DivineTaste

Cherry Stuffed Caramelized Peaches With Custard Cream

Anushruti — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 18:21:12 +0000

Cooking with certain fruits is always a dilemma for me. The change of texture and taste brought about by the cooking process can elevate or demote the natural form and beauty of the fruit in question.

Take mangoes for instance. I’m always wary of cooking with them for the fear of disrupting their natural elegance or not giving them their due by doing justice to their regalness by subjecting them to improper cooking methods.

But peaches are a different story altogether. Subject a peach to some heat in the form of baking, roasting or frying and the amazing transformation in terms of its velvety smooth texture and enhanced sweetness totally … Continue Reading

Flattened Rice With Seasoned Creamy Yogurt And Roasted Eggplant

Anushruti — Fri, 31 May 2013 17:22:06 +0000

Some recipes are not found in any recipe books or cooked in hotels and restaurant and are usually made in peoples homes, handed down over generations.

What makes them alluring is their age old timelessness.

Considered to be too simple to be noted down at times, there is the possibility of them being lost over time, considering the multifarious choices available to us today.

There are recipes that makes a family come together, sit around and chat. Or recipes that give you the comfort of home when you are far away from home. Today, we are talking about one such recipe.

During one visit to Bangalore, my mother-in-law made this dish … Continue Reading

Eggless Vanilla Cupcakes With Chocolate Buttercream Icing

Anushruti — Sun, 26 May 2013 18:25:07 +0000

“The most beautiful necklace a mother can wear is not gold or gems, but her child’s arms around her neck”- Anonymous

This post has been long overdue as the best thing I have created so far turned a magical 4 this year on the 10th of March. It’s been 2 academic years since he started school, playschool to be precise at 2 1/2 years old and I’m still getting used to the silence at home when he is in school for a few hours.

And my heart still skips a beat and leaps with joy when I hear those magical words “amma (mother)” from my precious little one after … Continue Reading

Kulfi (Creamy Indian Ice Cream)

Anushruti — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:21:02 +0000

For those of you who grew up in India in the 80s and 90s, I dont have to try hard to revive memories of this exquisite ice cream. This was a time when a plethora of different flavours of ice cream was not yet available in the Indian markets and since the economy was not yet liberalized, there was no chance of savouring the taste of the many foreign brands of ice cream that are now available.

To me, kulfi meant summer holidays, playing in the garden and taking a walk alongside the lush green fields in my paternal hometown only to get back and relish it with my cousins. … Continue Reading

Raw Mango Chutney (Mavinkai Gojju)

Anushruti — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 18:28:54 +0000

Spring summer is my favourite season of the year. In childhood it signalled the start of the summer holidays, endless hours of Enid Blyton with my favourite music playing on the side with a bowl of mango pulp (sheekarni) next to me.

Now, as I take a walk in the evenings and see the tiny flowers blossoming in the park, my heart is filled with happiness. But, of all the treasures of the earth, the one closest to my heart which I never tire of writing about is the matchless supreme fruit, the mango! With the appearance of these seasonal green mangoes (it’s a pity that raw mangoes are available … Continue Reading

Black Eyed Peas Curry

Anushruti — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:06:08 +0000

A well made curry is always right up my alley. And if it consists of legumes, then my day is made. Eaten with plain steamed or spiced vegetable laced pulao or even simple Indian breads, it is the ultimate comfort food for me.

I often serve this curry with a simple vegetable pulao. When a cooling cucumber based salad with yogurt is added, it makes for one of the most nutritionally balanced and satisfying meals for a vegetarian.

Black eyed peas are brimming with proteins, vitamins and minerals, making them ideal for growing children.

Many people are known to stay away from beans and legumes as they are difficult … Continue Reading

Eggless Vanilla And Chocolate Marble Cake With Quick Fudge Sauce

Anushruti — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 06:56:58 +0000

There are cakes and then there are great cakes. This particular cake being one of the softest, moistest and flavourful cakes that I have ever made falls into the latter category.

When I set out to make this cake after a reader request and after being surprised and shocked with myself for not yet having a marble cake recipe here, I was not prepared for this outstanding result! An old hand at making cakes now I just need to look at ingredients and arrive at possible estimates of ingredients to get a good outcome.

I did the same here, walked into my kitchen and looked at some ingredients and thought … Continue Reading

Spicy Baked Okra (Ladyfinger)

Anushruti — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:16:55 +0000

Okra or lady finger as we call it here in India brings back deep memories embedded in my mind. It takes me back to the time when I travelled with my 40 day old baby to my parental home for post natal care, where I was nurtured and cocooned in the comfort of my parents home. It so happened that part of this nurturing involved eating okra every single day for the many weeks that followed thereafter. Supposed to be good for the new mother and the baby, they were part of my lunch, every single day! Naturally, due to over indulgence, I couldnt look at these innocent vegetables for … Continue Reading

Mooli Paratha/Radish Stuffed Indian Flatbread With Mint Coriander Green Chutney

Anushruti — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:35:15 +0000

When I was about to get married, off I went down the street from my parents home to learn the fine art of making stuffed vegetable parathas from Mrs. Nirmala Sharma, a cheerful Punjabi lady and a family friend who in my opinion made the best mooli parathas. At this point in time, unaware that food would be my chosen profession, my sole determination of acquiring the talent for making good parathas was to feed my beloved to be husband with the best possible food, parathas being one of his favourites.

Thereafter many evenings in Mumbai post our wedding were spent with me experimenting with different combinations of parathas and … Continue Reading

Whole Wheat Bread

Anushruti — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 10:15:11 +0000

I thought that there was a serious dearth of bread recipes on divinetaste and that’s why I’m here today to share with you the recipe for a loaf of bread, which also happens to be one of the most requested recipes in my recipe request folder. I must confess though that I’m partial to Indian unleavened flat breads which also happens to be more suitable to my Ayurvedic style of cooking.

But one can’t deny the satisfaction and comfort that a loaf of bread brings and with both my men my husband and my son being bread lovers, I wouldnt want to escape baking bread. I wanted a simple whole … Continue Reading