Momordica charantia, known as bitter melon, bitter gourd, bitter squash or balsam-pearin English, has many other local names. Goya from Okinawan and karela from Sanskrit are also used by English-language speakers. It is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean for its edible fruit, which is extremely bitter. Its many varieties differ substantially in the shape and bitterness of the fruit. As the name implies, this vegetable is a melon that is bitter. There are two varieties of this vegetable: One grows to about 20 cm long, is oblong and…

CORIANDER – the other names as Cilantro and Chinese Parsley Internal use The herb has great success in treating loss of appetite and other dyspeptic complaints. When used in laxatives, it eases griping. The roots, leaves and leafstalks can be used to flavor soups, salads, beans and curries.

Chivda – an Indian snack that is full of flavors and equally keeps a check on calories. Light and tasty Chivda is commonly found at Indian homes specially during festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi or Deepawali. I remember as a kid i had this at my neighbor’s place in Diwali. The chivda was light and fluffy and had and amazing crunch and flavor. Chivda has no particular recipe, it can be made as per your liking and choice of ingredients and taste. This particular version is guilt free as it has very less use of oil. I prefer making Chivda in…

With the onset of monsoon comes the season of pakodas, bhajiyas n fritters. In India specially we have a big craze of enjoying rains with variety of bhajjis and a hot cup of tea or coffee. The more the friiters are crunchy the more we enjoy the rainy season. If you have some cabbge left in your storage and thinking what to do with it…just make these amazing cabbage fritters binded with chana dal. Perfect tea time snack in monsoon and even a great tiffin option for kids. Bengal gram aka chana dal is a perfect binding agent when it…

I was very new to Sindhi Biryani before i explored my friend Anisa Arif’s website http://shop.zaiqathespicestore.com/ . Before this i had tried Zaika’s Bombay Biryani Masala which i used few months back. It got published in various online food magazines too. Since then i am a huge fan if Zaika Spices. They are fresh, fine and absolutely aromatic. While ordering some spices , Sindhi Biryani Masala caught attention of mine this time. After having a word about it with Anisa, i decided to give it a try. The procedure followed to make this Biryani was the same, the only difference…

During my Hyderabad visit i got a chance to visit a local bakery. I was amazed to see heaps and piles of tuti fruity biscuits which were almost everywhere on the counter. They referred to it as Karachi Biscuits. Believe me i have grown up hearing Karachi Biscuits from few members in my family and for all those days i thought it from from Hyderabad situated in Pakistan because Karachi is in Pakistan….lol My Hyderabad visit was an eye opener to me. Though i didn’t got a chance to have those amazing fruit cookies there but i always wanted to…