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Chickpea curry

Chickpea Chana Masala

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rupalbhatikar

Raw Green Mango Dal - a lip smacking balance of ta

Murgh Korma - not your basic neon orange curry (if

Murgh Korma - not your basic neon orange curry (if you’ve eaten bad ones you know what I mean). If made well, this is easily one of the best curries to enjoy. It’s super creamy and feels rich and indulgent with minimal ingredients. I usually start the day before I want to eat with marinating my on the bone chicken (thighs are best) with Greek yogurt, salt & ginger garlic green chilli paste. In a heavy bottom pan, fry sliced onions until golden and crisp, set aside. In ghee, I bloom whole spices like bay leaf, black cardamom, cinnamon, cloves & peppercorn. Add sugar to the ghee and caramelise it (this lends that lovely deep colour you really want). Add a slit green chilli and onion paste and fry until it’s nicely fried and all water has evaporated. Add toasted and powdered coriander and caraway seeds. Marinated chicken goes in and you cook it long and slow gently stirring now and then. Finish with a swirl of cashew paste for extra creaminess and that luxurious mouthfeel. You want that lush sauce that just clings to the chicken. Top with the fried onion. That’s it really, no need for superfluous spices. Don’t garnish with coriander leaves. Less is more! Best eaten with flatbreads. #indianfood #chickencurry #chickenkorma

Keema Matar (spiced minced meat curry with peas) b

Keema Matar (spiced minced meat curry with peas) but with charred tender sugar snap peas! The meat is slow cooked with whole cumin, lots of fresh ginger garlic onions and a freshly toasted/ground garam masala. The rich flavours go so well with bright sugar snap peas that I just charred lightly in a cast iron pan. Their freshness is the perfect contrast to the meaty curry. Best with buttery crusty bread or soft pillowy flatbreads and quick pickled onions. #indianfood #indiancooking

What a typical Goan meal looks like - rice, prawn

What a typical Goan meal looks like - rice, prawn ‘hooman’ curry with prawn heads, drumstick & daikon radish, stir fried beans-potato-carrot ‘bhaji’, dill leaves & yellow mung dal ‘bhaji’ & semolina coated fish/prawn fry. I cannot put in words how much it bothers me when I google “goan prawn curry” and find recipes that are so wrong my head hurts. Strange combinations of spices, tomatoes and what not! So far from the original it bears no resemblance, it’s just a generic ‘curry’ that’s been labeled ‘Goan’ for attention! Why do people feel confident in teaching others something they know not much about? Is it really that hard today to actually research before you share/speak? Is accountability so far below on our list of priorities compared to likes/views/fame? We are so quick to forget what food means to people. There are different curries made with prawns, each with unique flavours/spices & local names. Hooman, Tonak, Ambotik, Suke to name a few. Ask a Goan - when we need food to comfort us, make us feel whole again, most will pick a version of this plate. The food of our home, our people, our childhood. Don’t we owe a little respect for other cultures/communities and their ways? May be just the volume of content we keep putting out shouldn’t dilute the need for accurate representation. Don’t get me wrong, food was made for you to get creative with, change it up & make it your own. By all means make changes that suit your palate, availability of ingredients and dietary requirements. If any of that fundamentally alters everything about that dish may be just accept that it’s ‘loosely inspired’ and not teach others how to do it as if it’s a true version. In the privacy of our homes and our kitchens, we can cook and eat as we please. But may be before we profit off something through money/clicks/views and claim authority to share its recipe on blogs/websites/Insta we should know if what we are putting out comes from a place of actual knowledge? Wouldn’t it be nice if people didn’t have to be “called-out” or “cancelled” for there to be accountability and consideration for actions? Wouldn’t that be worth something? #IndianFood #GoanFood

Seasons finest apricots (as sweet & juicy as can b

Seasons finest apricots (as sweet & juicy as can be) from our weekly trip to @melbournefarmersmarkets grilled on the hibachi with a generous slather of @beechworthhoney and thyme. Served over creamy stracciatella. The best kind of easy dessert on a sunny day of grilling in the balcony. As a non-sweet tooth person, this is my kinda perfect ending to a meal. There was also good wine, good times - we needed them both. And also lobster, because YOLO. Can’t complain! #weekend #bbqlife

Sharing my love for chickpeas and cooking them fro

Sharing my love for chickpeas and cooking them from dry over on @abc_everyday today. I love getting mine from @mountzeroolives grown right here in Victoria. Having perfectly cooked chickpeas means you are never too far from a delicious meal. Whether you want to toss them with greens for a salad, eat simply seasoned, roast them till crisp or make a curry like this chana masala – there’s no end to how easily they can help in putting together something nutritious. Using just a few pantry and fresh ingredients, this Chana masala is one of those easy to adjust and make your own kinda recipes. Wilt a lot of greens like spinach/chard to add more body to the dish, crack a few eggs and bake them for a meatier shakshuka. Scoop up with flatbreads like rotis, enjoy with a bowl of steamed rice and yogurt or even top your toasted sourdough with some cheese or fresh pickled cucumbers. There’s truly no right or wrong way. Recipe up on the blog and link in bio. So tell me, how do you love to eat your chickpeas? #chickpeacurry #indianfood

Summer day lunches like this are my favourite. Str

Summer day lunches like this are my favourite. Straight from the fish monger to plate in minutes. Tuna tartare cured in a sesame oil-rice vinegar- fresh ginger-soy-yuzu dressing with some creamy avocado. Served over seasoned sushi rice, pickled cucumbers and a spicy mayo with kewpie & sambal oelek. So easy to put together and so delicious! I make lots of extra cucumber because those pickles keep getting topped off. What’s your favourite too-hot-to-cook summer day food? #pokebowl #tunatartare

This roast vegetable biryani is truly a labour of

This roast vegetable biryani is truly a labour of love. I soak the basmati rice patiently so the grains elongate fully and are fluffy when cooked. The onion is fried in batches so they are golden and crisp without being greasy. Cashews turn golden in ghee. Milk-soaked saffron. Roasted vegetables like baby potatoes, whole shallots, cauliflower, carrots, green beans and capsicum so they are charred and full flavoured. A simple but lush sauce base with caramelised onion-tomato to coat the vegetables and then layered with the spice-perfumed rice, crispy onions, saffron and lots of herbs like coriander and mint. I rarely say this but you wouldn’t miss the meat. The vegetables really shine, retain their shape and colour yet develop these meaty flavours from the roasting. Served with a simple yogurt raita on the side to keep things cool. Heavenly! #IndianFood #festivalofdinners

Amritsari Macchi - bite size Indian style fish fin

Amritsari Macchi - bite size Indian style fish fingers coated in a spiced chickpea flour batter and deep-fried till golden. The outside is crunchy and when fried perfectly, the fish inside is fork tender and melts in your mouth. Here I’ve used fresh snapper fillets and marinated them with salt, ginger garlic paste, red chilli, lemon juice. When ready to fry, crack an egg and mix through the marinated fish. Then coated with gram flour and crushed carom seeds. Deep fry. Serve with lemon wedges and sprinkle with a generous pinch of chaat masala for that tangy bite! Simply delicious on a rainy day 🐟 #indianfood #festivalofdinners

Maharashtrian style Red Chilli Thecha - that flavo

Maharashtrian style Red Chilli Thecha - that flavour bomb condiment that could elevate even the most basic of meals. Flame roasted whole red chillies (I like mine medium hot but you do you) and garlic, frizzled cumin seeds in a half a spoonful of hot oil, fresh coriander leaves (stems n all) and coarse sea salt pounded together into a raggedy mixture. A squeeze of lemon juice and mix together. It’s so punchy you’ll want to eat it with everything! One of my favourite ways to is - sliced bread slathered with butter, red chilli thecha, grated cheese pickled red onion and toasted to golden perfection! #IndianFood #maharashtrianfood

I deeply admire the work of @abclife so when they

I deeply admire the work of @abclife so when they got in touch to share my story I was both humbled and excited beyond measure (link to full interview in my bio, do read!). To transition from a comfortably settled decade long corporate career to joining culinary school and starting as professional chef in your 30s isn’t without its challenges. But to get to do what you love and learn something new every single day is truly an incredible gift. There’s so much work to be done still but I’m grateful to be on this path. I’m fortunate to have had some incredible cheerleaders - the constant unflinching support of my partner in life @mangubhatikar who never let me stop pursuing my crazy dreams, my family who in spite of all their doubts understood why I needed to do this, some great teachers at my culinary school @williamanglissinstitute, some of the best colleagues who taught me so much @miznonmelbourne and the most encouraging of friends (you know who you are) who cheered me on, helped me push away my so much of my constant self-doubt. Thank you for your faith and for keeping up with my culinary adventures - I guess it’s safe to say I’m here to stay! #ChefLife #Melbourne #ABCLife

Indo-Chinese Chilli Chicken that has very little t

Indo-Chinese Chilli Chicken that has very little to do with either of these cuisines but is without a doubt every Indian kid’s introduction to Chinese food back home. Marinated and battered tender chicken thighs deep fried crisp and then tossed in a chilli-garlic-tomato-soy sauce situation. So delicious you’ll find yourself NEVER asking the “authenticity” question 😂 It is the perfect appetiser that can turn into a complete meal if you want to sit on your couch and do nothing. I had noble plans for making a egg fried rice to go with this but instead we watched back to back movies and a few G&Ts and no one missed anything ☺️ #IndianFood #IndoChineseFood

What a fine feast a simple Indian thali is. So man

What a fine feast a simple Indian thali is. So many textures, so many flavours that go well together and so much harmony. What a treat to eat. This one is no different - from left to right - homemade raw mango mustard pickle, potato talasan (spices & smashed garlic), green beans & potato with fresh coconut, radish-cucumber-carrot yogurt raita, rawa fry almi (semolina crusted king oyster mushrooms), steamed basmati rice and Varan (lentils cooked with ghee, coconut & cumin). Only happy bellies at the dinner table! #IndianFood #GoanFood

Vietnamese Chả cá lã vọng - turmeric and d

Vietnamese Chả cá lã vọng - turmeric and dill fish. Bone-less fish fillets (I’ve used local barramundi) marinated with fish sauce, turmeric, garlic, Vietnamese curry powder, oil, spring onion, dill and salt/sugar for balance. The fillets are pan seared, added lots of extra spring onion & dill and then just covered to let it finish cooking in its own steam. The herbs get this bright beautiful green colour and taste so fresh. Perfect with rice vermicelli noodles. #VietnameseFood #HomeCooking

Kolambi Bhaat (Maharashtrian style prawns & spiced

Kolambi Bhaat (Maharashtrian style prawns & spiced rice). In this coastal dish - the rice and prawns are cooked together like a pulao in one pot. To take the prawn flavour up a notch I like to cook the rice in prawn stock made from the heads and shells. When I’m trying to make it milder, I replace half of the stock with freshly squeezed coconut milk. The fragrance of fresh curry leaves, goda masala, whole spices like cinnamon and cardamom and a sprinkle of fresh grated coconut is what makes this dish. The hardest part is actually letting the rice rest until you can dig in. Best served with a lemon wedge and simple side salad. #IndianFood #maharashtrianfood

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