Chef at Large

The weather is quite muggy these days and I’ve been fondly remembering the time I was in Laos. The other day, I suddenly wanted to drink the tea I bought from Vang Vieng. I’m a hard core tea drinker and have a tendency to collect tea from the places I visit be it Dharamkot, Vancouver [...]

I’m running into trouble with the recently installed ‘buy fresh cook fresh’ policy. We simply aren’t consistent with vegetable purchases, so there are times when there isn’t anything in the house to cook with. Like yesterday, when all I could find was a slab of pork in the freezer. Next step is going to be [...]

Cooking all three meals every day isn’t proving to be as much of a load as I thought it would be. After reaching home around 7:00pm with fresh vegetables and breads, dinner is ready in the next 1 hour. The next morning, breakfast is usually served around 7:30am with sandwiches for lunch ready by 8:15am. [...]

An expert at rustling up healthy and delicious food, this is another one of Zainab’s creations.
Onion, garlic and bell peppers lightly fried, tossed with boiled noodles and kidney beans, then seasoned with soy sauce and served hot.
Simple isn’t it? It tasted good too!
- Sid

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The pomfret is such a versatile fish - it goes well with most flavors you can throw at it and tastes wonderful even with the simplest of seasonings. I’m going to try different styles of cooking this great fish.
For this version, make a couple of slits in the fish on both sides, rub some sea [...]

I found these freshly made noodles in the market yesterday. All you need to cook them is a couple of minutes in salted, boiling water. So, I tried this recipe out, which resulted in a spicy combination of curry, noodles, kebabs and coconut.
First, boil your noodles, chop the kebabs and onions and squeeze out the [...]

I’m not well today - probably the flu. But that doesn’t stop me from cooking. No siree, it doesn’t. So, after making the rice for the ‘How to cook’ series (next post), I was wondering how to use it, besides the obvious curry route.
So… chopped some spring onions and carrots and put them in [...]

This noodle soup is immensely satisfying and is perfect for a hot, nutritious complete meal for the kids. It uses glass noodles or bean threads and looks quite interesting too. With the right vegetables in it, it can look simply amazing!
Start by sauteing some spring onions, carrots, beans and cauliflower, all cut to the right [...]

This is a deliciously different stew, that can be made with any kind of meat you like, in any form. I’m not sure which cuisine to categorise this under, since as it is a little American and a bit Asian. It does have a very interesting flavor nonetheless and goes very well with a hunk [...]

These are fresh button buttons, de-stalked and lightly sauteed in sesame oil - then stuffed with a spicy mixture of mushrooms, chicken and peanuts.
First de-stalk the mushrooms and then quickly stir fry them in some hot sesame oil - remember to use very little oil. Set aside.
Now for the filling. Finely puree some wood ear [...]