Ginger-garlic paste

A lot of my recipes call for the use of ginger-garlic paste. Since ginger-garlic paste is an integral part of Indian cooking, I did not realize how much I was assuming people know about it till a few of my non-American friends asked me about it. So I decided to write a post about how to make the best ginger-garlic paste.

Karela Fry (Bitter gourd)

Cooking time: 30 minutes prep + 15 min cook | Difficulty level: Easy | Makes: 4 servings

Karela! The most hated vegetable. I remember when I was a kid and mom used to make karela for dinner, it was like the worst nightmare come true. But karela is packed with nutrients and is REALLY good for health. So my mom tried out various ways to cook it in order to make it palatable for us, yet preserve all the nutrients. Out of all the versions of this bitter vegetable, karela fry was my absolute favorite! So get excited folks, we are about to turn the most hated bitter gourd into a delightful snack!

Karela Fry

White Chocolate Peppermint Bark

Cooking time: 5 minutes | Difficulty level: Easy

We made this peppermint bark for coworkers and everyone loved it, wanting more. Eventually when I ran out of peppermint bark for everyone, I just decided to post a recipe because it is SO easy to make. Here you go... Happy Holidays!!

White chocolate peppermint bark

Baked Maple Gajar Halwa (Carrot Pudding)

Cooking time: 30-40 minutes | Difficulty level: Easy | Makes: 6 servings

Gajar Halwa or carrot pudding is a very popular North-Indian dessert and one of my favorite desserts of all time. Basically 'halwa' is anything that is cooked with milk, and this particular halwa is a very smart way to make your kids get their daily source of Vitamin A and fiber, disguised as yummy dessert! Recently we had a bake-off at work where the theme was "baked" and "fall." So I made some autumnal modifications to the contemporary gajar halwa by using maple sugar instead of regular sugar, and baking it in the oven.

Baked Maple-Carrot (Gajar) Halwa

Homemade Peanut Butter

Cooking time: 5 minutes | Difficulty level: Easy

Brent loves peanut butter. So much that for 6 straight months, he ate PB&J sandwiches every workday for lunch before I came along and changed his life ;) We typically used to run out of a 16oz jar of Jif in a month, so I thought why not try to make it at home? I like making variations (see ideas in Helpful Hints section at the end of the recipe) and I get a kick out of making stuff at home. I can control the quality of ingredients used while avoiding all those unnecessary chemicals and preservatives and it takes barely 5 minutes to make! Hope you like this recipe. If you try any variations, do let me know in the comments section. Enjoy!

Homemade Peanut Butter

Mini Cupcakes with Natural Flavors

Cooking time: 20 minutes + 20 minutes baking time | Difficulty level: Medium | Makes: About 2 dozen

Love cakes but worried about the calories? These mini cupcakes are the perfect guilt-free snack to satisfy the sweet tooth, and the frosting uses natural flavoring!

Clockwise: Strawberry, blueberry, orange and lemon

Syrups / Jams

Cooking time: 15 minutes | Difficulty level: Easy

For a while I relied on store bought strawberry and blueberry syrups. But then I started getting sick of all that high fructose corn syrup in all the syrups, so my Mom gave me the recipe to make my own syrups / jams. It is super easy, super fun and so much healthier! Besides, it lets me get creative and make my own flavors (next up: Orange and Lemon).