Lobster Curry

My love for Lobster Curry began in 2012, during our first visit to Kerala. We stayed on a houseboat in Alleppey, surrounded by the serene backwaters and blessed with the most perfect weather. It was around Christmas time — truly the best season to visit Kerala. During our stay, our hosts served an array of traditional Kerala dishes, especially seafood prepared in rich, aromatic coconut gravies. That’s where I tasted Lobster Curry for the very first time which I loved — and it was pure magic.

I had tried Lobsters before at several seafood restaurants, but they were always mildly cooked and flavored with nothing more than garlic and salt. The Lobster Curry in Kerala, however, was beyond my expectations — rich, flavorful, and absolutely unforgettable. The houseboat had three men who managed everything — from cooking to cleaning and maintenance — and they did it all with such warmth and care. Our time there remains one of the best vacations we’ve ever had. The weather, the calm of the backwaters, the walks surrounded by lush greenery, and the incredible hospitality made every moment truly memorable.

After tasting that unforgettable Lobster Curry, I just had to ask for the recipe — and our gracious host gladly shared it with me. Though the recipe was more of a rough guide than exact measurements, it was enough for me to understand the essence and recreate this wonderfully delicious dish back home.

The original recipe was cooked in coconut oil, but I made mine using olive oil since I don’t usually cook with coconut oil. I honestly don’t think it changes the flavor too much — it just makes the dish a little less “coconuty.” Since I still add coconut milk, the curry retains that perfect balance and richness that complements the rest of the ingredients beautifully. I did make a few other changes too, so I can’t really call this an authentic Kerala dish anymore — it’s more of my inspired version of it.

When I order lobsters for home delivery—which is, of course, the preferred option these days—I clean them myself. But if you’re picking fresh ones at a fish market, you can always ask them to crack the claws and cut the lobsters in half for you. I usually parboil the lobsters with a little turmeric powder and salt; it helps get rid of any musky smell.

To make the curry, I start by heating oil and adding black seeds (kalonji) and curry leaves, followed by finely chopped onions. Once the onions turn soft and transparent, I add ginger-garlic paste along with all the spices and some fennel powder. I find fennel powder brings a lovely freshness, especially to seafood dishes. Next, I pour in the coconut milk—or coconut purée—and tomato purée, stirring until everything blends together beautifully. Finally, I add the lobsters and let them simmer gently for about 10–12 minutes, until the curry thickens and the flavors come together perfectly.

The Lobster Curry might look complicated, but honestly, it takes less time to prepare than a regular chicken curry—and it looks absolutely stunning on the dining table. The best part is that this same recipe works wonderfully with crab too; just substitute the lobster for crab, and you’re good to go. I truly hope you enjoy cooking this dish and love it as much as my family and I do!

Chicken Quesadilla

These delicious wraps are filled with spicy pan-fried chicken and gooey cheese, coming together in just 30–40 minutes. It’s the kind of dish that’ll have your kids asking for seconds — and maybe even thirds! They’re easy to make, can be prepped partly ahead of time, and make for the perfect quick meal or snack. These little scrumptious bites are guaranteed to win hearts at the table.

For the chicken, you can use rotisserie chicken, leftover grilled chicken, or even kebabs — anything that’s already cooked works perfectly. I made mine in a Tex-Mex style. I sautéed some onions and green chilies, then added paprika, cumin powder, chili flakes, garlic powder, onion powder, and a touch of dried parsley. To spike it up, I mixed in a little apple cider vinegar and hot sauce. Cook everything together until the chicken dries up slightly and the sauce coats it completely — that’s when you know it’s ready for your wraps.

You can always make these quesadillas using store-bought tortillas, but I prefer making mine at home with a mix of all-purpose flour and corn flour. They’re actually quite easy to prepare — especially if you have a tortilla maker. Once your tortillas are ready, spoon some of the cooked chicken onto one half, sprinkle plenty of cheese, and fold them over. Bake in a preheated oven for about 10 minutes, just until the cheese melts and the tortillas turn lightly crisp.

For serving, you can cut the quesadillas in half — it makes them look neater and easier to eat. These quesadillas are deliciously filling, easy to make, and packed with flavor. Perfect for a quick lunch, dinner, or even a fun family snack.

Khatte Baingan

Biryani is a dish loved by everyone. With countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh where Biryanis are so popular and makes it to the menu of all special occasions. Biryani has a huge variety of accompaniments, like Baghare Baingan, Dalcha, Raita, Chutney, Mirch ka Salan and Khatte Baingan.

Deciding on an accompaniment with Biryani also requires a few skills. As much as people think that all Biryanis are more or less the same and a basic raita fulfills the purpose of serving on the side with Biryani, its not really true. If your Biryani is not too spicy, you should make Mirch ka Salan or Baghare Baingan. If its super spicy, making Khatte Baingan or Dalcha mellows it down a little. Raita goes along with any Biryani that’s spicy or simple.

The recipe is simple and made with very little oil. A lot of people fry their eggplants to cook them, but I choose to boil them. Boiling them ensures that they are completely cooked and eggplants have a tendency to absorb too much oil so, this way it doesn’t get too oily. Once eggplants are boiled, add oil to a pan, add Black seeds and curry leaves. Further add a little ginger garlic paste with Turmeric Powder and red chili powder. Add tomato puree, ketchup and green chilies. The ketchup adds color along with a sweet and sour taste making the eggplants taste great.

These Khatte baingan are very easy to make and are loved by everyone, even people who usually aren’t a big fan of eggplants. This goes well with Biryanis that aren’t super spicy. Simple Biryanis like Mughlai Biryani or Thalassery biryani go really well with Khatte Baingan.

Murgh Hyderabadi Biryani

Hyderabad has numerous varieties especially when it comes to Biryanis. I have tried making a wide range of different styles of Hyderabadi Biryanis. Each one has its own distinct flavor and ingredients. I always love how beautifully the heritage of Nizams is displayed in Hyderabadi food.

The dishes are not just rich in ingredients but also the recipes show how rich the food culture has been with the Nizams. We always hear stories of how generous the Nizams were when it came to entertaining and welcoming their guests. How lavish their Dastarkhaan or tables were. The curries, Haleem, so many varieties of sweet dishes that are served with oodles of dry fruits and cooked in clarified Butter are evidence of how much effort the Nizams made their Khansamas/chefs put into food.

The Nizams were very influential. The history showcases the rich taste not just in Gems and Jewelry, but also in food. The use of Milk solids, Ghee, Dry fruits of different kinds is pretty common in most dishes. This dish has a paste of poppy seeds, cashews and coconut. Though the spice level isn’t too high, the Biryani uses a paste of green chilies and you can always increase the green chilies if you wish to make it spicier. Using Kewra with food color makes the Biryani smell rich and inviting as well. Besides that the Biryani is pretty easy to make. This dish is great for Beginners too. Enjoy!!!

Mutton Ghee Roast

With the wide variety of Kebabs that we make, we love kebabs made from meat the most. I love the way meat Kebabs are always so juicy and tender and absorb all the flavors so naturally. The texture of meat and the spices blend in so well together. I am sure if you look into details of cooking that when it comes to Kebabs, meat Kebabs definitely make to the top of the list. I have heard a lot of people liking Beef too, but since I have never cooked or consumed beef, I don’t really have an idea. But I do think that since Beef has a lot of fat, cooking with its own fat must be adding more flavor to it.

Coming back to Ghee Roast. I came across some cuisine where they mentioned the dish and showed how the meat is boiled till it’s cooked. after roasting the whole masalas, they are ground to a powder, and then the meat is cooked in ghee with spice powder, onions, curry leaves, and green chilies. This dish is pretty easy to make and makes it to my top ten list of easy and flavorful kebabs.

The best thing about these kebabs is that they can be partly premade a few days in advance as well. You can boil the mutton a few days in advance and refrigerate or freeze it, depending on how many days you want to use it. Similarly, you can always dry roast the whole masala and grind them and store them in a dry and airtight container. These kebabs are juicy, moist, flavorful, and go really well as a side dish or by itself. If you are a fan of meat kebabs, you will love the scrumptious chunks of flavorful meat. Enjoy!!!

Hyderabadi Chicken 65

Chicken Kebabs are an all time wanted and favorite for everyone. Chicken Kebabs go so well with Daal Chawal as a side dish and even by themselves. I love making Chicken Kebabs for my get together with friends as well. People always feel that you cannot experiment much with Chicken Kebabs at home, where as experimenting with different Kebab flavors at home is the best thing to do.

The basic thumb rule is follow the fragrance and the flavor. If there are spices that go well together and there are spices that don’t go too well. Spices like Black pepper is something that you need to add little at a time, since if its too much the dish tends to get bitter. If you need to enhance the flavor of Black pepper in your dish, its always better to add less of Black pepper and more of White Pepper to balance the pepper taste. Adding Tandoori masala gives a lot of kick to Red chili powder and makes kebabs more flavorful. You can always use citric acid in place of Vinegar or Lemon juice. Adding Flour with Rice flour and Corn starch Powder will add a lot of crunch to your kebabs if you are frying them.

With the Hyderabadi Chicken 65, I added Red chili powder and other spices with Ginger garlic paste and mixed it well. Further rolled the spiced Chicken pieces in Flour, Rice flour and cornstarch powder and fried them. Later cooked them in a sauce made with Onions, green chilies, various spices and Yogurt. I also add a little cornstarch powder to the gravy to make it a little thicker.

Chicken 65 is made in different ways in different places of India. Though the original recipe was made in Chennai, but different places modified their ways and made it suitable to their taste buds. Honestly, every pace has their unique flavor and we always tend to have our favorites but making them in different ways is always great to add more variety to your dinner table.

Chocolate chip scones

After trying my hands on the delicious, airy and scrumptious British scones, my kids had always been after making them. I have already made them numerous times, I felt it was time to experiment with something new. One of the main reason behind trying out the Chocolate chip scones was Mr. Parveez. When I made the plain scones, he mentioned that he loved the chocolate chip scones at a Book store cafe which he visited on some weekends before we got married and he loved them.

Therefore, I felt my second trials have to Chocolate chip scones. these scones are pretty rich, chocolaty , slightly sweet and just melt in the mouth. They are pretty easy, simple and fast to make, crunchy exterior and soft interior make them extremely satisfying. I make scones in a traditional scone way where I patted the dough around an inch thick and then cut them with the help of a biscuit cutter. But you can also roll the dough into a circle, around 8 inches and cut them in triangle shape, like a pizza. You can cut them into as many as you like, as long as the width is around an inch.

The butter you use should be cold because if it melts too soon, your dough wouldn’t be crumbly. If the dough gets super soft for any reason, because the butter you used was on room temperature or melted, then place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour, till the dough is good enough for you to handle. The heavy cream used in the recipe is an approximate measure. It honestly depends on the flour that you are using. If the dough doesn’t come together easily and if you feel its still dry, add a little more cream, little at a time. Similarly, if the dough is too sticky and gets hard to handle, you can always add a little more flour, one tablespoon at a time. Avoid overworking the dough, because scones do not need too much mixing. Less mixing makes softer scones. The dough should be soft, not sticky.

Scones are best when you serve them fresh out of the oven. If you have extra, its always better to freeze the dough and bale it when you are ready to eat. You can freeze them up to 2 months in an airtight container. When you want to use it, just thaw the dough and use it.

Plum Cake

Plum cakes are just so special. Christmas all around the world is always so festive and beautiful. I love the old city charms, snow and the gorgeous decorations everywhere. Though, things were pretty festive while I was growing up but in a little different way. I went to catholic convent school and Christmas was always celebrated in an awesome way. The teachers, nuns and students would always put up a grand show on the last day before the Christmas break. One of the teachers would dress up as Santa Claus and distribute gifts to everyone.

What also made me look forward to Christmas in India was Plum cake. For some reason, Plum cake was always made only during the Christmas season. A local and very popular bakery in my hometown made delicious Plum cake and my father made sure he gets ample supply for the family because we all loved it and it was only available for a short period of time. Not just that, I would always look forward to visiting my Christian friends on Christmas and would love their awesome cake preparations on Christmas. Being a Muslim, we couldn’t eat Plum cake everywhere, since most people soak their dry fruits in Rum for a month or more and we could never try those. Thank God! the bakery was owned by a Muslim family.

I could never figure out what exactly they soak their dry fruits in and how exactly they make it so delicious, yet not adding any alcohol and making it exactly the same way as its traditionally made was simply amazing. But, of course, no baker would ever share the recipe, Right? and so, we would just enjoy the yummy Plum cake while the season lasted. After getting married, I discovered that Bangalore’s Iyengar bakeries have a non stop flow of Plum cakes all year round and since, we were travelling to India only during summer. Not just that, we also searched almost all bakeries in Indian areas in New Jersey only to find out that Plum cakes are not in demand so they don’t make it.

Most recipes you search will always ask you to soak the dry fruits in Rum or some other kind of alcoholic beverage and there is no alternative to it. Finally, I got this recipe from a friend’s aunt who happens to bake a traditional Plum cake for the family every Christmas and does not use alcohol. Initially I wasn’t so sure how the cake would turn out, because a few things in the recipe are not hard but slightly tricky but, once you get the hang of it, its a walk in the park. Just make sure you red and follow all the directions mentioned. I promise the cake will make you relive those beautiful childhood memories.

Puraani Dilli Ka Burrah Kebab

Puraani Dilli or Old Delhi is an awesome place for food. I believe being a central place that connects Punjab, U.P., Rajasthan, Bihar and also being close to Kashmir, it has people from all neighboring states. Hence, there is a medley of food. My dad took a lot of trips to Delhi for work. Even we as a family, would be visiting the capital of India quiet often since back in the 80’s and 90’s, we didn’t have the concept of direct trains from one city to another. So, we would take a train to Delhi and then another one to the destination. Since, My maternal family lived in U.K., dropping someone off to Delhi or picking them up from Delhi or we visiting our maternal home was always a trip through Delhi.

Now, being a non vegetarian, purani delhi is the place to be. Despite the crowd, the pollution and uncountable hygiene issues, every non veg lover at some point visited “jama masjid area” to satisfy their cravings. We did that on almost every trip and my father tried it at least twice each time, if not more. Some very popular restaurants serve awesome and delicious kebabs and curries with sheermaal, roomali roti and finger licking biryani.

Amongst the various variety of kebabs, Burrah kebabs stole my heart. Made from lamb/Goat meat marinated for a few hours, these kebabs are juicy, crunchy and full of beautiful flavors. So I had to search for the recipe. Though the recipe that I found wasn’t close to what my taste buds witnessed as a kid but being a home chef I knew how to add and deduct things and come out with the exact taste.

Dilli ka Burrah Kebab also has a funny story connected to it. I suffered from Typhoid and I was forced fed all the food without oil or spice for days and when it got over and I fully recovered, the doctor asked me a simple question, “What is the first thing you would like to eat?” and I said, “Burrah Kebab”. Of course the doctor had no clue what a seven year old was saying but my parents couldn’t stop laughing realizing how tortured I was after the sickness.

This is a must try for people who love Mutton kebabs. Pretty easy to make and can be stored too.