Chef at Large

My love for cooking arose from the kitchens of ‘East End’, in Cannanore, where my grandmother stirred and shook and whipped up the most delicious delicacies. The kitchen was old fashioned. Wood fires burned throughout the day and my grandmother who was called Mammu, by all her grandchildren, had to blow frequently through a long [...]

Jeera Aloo is a typical North Indian dish, probably made in thousands of homes every day. Easy to make and quick too, it goes equally well with rotis or parathas.
Boil and dice some potatoes. Heat oil, add jeera (cumin seed), put in the potatoes, add salt, red chilli powder, turmeric (haldi), dhania (coriander) powder and [...]

This is a spicy, juicy and tangy dish that can be used to stuff your samosas, filo pastry / puff pastry parcels, sandwiches or simply eaten with hot rotis/naans.
My brother dropped in last night and sleepily expressed a desire this morning, to eat a stuffed omelette. Now, stuffed omelettes are quite passè for me, considering [...]

This is a wonderfully spicy, yet not hot, tangy and delicious curry. While I wouldn’t call it simple to make, it ain’t tough either.
Pre-cook the colocassia (arbi), preferably one whistle in a standard pressure cooker. Slice thickly, fry till it has a crisp outer covering and reserve. Cut chicken any way you like and quickly [...]

Jackfruits are quite common in India and this part of the world and I learnt something new today - Jackfruits are the largest tree borne fruits! They can be cooked both dry and in a gravy.
Anyway, this is quite a tasty dish made with jackfruits. We first chop the jackfruits, omitting the middle section and [...]

We had some friends over for the weekend and decided to cook something a little more interesting than the food we had been subjected to over the last couple of days [See reviews on Udupi Cafe and Taste of India].
I didn’t bother taking any pictures of this one, as it didn’t look as if it [...]

I’ve been hearing about the ‘Indian Curry’ for quite a while, from multiple sources. I’ve seen it in restaurant menus in the UK ‘Vegetables with Indian Curry’, seen it published on websites - someone asks ‘how do you make Indian Curry?’, and a kindly (uninformed) soul pops out of nowhere and shares a recipe [...]

This fish curry has a traditional Indian flavor and combines the twang of coriander with the flavor of yellow mustard. It takes just about 15 minutes to make and tastes divine.Here’s what you do - add some yellow mustard seeds - crackle, saute some sliced onions. Add some turmeric, ginger paste and some salt - [...]

This classic, North Indian dish part of every day cooking and part of every house wife’s repertoire. Sauteed onions is followed by the trio of haldi (turmeric), namak (salt) and mirch (chilli powder), then mixed with potatoes and cooked on a high flame. Succulent, chopped bell peppers are added to the mix and cooked on [...]

The stalks and lower leaves of the horseradish plant are cooked in mustard oil and spices (turmeric, cumin seed, chilli powder and salt). Delicious when stuffed in a parantha, eaten as a dish or tossed with white rice.