Keema Matar

My friend’s mom visited her for a month and bought all the spices to cook Indian food, even though she already had all of them in her pantry. So lucky me – she gave me all the duplicates! I used them to make Keema Matar (ground meat with peas). Guessipe Sauté the onion in olive…

Veloute of Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Cookbook Club – Raji Cuisine: Indian Flavors, French Passion For our Cookbook Club in June, we used Raji Jallepalli’s Raji Cuisine: Indian Flavors, French Passion. To get a taste of all the Indian flavors with French influence, go to my Cookbook Club site. For now – my dish! I enjoy eating butternut squash soup, but…

Chipotle-Garam Masala Olives

Cookbook Club – Season: Big Flavors, Beautiful Food September’s Cookbook Club book was Nik Sharma’s Season: Big Flavors, Beautiful Food. Sharma’s stunning photography showcases his take on Indian cooking in this gorgeous cookbook. To see all the beautiful food, go to my Cookbook Club site. For now – my dish! I got as far as…

Hot-and-Sour Curried Chickpeas

Cookbook Club – Milk Street: The New Rules Cookbook Club is back!!!!! Can you tell I’m excited? It’s been 15 months of COVID craziness – wearing masks, staying away from people, and definitely not having dinner parties. Anyone who knows me knows I love a dinner party, so it’s been rough. But the world is…

Sunny-Side Pulao

Cookbook Club – Aarti Paarti In October, we used Aarti Sequeira’s cookbook Aarti Paarti. In it, she simplifies traditional Indian recipes and techniques to make Indian flavors accessible for the US market. To find out how many of her Indian dishes translated, go to my Cookbook Club site. For now – my dish! What Sequeira…

Bombay Frankie Company Restaurant Review

As you know, I’ve been documenting my quest to work my way through Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list. Of course, I eat at places not on his list as well, and occasionally I post about one of those places if it is exceptionally good or a particularly fun/interesting experience. The Bombay Frankie Company turned…

Indian Independence Day

Every year my friend Seena throws an Indian Independence Day party. I feel so lucky to be invited, as it is in my opinion the best party of the year. Seena goes all out, asking everyone to wear Indian dress, giving bindis to all of the women, having a henna artist give tattoos throughout the…

Mayura Restaurant Review

Gold Dig #42 Mayura, as you can see on the sign, is an Indian restaurant that specializes in Kerala cuisine. Kerala is a South Indian state. You can also see from the banner that Mayura has repeatedly made Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list. Located in something of a dumpy looking strip mall in Culver City,…

Dry Okra

Cookbook Club – Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking The cookbook for May’s Cookbook Club was Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey. I chose the Dry Okra. Go to my Cookbook Club site to see all the Indian cooking we did. For now – my dish! When I’ve eaten okra dishes in the past, I liked the taste…

Mango Lassi

I was introduced to Mango Lassi five years ago by my friend Seena. She throws an Indian Independence Day party every summer – complete with catered Indian food, dancers, henna tattoo artist, photo booth, bindis for all the women, and everyone required to wear Indian dress. Best. Party. Ever. Beer and wine is abundant, but…