Saffron Trail

healthy vegetarian cooking

AS FEATURED IN

AS FEATURED IN
  • I love Cockscomb! For more than one reason ☘️The red variety blossoms add so much colour and beauty to the garden ☘️You just plant them once. The blossoms are so seed heavy that the plant keeps propagating by itself. ☘️The blossoms last for weeks on the plant, making it a truly pretty addition to your home garden or window sill ☘️It is both ornamental and edible. The leaves, stems and flower are edible. ☘️Dried cockscomb is sold as a spice. Sold as 'mawal' this is the spice that is specially used in Kashmiri dish Roganjosh. The spice is known to have quite a few health benefits and the tea useful in controlling menorrhagia. What a treasure of a plant when it comes to looks + usefulness, and yeah, it grows without asking for any attention or care! #flowerpower
  • A sliver of beauty to brighten up your Monday morning! I had a very stressful last week. I started Monday morning with a 5K run and I am planning to dive right into my to-do list in a while. Have a lovely day folks 💜💜💜
  • Methi or fenugreek leaves are easily my favourite green leafy vegetable. For one, the flavour of these greens is like no other. I love them in salads, thepla, dal, muthia, kuzhambu, palya and so much more. Just made a big pan of Alu methi for dinner using the previous batch of harvested methi.What's your favourite way to use Methi Leaves?
  • Green beans - these were washed and immediately cooked into a poriyal for the kid's dinner :) These had a tinge of sweetness, enhanced by the generous sprinkle of coconut.
  • Tiny bean babies! From the beans I got from Sikkim. Aren't they the cutest? Harvested a handful of tender beans, just enough to make a little portion of subzi for my kid :)
  • Looking for a filling breakfast idea which needs hardly any effort? Presenting this super delicious Egg Roll with protein, carb, veggies all in one bite! -1 leftover roti -masala omelette made using 1 egg, finely chopped onion, chilli, coriander -Some shredded carrot and onion -Leftover veg curry -Sprinkling of chaat masala Roll it all up and eat! So filling that I skipped lunch yday and used that time to hit the gym instead 💪🏽
  • I'm giggling away as I present today's post for you. Read till the end and you'll know why!My people usually wake up early and have tea or coffee. And then around 8.30/9 am is Kanji time - not quite breakfast but good enough to keep going until 11/11.30am which is lunch time. My grandma, aunts and mum have been making this mix at home forever. Grains and lentils are slow roasted and then given to the neighbourhood 'chakki' (flour mill) to be ground into a powder and stocked up for the whole month. One can also fortify this powder with almonds, peanuts, finger millets and so on. To prepare the porridge a tablespoon or two of this powder is mixed with some water and brought to a simmer with constant stirring until the flour is cooked. Boiled milk is added to this mixture, and a sweetener of choice, and the kanji is ready to be gulped down. Instead of milk, buttermilk and a pinch of salt can be added to make a savoury version (I don't quite like this one). I don't make kanji powder at home, but I get something that is quite close to what is made at home from our local grocery service, Towness. I prefer this for breakfast on days I am not keen on making anything for myself or I just want something light. Today I prepared the kanji in the usual way. 2 tbsp powder + 3/4 cup water, bringing it to a simmer, along with a dash of turmeric powder and some crushed organic jaggery. After the kanji thickened, I added a couple of splashes of milk and garnished the ‘kanji bowl’ with some powdered cardamom, sliced roasted almonds and coconut chips, with a drizzle of honey for a really filling, wholesome breakfast. Also, how cool it is to elevate an immensely humble thing like kanji to something gourmet. Now you know why I was giggling :) This Kanji powder is sold as ‘health mix’ by a few brands. You may be able to find it in your local supermarket.
  • I was introduced to Ghugni by my neighbour who once shared with me a bowlful of the Odia version. More recently, at our stay at the Cedar Inn hotel in Darjeeling, they had ghughni as a part of the breakfast buffet on one of the days. This hotel had exceptionally good food for both breakfast and dinner buffets. A limited spread, but each dish perfectly made, with a couple of local selections as well, and hot phulka rotis served on the table, even many 5 star hotels don't pay so much attention to their buffets. Coming back to the ghughni, I clicked a picture of this tray full of piping hot goodness garnished with yogurt and powdered roasted cumin. I decided to try this dish out when I came back to Bangalore, and try it I did. This is a super simple, tasty dish made out of dried white peas. I've adapted this recipe from The Calcutta Cook Book. Either have a bowlful of ghughni as it is, or make a chaat out of it, street food style! Get the recipe link in bio and from stories :) I promise, you will love it.

Follow Me @saffrontrail