India

• Appam without yeast Kerala style - Fermented rice and coconut cake

  Cooking time: 30 min. / 2 min.Difficulty: easy

  Indian fermented rice cake, special food of Kerala. The main difference between appam and for instance dosa, is not only the "hopper" shape, but content of fresh grated coconut. There are variants with and without yeast. The base are blended rice and coconut, which ferment overnight. This time is not included in the time of preparation mentioned above :)

  

• Chammanthi - Coconut red chutney

  Cooking time: 10 min. / 5 min.Difficulty: easy

  Another special from Indian Kerala. Very simple and fast recipe. This red coconut chutney is usually served with rice cakes like dosa, appam or idly. Meanwhile mom from a fishing village family was preparing this chutney, kids couldn`t wait and got their appam with sugar instead. I was more patient and it paid off.

  

• Palak chole - Punjabi spinach with chickpeas

  Cooking time: 20 min. / 35 min.Difficulty: easyvideo

  It was impossible to get through all the narrow streets of night Amritsar in Indian state Punjab and not to come back with such a filled tummy that it was just ready to explode. At every corner there was a vendor cooking and serving on the street the best delicacies, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. And they all smelled so good. Palak chole, spinach with chickpeas represents the real Indian scent for me. Garam masala, cinnamon, cardamon .... so hard to resist and why actually :)

  

• Raita - Indian salad with yoghurt dressing

  Cooking time: 5 min. / 0 min.Difficulty: easy

  Raita is a yoghurt dressing used for traditional Indian salad of the same name. The basic of the salad, except for the yoghurt, usually is red onion with some of following vegetables like cucumber, capsicum, tomato or their combination. The salad you can see on the picture are mainly onions and just a few tomatoes.

  

• Puttu - Whole wheat flour and coconut roll

  Cooking time: 10 min. / 3 min.Difficulty: easyvideo

  This soft, a little crunchy and juicy roll belonged to my favourite breakfasts in Kerala. It is made of rice flour or whole wheat flour, which I prefer, because of the colour effect. Puttu is served with banana and honey or sugar. Or a salty variant is with papad and some Indian curries.

  

• Indian pachadi - Pineapple with yoghurt

  Cooking time: 10 min. / 4 min.Difficulty: easy

  Combination of pineapple, garlic, chilies and curry leaves? Before my trip to India, I would say "no, thank you". One is learning whole his life. As when I tried this pachadi recipe in Kerala, India, I couldn`t get enough. Every ingredient is very important in this vegetarian recipe and creates a perfect combination of flavours.

  

• Beetroot thoran

  Cooking time: 10 min. / 10 min.Difficulty: easy

  Special, typical for South Indian state, Kerala. It is a vegetarian / vegan recipe, where sweetness of beetroot is balanced with chilies, ginger and garlic.

  

• Kerala paratha - Parotta

  Cooking time: 30 min. / 5 min.Difficulty: easyvideo

  Paratha is an Indian flat bread, which varies from region to a region. You can get a plain one or with added potatoes and garlic. Kerala paratha is special firstly thanks to quite high content of fat (ghee) and secondly as the pancake is created from a stripe of the dough wrapped into a spiral. So when you hit it from the sides, it breaks and it is really tasty.

  

• Pumpkin chana - Pumpkin with chickpeas

  Cooking time: 15 min. / 45 min.Difficulty: easy

  Another delicacy from Norh Indian cuisine. Full of proteins thanks to chickpeas, which add to the dish nice hardish consistency. On the other hand combined with tender pumpkin with nice orange color. When I picture the local markets with heaps of pumpkins and chickpeas sold from huge bags .... what a nostalgia. I do miss India! :)