Indian Classics - Aloo Gobi

This week actually marks the tenth anniversary of this blog. However, somewhere along the way, in the past year and a half, I seem to have lost my way a little. My pregnancy with Baby Sky wasn't the greatest, and all I wanted to do was sleep, as opposed to cook or eat, or feed anyone else, for that matter. I think I might have survived on ginger biscuits and mangoes.

Ennui comes in many forms. As someone who has struggled with being motivated, it can be a death knell for the creative side. It doesn't help that I work a job in real life that fulfills me professionally and financially. It has just made it easier to not nurture the creative side of me. I was also so disappointed with internet algorithms. All these beautiful niche recipes that I had carefully worked on were now disappearing from search results, in favour of generic recipes from sites like Genius Kitchen or Allrecipes. I mean, what's the point in continuing to compete in such a lopsided market with zero motivation for smaller bloggers? All that work, developing recipes, cooking, styling the food, taking photographs, writing, coming up with a cool SEO friendly title, marketing non-stop, social media, submitting to food porn sites... and it all disappears down a deep, dark black hole because large sites with unlimited marketing budgets know how to fuck you over with their fancy SEO shite and manipulation of search algorithms.

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Rajmah Chawal, Spiced Cucumber Sticks with Chaat Masala and Avocado Lassi

As you know, I also write and develop recipes over at The Kitchn. I thought I'd share what I've been up to in the last few months. These spiced cucumber sticks are an all time favourite street food in India. They are easy to put together, and are a healthy snack, with their hints of salty, tangy, spicy chaat masala. Make your own chaat masala or use store bought. Either way, you'll love them. 

 

Recipe: Spiced Cucumber Sticks with Chaat Masala

Recipe: Chaat Masala 

Avocado lassi - another all time favourite in our house. I grew up with avocado trees in my front garden, and I still blanch every time I pay a buck a fruit. Read all about my tropical childhood and check out this recipe that my mom used to make for us after school. 

 

Recipe: Avocado Lassi

My first recipe for The Kitchn was this classic Rajmah Chawal, or Red Kidney Bean Curry with Saffron Rice. This rustic dish is found everywhere in India, and its a filling, hearty dish, that is beloved everywhere. Its a staple in our household, as its easy to put together and also goes well with cous cous, bulgur wheat or plain rice.

 

Recipe: Rajmah Chawal  

 

Enjoy!

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Indian Classics - Paneer Muttar/ Matar (Indian Spiced Green Peas and Paneer Curry)

I have always wondered why some people like gardening more than others. What is it that makes people perfectly happy to grub around in the dirt, get excited when talking about the differences between sheep and cow manure, look anxiously at the black clouds, hoping against hope that hail won't wreck this season's vegetables, spend hours researching tomato plant rot, guard their trowels and tools jealously, and rarely want to go on vacation because the garden might suffer... 

Sounds familiar? These guys are the gardeners. I wrote a couple weeks ago about them in my post for the Canadian Food Experience Project. 

One of the reasons that Kay gardens is because his memories of his mother's garden. Every time he sees Adz picking and eating a pea pod, straight from the plant, he remembers his own days of eating sweet, fresh peas, straight from his mum's garden. And I have similar memories of eating produce from my mother's garden too, though, not peas. Okra and eggplants, perhaps.

But we did have a good harvest of peas this year, and I even managed to save some from Adz's grabby hands :)

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