Varada's Kitchen and Garden

I made these strawberries the same day I was making truffles . While I posted that recipe over a year ago, the strawberries remained in my picture folder. Until today when I went looking at old pictures of recipe that never made it to the blog and found this one. These are not your regular chocolate dipped strawberries. Not only are they dipped in dark chocolate, they are then rolled in dark chocolate shavings. Mu daughter loved these and they were gone pretty quickly. Use large strawberries so the double chocolate coating is balanced out with the strawberry flavor. This is a perfect recipe to use you dark cocoa brick. You will need 10-12 Strawberries 1 oz. dark chocolate cut from a 70-100% dark cocoa brick 2 tbsp. dark chocolate shavings from a 70-100% dark cocoa brick parchment paper Rinse and dry the strawberries leaving the stem hat in place. Keep aside until needed. Shred the dark chocolate over a grater to get the chocolate shavings. Keep aside. Melt the dark chocola

Pears are always in season but they are rather plain. They rarely make it into my grocery list as there are so many other fruits to choose from. Caramelized pears on the other hand taste great and make a great dessert or an afternoon snack. You can serve it with ice cream or eat it on its own. You could let the sugars caramelize until they are a darker brown. It does take a while so be patient. You could stop where I did, when the sugar are a light brown and the pears taste just as great. This was an experiment I wanted to try for myself just as I wanted to try grilled peaches for the longest time. Fruit are rarely cooked in my house so I have to plan in advance whenever I cook up a recipe with fruit. You will need (single serving) 1 pear 1 tsp. butter 1 tsp. sugar Peel the pear and and cut it in half. Remove the seeds. You could cut it into smaller pieces with desired. Keep aside. Heat the butter in a pan and sprinkle sugar over the melted butter. Add the pear and let it

Several months ago I read a status update from a friend on Facebook. She mentioned this sandwich, no picture. Just reading about it made my mouth water and I knew I had to make it. For months I have the title of this recipe in my grocery list on the phone. Finally I got a chance to make it when my daughter came home for a visit from college. This sandwich has so many layers of flavor, a new one hits you as you bite, chew and swallow. I made these as a late tea/light dinner. You could make them any time of the day. I used red onions today and caramelized them on a medium high flame for over half an hour. They were sweet by the time I was done and tasted great on their own. I used Fuji apple to complement the onions. If you would like to use Granny Smith apples then I suggest you use sweet white/yellow onions. Either way you cannot go wrong. The brie adds a creamy texture. Make sure you find a good source for the brie. I got brie imported from France at my local Whole Foo

For the last few months, I have made an effort to create some recipe that kids in dorm rooms can enjoy with the limited resources they have. My daughter is a freshman and could use some innovative ideas to help counter the unpredictable cafeteria food. Today I have a healthy dessert. It would taste great with the ice cream from the cafeteria but would be be fine without. Depending upon how sweet your apple is you may not need any sugar. However, I would never call this a sugarless recipe. It has plenty of sugar from the apple. You will need 1/2 an apple (Fuji or any other) 1/2 cup oatmeal 1 pinch baking powder 1 pinch cinnamon powder 1/2 cup milk 1 tsp. oil 1 tsp. sugar (optional) Peel and shred the apple. In a bowl combine the apple with all the other ingredients. Microwave for 1.5 - 2 minutes. If it starts to bubble over then stop and restart. The oatmeal will change color and cook all the way through. Enjoy!

Anyone who has lived in a dorm knows how unpredictable the cafeteria food can be. One day they serve something okay and the next you cannot find anything you would want to eat. Since my daughter is now in college I have been trying to find a solution to this problem. I have posted a few dorm room recipes but they are mostly salads. This morning I had an idea. If I got a bag of vegetables that can be steamed in the microwave and I cooked specialty noodles also in the microwave, I could mix it all together for a meal. This is what I came up with. I used soba noodles or buckwheat noodles as they cook up quickly. I used the bird's eye Asian Medley steamer bag. The vegetables are mildly seasoned. I added a hint of hot sauce and some soy sauce. Within minutes I had a bowl of steaming vegetables and noodles. This is something you can put together quickly, tastes great and all you need is your microwave. If you are trying this at home you can source the vegetables, baby corn, b

I love salads. They are quick to put together and can be light or hearty depending upon the ingredients you choose. The Back beans, apple and spinach in this salad make it a full meal. The flavors go well together with the apple adding that little crunch. The best part of it is this can be a dorm room meal after a visit to the grocery store. Shred the carrot and spinach. Chop the apples and pop open a can of beans. Even the dressing is simple and the ingredients store well. I had previously posted a black bean salad with cucumber . It was while I was prepping for that salad that I realized I had run out of cucumbers and avocado. I had apples and carrots. I decided to add apples and carrots instead. They added such a delicious crunch I knew I had to blog about it. The salad keeps well for a few hours. The lemon juice in the dressing keeps the apple from turning brown. The flavors blend well but the apples do not lose their crunch. I have taken this as packed lunch with great succes

Batatyachya kachrya is one of the most well known side dishes in Maharashtra. It is a simple potato recipe where the potato is cut in a thin large slices. You can either keep the potato slices soft or you can turn the heat up slightly so they turn crisp. I like the browned crispy version. This is my Mom's recipe and I realized I did not have a post for this. The pictures are not great as I had to click them on a rainy gloomy day. You will need 2 medium potatoes 1 tbsp oil 1 tsp. mustard seeds 1/4 tsp. asafoetida 1 tsp. turmeric powder 1 tsp. paprika 1 tsp. amchur powder 1/2 tsp. sugar salt to taste Wash and peel the potatoes. Cut the potatoes into two halves. Slice each half into thirds. Turn 90 degrees and slice into thin slices. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they crackle add the asafoetida and turmeric powder. Add the potatoes. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Uncover and add the remaining ingredients. Mix well and cover. Cook c

Whenever the holiday season rolls around I am reminded of sundal. Black channa sundal  is the version I had eaten as a child in my neighbor's house and also at the school cafeteria. I had no idea it could be made with black eyed peas until I read it on my fellow bloggers pages. I made a metal note to try the black eyed peas version someday and forgot all about it until today. We spent the weekend visiting my daughter at school and did not have time for grocery shopping. I needed something for Monday morning and it was too late to go to the grocery store. I saw these peas in the pantry and decided to try the sundal. They were perfect for a weekday lunch. I have to say I like the black channa version better but this was delicious. The family loved it too. We had with some fresh made poli/roti. I simply followed the recipe I used for the black channa sundal. You will need 1 cup dried black eyed peas 1/2 cup fresh desiccated coconut 3 dried red chili peppers 2 tbsp. musta

Today I bring you two recipes. Papa Rellena is a dish from Peru that is usually served with Salsa Criolla. I am always looking for something new to cook and the web is such a big resource for recipes from all over the world! I am lucky because where I live most ingredients are readily available. When I found this recipe, it sounded like something my family would love. There was potato and a lot of other ingredients that I thought would work well together. I was right, everyone loved it. I found the recipe on the blog Peru Delights . Check out their page, they have some delightful Peruvian recipes. The original recipe is not vegetarian. I used paneer to make it vegetarian. The original recipe also calls for the prepared balls of potato to be rolled in eggs and all purpose flour to be pan fried in oil. As nobody in my house eats dishes fried in oil I decided to use my trusty appe / aebleskiver pan. With a few drops of oil I was able to get a lovely golden crust around the potato. I

If you are like me, like fresh poli / roti everyday but do not always have the time to make them, this post is for you. Rolling out the flat bread is easy but time consuming. During the morning rush it is not always possible to find the time. For years I stuck to making poli fresh everyday. This is my post with details of how you do that. Then I started this process of freezing half cooked poli. Since then I switch back and forth between the two. You can make these over the weekend and freeze them. When needed during the week you can cook them as needed. This poli will taste pretty close to the one made fresh the same day. Pardon the pictures. I realized I did not click any after I had taken the poli off heat. I will update this post when I cook the next batch. Follow the process detailed here to make poli. But do not cook it all the way. After the first flip give it a few seconds and take it off heat. Let it cool completely and then place between sheets of parchment paper