Side Dishes
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Gluten Free and Vegan Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
Pancakes are everyones favorite weekend breakfast. My favorite pancakes in the world are the limited edition Cinn-a-Stack pancakes from IHOP. I get so sad when they disappear off the menu. The cinnamon topping is so tasty and I could probably eat it separately in a bowl. For the purposes of the recipe I put it in a squirt bottle to get that signature swirl, but honestly you could just spread it over a cooked pancake with the back of a spoon to double down on that lovely velvety, sticky, sweet cinnamon flavor. Method The methodology is the same as regular pancakes. The kicker is that I make it with gluten…
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Spicy and Sweet Tofu
Tofu is every vegetarian/vegan’s big hurdle. It can be bland and everyone tells you “it tastes great if you cook it right”. I’ll tell ya what… I didn’t think that rule applied to me. I was so so wrong. My dad was looking for better ways to get more protein and we bit the bullet and tried a bunch of tofu recipes. I made this tofu as a side dish that can be combined with a bunch of different things. You can eat it mixed into some rice, you can have it as a side with a serving of noodles, you can stir in some vegetables and make it a…
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Desi Chex Mix
Chex Mix is one of those all time party snacks that become popular right around Christmas time. I’m not sure where the tradition really starts but I’m not complaining! Since I have been trying to eat less dairy and gluten I wanted to make a unique mix that is completely vegan and gluten-free. To achieve this, I utilized Rice Chex and Corn Chex. I wanted to make something that is a hybrid between the Classic Chex Mix you all know and love, and the cereal chevdo I grew up with. I kept the classic elements of the Worcestershire sauce and pretzels, and I added the Indian elements of traditional tempering…
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Slow Simmered Homemade Marinara
Marinara sauce is a useful pantry staple. I honestly always used the jarred stuff, but recently my dad brought home 3 pounds of tomatoes and couldn’t figure out what to do with it! I have a dad that loves to buy things in excess “just in case we need it”. Eventually, I come up with hacks like these to use up the excess. If you find yourself with an excess amount of tomatoes I highly recommend making this marinara sauce. Alternatively the best usage of extra tomatoes in my opinion is a paneer gravy. I make a bunch of house gravy like the one from my Paneer Butter Masala recipe,…
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Garlic Herb Focaccia
Bread making is a skillset that I will be taking with me from 2020 into this new year. I have made pita, focaccia, naan, and took a failed stab at sourdough. Maybe sourdough starter and I were never meant to be. I might need to to work harder on our relationship, who knows. What I am excelling at are the quick bread recipes. This brings me to this focaccia recipe. My family doesn’t believe in the simplicity of just flour, salt, yeast, and water. Everything has to be a little spicy with specks of color and flavor that you can see. This bread turned out so nice and garlicky. It…
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Warm and Soft Idlis
Hittin’ ya back with another classic: Idlis! Earlier this month I posted my sambar recipe. A lot of things can be eaten with sambar so I decided to go full on and post Masala Dosa earlier this month followed by Idli! The reason Idli is coming out as a #BhaktaBasics recipe is because it’s able to be upcycled into something new later on! For now let’s start with the basics of this dish. Idlis are essentially steamed rice cakes that can be served with chutneys and sambar. You will need a special steamer to make this dish. Most Indian grocers will have them but you can also find one on…
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Roti/Chapatti
In desi families learning how to make roti is imperative. Most families I know make them a few times a week up to daily especially if you have elder family members living with you. Roti for me was very difficult. I feel like most kids my age never bother to learn how to make it because it seems too tedious or difficult. I really think it is a great skill to learn, especially if you enjoy Indian food. I’ll be honest this is one of those recipes that I struggled with a lot. I felt like an idiot because all of the women in my family seemed to have this…
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Easy and Quick Sambar
I would like to just start out this blog post by disclosing that this is not the authentic sambar recipe from a South Indian mom’s kitchen. This is a gujju-fied, cheater’s version that comes together super quick and is really flavorful and tasty in its own right. One of my best friend’s mom texted me her recipe, but I really want to sit with her and learn how to make it properly. In a post-COVID world, hopefully, a world that is coming to us soon, I will be able to visit her and learn from her directly. In the meantime, my family has this sambar recipe that they love and…
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Shallot and Garlic Chili Oil
My family is full of spice lovers. Anything you put in front of them always needs an extra dash of spice. This is my sassy response for them. It has EVERY pepper you can imagine but its super flavorful at the same time. For a super spicy addition I add dried ghost pepper flakes from the Sonoran Spice Company, these are completely optional but if you’ve got spice lovers, it is definitely worth it! My dad packs a little container of this chili oil every time we go out to a restaurants to add a little flavor to his meal. This is good on pretty much anything, you can dip…
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Bruschetta
My mom is a bruschetta super fan, back in the day she had some at CPK (I know.) and it was a wrap. She asks for these every time we make pasta, it’s super quick and poppable as an appetizer and it’s great to make in advance! If you make the bruschetta topping in advance, drain the excess liquid before topping your crostini’s. I made this bruschetta with homemade baguettes from Binging with Babish. The recipe was super easy to follow and the end result was AMAZING! I can’t wait to make it again, it was so worth the wait. Definitely check out his page if you want to do…
