Navarathri Day 2—Tangy peanut potato ‘sundal’ chaat

This recipe is in memory of my paternal grandmother whom we called Mangalam Paati, Mangalam being her name and the word paati means grandma in Tamil. She was a cook par excellence. She was a very religious lady and followed a strict vegetarian diet, and what she ate depended on the day of the week…

Navarathri, a nine day ‘protein rich’ Indian festival | Day 1—Black-eyed pea ‘sundal’ curry with curry leaves and coconut

Navarathri, the nine day Indian festival which usually falls in the month September or October, always triggers nostalgic memories of my mother making a different type of sundal – a semi-dry bean curry, each evening as offering to Durga, a female goddess. There is a popular tradition of worship of female goddesses in India, and…

Bean biscuits (eggless, vegan)

If you walked into a bakery in my hometown Coimbatore in the south of India, you might see a huge glass jar on the counter filled with small bean-shaped biscuits known as “bean biscuits”, sometimes “coin biscuits” when they’re round instead of bean-shaped. Bakery products are very popular in South India and they are mostly…

Masala scrambled chickpeas with kale

My first experience of the versatile chickpea was when I was in my teens and we had dinner at my father’s colleague’s house in the form of chickpea chole and I was blown away by their taste. Whole chickpeas were not much used in South Indian cooking in those days except for an occasional sundal…

Creamy vegan korma (dairy-free)

Recipes often have a story. Some are happy but others are sad. This korma is in memory of a lady who didn’t live for herself. She was our neighbour for a few years in Trivandrum, India many years ago, and my only memories of her are those of her slaving away for her husband and…

Cabbage bowl with sorghum and green chick pea salad

I was given a free white cabbage at a yoga event some time back. I normally do not buy white cabbage as it is a bit tougher than green cabbage or the pointed one and often I end up overcooking it and then it doesn’t taste that good. But I couldn’t resist taking it as…

Millet Thayir “Saadam” (dairy-free, vegan)

South Indians are supposed to go ‘high’ on Thayir Saadam. Translated as yoghurt rice, it is exactly what the name says. Just a simple dish of rice mixed with yogurt and seasoned or “tempered” with a mixture of spices, this is the last course served in any South Indian meal. For my father, his meals…