Saffron Trail

healthy vegetarian cooking

Easy Indian Cooking, Tips

Tips and tricks to help you with Indian cooking

This Cooking Tips series is all about making cooking easier- right from buying and storing groceries / produce to kitchen hacks, time saving shortcuts and tips to make your life easier in the kitchen. This post rounds up some of the useful tricks to have up your sleeve for Indian cooking! [This list will be updated regularly, so do bookmark it for easy reference.] If you liked this post, also check out:

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  • I love getting creative with @feelthefizz & it's fun to give a creative spin to an everyday garment like a saree. . Have worn a basic cotton saree in a fun contemporary drape paired with a crop top and crop pants (and white sneakers, which don't see in the pic- check stories😊). Wear your creative hat and come up with your own pairing or dish or beverage with Appy @feelthefizz and stand a chance to win beautiful merchandise or a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+. One of the previous entries has already won a phone, so keep sending yours! . ✨To enter: ❤️LIKE this post 🖤FOLLOW @feelthefizz ❤️Upload a photo of your Appy Fizz food or drink pairing using the hashtags #ArtofFizz and #saffrontrail . #contestalert
  • Today's #lunch was this rainbow salad, with lots of ingredients from the garden - swipe to see ingredients. You may not have these exact ingredients but nothing stops you from making a big bowl of colorful salad with everything you can find in your fridge. . ROUGH RECIPE: Kale + Red chouli+ manathakkali (black nightshade)-- blanched, chopped Fresh green moong just shelled from the beans Green pear Yellow bell pepper cucumber Rocket Pomegranate 1 small amla- slice very thin so you don't get a big burst of sourness while eating Fresh turmeric Butterfly blue pea flower . Dressing: just mixed in lime, extra virgin olive oil salt + touch of honey mixed seeds + microgreens for topping . Lots of colour, such a variety of micro nutrients, lots of fibre, makes you eat slowly with a lot of chewing, filling too! . Bookmark the post so you get inspired to make your own salad combinations like this one. Lots of salad making tips and recipes in my cookbook #TEHV too! Link in bio if you want to check it out / buy! . Thank you for the massively encouraging response to my earlier saree post 💕💕💕
  • HELLO THERE🤗🤗 Not the kind of post you usually see from me, but what the hell, right! . Some of the drapes we never get around to wearing with our sarees are so much more comfortable for a get-up-and-go lifestyle. I wish we can wear sarees in more than just the modern day version which is an adaptation of the Nivi drape. Most of these drapes don't even need the annoying petticoats!! . I hope putting this post out here encourages you to try out different drapes. You’ll find amazing videos by @borderandfall on their website thesariseries.com for over 85 styles of draping (not sponsored or anything, just sharing an amazing resource) #thesariseries . I'm lucky to have neighbours who are so enthusiastic about preserving not just weaves but also draping techniques from around the country. We showcase all of this in an annual saree event in our community each year. This was one of the pics we clicked in a fun photo shoot! . This is a kosa silk saree from #chhattisgarh - one of the two such Sarees the dear husband got me when his work would take him to those parts almost every fortnight. #weavesofindia . Bag is a pineapple fiber piece from Philippines almost 12 years old, husband gift again :)
  • Bought fresh methi this morning so methi thepla had to be made! Prepared a big batch of dough with 2 cups atta so it will make us theplas for 2-3 days. . For the dough- 2 cups atta 1/4 cup besan 1 cup packed finely chopped methi 3 tbsp sesame seeds 3 green chilies+6 garlic+ knob of ginger (paste with 1 tsp sugar) 2 tbsp yogurt 1 tsp turmeric 1 tsp red chili powder 1 tbsp grated jaggery Salt Oil . Bind to a smooth dough with water and knead the final round with some oil. Cover and keep for 30 mins. If dough gets wet, add in some more flour before rolling out very thin and cooking both sides with some oil. . Follow @saffrontrail for more such recipes
  • Fall or autumn is my favourite season, even though I have never experienced it in India. The changing colours of the leaves, the nip in the air and the excitement of Christmas and new year round the corner, is indeed a beautiful time of the year. Last year, I got to experience the beginning of fall in Costswolds and it was every bit as magical as I had imagined it. . Inspired by my favourite season, I have created for you a cocktail called Autumn in a Glass, that I absolutely want you to try out this season. If you are a teetotaller then just use more quantity of Appy @feelthefizz to make up for the alcohol or use a brewed tea instead of the alcohols. . Autumn in a Glass has some of my favourite ingredients like rosemary, cinnamon, ginger and sliced apples, along with a white spirit (use vodka, white rum or gin) and the citrus flavour from Cointreau. Swipe right for the recipe! 📍Save the post to try it out soon! . ✨I will be giving 2 of you a chance to win a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ or exclusive Appy Fizz merch as part of the #ArtofFizz contest. . ✨To enter: ❤️LIKE this post 🖤FOLLOW @feelthefizz ❤️Upload a photo of your Appy Fizz food or drink pairing using the hashtags #ArtofFizz #saffrontrail . #contestalert
  • Signed a bunch of copies of reprints of my book The Everyday Healthy Vegetarian for my neighbours over the weekend, @vedic.origins, @umaramaiyer (we forgot to take a pic) and @varsha_bhatia who bought 15 copies to take back for her friends in the US. . If you want to check out my book, please click on the link in bio. . Since I have decided I’m not going to bother about perfection on my Instagram, you’ll be seeing more of me in my messy hair and clothes avatar 🤩🤩🤩
  • #dinner last evening was this salad with cucumber, kiwi, carrot, @livingfood.co micro greens, cheddar cheese with rose petals (Roja from @kasechennai ) and kasundi #stcooks . For more such healthy eating inspirations, follow @saffrontrail
  • 📣📣📣The happiest feeling for an author is when the publishers tell her that the books are sold out and WE ARE GOING FOR A REPRINT🌟🌟🌟 . This is the reason my book was not available on Amazon for the last few weeks. The reprints are out and It's back in stock. Some of the feedback has been incorporated and the pages are a brighter white with darker fonts, making it an easier read. . 🌟🌟🌟The Everyday Healthy Vegetarian is also the recipient of the Gourmand Award in the Vegetarian Category- swipe to see🌟🌟🌟 . PL go to stories or click the link in bio to get your copy now! . Thanks are due to @polospics @prernavohra26 @avanija.sundaramurti 💕💕💕

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