Where can I find Sour Cream in Mumbai???

Even though I’m not in Mumbai any more, I know there must be atleast a few other cooks and bakers like me, who found amazing recipes online, only to find that they needed sour cream to make it. “What’s the big deal?”, you ask. Well the deal is you can’t find Sour Cream in Mumbai. This is one product that hasn’t yet made it to the supermarket shelves. No matter how hard you try, it will be practically impossible to find a tub of it, and if you’re really lucky and you do, you’ll have to pay an exorbitant amount for it.

It was extremely frustrating for me, until I decided that enough was enough. I was determined to find a way to either make it myself or find a substitute for it. After a lot of reading up and digging through quite a lot of material, I found out that you can easily mix up a concoction that you can use when a recipe calls for sour cream. All you need is some Fresh Cream – I always used Amul Fresh Cream and thick curds (dahi) – this you can either use homemade dahi or Amul Masti Dahi – a brand I preferred to use. I’m pretty sure you could use any other brand available with the same results.

Sour Cream


200g fresh cream
1 heaped tbsp thick curds
A pinch of salt

Beat the cream till slightly thicker and still creamy.

Add the curds and the salt and mix well, till everything is well incorporated.

Use as needed.

And that’s it! How easy is that?

I hope you find this little snippet helpful. I sure did.

Disclaimer: This post hasn’t been sponsored, nor have I been compensated by Amul in any way. These are products that I use and really love working with and wanted to share with you.

Dill Potatoes

Ok, today’s post features my favorite vegetable. Yup, you heard me. My favorite vegetable is the humble potato. I can eat it in any form – baked, fried, mashed, roasted, any which way. I usually have potatoes in the house, for me they are a pantry staple. I rely on potatoes for those days just before I can make my weekly grocery shopping trip, where the fridge is almost bare. You’ll see a few potato recipes here like Batata vadas, Bhajiyas, Aloo Cheese Frankies, Potato Chops,  Fries, Aloo Bhaji, Hasselback Potatoes and Aloo Tikkis. But I’m pretty sure that these options are just the tip of the iceberg.

Anyway, this is one recipe, that can be made many different ways. You can –

  • Boil potatoes – on the stovetop or in the microwave
  • Roast potatoes – I usually pop a couple of potatoes whole and skin on (but washed well / brushed) in the oven, if I’m roasting some meat or baking a casserole or something. I simply wrap it in foil and leave it in till done.
  • Use raw potatoes, washed, peeled and cubed

What makes it special is the dill. Dill and potatoes go well together. Haven’t tried it before, well, you definitely should.

Dill Potatoes 


2 potatoes (You could use as many as you think you’ll need)
Salt, to taste
Dill leaves (either fresh or frozen), to taste
1 tsp canola oil

Prep your potatoes as desired – either boiled, roasted or raw.

Cut the potatoes into cubes.

Heat oil in a pan and toss the potato cubes in gently. Let it fry till they edges get nice and golden brown and crunchy.  (This will take a little longer if you are using raw potatoes – keep it on a medium heat so that it cooks through. If you’re using boiled / roasted potatoes you can turn up the heat a bit and heat through till it browns to your liking.)

When the potatoes are done to your liking, season with salt and toss in the dill leaves, as much or as little as you’d like. Toss it up well.

Serve hot.

Pan fried Pork Chops

Ok, here’s a quick option for those dinners when you want to have something special, but just don’t want to spend too much time or when take-out just won’t do. Now I know these are pork fillets, but at home, when we were younger we always called them pork chops, for some strange reason. And the term stuck. To this day, I still call them that.

The other day, I was in the supermarket doing my usual grocery run and I saw these gorgeous packets of pork scotch fillets that were on special. (When things are on special, you want to make sure you have some time before the ‘Use By Date’ printed). These were well within the time frame and looked good. So I picked up a packet since I hadn’t figured out what we were going to have for dinner that day.

The recipe isn’t even a recipe per say, just a marinade and then you cook the meat to your liking. But the sheer simplicity that results in something this delicious made me want to share it with you. Once you apply the marinade, you should try and give it atleast half an hour to an hour to let the flavors do their magic. If you don’t have that kind of time, you could still make this and have a delicious dinner, but letting the meat sit in the marinade makes it so much better.

Serve it up with some fresh salad and your favorite side and you’ve got yourself a fantastic meal.

Pan Fried Pork Chops


Pack of 3-4 pork scotch fillets
Salt, to taste
Lime juice, to taste
1 tsp. ginger paste
1 tsp. garlic paste
Freshly crushed black pepper, to taste
1 tsp. oil

Place the pork chops in a large shallow dish or plate.

Sprinkle the salt, lime juice, ginger and garlic paste and the crushed pepper. Rub the marinade into the meat.

Let the meat sit in the marinade for half an hour to an hour.

Heat the oil in a pan. Place the pork fillets in the pan. Cook to your liking,

I cook it for about 4 minutes on each side.

Take it off the pan and let it rest for a couple of minutes.

Serve up and enjoy!