Chef at Large

We were at Swagatas house recently and found her making this for her daughter, niece and nephew.
Swagata is a Bharatanatayam dancer, choreographer, writer and more (see some photos here) a good friend who is also instructing my daughter in the art.
Semolina or suji halwa is quite easy to make and tastes delicious when hot. First [...]

Ashwin (of MentorLink fame) took us out to an Afghani restaurant yesterday.A foodie himself, Ashwin likes finding restaurants and places to eat in little known places. “Before they start dishing out commercial crap”, are his words on the subject.
Anyhow, more of an eating house than a restaurant the way we all expect it, Afghan is [...]

During interactions with many North Indian friends, I find many are interested in trying out fish dishes at home, but they simply aren’t sure how to cook it. Most are quite comfortable with chicken and meat dishes, but with fish they’re like… pardon the pun, a fish out of water.
This dish is easy to cook, [...]

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 used to read a lot of Wilbur Smith in the past. In fact, I think I’ve read all of his books twice or more. If you ask me, I think his books are the ‘Mills and Boon’ equivalent for men. Anyway, there was mention of a dish called ‘Koeksisters’ in a few of his [...]

Pan Haggerty is a delicious and simple to make dish. I wouldn’t say its quick, but your kids will love it. My wife ended up scraping the pan, so I’m pretty sure it appeals to children. (I hope she’s not reading this).
Oil a pan, put a layer of sliced potatoes, then a layer of sliced [...]

Going by Toni’s recipe of a few days back, I thought of trying it at home. Problem was, I couldn’t find lamb or fresh rosemary. So, decided to follow procedure and change the ingredients. Here’s what finally hapenned:

Find a pan large enough to hold leg
Fill water, place on heat and add bay leaf, turmeric, salt, [...]

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 [...]

I’ve been reading this book on Provence cooking and this one was inspired after some late night reading. Its a very light and fresh dish, served warm rather than hot, which I found absolutely delicious. Tell me what you think!
Contrary to my normal narration, I’m going to get a little specific for this one: [...]

The mutton stew I wrote about earlier may be eaten with bread or chapattis but they taste best with Valle-appams or Hoppers. Here is the recipe for Vellappams, the way my grandmother made them. However I have introduced one variation from the original. My grandma used toddy, tapped fresh from the bark of the coconut [...]