Pasta, noodles, pies, pizzas…no, these are not the food that I could relate my childhood memories with. I was introduced to these food quite late in life. It was when I started to work, living independently and cooking on my own that I craved for eating out during weekends. And these carbohydrate and calorie loaded food were quite a stress buster and a good remedy to homesickness.

That was a phase I suppose, as now when we are in our forties both me and hubby prefer eating simple and light Indian food. But wait…this was only till our children grew and joined us on the dinner table! Now the menu in my kitchen often drifts from Indian to global on weekends as I surrender more often to the demands of my children who love these carb food. Times change or rather we change for the sake of our children. Now that both mom & dad don’t mind an occasional binge and dig into Pastas or have a bite or two of that cheesy Pizza just to be one with their kids

Do you follow any particular recipe for making pilaf/pulav? I am afraid I don’t… If there is ample time and the cooking is for some special guests, my Pilaf will have a mix of home ground spices and some exotic ingredients such as poppy seeds, coconut & cashew paste. On a normal day it’s just a few whole spices, veggies, fluffy Basmati rice and my quick aromatic pilaf. And how versatile & flexible a recipe could get, you don’t need to follow any particular recipe and yet come out with some extraordinary results, yes such is the magic of Pilaf!

My favorite is always this simple and quick Pilaf or Pulav recipe, wherein the subtle flavors of Basmati rice, a mild punch of few whole spices and the real taste of fresh veggies could be enjoyed in best form.

“Crackers can be addictive!”  Hmm.. never knew till I baked these Flax seed wholewheat crackers for myself. Ragi, Millet, cornmeal, oats and Quinoa in the pantry pushed this super food to a corner. After a long hibernation that packet of shiny brown Flax seeds finally moved out from my refrigerator. And when I was thinking to bake something with my tiny treasure, got a call from mom.

Flax seeds are making news for good reasons. A popular source of Omega-3 fatty acids this super food which was known as cattle feed and only to the paint industries is now gaining entry into the kitchens of many households. Flax seeds are a boon to vegans and vegetarians who find it difficult to get Omega-3 in their regular diet.

A little bigger and harder than sesame seeds, flax seeds have shinny yellow or brown color skin. The seeds can be eaten raw or ground and added to various food products. It imparts a lovely earthy aroma to baked goodies.

A bowl of creamy wobbly Panna Cotta soaked in juicy fresh fruit compote is a best bet for an easy, quick and exotic dessert for any day! Panna Cotta means “cooked cream’ in Italian and this simple dessert is served with caramel, chocolate sauce or any fruit compote. Compote is a sort of thickened sweet sauce cooked with stewed fresh or dried fruits mainly berries in sugar.

It is really hard to switch over from the incredibly addictive cream based panna cotta with  yogurt and coconut milk. But then a look at the health benefits of yogurt and coconut makes it a wiser decision to do so. Panna Cotta cooked with coconut milk which I make often takes the recipe to different levels. I made two batches, the one set in the ramekins are with cream & yogurt combo and the other in the glass is just plain yogurt panna cotta. And no, I did not miss the creamy culprit from my recipe

“Write Potato on a paper and she will eat that too” mom warned him beforehand. And poor hubby was not prepared for this potato overdose in his life. Not a great fan of this starchy veggie he was grumpy to see tiny chunks of potatoes in everything that was served to him. But as they say, Love me, love my dog’ errr..potatoes, he started liking them for good

I could almost write a cook book on all the potato recipes I collected & cooked over the last few years. And in my quest to present my favorite veggie in better ways I am in constant search for some innovative ways to serve it. I adopted one of  mom’s favorite recipes ‘Potatoes in white gravy’ which we used to call ‘khus-khus wale aloo’.

Nutty Carrot Pudding a.k.a Gajar Halwa, this ubiquitous dessert hardly needs any introduction to those who love Indian food! This rich, decadent and comforting sweet made with red carrots adorns the dinning table of  many households during the chilly winter nights. The juicy sweet red carrots which gives the distinct color and taste to the pudding are available only for a few month in a year and its presence also welcomes the beginning of winter days in India. Fresh carrot juice, pickled carrots in  jars, exotic carrot jam, colorful pilaf with tiny chunks of red carrots and just plain carrots is what I love to serve mine.

I love my morning cup of steaming hot milk tea, grilled cheese sandwich and the crisp stuffed Paratha (Indian flat breads) with creamy yogurt Raita. Yes I heard it, so do you. But then hold on, if you are one with me you need to pause for a moment and read the following post from our AFBHLS guest Harini. Who knows this might change the way you look at your breakfast table as it did to mine. Now that my weekly grocery list has less of those extra cheese boxes and I have started loving my tea without milk.

Think of a dessert and fresh fruits top my list hands down. A bowl of sliced juicy strawberries, apples and grapes sprinkled with castor sugar or with fresh yogurt is what I and my hubby crave for. There is always a difference of opinion at home, my children love to settle for a  chocolate bar if there is just plain fruits for dessert. But they look pretty cool of late, now that they know their food blogger mama  needs to update her blog with a recipe every week

‘I don’t need the bread, but it’s nice to do something creative‘. ~ John Goodman. My daily normal Indian meal has no place for yeast bread, I like my chapattis and rice with curries and other accompaniments. But then ‘creative & therapeutic‘ is what baking is to me and I love my breads and cakes for the same reason.

After years of baking I still feel ‘yeast challenged’ every time that I bake something and feel jittery to see the outcome. This month when Abby Dodge asked us to bake a Peasant Boule for #baketogether I instantly grabbed the challenge in order learn more from my fellow food bloggers and bake my own Peasant Boule as well.