2-minute Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake
If you have a food blogger for a wife, chances are she won’t ask you get her a Louis Vuitton bag or Jimmy Choo shoes…
A third set of grandparents and a recipe for fruitcake
As grandmothers go, she fit the bill perfectly. Her softly starched, block printed or sheer woven Chanderi sarees would whisper as she walked slowly around…
A Walk with Finely Chopped (and Bread Coma inside Yazdani Bakery)
A few weeks ago, Sir Knife, or Kalyan of Finely Chopped fame, announced his second Food Walk–this time, he was going to Fort. I had…
Apple Pie with Samosa Pattis (or Wonton wrappers)
Baking in India is a challenge. It is highly upsetting to walk into the best of markets and not find all the gorgeous bakeware and…
Avanee’s first birthday cakes
I just realized I hadn’t put up any pictures from Avanee’s first birthday. Considering I write a food blog, it’s quite a shame I don’…
Basic Brown Bread
Basic. Brown bread. Most times, that means bread made from unrefined, wholemeal wheat flour. In India, that usually means bread made from regular flour with…
Basic Chocolate Cake
I’m not particularly fond of chocolate. Did I ever tell you that? I don’t remember throwing tantrums for chocolate or chocolate-y things. Except once. When…
Best 1 Bowl Chocolate Cake Recipe (No butter)
If you bake a decadent chocolate cake for my birthday, I will probably be a tad bit disappointed. I know. “80% ” means little to…
Bhadang
MK loves munchies—with chivdas and bhadangs topping the list. No matter how large a batch of chivda you make, it gets over in no time….
Brioche
One of the foods Amma offered me when I was ill or generally low, was a fruit bun and a mug of hot Bournvita. It…
Caramelized Onion, Mushroom, and Paneer Tart
For quite some time now, I have been complaining about the lack of baking material in India–especially the complete absence of ready-to-use pastry. You know…
Carpe Diem: A Lesson in Refrigeration
It struck me as I was throwing out a ziplock bag full of once-frozen strawberries that had now turned a bag of red liquid with…
Cashew and Vanilla Bean Cookies
I had been reading about the Arusuvai chain on Indian blogs for a while and watching everything like a silent passerby when I realized I…
Cheat’s Haandvo Recipe (Baked!)
Almost every corner kirana (grocery) store in Mumbai stores little plastic packs of Idli, Khaman (Yellow dhokla), Dhokla (the white kind), and Theplas, each with…
Cheese and Chive Crackers
Avanee likes cookies, and thankfully, she is equally excited about savory crackers. I try to bake them as often as I can because then I…
Chivda
MK loves his munchies, as you know from here. It’s been a while since I made any. And because we’re just recovering from a tiff,…
Chocolate Cake with Coffee Cream Cheese Frosting
My dear friend, Rhea Mitra-Dalal loves her coffee. It’s so easy to please her–a good cup of unpretentious coffee and loads of gupshup is usually…
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…
Chutney pudi
When my great grandmother passed away and the family started sorting her things, they found a great deal of writing—diaries full of the family’s…
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…
Coconut Fudge and Jam Tart
Every Thursday, when the family would fast for the family deity, my great grandma would make naralachi vadi or coconut fudge squares for prasad or…
Coffee and Hazelnut Biscotti
The original, Marathi version of this article appeared in Loksatta on October 6, 2012. When I was a kid, a middle-aged, tall, bearded, slightly annoyed…
Coffee and Orangette cake | Black and White Wednesday No.2
A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to the Mumbai launch of Café Coffee Day’s new premium coffee, Mysore Royal. I have…
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,…
Croissants (and getting published in BBC Good Food)
It’s been breads, breads, and breads for a while now. Let me start with the highlights: 1. I did a feature for BBC Good Food…
Donuts
Two days ago, my nieces, Shreya and Ananya, kicked up a racket when their grandma came over to pick them up from my place. They…
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 Vegan Chocolate Almond Cake (and a lesson in tolerance)
Harini is one of the first food bloggers I met in Mumbai, and we instantly became friends. It’s not very difficult to make friends with Harini–she’s…
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…
Eclairs and Profiteroles
Choux pastry. I made it last when I was studying Confectionery in college. That was gods knows how many decades ago. Then, last week, I…
Eggless Microwave Raspberry Muffins
Every so often, I get the urge to bake something, and fast. Remember this? And this? Usually, this urge comes-a-calling when I am chasing the…
Eggless wholewheat pancakes
Long, long before Betty Crocker’s red boxes made their way to India, my nine-yard-saree-clad great grandmother was busy experimenting in her kitchen with a pancake…
Food processor focaccia and 100 posts
Turns out, the last post I wrote was my 100th. This little jhola of mine has been with me through so much–I started writing the…
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…
Gingersnaps/Ginger cookies
You know how, as children, we never liked grown-up cookies? Spiced, low sugar, bitter-ish cookies that looked so unappetizing? I mean, at least compared to…
Hokkaido Milk Bread Loaf and Nutella Rolls
If you’ve been following this blog lately, you’ll know that I’m participating in Aparna’s fantastic year-long festival, We Knead to Bake. Breads are my Achille’s…
Inspirational People: Harini Prakash | Recipe: Lemon Cake with Mint Syrup
I’ve always talked about how this blog gives back to me much more than I give it–over the years, I have benefited in terms of…
Lemon and Blueberry Pound cake
Blueberries are rather rare here in Mumbai. Thanks to some exotic food stores, however, we’ve been getting an occasional supply of good blueberries without having…
Lemon and Vanilla Madeleines
I did a course in Bakery and Confectionery. Did I tell you that? Long ago. Two years. Of which, we did only breads one whole…
Lemon Curd in Vanilla Bean Cake
I don’t exactly remember when I first tasted lemon curd although it could easily have been at Radha Kaku’s Radha kaku was my great grand…
Low sugar Coffee and Cream Cake
My father is a simple man. He has few needs—three mobile phones, two laptops, and god knows how many cameras and music players; a good…
Maharashtrian style stuffed chilies/peppers
One of my favorite things in the vegetable market, to look at and shop for, is the variety of chilies/peppers. I love the hotness and…
Marmalade and Valencia Orange Cake
When we were children, WIT (Women’s India Trust) would rent our school’s prayer hall for their exhibitions. On sale were beautifully block printed aprons, bedspreads,…
Mawa and Doodh Masala Muffins (and what I did in 2014)
I am not one to write posts about a year gone by. Reflections are lessons of a personal nature, and resolutions are best kept secret,…
Mocha cake
It all started with a craving for Tiramisu. I had gathered all the ingredients the day before–went all the way to the supermarket to buy…
Mocha mini muffins
Having a 7-month-old who wants to master her standing and walking skills every second of her waking time can leave you with little time to…
My first class: A Desserts Workshop
So. I did a workshop this Saturday. It was my first real workshop (I mean I charged fees) after this dry run. 10 women, 3…
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…
Patra or Alu vadi: Colocasia leaf rolls
Nothing can get fresher than a bunch of recently cut greens. A bundle of un-torn, fresh-as-the-morning greens tied up in string or with a blade…
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…
Peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies
I use peanut butter for cooking; but somehow, I can’t bring myself to slap it in between slices of bread. MK likes his bit of…
Pistachio and Cranberry Cookies
Once Diwali is over and the ingredients for your Christmas cake have been soaked in copious amounts of alcohol, you are left with huge amounts…
Plum Jam and Vanilla Mascarpone Roulade
I share my mum’s love for Roulades. Swiss Rolls, as they are known in bakeries here. When we were kids, my mum would make a…
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…
Potato and Pea Samosas with Sweet Fennel and Chili Dipping Sauce
It was in the dark space under the main staircase. The chapel was right next to it but who cared about god other than during…
Prawn Karanjia (Prawn Turnovers)
MK can’t stand my fisherwoman. I don’t blame him. She’s kind of…insistent. Unfortunately, when she comes in every other morning, I’m usually attending to Avanee’s…
Pull Apart Pesto Rolls
This is something I first made a year ago, at least and have been making and teaching a lot ever since. It’s a simple bread…
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….
Raspberry Cream Cheese Tarts
It’s that part of the year again, when the stone fruits have gone and the berries have yet to come. There’s pears and apples galore…
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 Bebinca
When I saw this video on Nags’ blog, I knew that I had found the easiest way to convince my filmmaker brother to make a…
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 Mango burfi (Fudge) and Diwali wishes
I hope you’re having a lovely Diwali–surrounded by loved ones and so drunk on happiness that the diyas and lanterns are all dimmed by the…
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 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…
Sesame Cookies (and memories of Sankranti)
After all these years of having grandmas scream down our ears that seasonal, local produce is good for the body, we now have bomb-charging nutritionists…
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…
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…
Thalipeeth Crackers with Thecha Dip
{Scroll down for the giveaway winners!} All of last year, I spent in wrapping some projects up, writing my book, being pregnant, and then of…
Tomato and Raisin Chutney
My current favorite snack is a couple of crackers dipped into or topped with something. Non fussy, easy to put together, enjoyable, and filling. That’s…
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…
Translated Loksatta article: The Perfect Birthday Cake
The original, Marathi version of this article appeared in Loksatta on Saturday, August 4, 2012. Click here to read the Marathi version. We never bought…
Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon and Vanilla Royal Icing
For many weeks now, I have been looking at this Cupcake goddess’s blog in sincere awe. The course I took in bakery and confectionery back…
Vegan, Gluten-free Granola Bars
Every year, a day before the Hindu month of Shravan, Mrs. B takes the day off, no matter what (she takes a lot of other…
Wholewheat and Bran Bread with Sundried Tomato, Garlic, and Rosemary
Sometimes, in the summer, I like to slip into the shoes of those old aunts and grannies who would climb up to their terraces in…