Category: Recipes

The days are getting warmer and mint flavored lemonade and mojito is on my mind 🙂 Or, more to the point…the crisp, fresh flavors of mint leaves! These leaves are extremely aromatic with a cool aftertaste and are used to flavor teas, beverages, jellies, syrups, candies, ice creams, lentil fritters, entrees etc. A word of caution people – it has a strong flavor so, a little goes a very long way. The good news is – it is also healthy and has many healing properties. I found this post on wikipedia very interesting – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentha

So, here is a dish to celebrate Spring – light, flavorful and elegant ‘Mint Rice’! It does not contain any of the top 8 food allergens and is also free of mustard, sesame and corn. Yes – it still tastes delish!

• Time: 30 – 35 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings as a main dish

Continue reading “Allergy Friendly Spring – Mint Rice…” →

I absolutely love Mung Bean flour. It is versatile, nutritious, mildly flavorful and most importantly allergy-friendly. Do refer to my post entitled ‘Beyond Lentils – allergy friendly vegetarian proteins’ if you want to know more about the nutritious punch this little bean packs! Little wonder I use it extensively in my allergy-friendly kitchen – in gluten-free baking, crepes, pancakes, dumplings, tortillas, tempura batter and more! If you have a South Asian store around the corner – stop in there and pick up a pound of mung bean flour and start experimenting. If there is no store in your vicinity or like me you love making things from scratch – making mung flour or moong flour at home is soooooo easy and quick that it is definitely worth a try. Once made, store it in an airtight container and it will last for months.

Continue reading “Homemade ‘Mung Bean Flour’ – oh yes!” →

I just love, love, love the flavor of cilantro/ coriander leaves because the vibrant green color and fresh smell instantly transports me to a warmer, tropical clime – utter bliss! Little wonder that when I spotted a container of basil and cilantro pesto at Whole Foods recently – I pounced on it 🙂 It was sooooo bursting with flavor and taste that I wanted to churn out my own ‘allergy-friendly’ version with only the cilantro/coriander being the belle of the ball 🙂

A quick note – cilantro and coriander leaves are just different words for the same herb,Coriandrum sativum. Cilantro is a Spanish word and is widely used in the US but it is referred to as coriander in UK and India. A nutritional side-note – coriander or cilantro contains antooxidants and has medicinal uses too.

If you want to know more about this fragrant herb – I found this short write-up on cilantro/coriander very informative. Growing up in India, one of my fav home projects with mom was gardening and a coriander patch was a must, given the ubiquitous usage of coriander leaves and seeds in Indian cooking. I try to do the same with my little one and if growing your own herbs is something you enjoy, this article on ‘How to grow Coriander (Cilantro)’ is pretty good. So easy and so much cheaper than buying it though coriander leaf bunches are very reasonably priced in South Asian stores ( $1 for 2 bunches of leaves during summer months)

Presenting Allergy Friendly Cilantro Pumpkin Seed Pesto…

Continue reading “AF Cilantro Pumpkin Seed Pesto” →

Moving forward from my previous post ‘AF Mashed Potatoes with a twist…‘, this rice and mung bean dish tastes particularly good on a cold winter evening. Soul-satisfying, nutritious, packed with flavor and above all AF – Allergy Friendly. ‘Khichri’ has been a part of Indian cuisine for over 700 years – whoa! 

Since, I just could not come up with a name for the dish in English that would reflect the true nature of the dish – I threw it out as a question to my Facebook friends.  So, this post is an ode to all the fun names they came up with…Niv, a most creative food blogger of Panfusine came up with ‘Kedgeree’, the British dish that traces its roots back to the India Khichri and uses fish and rice. Mohita, my high school pal, names it ‘Rictle’ – Rice + Lentil, dear Indu called it the ‘Rice Porridge’, my cherished undergrad friend Helen wondered if ‘Rice Polenta’ should be the way to go and Kamy coined a real cool name – the ‘Indypot’ or Indian hot pot 🙂 Finally, decided to stick with the original name as suggested by the guys. They made school a barrel of fun but stuck to tradition when it came to dish-naming – Navin, a grad school pal and Vivek, an undergrad friend 🙂 Thanks all – given the various names, even a first-time taster can hazard a guess as to what the dish is going to taste like…

Continue reading “AF Rice and Mung Bean Khichri” →