Baked Karanji and Baked Namakpare
The original, Marathi version of this article appeared in Loksatta on November 10, 2012 and can be read here. I got married on Dassera, and…
Bisi bele bhath: Sambar rice
When down, eat rice. I always go by that. Nothing can comfort you like a good serving of carbohydrates. This Bisi Bele Bhath (BBB) or…
Cabbage, Orange, and Spring Onion Salad
My mum and I are salad freaks—we love a good salad any time of the day. This is a salad that she’d make back when…
Christmas Fruit Cake
A few days ago, a journalist from a popular daily called to ask if I could help her with some information for a story on…
Coconut and Pistachio Cake
I am not a big fan of dried coconut. Dessicated coconut, at least the kind we get here is probably worse—it is dry and tastes…
Creamed Corn (Maharashtrian style)
When we were kids, the only kind of corn we got in the markets was the white corn. Like a string of the best pearls,…
Easy Strawberry Tart (Video)
A trip to Mahabaleshwar, a hill station in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra, has become an annual tradition of sorts. Of course, it gets cool…
Easy Victoria Sandwich Cake
My local fruit vendor told me recently that he can now procure “egg-jotic” fruits for me at a day’s notice. These exotic fruits being my favourite…
Gingerbread Cake with Jaggery and Molasses
I usually soak fruit for my fruitcake the moment we enter into the new year, just days after I make cake for Christmas. The fruit…
Kaale Gaajar ki Kaanji
Come spring, Radha kaku would try and find out if her sister, Auntie Evie had any plans of coming down to Mumbai. Radha kaku had…
Mango sasav: Mango curry
If you’ve been reading my blog (ahem), you will remember this mango curry recipe. I make it every season, by the kilos, and it gets…
Mango sasav: Mango curry (1)
I have been resisting mangoes for a while. Actually, since Dada passed away, nobody in the family has been enthusiastic enough. The picture of a…
Mangoes, pickles, and a home lost
The Khanapur house had three mango trees. Against the red brick exterior of the house, the mature green trees offered a majestic and warm welcome…
Masale bhaat with field beans
Rice is globally loved—one, because it’s versatile enough to accommodate almost every flavor; and two, because it cooks fast. I think a traditional masale bhaat…
Mulberry Jam
I first saw them in 1989, I think. The year my brother got lost in the crowds at Venna Lake. Amma was frantic and I…
Naarali Bhaat
Apart from the fact that Naarali Poornima is the day Coastal Maharashtra celebrates the coconut and that fisherfolk offer coconuts to the sea on this…
Olive, Basil, Sundried Tomato and Garlic Bread
No story this time. Just the simple desire to bake a good home-style bread. Ingredients: 225 gms. all purpose flour 2 tsp. dried yeast 1…
Patole: Rice and coconut dumplings in turmeric leaf
Aai’s picture, courtesy: Nirmala Purushotam My maternal gran has been one of the biggest influences to my culinary obsession. As a kid, I would…
Peach and Cherry Cake Squares
When I was little, and there were no supermarkets around, we would buy our stock of weekly fruit (which was usually a lot) from Amitabh…
Phansaachi Athla-Gara Bhaaji (Stir fried Young Jackfruit)
Summers in Khanapur were redolent with the heady fragrance (or stench, if you didn’t like them) of ripe jackfruit among other aromas such as mango…
Plum Upside Down Cake (Eggless)
I love upside downs. I think they make for pretty tea cakes, and they look gorgeous with very little effort. I’m always on the lookout…
Quick Chocolate Strawberry Cream Tarts
I think Marathi cookery shows are a disgrace. The sets are ghastly. The props are mediocre. The photography is ridiculous. The cooks are downright untalented….
Recipe video: Blueberry Focaccia
I generally prefer local fruits over imported ones. I cannot tell you how much juicier and tastier our Indian plums are over the “Chinese” ones…
Recipe video: How to make Gingerbread cookies
Every year, we celebrate Christmas with as much (if not more) enthusiasm than we celebrate Diwali. We put up the tree and do gifts. I…
Recipe video: How to make Grilled Chicken
It’s October, and the air conditioners and fans are working overtime here in Mumbai. With the change in weather, there have been a few changes…
Recipe video: How to make Jowar (Sorghum) Raita
The Japanese have their cherry blossom parties; Maharashtrians and Gujjus have their Hurda or Ponk parties. Unfortunately, most urban dwellers have no clue what this…
Recipe video: How to make Undhiyu
The last time I wrote about Undhiyu (albeit with a different spelling), I promised you better pictures. This season, I am back with something even…
Recipe video: How to make Zabaglione (Zabayon/Sabayon)
The sweltering Indian summer brings with it the greatest bounty of fruits–mangoes, lychees, cashews, melons, jamuns, and other juicy fruits that make the heat bearable….
Recipe video: Peach Upside Down Cake with Warm Cherry Sauce
I love this time of the year because it brings in my favorite fruits. I never mourn the end of the mango season because it…
Roasted Baby Carrots with Sea Salt and Thyme
Many, many years ago, on a trip to Mahabaleshwar, I ate baby carrots for the first time. Slender little things with their greens still on….
Roasted corn on the cob
If you’re from Bombay, you’re probably also up right now, wondering what happened to the city. Wondering why, out of the blue, our beloved city…
Saffron and Cardamom Lemonade
On Ranade Road in Dadar, there once sat a man who sold lemonade. Limbu Sarbat, actually—the Maharashtrian version of lemonade. On a crowded corner of…
Spring and Summer: An Ode to the Tabebuia Rosea
*Dedicated to the long line of Tabebuia Rosea trees along the Eastern Express…
Stollen
The original, Marathi version of this article appeared in Loksatta on December 22, 2012 and can be viewed here. Mumbai has never really had a…
Stuffed Chili Pickle
One of my earliest memories of eating pickle is from way back when I was in primary school. Because we lived in a company township…
Sun Tea with Mandarins and Citron
The Internet has been carrying a lot of buzz about Sun Tea. It seemed like something I would like to do (if and when I…
Sundried Tomato Couscous Stuffed Baby Peppers
The market is flooded with color (who needed Holi and its painful issues with water and chemical color?). There are greens in a zillion shades,…
Tender Cashew Stir Fry
Early summer is when the cashew trees bear fruit. And nut. All along the rich, fertile coastline of India, cashew trees are laden with a…
Tiramisu Liqueur Cake with Vanilla Mascarpone and Strawberries in Syrup
As a foodie, any excuse for cooking is welcome–one goes all out of the way to cook the best recipes, confident of the oohing and…
Top 10 Easy Cake Recipes on saeekhandekar.com
Every day, I have at least one e-mail or comment asking for a cake recipe. Turns out, I post cake pictures often enough to prompt…
Top 10 Monsoon Recipes on My Jhola
As I watch the rain crashing down from my little suburban window and sip on lemongrass tea (freshly picked lemongrass from a rain washed window),…
Top 10 Winter recipes on My Jhola
I’m just back from a quick weekend getaway in Jodhpur, where I was invited to the launch of a book on the Temple Food of…
Top 8 Mango recipes
Every year, when the first tart green raw mangoes make their appearance in the market, I start planning the dishes I want to make. I…
Translated Loksatta article: Iced Kaleidpscopes and a Recipe for Alphonso Mango Sorbet
This article appeared in Chaturanga, the magazine section of Loksatta on June 2, 2012. View the original article here. Iced Kaleidoscopes If you grew up…
Translated Loksatta article: Tempura
The original Marathi version of this article appeared in Loksatta on July 7, 2012. Click here to read the Marathi version. It takes just a…
Trikaya Farm visit
On the drive back home from the Trikaya farm in Talegaon, I felt deprived. Of fruit and vegetables. Not that I live in a desert….
Ukdiche Modak: Steamed rice and coconut dumplings
As a child, perhaps the only reason I waited for Ganesh Chaturthi was the modak. An order would duly be placed with a Vile Parle…
Undhiyu
One Sunday winter morning, year after year, my grandfather would leave his Cooperage apartment and catch a cab to a dusty by-lane in Girgaum, the…
Watermelon and Mint Soup
You heard that right. It’s a soup, not a juice, not a smoothie. It’s a liquid that you ladle into a soup bowl, garnish, and…
Welcome to my new home, everyone! And a recipe for Methaamba (mango relish/chutney)
Since I started writing My Jhola in 2008, it went through several avatars, progressing in appearance, content (intent, even) through the years. Early this year,…