Taurean’s Kitchen

From childhood I have been fond of food, the rich aroma of spices and ghee gladden me. Sitting on the counter top of my grandma’s kitchen observing her to mine, a journey of flavors and love.

Could It be spicier?

On a regular visit to my bestie’s home, while returning his mom gives a jar full of “Kanthari mulak” (A very spicy green chilly), looks smaller in size but the flavor is 1000 times bigger.

There is no such reason for me to explore a dish, yet we get to host a dinner the very next day. On average out of the 20 meals I cook, 18 will be chicken, A flit from the regular dishes, I thought of making something with fish. Ha! Can I make the very famous “Red meen curry”, the recipe which got transferred from my granny to amma to and all my aunts….. mmmm maybe not this time!!

Oh yeah, there is a jar in the corner winking at me! Now things are at a faster pace, relishing the taste from our own pride “The Paragon”, I decide to go for it ” Kanthari Fish Fry”… The spicy, tangy, green green green, juicy, tender fish. Dip in the mint chutney, take a bite and it feels heaven!

Asha’s Moms Chutney

I have tasted many chutney’s with Dosa, but this one has a magic spell in it. Tasted it first on a Saturday evening when Asha’s mom visited us at Trivandrum. Asha is my best friend and we were working together at TVM. The day aunty visited, she prepared this lovely chutney, that very moment I fell in love with the taste. From then any time she visited us or I visited their house at Thrissur, a bowl for sure is kept aside for me. Later when I moved to Bangalore, I started to miss out on the yumminess of this rich chutney. More than thrice Asha shared with me the recipe over phone, I kept forgetting. Finally she had to mail it to me with a header “Dear coach raani, If you ask for this recipe one more time I will go mad”. Now I don’t miss the chutney, but I do miss the smile at aunty’s face each time she serves it. For that reason I call this special chutney ” Asha’s Moms Chutney”.

Thank you for the recipe!!!

When the primary ingredient decided to reach late…

C H I C K E N K A B S A

The most tried or cooked dish in my kitchen would be different forms of rice chicken combo. The attempt to try Kabsa came over a phone conversation. My sister over the telephonic conversation described the Kabsa she had for dinner, not a even a minute I could wait, decided searched for the best recipe possible, gathered the ingredients. Well, I cannot cook a dish in parts, the entire ingredients should get a tick to proceed. 1 tick, 2 tick, 3 tick……………..oopsss!!! there is no rice !!! what do i do? Searching in big basket, but the delivery will be next day, swiggy said a no even though a green signal was shown. Sigh!! The dish was postponed to the next day.

Day 2: Ingredients on the platform. 30 minutes of preparation. The air filled with the aroma of spices, chicken and masala. Ready for the Lunch.

Hariyali Chicken Tikka

Realized an ordinary gas stove will be enough for the grilled/smoked flavor. The Hariyali tikka is one among my favorite dishes. The best taste I could experience was from Fab Café at Trivandrum.

A tiring day at work, my friend Asha and I used to stop by the café and have a grand dine in at Fab. For 15 or 20 minutes, I stare at the menu card (which is already by heart), Asha as usual goes with a new dish, I pretend to choose a new one and that last second of uttering the order, it all changes and lands on to “The Hariyali Tikka”. From then I wanted to try it in my kitchen, and the time was yet another Christmas Dinner.

It’s Christmas Time, Here Comes the Brownies

The month of December brings a lot of excitement to me, the season when air is filled with the fragrance of chocolates and cookies. The first time I baked brownies were in 2017, until then whenever I craved for it, there was a store near by from I go grab one. With all my tools ready, the process started for the 2020 brownies. An hour of mixing & blending, its all put to set…..the moist yet crunchy, chocolaty butter filled brownies melting in the mouth.

Search for the taste

Back in 90s, when my cousins and myself lined in our grandma’s kitchen for her morning “Lace Appam & Stew”, we wondered if she does magic to add a special flavor to her dish. The taste of her dishes, is still a work of art for me. Having the taste left as a memory, I searched and tried it on a Christmas Day morning a year back “The Stew from my granny’s kitchen”. May be it isn’t the same, may be it shouldn’t be the same, yet it brought a smile on my face & my mom’s.