Curry & Side dish

“What would you like for dinner?”
“Not a curry” said NO. ONE. EVER.

Indian curry is a combination of spices, herbs, meat or vegetables and is truly versatile. In fact, there are so many ways we can cook this – simple, complex, quick, or an elaborate one. The way vegetables, meat and seafood is cooked varies from state to state and region to region. While I truly believe that Indian cooking is much much more than curries, without a doubt, this is an essential part of the Indian cuisine. Here I will put together some recipes (curry or not) that goes really well with rice, bread etc. and completes your meal wonderfully.

Sabbasige soppu or Dill is widely known for it’s health benefits. These highly nutritious greens is rich in essential vitamins and minerals and has been used for medicinal purpose for thousands of years. Dill is used in Karnataka cuisine to make stir fry, dals, fritters, and much more. This simple stir fry served […]

Sabbasige Soppu Palya (Dill leaf stir fry)

13 Oct, 2016 in Curry & Side dish tagged dill / healthy / quick meal / stir fry by Shilpa

Khichuri and Panchmesali – important part of any Bengali festival. Panchmesali is a medly of vegetables slow cooked with spices. A very simple, humble festive food which tastes best when served with Khichuri Click here for Khichuri recipe. Ingredients: Eggplant – 1 medium, cut into cubes Coconut – […]

Panchmesali (Bengali Style Mixed Vegetables)

13 Oct, 2016 in Curry & Side dish tagged bengali food / festival food / healthy / medly / traditional cooking / vegetables / vegetarian by Shilpa

Usli is basically a stir fry made with various types of beans and legumes. Here I have used brown chickpea. This is given as ‘Prasada’ in many temples in South India. If you are looking for something healthy and filling, this is something you can bank on. It is very simple to […]

Kadalekalu usli (Brown chickpea stir fry)

13 Oct, 2016 in Curry & Side dish / Snacks, Street food & more tagged chickpea / healthy / quick meal / vegan / vegetarian by Shilpa

This one is not a regular in my kitchen. But with Durga Puja celebrations, something not-so-regular had to come up 🙂 A spicy, fiery, chilli hit that will leave you drooling. This dish needs to be made very spicy – chilli is the main flavour here. Serve it with steamed […]

Kakrar Jhal (Spicy Crab Dry Curry)

13 Oct, 2016 in Curry & Side dish tagged bengali food / crab / curry / seafood by Shilpa

Mutton (goat meat) is not a daily affair in Bengal. It’s cooked once a week on Sundays, mostly by the man of the house. When we lived in Calcutta, my husband would pick up the shopping bag and would drive a good 20 km to go to a particular meat shop (despite […]

Mutton Curry (Mangsor Jhol)

13 Oct, 2016 in Curry & Side dish tagged bengali food / meat by Shilpa

Daab chingri – an age old Bengali delicacy in which prawns are cooked inside a tender coconut shell. (Daab is tender coconut and chingri means prawns). The prawns are slow cooked with aromatic spices and coconut to get a tender, juicy, delicious mild curry that melts in you mouth and melts […]

Daab Chingri (Prawns cooked in a tender coconut shell)

13 Oct, 2016 in Curry & Side dish tagged bengali food / prawns / seafood / traditional food by Shilpa

The way I cook meat is highly influenced by Bengali cooking because that’s where I learnt cooking meat and seafood. This curry is one of the first dishes I learnt to cook – chicken cooked with big chunks of potatoes and served with either steamed rice or roti (flatbread). This style […]

Bengali style Chicken curry

13 Sep, 2016 in Curry & Side dish tagged bengali food / chicken / curry / meat by Shilpa

Kadai is a Indian wok (similar to a wok). This is the most commonly used utensil in Indian cooking. Kadai paneer is cottage cheese cooked in a kadai with tomatoes, onions, capsicum, and a blend of Indian spices. The main flavour of this dish comes from freshly pound spices. And […]

Kadai Paneer

13 Sep, 2016 in Curry & Side dish tagged north indian / paneer / punjabi food / vegetarian by Shilpa

Majjige means buttermilk in Kannada and this tangy mildly spicy curry is made with buttermilk or yogurt, coconut and water based vegetables. You may use bottle gourd, ash gourd, cucumber, etc. to make this. This dish tastes best with sour yogurt – a great way to use up yogurt that […]

Majjige Huli (Bottle gourd in yogurt gravy)

13 Sep, 2016 in Curry & Side dish / Lentils/Dal tagged healthy / karnataka food / traditional cooking / vegetables / vegetarian by Shilpa

I have mentioned my connection with Bengal and how it has influenced my cooking so beautifully. Onion and garlic are not used in Bengali vegetarian food. Bengali vegetarian dishes uses basic spices and heroes the vegetable in it. This simple everyday dish is amazingly flavourful and also quite easy to make. Serve with hot […]

Ash Gourd Curry (Chalkumro Ghonto)

13 Sep, 2016 in Curry & Side dish tagged bengali food / vegetarian by Shilpa