Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I’m finally back to blogging! If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been over the last few weeks, I’ve been right here but I’ve had my laptop die on me. It was a real task recovering the data on it and getting back to doing this. But thanks to my wonderful husband, I’ve recovered most of it. And now finally have access to it. Still don’t have my trusty laptop, but the family computer works fine for now.

So to ease back into the flow of things, this will be a quick post. The recipe also is a quick one, super simple to make. Infact, you can barely even call it a recipe, but the results are so very good, I will go ahead and post it here to share with you. If you haven’t tried out sweet potato fries yet, trust me, you really should. Even my beloved husband, who doesn’t care much for the sweet potato (he calls it a sweet mush / baby food), loved it and actually requests for these fries every once in a while.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind here. You could peel the potatoes, but I leave the skin on. Just give it a good wash and scrub and you are good to go. Also, size of the fries will make a difference. The thicker you cut it, the longer it will take to cook. The thicker sized fries will still be soft and fluffy. If you are like me and love a little crunch in your life,  cut the fries thin. It cooks quicker and caramelises a little and is super delicious, not to mention perfectly crunchy.

This fries are a much more healthy version that the regular potato fries and are great either as a snack or as a side to a big roast dinner or holiday meal too.

Sweet Potato Fries


1 large sweet potato, washed
Salt, to taste
Freshly crushed black pepper, to taste
A drizzle of olive oil (about 1 tbsp)

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Cut the sweet potato into fries.

Drizzle a little olive oil on a baking tray.

Place the sweet potato, salt and pepper on the tray and toss to make sure everything is well coated. You can add a little more olive oil if needed.

Arrange the potato pieces in a single layer.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, turning the pieces once at the halfway mark.

Keep an eye on your oven from time to time. It may not need as long in your oven. Also this time will depend on the size of the pieces. So keep an eye on it the first time you make this.

When it is done to your liking, take it out of the oven.

Serve hot and enjoy!

Kurkuri Ajwaini Bhindi or Crispy Okra / Ladyfinger

Ever since we moved to Australia, I’ve found it very difficult to get my hands on ladyfingers (also called okra). Its only in the last couple of weeks, I’ve found it at not just one, but two locations. This makes me very happy.

We cook okra in a number of ways – in a prawn curry, pan fried in a spicy red rechaad masala, tawa style, and from now on I’m happy to report that as a once in a while treat I will use this recipe for a fantastic crispy version. It is an extremely delicious recipe, albeit not the healthiest one and I would recommend not making this way too often as it starts off with deep frying the okra. The resulting okra is super crisp and makes a wonderful accompaniment to some dal tadka or khichdi or just by itself. My husband got through half the quantity I made even before we sat down for lunch. I’ll take that as a win. I love this recipe not just because of the crispiness, but I happen to love the flavour combination of chaat masala with the carom seeds. So I hope you try it out too and enjoy it as much as we do.

Kurkuri Ajwaini Bhindi

250g lady fingers / okra
1/2 tsp carom seeds / ajwain
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp chaat masala
3 tbsp besan (chickpea flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp chilli powder
Oil, for deep frying

Wash and pat the okra dry.

Cut the head off and discard. Cut the okra into quarters lengthwise.

Heat oil in a wok for deep frying.

Sprinkle the ajwain, turmeric powder, chaat masala, salt and the besan on the okra.

Squeeze the lemon juice and toss it well to coat the okra evenly.

Add half the okra to the hot oil carefully and fry on medium heat till crisp. Drain on some absorbent kitchen paper. Repeat with the remaining okra.


Enjoy hot.

**Note: Mix all the ingredients just before frying. Do NOT do this in advance as the salt with just draw out the liquids and result in a soggy batch, which you don’t want.

Chana Dal with Spinach

This post comes with a little bit of a back story. One, that made me very sceptical about trying it out. Back in the day when we stayed over at my in-laws place for a short while, a chana dal with spinach would ever so often appear in the dinner rotation. I usually am very tolerant with food and will eat anything gratefully. So, I somehow ate what was essentially a bland mash of spinach and chana dal. Not one of my favorite food memories. Turns out this dish used to be made very well by my late mother in law, but the gang hasn’t been able to replicate or even come close to the dish she used to prepare. My husband often asked my to try it out. Between you and me, I was not very eager, after tasting the infamous mush.

Eventually I gave in to his requests and decided to try something different, something that essential had chana dal and spinach but was nothing like the original version. The resulting chana dal with spinach is really good. It packs a good amount of flavour and textures and has worked its way into my heart and my dinner rotation.

It is a simple dish and you can choose to serve it with some rotis / chapatis or as a side to your favourite meat dish.

Chana Dal with Spinach

125g Chana dal
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
2 green chillies, finely chopped (You can use just one if you’d like)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tomato, chopped
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 tsp cumin seeds
6 fresh curry leaves
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2 cups spinach leaves, roughly chopped (You can also use baby spinach)
Salt, to taste

Wash the chana dal a couple of times in water and drain.

Soak the chana dal for about an hour. Drain the water.

Boil the chana dal in some fresh water (about 3 cups) and a tsp of salt. After it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Cook the dal till it has softened but still has some bite to it. You DO NOT want a mush.

Drain and reserve some of the liquids.

Heat the ghee in a large pan over medium high heat.

Add the curry leaves, garlic and cumin.

Once the cumin sputters, add the ginger, chilli and turmeric and stir to mix well.

Once the spices have turned fragrant and have mixed well (should take about a minute or so).

Add the chopped tomato and stir. Cook for a couple of minutes, till the tomato softens and breaks down a little.

Add the chopped spinach / baby spinach and stir it into the spices till it has just wilted.

Add the drained chana dal and stir through. You can add a tablespoon or 2 of the reserved liquid, if you think it is too dry.

You want the liquid to all mostly dry up. Add it one tbsp at a time. You just want enough liquid to help warm the dal through without burning. You may not need any of the liquid at all.

Check the seasoning and add more salt if needed.

Serve hot.

Oven Roasted Asparagus

I’ve only recently had the opportunity to work with asparagus in the kitchen and I must say, I love this vegetable. I’ve only had it a couple of times and I can’t wait for it to come back in season.

This recipe I’m going to share with you is so very simple, but it results is such delicious bites, I had to share it with you. I think if you have access to asparagus, it would make a lovely addition to your Easter table. There’s hardly any prep involved and it cooks in the over real quick. You’ll be happy to have a dish like this in your arsenal. I know I was.

I’ve tried sauteing and baking asparagus and I like both methods. But the oven roasted version results in such a lovely nutty flavor. That is something I didn’t find with the sauteed version. But if you don’t want to fire up the oven, don’t hesitate to use a pan. The stove top version comes in a close second.

What I love about this recipe, is you can whip up a slightly larger batch easily. You can refrigerate the left overs and re-heat before serving.

Oven Roasted Asparagus


1 bunch of asparagus (quantity doesn’t matter, simply adjust your seasonings accordingly)
Olive oil
Salt, to taste
Freshly crushed black pepper, to taste
Garlic salt, to taste

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Line a baking tray with some aluminium foil for easy clean up.

Wash and trim the asparagus (cut of the hard, woody ends).

Place the asparagus in a bowl. Drizzle with some olive oil, sprinkle with garlic salt, salt and pepper. Toss well and ensure that the asparagus is well coated.

Place the asparagus on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer and space them out. Bake for about 10 minutes or till lightly browned and tender. You can check by piercing with a fork.

Enjoy!!!

This recipe has been linked @
Hearth and Soul, by Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Baked (Garlic Herb) Potato Wedges

It is so good to have access to an oven again. After a trying 6-7 months without one, the last few have been bliss. My last post talks about how to make a basic chicken roast in the oven. Every roast, chicken or otherwise, needs to be accompanied by a few yummy sides too. I only recently realized that I haven’t posted too many such sides on my blog. Now that was just not done. I had to rectify that. So I’m going to start with these really delicious baked potato wedges. These baked potato wedges are a step up from the humble roasted potatoes. The garlic herb seasoning makes these irresistible.

Most of you know my deep rooted love for the humble potato in every form. This recipe here, is another good one. Its healthier than the regular french fries, but don’t let that fool you. I know these wedges will make more than a few appearances on my dinner table.

Baked Garlic Herb Potato Wedges

2 potatoes, washed thoroughly, skins left on
Salt, to taste
1-2 tbsp. Olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder (I used garlic salt and adjusted the salt levels accordingly)
Black peppercorns, crushed, to taste
1 tsp dried Italian herb mix
A little dried parsley (or finely chopped fresh parsley), to garnish

Preheat oven to 210°C.

Cut the potatoes in half, lengthwise and each half into 4-5 wedges, equal in size.

Toss the wedges with the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and make sure all the wedges are coated evenly. You can adjust the quantities of the seasoning to your taste. The quantities mentioned above work well as a guide.

Line a baking sheet with foil. Place the wedges skin side down. Space them evenly so that they cook uniformly.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until browned to your liking, crusty on the ends and tender inside.

Serve immediately. Add more salt if needed while they are still hot from the oven.

Sprinkle a little parsley over the potatoes and serve hot.

Sit back and enjoy!

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.

Zucchini Fritters

UPDATE:

Watch the recipe video here –

This recipe has quickly become one of my absolute favorites. Its a funny story,until a couple of months ago, I didn’t really care much for Zucchini. They aren’t easily available in Mumbai but I’d had it as a side dish at a couple of restaurants and every single time, I personally found it revolting. I couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about in blogland. I saw so many blog posts with so many absolutely delicious recipes, I figured it was just me, something I didn’t like and was going to have to live with it. Again, this was hard for me to understand, because there aren’t too many things that I don’t like. Anyway, life went on. And then when I moved to Sydney, my aunt invited us to spend the day with them at their place in Woy Woy. At dinner, one of the sides that my uncle whipped up was a simple veg. stir fry, which had zucchini in it and you know what, I loved it, much to my surprise. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a one off thing, so I decided to try my hand at cooking it myself.

After a few minutes online, I had found a recipe I knew would be nice. I bought some zucchini from my favorite Paddy’s market (Haymarket). I had the rest of the ingredients on hand. This recipe is fairly quick to put together, apart from hand grating the zucchini. If you have a food processor that can do the job for you, go for it. Nothing like saving time and effort. Its simple and quick to put the batter together and then all you do is fry it up. Within a short while, you will be sitting down to some pretty amazing fritters. My husband and I love these little guys so much, I’ve made them thrice already. And trust me, I can see myself making these fritters many more times to come. Try it out for yourself and see how good these are.

Zucchini Fritters

2 medium zucchini
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 chilly, finely chopped
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup grated cheese
1 egg
2 tbsp. fresh coriander, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup of bread crumbs, approx
2-4 tbsp olive oil

Grate the zucchini coarsely. Sprinkle a little salt (about 1/4 tsp.) over it and let it stand for about 10 minutes. The salt will draw out all the excess liquid. Place in a colander and squeeze to drain out as much excess liquid as possible.

Place the grated zucchini in a bowl. Add the onion, chilly, flour, cheese, salt, coriander, oregano and bread crumbs. Whisk the egg and add to the batter. Mix all the ingredients together. If the batter is to wet, add a tbsp or 2 of bread crumbs.

Heat a tbsp of olive oil in a pan. Place spoonfuls of the batter onto the pan and using the back of the spoon, flatten it out a bit and shape into fritters. Fry on medium heat till it turns golden brown. Flip and cook on the other side till it turns golden brown too.

Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot.

Yummy, yummy, yummy!

** I have tried this recipe using cream cheese as well as grated cheese and both times, it was delicious. Feel free to experiment with your favorite cheese.

This recipe has been shared at –
Show Me Your Plaid

Baked Cauliflower Poppers

Cauliflower – now here’s a vegetable that can go either way if you ask me. Till date, I like my cauliflower with a little crunch. I think cauliflower has a little bit of a bad rep, because some folks just don’t know how to cook it well. I’ve had cauliflower in many forms – steamed, steamed and tossed in butter, filled in some parathas, as pakodas / fritters or curried like an aloo gobhi (a recipe I will share with you soon), and I like most of them. But serve me some overcooked, mushy cauliflower florets and I will struggle to get through a portion of it.

This is another ingenious way of cooking cauliflower, if you ask me. They call it a healthier alternative to fries, and I will agree. Can you imagine a healthier alternative to fries? It was hard for me to, and I always thought this would be a lot of hype and would not deliver. But, I was wrong, and I’m glad I was wrong. Because these little beauties turned out gorgeous. They are so more-ish, its hard to stop eating them. Like you see in the picture below, I served these up with some skewered chicken (recipe to follow in the next post). It was super quick to put together and it was absolutely delicious. It needs very little prep work, so once you pop it in the oven, you can get on with other tasks you may have to complete.

It turns out, that these poppers can be served with some ketchup, but we loved them just the way they were and didn’t even bother with the ketchup.

If you haven’t tried these yet, I really think you should. I know that these baked poppers will make an appearance at my dinner table every now and then 🙂

Baked Cauliflower Poppers

1 head of cauliflower
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
Salt, to taste
Freshly crushed black pepper corns, to taste

Preheat the oven to 190º – 200ºC.

Wash and dry the cauliflower and cut it up into florets. Try and maintain the same size to ensure even cooking.

In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower florets, olive oil, salt and pepper. Make sure the florets are evenly coated with the oil and seasoning.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and spread the cauliflower over it evenly.

Bake for about 20-30 minutes, stirring and turning the florets over every now and then, to make sure they don’t burn. I stirred them around every 8 minutes or so. Keep an eye on them and turn them as needed. You don’t want them to burn.

Once they’re nicely roasted, serve them up hot and enjoy.

This would be so much healthier than a bag of potato chips to snack on too. 

Cheese stuffed Whole Wheat Garlic Breadsticks

Those of you who’ve been following this space for a while, know that I’ve always loved the idea of baking my own bread, but have always been intimidated by the mighty “yeast”. However, off late I’ve been doing better with it. I whipped up these stuffed bread sticks a while ago and we absolutely loved it. Warm bread straight out of the oven, with a garlic butter spread on the inside coupled with some melted gooey cheese. Whats not too love! Just writing about it has me longing for another piece. The best part is that this is a whole wheat bread, with just a tad of all purpose flour, so it is a healthier variant too. Now that I’ve made this lovely delight, my head is just swimming with other options to use as a stuffing. I’m really looking forward to some more experimentation with this bread. But don’t take my word for it, try it out.

Now, who’s ready to take a peek at what the stuffing looks like. I used a mix of mozzarella and cheddar by Kraft. I think I’m going to up the cheddar the next time.
Cheese stuffed Whole Wheat Garlic Bread Sticks
(Yield: 8 bread sticks)
For the bread – 
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup water
1/2 tbsp instant yeast
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
For the garlic spread –
2 tbsp salted butter
6 large cloves of garlic, chopped
Red chilli flakes, to taste (optional)
Mixed Italian herbs, to taste (optional)
Grated cheese, to taste (your choice of cheese / blend)
In a bowl, mix the yeast, water and sugar and dissolve.
Add the flours to it and knead it to form a soft pliable dough. The dough will be a little sticky. Its a sign that your gluten is forming, which is a good thing.
Mix the oil and the salt using the palm of your hand and rub it into the dough.
Cover with a damp cloth and leave it in a warm place for about an hour or till the dough has doubled in size.
Oil your fingers and knock back the risen dough lightly.
Roll the dough out on a lightly dusted surface.
Mix all the ingredients of the garlic spread except the cheese and apply on the dough.
Sprinkle grated cheese on half of the dough, flip the other half over to cover.
Cover with the damp cloth and leave to rise for about 20 minutes to half an hour.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC and bake for 15-20 minutes till it browns on top.
Take it out of the oven and immediately brush lightly with some olive oil.
Enjoy!

Aloo Tikkis – Potato Patties

The last couple of weeks have just passed me by. There are so many goodies that I’ve whipped up during this time, but I just haven’t gotten around to posting any of them yet. To top that I had the craziest weekend. We had the family over for lunch on Saturday, it was so much fun having them over, that’s 11 people and 3 dogs in all. Once they left, I had to focus on a real quick clean up since I had to complete an order of a kilo of handmade liqueur chocolates and a couple of dozen thank you bars for a Monday pickup. By the time Monday  arrived, I was ready to sleep it off. Of course, that was not possible. Even though things were so hectic, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Since I had very little time to put meals together in the last few days, I whipped up some of the quick but good stuff. One such treat is the Aloo tikki, or a potato cutlet. Its comes together fairly quick and is really tasty. I served it as a side but I think it would be really tasty in a vegetarian burger as well. This tikki is fairly versatile and you can add a few finely chopped veggies to it if you’d like. You need to add some bread crumbs to make these a little sturdier than they would ordinarily be. It also adds a lovely crunch to the tikkis.  This would be a great way to serve the kiddies their veggies, in a burger. I think they’d enjoy it. Try it out and let me know how it goes.
Aloo tikkis before frying
Aloo Tikkis

2 potatoes, washed, boiled and mashed
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 green chilly, finely chopped (optional)
Some fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Salt to taste
A pinch of chat masala (optional)
1/2 tsp red chilly powder or to taste
A couple of pinches of cumin powder
1-2 tbsp bread crumbs
Oil, for frying
Mix all the ingredients except the oil well. 
Check for seasoning and adjust if needed.
Shape into small cutlets.
Shallow fry in a pan.
Serve hot.