Hello hello hello!
This blog still exists, yes. It’s just not been my top priority and now with the quarantine and all, I thought I’ll spend some time to give it a little bit of attention it deserves.
To start with, I thought I’ll do a quick round up of some basic/easy recipes that can help you get through meals and snack time with little effort. These are recipes I’ve already shared on my Instagram page many times over and still get asked about the most. However, they seem to get hidden amongst posts and highlights, so, to make it easier to view and record, I’m putting them here so that you can easily find them when you need.
You can make them in advance and store for at least 3-4 days (or longer depending on how you store them).
As much as I appreciate people who do things elaborately, I personally always look for a quicker way to get things done in the kitchen. It’s probably something I’ve picked up from my amma. So these are my go-to recipes that make my life easier over the week.
These recipes are very versatile and can be used in multiple ways – as a base for curries or pasta sauce or sandwich spread etc. This is always my aim – to make one thing and use it multiple ways wherever possible.
I’m adding these recipes as recipe cards so that you can save them on to your phone if you would like, for easy reference. Just to add though, I have never really measured out the ingredients to make these since I make them all the time, so the measurements given here are approximate values. Always feel free to adjust spice levels according to taste.
Please click on the individual image to view and save, if needed. Now for some quick notes to make the most of these recipes.
Onion Tomato Curry Base:
- You can have the curry as is or use it as a base for making other curries with veggies, tofu, eggs, paneer etc. or for a dal. You can also mix some cooked rice to it to make a tomato rice of sorts.
- Play around with the spices you use depending on what you make. Add some fennel powder for a different flavor or use ready-made masalas like chana, rajma etc.
- I love adding coconut milk to this base while making curries.
Makhani Gravy:
- You can add vegetables, paneer or tofu to this or even roasted eggplant or brinjal to this. Use the base also to make makhani biryani.
- You can use almonds or almond powder instead of cashews. I’ve used almond powder instead of cashews many times and barely ever noticed the difference.
- If you are looking to cut the calories even further, add a couple of florets of blanched cauliflower in place of the cashews.
Carrot-Tomato/Carrot-Bell Pepper Sauce:
- Instead of using the tomatoes and bell pepper as is, try flame roasting for a more pronounced and richer sauce.
- Try different herbs each time. Rosemary, thyme or an Italian spice mix or Indianize it if you’d like.
- Use it as a sandwich spread or as pizza sauce or thin it out to have it as a soup.
Hummus:
- You can make hummus out of literally any lentil/bean.
- I’ve tried whole urad, red lentil, kidney beans, black eyed peas, kala chana, edamame, green mung sprouts to name a few.
- Add roasted red bell pepper, roasted beet, raw mango, roasted carrot etc. for more variations.
- Another way to spice up a hummus is by changing the spices/condiments you use. I’ve made Chipotle hummus, Thai curry hummus, taco hummus, jalapeno hummus etc.
- You can use it as a dip with crackers and veggies, as a spread in sandwiches/rolls, with parathas or toast, as a salad dressing, as a sauce for pasta or noodles or even thin it down to have as a soup.
Basil Pesto:
- You can easily play around with any type of greens you may have. I have used spinach, carrot tops, beet tops, rocket, coriander and also a mix of many of these.
- We love sun-dried tomato pesto. Try this if you can get your hands on some.
- Try using different types of nuts too. Cashews, almonds, walnuts, or a combination of them.
- Try using some cream (dairy or coconut cream – I’ve used both) to get a creamier sauce for pasta or to have with grilled veggies or paneer or tofu. Or sneak some in when making omlette or scrambled eggs or even into your roti/paratha dough. The options are endless.
I really hope this is useful since these are the recipes I get asked about so often. If you’re looking for ways to use these, don’t forget to check my Instagram feed and if you do try any of these, please do let me know what you think and also tag me.
And So We Adult 
Hi. Thanks for some great tips for making the week easy with these sauces.
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