Cauliflower is UK's kind of staple vegetable and you get them soo damn clean, fresh and in different sizes that one will be tempted to just grab them off the shelf. I was in just a random shopping spree to get them home ,even if we have just had it that week.


Sometimes we tend to get soo greedy too .. That day when I picked this humongous extra large veggie the price was the same as any other x small or small. And that week , we had Gobi Paratha , Pav Bhaji , still nearly more than half Cauliflower left. I had to make something of its own to finish them all.. and I made Cauliflower Curry.  Just dry . No Masala No Onion No Garlic.

Growing up in a family where 1 kilo of Onions can last for Two months..  Amma would personally not prefer to use Onions in a lot of curry, There was as such no restrictions , but somehow she never liked it much. Moreover its a No No  , if its Tuesday or a Friday. And if there is a festival around the corner, Amma would not buy them at all. Now you could imagine how and why Onions could last soo long in Amma's pantry.




Garlic is one such condiment , that has never visited my maternal home till date. Did we follow Hare Krishna Hare Rama... ?? Oh No!!! Just that it could turn off my mum's palette and she couldn't stand the smell.
But that does'nt mean we were deprived of any North Indian curries or amma compromised with flavors at home ..
It tasted delightful and satisfying  with some phulka's, A very simple recipe with whatever is available at home - Turmeric Powder, Chilli Powder ,Salt and some Tomatoes. Sometimes I just fail to understand, why a lot of people use ginger - garlic and onions to every single curry to add some zing.
Even without them, sabzi taste soulful with a lot of flavors coming just from the vegetable alone.
A perfect on the go recipe , when you want to eat something light.When you want to enjoy it on a festival.Fits perfect for lunchbox series too.

DRY CAULIFLOWER CURRY Preparation +Cooking time 15+ 20 Minutes| Serves 2-3 INGREDIENTS: 1 Medium sized cauliflower, when cleaned and florets sorted  weighs  300 g ½ Tsp Turmeric Powder ¼ - ½ Tsp Red Chilli Powder ½ Tsp Cumin Seeds A pinch of Asafoetida / Hing 1 Large Vine Tomato , chopped into large chunks Finely chopped Coriander leaves about ½ tsp  for garnishing Salt as Needed ½ Tsp Garam masala  ( Optional) 2 Tsp Oil DIRECTIONS:  Clean the Cauliflower / Gobi head and break them into large florets. Heat oil in a non-stick pan and drop in cumin seeds. Once they begin to splutter, add the cauliflower florets and begin to sauté. About 3-4 minutes after sauté –ing, sprinkle in the powders – Turmeric powder, Chilli Powder, Asafoetida and Salt and give it a good mix. Sauté the entire curry for approximately 10-12 more minutes. In between, at about 6-7 minutes pop in chunked tomatoes and mix. Cover with a lid and cook for another 5 minutes in steam. Check in between, so that the florets don’t get too soft and mushy. Turn off the flame and get the lid off. If you like sprinkle Garam Masala. I didn’t… Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with Phulka’s. NOTES: You could add some Potatoes or Peas to this curry/sabji for variation.

It was raining Cats and Dogs on Saturday Morning..and it was decided we are having soup for lunch . The menu was so apt for the weather . An hour after it was all ready, the sun was shining bright, rain drops cleared up from my french window and kids were all excited  to open up the door and start playing outdoor. Well that's the London Weather! Totally unpredictable. Thanks to the nearly perfect weather update on BBC, H did tell me the weather will improve. I didn't have the slightest hope though ...


Guess it was a week and half before,  PR firm and I were having a casual mail exchange about Soup Boosters. I was all excited to try the 4 flavors that were introduced new in the market. But when the courier arrived, little  did I expect the hamper to have a rustic wooden crate loaded with fresh vegetables and soup boosters - Aromatic Thai Paste,Wild Garlic and herbs,Roasted Moroccan and Mexican Chilli. Happy Feet indeed! The crate is a beautiful prop, any food blogger would die for.


Soup Boosters from the New Covent Garden Soup & Co are flavor enhancers. According to the recipe printed on the backside of the tubes, they ask you to squeeze in at least 1/2 the tube for 1 kg vegetable used for the soup. I so wanted to try the Thai Paste , but only when I went through the ingredients, I realised it contained Fish Sauce. Thank God !! I read the label.. I would recommend the company to label the paste V, if its suitable for vegetarians.


Let me warn you , this post is images Loaded. I just couldn't stop snapping .. If you would like to be a part of my photography exploration , continue reading...


Soup is energy packed , flavor packed and ideal when you would like to have something light.We ( H and me) love soups any time.. But little did I realize I had not exposed the little's in the family to soup of any kind. Woof!! A definite blunder. After this its a promise to myself that kids will be having all the varieties I am aware of at-least in the next 6 months.

Steam capturing was in my to do learn list last month. So whenever I cook something hot, I would quickly carry it to my set up and begin snapping. This steam captured in this soup is a continuation to my tea posts . That's where all the learning began. Whilst food is being cooked, set up is all done parallel y as we need to freeze the moment to capture steam. Any delay,steam would start falling off and we would need to reheat the food. I really didn't want to do it.. Hence all the early practice with the tea helped..



I tailored my Vegetable Soup to suit everyone in the family, neither over dozed in flavors nor too subtle.What goes in the Soup ??? Well It can be an assortment of vegetables readily available.. For my first version , I used some potatoes too ..

This particular ingredients image is first of its kind in my blog and I was very happy when I tried to do it.

VEGETABLE CLEAR SOUP Prep Time: 10 Min | Cooking Time: 20 Min | Serves 2-3 INGREDIENTS: 2 Cups of Chopped mixed vegetables ( Carrots, peppers – green and orange , broccoli, leeks ) ½ White Onion + ½ Red Onion finely chopped ½ tsp of grated Ginger 1 Tbsp. Corn flour + 2-3 tsp water 1 tsp Soya Sauce ½ tsp Sweet Chilli Sauce 2.5 Cups of Water ¼ tsp of Pepper Powder ¾ Tsp of Garlic and Herbs Soups Boosters ** Salt to taste DIRECTIONS:  ·         Wash the assortment of vegetables and chop them fine. ·         Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add finely chopped onions, followed by ginger .Fry until slightly translucent. ·         Add all the chopped veggies and sauté in medium flame for 2-3 minutes, until all the raw smell disappears and they are partially cooked. ·         Pour in 2.5 Cups of Boiling Water and allow it simmer for a couple of minutes. Approximately 4-5 Minutes, I would say. At this stage, season with salt, pepper, soya sauce and some sweet chilli sauce to suit your taste. Also add in ¾ tsp of Soup boosters to enhance the flavour. ·         Mix corn flour with just enough cold water to make a watery paste. ·         Add the corn flour paste to the simmered soup, allow 2 more minutes. You will eventually see the soup thicken slightly. ·         Garnish with the green part of the leeks. NOTES: **Instead of Soup Boosters, you may use 1 tsp of garlic paste at the time of frying Onions as replacement. If you are unsure on the proportion of soya sauce and sweet chilli sauce, leave it on the table as an add-on.

With Many thanks to New Covent Garden Soup & Co & Havasww for sending across the products.

Easy Zingy Fruity Mocktail recipe in under 15 Minutes
For some reason, I still feel we are in mid September. The weather has been fabulous last week, infact it felt so much like Indian summer . All that the weather demanded was some cool breezy clothing and a glass of cocktail / mocktail and laze in the garden. Play with the kiddos , paint some prop boards and just enjoy the last lag of bonus weather.  But nothing of that sort happened !!


Instead we decided to utilise the gorgeous weather and stepped out to Bicester Village, the designer outlet. We enjoyed the drive with some classic music and the non stop chitter chatter in the backseats from the kiddos. When they actually snooze, it feels like everything has come to a stand still :)


I am pretty sure, this weather will not last long on the cards. It does feel chilly in the mornings and late evenings. The leaves on the trees are changing colors , some of them have began to fall .  Hello October !! Its Pinktober !



Since we did not get anytime to stay indoors over the weekend , the mocktail plan got pushed to the weekday  i.e Today !!! Though the weather sucked, raining non stop .. this pomegranate mojito was the best thing I could say happened today in this weather.



Making this drink is pretty easy, if you have all the ingredients ready and stacked up. Since I was sure to make this breezy fruity zingy drink around the weekend, I made my limeade concentrate ahead in time. It is simple, just incase you decide to make it at home. For recipe - click here. To 1/4 th cup of the concentrate, I added 3/4 cup of water to make my Limeade. Also got some help from the kiddos to make some fruit ice cubes..
Without much a do , lets head straight to this colourful zingy sparkling mojito.  

Proportions for them is just how you would like them to be.. None of the measurements need to be 100 % perfect. If you enjoy your drink a lil more zingy , add more limeade . If you like it sweeter, add some more sweetener like honey or sugar to your limeade . I leave you here, to make this drink to your imagination.