When the cold hits.. Tamizh Falafel to the rescue!
Food & Drink, Snacks Asha Food & Drink, Snacks Asha

When the cold hits.. Tamizh Falafel to the rescue!

We feared the plague and were felled by the common cold! Such was our state last week when after a whole year of bubble life. When Finally, the weekend arrived and the house seemed to be breathing much more normally, the first thing I wanted to do was declutter and then COOK! :)

What I grew up and know as masala vadai, is not very different from the middle eastern falafel. Often not even shaped differently and with a ton of oomph from garlic, the herbs and choice of lentil may vary but the result and satisfaction are remarkably similar! Which is why I call these Split Pea Vadais, Tamizh Falafel.

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Be my Valentine, Coz I am Real!

Be my Valentine, Coz I am Real!

Have you ever bit into a strawberry and had an epiphany of “Ohh! This is love !!”. Or, looked at someone you love and think, “Ohhhh, caramel?!”. No! Because that is not really how love works. So, I have decided to rebrand Valentine to the real, authentic and multi-dimensional… atleast in the foods we use to represent and celebrate love. Today, I bring you the first idea, a tease of a dish…

I present to you Blue CheeseCake topped with Honey and Sage Roasted Grapes.

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Remembering Whence I Came and Egg Puffs

Remembering Whence I Came and Egg Puffs

Somehow, since moving here and the puff pastry becoming ubiquitous, I had forgotten my own humble origins. How a bite of a simple pastry could make my life feel rich and sumptuous. Because in the 10 minutes that I took to eat the egg puff (for at least an hour after), I forgot about how I was the awkward one in class, that my skin was too brown for a fairness obsessed culture, that I had no pretty clothes (OMG! that horrendous high waisted jeans I had! :O), that I was the weird kid in class who wore so big an A-line skirt that it looked like a ball gown because my mother chose the cheap tailor. No, for those minutes, I felt equal to the nobility who probably were the only ones who could have afforded such a pastry, only 50 years prior!

But Instagram brought it up! That community of food obsessed and passionate rekindled me. It all started with Giulia’s post on the Puglian rustici…!

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Sweet Potato and Stilton Knishes

Sweet Potato and Stilton Knishes

I have a list of blogs that I typically cycle through for inspiration - recipes, travel and photography. Leading upto Purim, the interweb was flying wild with hamantaschen on every platform. I see them as basically jam cookies in a cool shape. That's it. Then Molly posted a savory potato version that caught my fancy and my hands twitching. I was inspired. 

During a casual conversation with a barely Jewish friend, I realised there was a story to hamantaschen, that is named for Haman's Ears, and why it is baked for Purim. Here is the story, if you like, and expectedly, it is filled with Old Testament, love and persecution.  And yet....

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