vegetable Thai Red Curry

The crunchy vegetables and soft tofu simmered in a highly fragrant coconut gravy flavoured with perfectly balanced homemade Thai red curry paste of fresh herbs and spices is what I am sharing with you all today. If you love the goodness of rainbow vegetables, creaminess of coconut milk and the heady aroma of fresh herbs and spices, then this is one of those recipes that you will love to cook every now and then.

Tilwale Aloo with Tenderstem Recipe | Spicy Indian Roast Potatoes with Tenderstem

Tilwale Aloo with Tenderstem Recipe ~ How to make spicy Indian roast potatoes with Tenderstem broccoli

Wrapped in many layers of clothing, knee-high boots and my nose buried in a warm woolly scarf, I walked on a slippery frost-covered path I welcomed the winter grudgingly when I had to cut short my walk due to heavy rain lashing around me. With no protection from trees that were decked up in autumn splendour, but now standing stark naked thanks to the sudden drop in temperature to freezing point and incessant rainfall which caused floods in neighbouring towns and cities, I came home soaking wet and in desperate need for something warm and comforting. The season of hot soups, hearty stews, spicy curries, warm salads and continuous supply of hot cup of joy is here!!! Hello, winter… Let me welcome you with something simple, spicy, hearty and delicious, like this Tilwale Aloo with Tenderstem broccoli.





Versatile, delicious and highly adaptable, Tenderstem broccoli takes just minutes to cook making it the perfect ingredient for a delicious and adventurous mid-week meal. Cook with any ingredient, pair it with any vegetables or spices and be amazed to see how it transforms into something irresistible. Add them to stir-fries or steam them with a pinch of salt, roast them in an oven or eat them raw, grill them with a little oil or batter fry until crisp. It can be added to cuisines from across the globe, from pasta and curries to stir-fries, tempura or ramen! Taking inspiration from my Indian roots, I use Tenderstem in simple Thoran (a quick stir fry tempered with mustard seeds and curry leaves and garnished with fresh grated coconut), Rasedaar Aloo (Tenderstem and potatoes in spicy tomato curry) and Vegan Kurma (Tenderstem and mixed veg in coconut and fresh roasted masala gravy).

Mixed Vegetable and Tofu Thai Green Curry Recipe | Vegan Thai Green Curry Recipe

Learn how to make Mixed Vegetable and Tofu Thai Green Curry

Who doesn’t like a bowl of fresh, highly aromatic and warm curries on a cold days?! Especially when it is a highly fragrant and beautifully flavoured Thai Green Curry? Personally, I find its perfect balance of fresh green chilli heat and sweet, calm coconut has no other competitor for comfort. A bowl of hot curry with an array of colourful vegetables on top of steaming, fragrant Thai jasmine rice is what dreams are made of… It’s serious food heaven!

Ingredients for Thai Green Curry

My husband K and I are not great fans of eating out or takeaways. We opt to cook and experimenting in our kitchen than shedding unnecessary money on plate of food that we don’t enjoy. There are very few restaurants in our neck of wood that serves good food and that may be one of the reasons why we enjoy cooking. Also, having handful of friends who love our simple home cooked meals is also another reason for not eating out that often. Whatever reason it may be, we both are kind of people who enjoy spending quality time in kitchen, doing things together and having lots of fun with experimenting and tasting new cuisines.

Vegan Tindora Masala Curry | Ivy Gourd in Peanut and Coconut Curry

Learn how to make Vegan Tindora Masala Curry ~ Ivy gourds cooked in a thick and creamy peanut, sesame seeds and dry coconut gravy

Time and time again I am on a self-created mission of learning, developing and sharing recipes which you will never find in any Indian restaurants. These recipes are lovingly created, tweaked and then perfected after many trials and errors by the home cooks and are passed on from one generation to the next with in a family. They are fiercely guarded like some precious treasures and most often, never shared with someone outside their family! So if ever by any chance someone outside the family asks for the recipe, you can be rest assured that only a part of these treasured family recipes will be shared…And oh, half-heartedly! When someone says, “Oh, it’s quite simple you know. You need a handful of this and a spoonful of that. Grind them all and cook with the vegetable!”, you can be sure that the finished dish will never come close to the one you fell in love with. Consider yourself lucky to have had a privilege to taste such family heirlooms and be mindful of their uneasiness to share their family’s secret recipe.

Ingredients for the gravy

A decade ago, I was invited for a lunch by a friend of mine. Students who live in a hostel will know what it means to be invited for a home cooked meals when one has to eat bullet proof roti dipped in watered down red chilli paste with 2-3 chunks of sorry looking vegetables that was passed as a ‘curry’! My friends family were originally from a southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (now divided into two states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) which was known for their amazing regional food and fiery hot pickles which enslaves your taste buds the moment it touches the tongue. On that particular day, my friends mother had lovingly cooked a festive thali and one dish that made a big impact on my taste memory was the Vegan Tindora Masala Curry where ivy gourds were cooked in a creamy peanut and coconut gravy.

Aloo Tikki-Chole Chaat Recipe | How to Make Aloo Tikki Chole Chaat

Learn how to make Aloo Tikki-Chole Chaat ~ A popular Indian street food of spiced potato patties served with spicy chickpeas curry and assorted sweet date-tamarind chutney and hot mint-coriander chutney and topped with finely chopped onions, tomatoes and sev

Inside a small restaurant with double glazed window you will find several posters of Bollywood stars smiling at you. There are small granite tables with pickle and chutney trays on top and matching red velvet cushioned chairs. Large framed photograph of Guru Nanak is hung just above the cashier’s desk and a small table fan is rotating gently. The aroma of food being cooked inside the kitchen is intoxicating and people are busy savouring plates of Naans, Curries, Chaats, Indian sweets and Kebabs.

Come out of the restaurant you will find women in colourful saris and salwar kameez, men wearing colourful turbans and kurtas, pavement food stalls selling Samosas, Chaats and Jalebi, small shops selling mobile phones and bright fabrics in rainbow colours hanging in shop fronts. Add to this the Bhangra music and sweet smell of incense and spices is in the air. Am I in India?!

BasaLe Soppina Koddel | Udupi-Mangalorean Style Vegan Malabar Spinach Curry

Learn how to make BasaLe Soppina Koddel ~ Udupi-Managlorean style Malabar spinach cooked in a freshly roasted spices and coconut gravy tempered with garlic

Do you dream about certain foods? After one long tired day, you close your eyes and then suddenly this delicious thing comes to your mind. All you can do at that moment is sigh and groan loudly matching the rumble of your stomach. You just wish that you could take one teeny-tiny bite of that scrumptious food you have had loooooooong time ago? Food that makes one want to weep as the nostalgia hits like a tonnes of bricks!

Yes… I am talking about such food, something you can’t find in a place where you are currently living. Apart from my family and friends, I miss quite many things that I had taken for granted in all those years I spent time in my country of birth. It is like inhaling the heady aroma of earth after first monsoon rain hits the mother earth, or the tingling taste of first tender mango rubbed with salt and chilli powder in hot summer days, or the feeling of happiness when you rest your head on your mother’s lap, or the satisfaction of hugging someone who loves you more than themselves, or the feeling of content that comes when you taste something specially cooked with lots of love by your loved ones… Yes, there are these few things that can’t be experienced anywhere else. And you miss them dearly, not just when you are feeling low but also when you are bursting with joy and happy thoughts. Because it is these few special people and interesting things that makes one’s life worthwhile.

Lauki Aloo Matar Curry Recipe | Simple and Easy Vegan Bottle Gourd Curry Recipes

Learn how to make Lauki Aloo Matar Curry ~ A simple and easy bottle gourd curry with potato and peas cooked in a sweet and tangy tomato gravy

Vegetables, some you love and some you hate. And then there are few which don’t fall under either category and precariously balance in between depending on how it is cooked. Lauki or sorekayi or dudhi or bottle gourd was one such vegetable in my list. Did you notice I spoke about it in past tense? It is because I was not either fond of it or disliked it enough to put firmly under just one category. So, like many other vegetables while growing up bottle gourd and I shared love-hate relationship.

Ingredients for Lauki Aloo Matar Curry

My mother being a terrific cook, all the dishes she made using this unassuming gourd was an instant hit on our dinner table. She knew the ways to trick the fussiest picky eater to go for second helping with her amazing cooking skills. Apart from making her signature boLu kodhel and bottle gourd peel chutney, she also makes fantastic melt-in-mouth sweet halwa and delicious lauki ke kofte which I remember was one of the popular dishes she cooked for special occasions. The bland, pale and unattractive vegetable would get a massive makeover in her hands, making it one of the most desirable things to eat. That’s the power of mother’s cooking, which made me slowly fall in love with this vegetable.