Monsoon Recipes Unique monsoon recipes to soothe our soul. As soon as the dark sullen clouds gathers fast over the black fringe of the forest, with rows of palm trees by the lake smiting its heads against the dismal sky. It brings cheers to our face…a smile of hope. And when it rains it pours incessantly, rhythmically …pitter….patter….pat…days after days.. We long for some comfort and coziness and what soothes our soul better than a cup of chai and some hot and spicy pakoras. We bring you some of the best and unique Monsoon special dishes that goes beyond the usual chai and pakora routine. Top ..read more

Nolen Gurer Patishapta Nolen gurer patishapta , the most sought after sweets from Bengal, after roshogolla and sandesh. Perfect way to welcome the winter season and to begin a new year. My first post of this year, bit late though. Greetings. Patishapta is a kind of pitha / pithe -the plethora of sweet dishes that we Bengalis prepare for poush sankranti or makar sankranti , every year. Here is an exhaustive list of 14 different kinds of pithe puli that we make for Sankranti. Sankranti is a harvest festival, coinciding with the celebration of celestial transmigration of sun from one zodiac to an ..read more

Christmas Plum Cake Hope you all had merry jolly Christmas this year and this season I had tried this beautiful gluten free Christmas plum cake. Delicious, moist and it was so tasty that you cannot stop at just one slice. Yes, it was that good. And one of the best Christmas plum cake that I had baked so far. What was in it that sets it apart from the rest of it’s clan of fruit cakes ? The fabulous combination of different types of flours. Over the last few years, I kept on experimenting cakes, brownies and breads with different kinds of flours. And every time I had found that the alternate flo ..read more

Orange Upside Down Cake The season’s best cake – an upside down winter citrus zesty orange cake is here to entice you. Full of citrusy flavours, soft, moist, buttery with melt in mouth texture and oh so delicious. The zesty fragrance of tangerines, with the nutty cinnamon and cloves , the richness of butter and the house smells so good and festive. Oranges are typically winter fruit in India. An orange a day is must for skin, health and improving our immunity during the season. The lovely orange flavour is so enchanting that I keep adding the oranges and its candied peels in baked goods and In ..read more

Easy Thanks Giving Recipe Ideas Looking for easy Thanksgiving Recipes ? Planning out an easy Thanksgiving Menu ? From traditional to contemporary, we have got you covered. Here are some of the Thanksgiving menu ideas that you can use to chalk out your plan. Turkey For Thanksgiving Turkey rules the Thanksgiving dinner scene. A centerpiece for obvious reason. I would say, ditch the whole bird and try this easy Turkey Recipes for Thanksgiving. Effortlessly easy. And great in taste. Please click on the name of the Recipe for the recipes. Turkey Roulade – Mushroom cranberry stuffed turkey breast ro ..read more

Do you love those bright colored candied jewel like confectionery, called tutti frutti? As a kid I was crazy about them. But have you ever wondered how this can be made at home ? If yes, here is the short and fun recipe of tutti frutti to try at home. What Is Tutti Frutti ? Tutti frutti is  delightful and colorful confectionery candied fruits that can dress up any desserts for any occasions and is ridiculously simple to make at home. That too without using any synthetic colors. All naturals. And full of goodness. Winter is officially setting in, Christmas season (read baking season ) is c ..read more

Deepavali / The Magical Night Of Festivity And Merriment The magical sparkle of thousand lamps that shines like tiny star against the dark sky. The colorful and intricately designed rangolis adorning the doorsteps, courtyards and temple entrances. The scent of bright yellow and orange marigold adorning the toran on entrance way,  the joyous moments of family get together, cheerful friendliness with merriment abound. The sound of bursting crackers, the infectious smile and frivolity in every happy faces, new clothes that glitters as much as the sparklers. Hand picked gifts for the loved on ..read more

Bengali Chanar Jilipi / Chenna Jalebi Today I am going to share with you all Bengali Chanar Jilipi or chenna jalebi which is a very popular sweet delicacy from Bengal. Over the years (old pictures from 2012 are given for your references) I have perfected this recipe and this is absolutely now a no-fail chanar jilipi recipe for you. Chanar jilipi belongs to the clan of fried chhena based sweet dishes. Bengali pantua, ledikini, langcha, chitrakoot and nikuti all belong to the same clan. In Bengal chhena and kheer (khova for non-bengalis) are the two primary ingredients for making sweets. While y ..read more

Bengali Khirer / Kheerer Sandesh The melt in mouth Bengali khirer sandesh or kheerer sondesh is Bengal’s version of reduced milk fudge. Milk is patiently first reduced on low heat till every bit of moisture is evaporated, thus improving the shelf life too. Which is then sweetened with powdered sugar and flavoured variously. Kheerer sandesh not only tests the patience and perseverance of the sweet maker, but also testifies his/her skills of making sweets. Having said that reducing milk till it solidified, known as kheer in Bengali and khova/ mawa elsewhere in India, is a technique that had been ..read more

Kolkata Style Mutton Biryani Kolkata style mutton biryani is a flavourful preparation of rice and meat, spiced up with aromatic spices, slow cooked over embers till perfection. Sounds simple, is not it? A basic and primitive preparation of rice and meat but when laboriously cooked with few choicest aromatic spices, lovingly caressed at each and every stages it goes through. Rules that should be followed diligently until that perfection achieved, in flavour and taste. That becomes biryani. A feast fit for royals and nobles and for the commoner too. My Homestyle Mutton Biryani – Biryani is not e ..read more