Category: May 2014

This week at Tingle Your Taste Buds, we bring to you all two luscious Savory Specialties from two awesome Moms. The first specialty dish is Ragda Patties which is a very palatable chaat dish and a part of the world famous street food of Mumbai. This recipe has been shared with us by our Guest Chef for this week, Reena Dangi, on the special occasion of Mother’s Day. Who better than her to share a Mother’s Day Special recipe with us as she is a super Mom herself with a beautiful and talented daughter. She also runs her own venture in parallel and handles all aspects of her life with equal panache. She strongly believes that it is important to dedicate quality time to your kids to make a sensible, sensitive and intelligent human being out of them. She also has a great passion for cooking and is always willing to try out new, interesting recipes. She also realizes that in today’s time, people are always running short of time so she chose a dish which does not require too much time and effort if one has done the basic preparations in advance. This tasty Ragda Patties recipe is dedicated to all the super women of this world whom we call “Mothers” – the world is truly a special place because of the wonderful Moms in it. We thank Reena for sharing this recipe and for being a great and inspiring mother – hats off!

Dahi Vada is our Chef’s Special recipe this week which is a specialty of another super Mom – my Mom 🙂 Honestly, Mom makes the best Dahi Vadas in the world – am yet to have as tasty Dahi Vadas anywhere else. At our home, no festival is complete without appetizing Dahi Vadas prepared by her. The topping of sweet tamarind chutney in this dish adds a unique flavour to it and makes it an extremely enjoyable one.  Since this is our Mother’s Day special week, I want to express that am truly grateful to have got a strong, talented and righteous person as my Mom and undoubtedly, whatever I am today is all because of her. I know I do not say this very often but thank you for everything Mom and you mean more than what words can ever express.

So friends, try these savory specialties from us and surprise your family!

We had received a number of requests to post recipes of Main Dishes which can be made for special occasions especially when you have guests at home. So Tingle Your Taste Buds presents recipes of two sumptuous main dishes for you all this week!

A paneer (Cottage cheese) item is usually a must have in the menu during any occasion or get-together. Infact, it’s a common joke among Indians that paneer is the “chicken” of the vegetarians implying it is an equally tasty and luxurious food item. One can make a multitude of dishes using paneer not just for main course but for snacks or appetizers as well. Paneer is high in protein and calcium content, and many people who have lactose intolerance or cannot digest milk are advised to have paneer instead regularly. It is also rich in minerals, vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids due to which it provides wholesome nourishment to adults as well as kids. Our Guest Chef this week, Ruchi Nitin Kohli, has shared with us the recipe of Kadai Paneer, which is one of the most popular paneer dishes. It is rich, creamy and a dish that is a true delight to the taste buds. 

In most cases, anything which is extremely healthy is not as tasty and a famous example of this are the vegetables of the “Gourd” family. Their health benefits are very well known to everyone but they are also the most despised vegetables. As a child, even I never liked having them and my mom truly had a hard time to get me to have them. They ought to be an essential part of our diet but then who is going to convince the taste buds?! This is the situation when mothers have to come up with different attractive ways of intelligently incorporating such vegetables into dishes which taste great. Many a times, unless told, the person having the dish would not even realize that the dish actually contains a vegetable which they are repelled by. Lauki (Bottle Gourd) Kofta is one such dish – its delicious and rich flavours make for a perfect main course dish for your guests and at the same time, passes on the health benefits of Bottle Gourd to them!

So enjoy these sumptuous main dishes and treat yourself and your guests!

It’s been so hot this summer that we all keep looking for recipes to beat the heat – there is never an end to cooling summer beverages! This week Tingle Your Taste Buds presents two diverse and energizing beverage recipes which are bound to leave one feeling exhilarated and raring to go.

Our first beverage recipe this week is the super hydrating Watermelon Juice. Like all fruit juices, it has a lot of health benefits, is low-fat and boosts the immune system. This is a very quick recipe and can be made without much effort. It’s a known fact that watermelons, whether in the fruit form or juice form, are natural hydrants due to their high water content (Around 90% of it is water !!!) A lesser known fact is that the watermelon seeds which most of us throw away have high quantities of iron. So, instead of discarding the seeds, you can crush them and add it to the juice or the fruit in the crushed, powdered form.

Our second beverage recipe is Sweet Lassi – a favourite traditional drink in India which is relished by one and all. It is a thick yoghurt based drink and this recipe can be modified to add flavours of your choice to make drinks like Mango lassi, Strawberry lassi and many other varieties. The authentic Punjabi lassi is an unmatchabale thirst quencher and is probably the only beverage that can satisfy your hunger too. I can never ever forget the Patiala Lassi (served in a tall jug) I had in Amritsar – was an absolute divine experience!

So what are you waiting for? Soak yourselves in the elation of having these cool summer beverages!

Biryani is a world renowned dish and it’s history is as interesting and rich as the dish itself. It is not a simple to make dish due to its unique process of layering, and requires practice to get it perfect. A meal consisting of scrumptious biryani can be extremely satisfying due to its unique aroma, flavours and spices. Across the world, biryani is prepared in a number of styles now and different regions have their own type of Biryani. Originally, Biryani was prepared by cooking long-grained rice with meat, chicken, fish or eggs but eventually the vegetarian version also came through. Well, that happens with every dish doesn’t it? 🙂

After being treated to authentic Biryani in Hyderabad, it was quite amusing that wherever I went and ordered for Biryani in restaurants, I was served pulao instead in the name of biryani. This happens quite frequently and then I realized that there is no point in having Biryani just anywhere because not everyone makes it like they should. The primary factor which differentiates pulao from biryani is the layered style of cooking which is also called the “Dum” method. The spice mix is also unique in case of biryani and one can make out the difference in taste too.

When our Guest Chef  for this week, Anuj Solanki, sent us the recipe of Chicken Dum Biryani, I was hoping it is not pulao again but we were very impressed with his authentic biryani recipe. He has shared his wonderful and easy to comprehend recipe along with tips on how one can ensure one gets it right in the first try. We thank Anuj for sharing with us the recipe of this extremely popular and exotic dish. Enjoy this scrumptious biryani 🙂