Aloo Matar | Potato and Peas

This beautiful and classic Indian dish is sauce-rich. The peas and potatoes sit in a luxurious gravy of pureed onions and tomatoes with chilli and spices. They are simmered together to produced this much loved dish from North India (especially in the Punjab and in Gujarat). Its popularity has spread and it is even adored in South India.

Each person will have their own particular version of this recipe. Some will add cream to the final dish. Some versions have no onions, some include garlic, and some recipes make a dry curry.  Still others will add fenugreek leaves, black mustard seeds and/or Garam Masala.

Our recipe is relatively simple but definitely full of flavour – our favourite type of dish.

Similar recipes include Sesame Potatoes, Milkman Potatoes, and Aloo Bhindi.

Browse all of our Potato Curries. All of our Indian recipes are here, and our Indian Essentials are here. Or explore our Late Winter recipes.

We use Australian measurements: 1 tspn = 5ml; 1 Tblspn = 20ml; 1 cup = 250ml.

Garlic Herb Potatoes

Hands up who loves potatoes? Mashed, baked, roasted – they are the basis of Winter life, really. And here is another baked potato dish. Potatoes are sliced and baked with garlic and rosemary till tender and with a crisp top. What could be more Wintery?

Similar dishes include Potato Gratin with Cream, Potato and Cheddar Gratin, and Cumin Potatoes Baked with Tomatoes.

Browse all of our Potato Bakes, and all of our Potato dishes. Or explore our Late Winter recipes.

Broccoli with Orange-Verjuice-Butter Sauce

Sometimes retro is good, right? We make fun of the food from the 70’s and 80’s in its seemingly insane attempts to be more sophisticated. But amongst all the dishes that seem are so funny when we look back at them are some gems – let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Out of that era comes an orange sauce that pairs nicely with broccoli. I make it quickly – no French finesse here when we need to get food on the table. Good Australian Verjuice makes a delicious addition, but use white wine if you wish. Go the whole way and top the dish with toasted flaked almonds if desired – they are lovely with this dish.

I have been known to make a plate of this and eat it for lunch. It is that good. If you can get home-grown oranges, all the better. We have 2 trees and they taste so good compared to shop bought ones.

Similar dishes include Broccolini and Snow Peas with Sweet Tahini Dressing, Spicy Chickpeas with Broccoli, Sri Lankan Broccoli Curry (use broccoli in place of the okra), and Lemak Style Vegetables.

Browse our Broccoli dishes, or be inspired by our Late Winter recipes.

We use Australian measurements: 1 tspn = 5ml; 1 Tblspn = 20ml; 1 cup = 250ml.

Collection: Our Best 50 or So Garlic Recipes

Goodness, how we love garlic! Around the world it is used with abandon. Is there any cuisine that does not use garlic? Please let me know. (The Jain community in India does not use garlic, South India has a lot of recipes that are garlic free, and there are other sub-cuisines in India that also avoid onions, garlic and sometimes chilli.)

We have collected together a huge number of garlic recipes for you. Please do enjoy them.

Similar articles include 30 Soups for Mid Autumn, A Collection of Kitchdi Recipes, and What to Do with Daikon (White) Radish.

Browse all of our Garlic Recipes, and all of our Collections. Or explore our Late Autumn recipes.

Collection: Very Special Turmeric Recipes

Turmeric is still the super food of the moment, and that has lead to some terrible misuses of this special spice. In small amounts it adds a special flavour to a dish. In large amounts it is bitter and unpalatable. The key to consuming turmeric is to add a little to each dish you cook – half a tspn is enough.

Today we have our favourite turmeric recipes for you. In addition to these, know that most Indian dishes also include turmeric, so explore them as well. I do hope you love and enjoy these recipes too.

Other Collections include:

• Chilli Pastes and Sauces
• Delicious Recipes with Green Tomatoes
• 30 Soups for Autumn

Browse all of our Turmeric recipes, and explore our Early Autumn dishes.

How to Make Quince Molasses

We now have a collection of molasses recipes that we cycle through year-round in our kitchen – pomegranate molasses, tamarind molasses, cumquat “molasses” and quince molasses. They are easy to make and divine with the sweet-sour flavours that can be used in spoon sweets, drizzled over sweet and savoury dishes, and mixed into dressings, soups, bakes and braises. They are essential accompaniments in our kitchen.

Here is the Quince Molasses we’ve been making for some time. It already appears on our Sister site, along with other quince recipes, but we are including it here too as part of our collection of molasses recipes.

Similar dishes include How to Use Quinces, Quince Molasses and Tahini Dip/Sweet, Turnips with Quince Molasses, and Quince Pickle.

Browse all of our Quince Molasses recipes, and our Molasses recipes (more to come). Or explore our Mid Autumn dishes.

Eggplant in Spicy Tomato Sauce

How we love the eggplant and its versatility. This recipe sautés the eggplant until it is golden and then immerses it in a tangy, spicy tomato sauce before serving garnished with herbs. It is easy to make and the perfect side dish or dish to eat just with rice for a light lunch, snack or supper.

Similar recipes include Smoky Roasted Eggplant in Yoghurt, Smoky Eggplants and Tomatoes, and Babaganoush.

Browse all of our Eggplant recipes. Or explore our Mid Autumn dishes.

Special Miso Sauce

This recipe is one that Taste published some time ago and a friend pushed me to have a look at it. I was very sceptical – cooking miso is not something that I do often (heat destroys some of its health properties), and cooking lemon juice is rarer (cooking changes its flavour). But I do like to test recipes, especially if prompted or recommended by friends. So one Saturday afternoon when I was roasting some broccoli and needed a sauce for it, I set about making this special miso sauce. With only 5 ingredients – miso, rice vinegar, sugar, lemon juice and mirim – the result is precisely as you imagine. Dark. Rich. Bright. Chilli-hot. Sweet.

The recipe is originally from Hiroko Shimbo’s Hiroko’s American Kitchen. While it uses Japanese ingredients, it is not something traditionally Japanese – far far too bold and funky for the subtleness of Japanese cuisine.

The premise for this sauce is that

• it is so very easy to make
• it freezes really well, but not solid, so you can spoon it out into dishes whenever you want
• it can be used in almost anything – stirred into sauteed potatoes and into soups and braises. Toss through fried rice. Stir into lentil stews and make miso soup with it. Toss roasted broccoli and cauliflower in it. Add a little to dressings, dips and spreads.

Pretty much the number of uses of this sauce is infinite, guided only by your imagination. Add a little to a dish for full-on flavours, or add just a little for a mysterious undertone.

Actually it is so dark and funky, I’ll use it as a vegetarian substitute in place of fish sauce in some recipes.

Today, we roasted slabs of broccoli and served with the sauce. Broccoli shines when paired with something punchy, formidable and umami-rich, so the combo works divinely.

Similar recipes include Miso Peanut Coconut Sauce, Miso Vegetables and Rice, and  Miso and Tofu Dipping Sauce.

Browse all of our Miso dishes and all of our Japanese recipes. Or explore our Late Autumn food.

Gratin de Chou-Fleur | Cauliflower Gratin with Blue Cheese and White Pepper

How long is it since you have had cauliflower with white sauce? Not since a visit to your Grandparents for Xmas in 1980? Well, I hope to change that with this baked dish – Cauliflower Gratin with Bechamel Sauce with Blue Cheese and White Pepper. It is topped with breadcrumbs which gives it a crunchy, delicious texture to contrast the softness of the cauliflower.

Similar recipes include Creamy Potato Cheese Gratin, Pasta Bake with Cabbage and Cheese, and Gratineed Sweet Potato.

Browse all of our Gratin recipes and all of our Cauliflower dishes. Our French dishes are here. Or explore our Mid Summer dishes.

Sonth Panak | Tingling Ginger Warmer

In the depths of Winter we turn to hot drinks to warm the body. But there are herbs and spices that will also warm us from the inside. Rosemary is one, ginger another, and black pepper too. This drink uses ginger, cardamom and pepper and will tingle and warm your body in the coldest of weathers. It is consumed either warm or at room temperature, so is a no-fuss recipe.

In India, ginger is well known as a cure for colds and sore throats. Dry ginger powder mixed with water is said to work wonders to relieve stiff joints. You can see that this drink is essential during Winter.

The dry ginger powder is essential to this drink – for maximum effect, don’t substitute with ginger root. The ginger, cardamom and pepper do not dissolve completely. Do as I do and stir while drinking, or allow it to sit for 5 or so minutes, then strain.

Similar recipes include 30 Indian Dishes for Mid Summer, Chai for Winter Colds, Peppery Chai, and Tea for Rainy Weather.

Browse all of our Indian Drinks, our Winter Drinks, and all of our Drinks. All of our Indian recipes are here, and our Indian Essentials are here. Or explore our Mid Summer dishes.