Cooking like my mother

If you have read my last post here , you have the background of how Nimona needs fresh peas. Now I want to fast forward 10 years. To this date, I have not made Nimona myself. I have had the urge to make Nimona with what is easily available (frozen peas) several times, but I have let it pass. But then I have been craving Nimona for some time and yesterday I decided to make it using frozen peas. After I put all the spices and closed the pressure cooker lid for nimona to get cooked, I came downstairs to do some work. As I went back upstairs after couple of minutes , right kind of nimona smells were coming out of my kitchen. I was very excited. I immediately put some rice and had a nice nimona - chawal meal the moment rice was done. In conclusion I can say that somebody who has craved nimona all this time but eaten it only couple of times in last 10 years, it was a big treat. I am sure it will be better with fresh peas. Recipe 3 cups peas 2 tbsp vegetable oil (I used musta

When mummy spent couple of months with us 10 years ago, it was a big opportunity for me to watch and learn from her. I would ask her to cook my favorite things as kids, things that I did not eat as kid but had grown to like, and even things that you hardly ever make at home in India (like jalebi, boondi, dal ka samosa) since they are easily available in the market. She prepared everything I sked for. But every time I asked her for Nimona, a childhood favorite of mine, she asked for fresh peas. I pointed to the big frozen bag of peas in my fridge and she simply said you cant make nimona unless you have fresh peas. One time we did find shelling peas in the market and we ended up buying 1-2 lbs but the peas that came out were little and we hardly filled a cup. So she just gave me the recipe and asked me to make it with fresh peas. Nimona, a spicy green pea curry, was prepared at our house in winter months when peas are in abundance. After you buy the peas in their pods, there w

It has been sometime since I posted anything. But the good news (for me) is that I have cooked and collected material for lot of recipes. Let me start with one that has become a staple for weekend breakfast at our house. Namkeen sevanyee simply means savory vermicelli. When I was growing up, only way we ate vermicelli was in kheer (pudding). Mummy must have acquired the savory recipe from somewhere - don't exactly remember when and where. It was always a big hit served with any chutney and was part of breakfast rotation for mummy. Mummy made the vermicelli with vegetables on hand - cauliflower, potato, carrots, peas being the main ones. I have also used cabbage, green beans, bell pepper at times. Only trick here is to cook the vermicelli in boiling water and then run it under cold water. This little trick prevents vermicelli noodles from becoming one sticky mass. Mummy boiled the vegetables separately as well, sometimes the night before. This makes preparing this dish a snap. I do