Foreign Wali Life

With my new job, I am not getting time to cook much. So this weekend I decided that I should make an elaborate lunch and also should give my hands to try something challenging. Saturday morning went in household chores but still I managed to cook breakfast. Breakfast was Handvo in appam pan. But for lunch we decided to eat outside and buy groceries on our way back home. Living out of India means you have to plan indian groceries on a weekly basis. It was a rainy day and World cup was going and that particular day India was playing. I wanted to eat samosas but good samosas So it meant I have to travel around 12 kms to have it. So I thought lets make it. So I started surfing online for perfect samosa. Also I wanted to make Tiwari style samosa. Now you will be wondering what it is. If you are from Kolkata you know what I am talking about. Tewari samosa has a potato filling which is a little blackish in colour and garam masala is there. Recipe Ingredients For Dough ...

Palak Ke Parathe Spinach/ Palak is one of my favourite vegetables. Whether in palak panner, palak bhaaji, palak pakora and the list will be endless, I love palak in anything.   As a kid, I remember eating palak puri. So my initial idea was to make palak puree and add in flour to make puris. But then my health conscious mind kicked and said no puris, make parathas. For paratha I was super lazy to blanch and puree, so I thought lets make it thepla style, the way we add raw methi leaves to the dough. So guys check out and do try. Ingredients: 1 Bunch Palak leaves chopped, thoroughly wash and chopped. 1 PCS Boiled Potato (mashed/ grated) 2 ½ cups Atta 1 TSP Ajwain/ Carrom Seeds 1 TSP Sada Til/ White Sesame seeds 2 Pcs Hari Mirch/ Green Chillies finely chopped 2-4 Cloves of Garlic/ Lasun finely chopped 1”   PCS of Ginger/ Adrak 1-2 TBSP Dahi Salt as per taste 2 TSP Oil Ghee/ Oil for frying This was for dinner   This was lunch in ...

This is a quick version of aloo dum. Inspired from one of the cooking channel on youtube. Basically there were plenty of recipes available on youtube, I choose this particular recipe because you don’t have to fry the potatoes, hence saves time and it does not contain onion and garlic, but believe me it still came out creamy and full of flavour. Even while writing my mouth is watering. Ingredients 25 Boiled Baby Potatoes 3 TBSP Oil 1 TSP Jeera/ Cummin seeds 2 PCS Tej Patta/ Bay Leaf 1-2 PCS Chillies chopped 1 ½ TSP Sauf/Fennel Powder (Don’t crush it completely) 3 TSP Kaju/Cashew Powder 2-3 PCS Laung/Cloves (Please make a powder) 1 TBSP Besan ½ TSP Turmeric Powder, 1 TSP Chilli Powder, 1 TSP Dhania / Coriander Powder , 1 TSP Jeera Powder, ½ TSP Amchur/ Dry Mango Powder 1 TSP Kasuri Methi, ¼ TSP Gram Masala, 1 Tomatoes Finely Chopped Salt as per taste ½ Cup whisked curd add 2 TBSP of Milk ½ Cup Frozen Peas (Optional)   How to make the ...

This is one of the favourite dish of my grandfather. I also loved this dish minus the dudhi. As a child, I was a fussy eater. Still I am, but now I can try different cuisines and vegetables. My husband was asking me to make channa dal for a long time. So I thought why not make a tried and tested combination. This is a healthy combination- dal is a rich source of protein and dudhi is rich in dietary fibres. Long list of health benefits of dudhi, so one should try to include it in our meals.   This is a typical gujrati meal. Shaak is a guju word meaning sabzi in hindi and vegies in English. Dudhi means lauki in hindi and bottle gourd in English. It is bottle gourd curry. Adding some jaggery or sugar is a must if preparing in gujju style.   Ingredients 1/2 cup Split bengal gram (Chana dal), soaked for at least an hour 2 cups Bottle gourd (Dudhi, ghiya, lauki) Water as per your requirement 1 Medium sized chopped tomatoes 1” Gr...

  I had Maa Ki Dal in a restaurant in Singapore. I first thought this is Dal Makhani but it tasted different. It tasted good not buttery and went well with both roti and rice. I was eager to recreate this at home. This is a Punjabi dish made with whole black lentils and tempered with onion and tomatoes. I like this with rice but it goes well with roti and naan. In north Indian restaurants you would have generally ordered Dal Makhani, which is also made with black lentils. Traditionally this is made with black lentils, kidney beans and chana dal and loads of cream/ butter is added. So whenever at home I prefer making Maa Ki Dal but I will surely post restaurant style dal makhani recipe soon. Ingredients 1 cup Whole black lentils (sabut kali urad dal) 3 cups Water 1 Medium sized chopped onions 2 Medium sized chopped tomatoes 2-3 Grated Garlic 1” Grated Ginger 2 Chopped green chillies Salt to taste 1 TBSP Oil 1 TBSP Ghee (optional) ½ Stick...

My husband, Devdeep, had gone for a week to India on a business trip. I was all alone at home. Staying alone is always an issue as I was raised in joint family. Week days were still okay as most of the time was spent in office. So for the weekend I decided to go to Melaka. D was at his sasural (in-laws place) sleeping peacefully at the time I called him to inform that I was going to Melaka. After having my breakfast, I left for Melaka. Malacca, or Melaka as the locals fondly call it, is a Malaysian city located about 150 kilometres away from Kuala Lumpur and is the capital of the State of Malacca. I took a bus to Larkin Sentral from Queen Street at around 12 o clock. Generally the buses are crowded on weekends unlike this Saturday. Immigration was also fast and smooth both for Singapore and JB. I reached Larkin bus station at 1.15 PM and bought a single way bus ticket to Melaka. I couldn’t find a vegetarian stall in the hawker centre near the bus station so I h...