For more basic cooking lessons see our articles for cooking dried chickpeas or try these creamy black beans (cooked from scratch). How to cook lentils Lentils are extremely easy to cook. Here’s our simple method that you can use for any variety of lentil. All lentils cook quickly, but some varieties take longer than others. For specific cook times, see the next section or jump straight to our recipe....

Pin Amma makes amazing chicken biryani. Her recipe has evolved and changed over years and now she has two versions, one is the more homely one-pot chicken biryani and the other is a layered chicken biryani, the recipe of which she got from a caterer in our local club and adapted over the years to suit our tastebuds. She often claims that biryani is the easiest thing to make because she doesn’t have to make rice and then a kuzhambu or pulusu and then two side dishes, etc etc....

Have you tried oat milk yet? Lately, it seems to be popping up everywhere. You can add it to your coffee at Starbucks, buy a carton of it at the store, or even pick up a pint of oat milk ice cream! I had to see what all the fuss was about, so I tried making my own homemade oat milk. I have to say, I’m hooked! It’s super easy to make, it’s smooth and creamy, and it has a yummy oat-y flavor that tastes great in coffee or tea....

Meet my go-to iced matcha latte recipe! I make this energizing drink just about every day from the start of summer to when the temps dip in the fall. It’s cool and creamy, with a slightly grassy, earthy flavor that I absolutely love. Matcha took off in popularity in the US a few years back, and these days, you can find an iced matcha latte on almost any coffee shop menu....

Pin Check this post to see an introduction to getting your baby started on solids. I started with a single vegetable pureed and stuck with that for a few days and quickly moved onto a few combinations of food as well as baby-friendly Indian food like idli, ragi porridge, etc. Important notes: I am not a healthcare professional or trained to do these Indian baby food recipes for young babies....

Some quick news – I’ll be hosting a super fun cooking class and workshop in Santa Monica on Saturday, August 22nd with Almond Breeze. Come join me! Together we’ll make brunch and take pictures of our waffles while I share my best Instagram photo tips & tricks. Space is limited, sign up today! Details: Better with Almond Breeze Brunch Workshop with Love & Lemons The Gourmandise School of Sweets & Savories, Santa Monica CA Saturday, August 22nd from 10am – 1pm $20 (reserve your ticket here) pre-requisite: come hungry

Happy post-Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a great meal and a relaxing long weekend. Me? I’ve been a busy bee putting the finishing touches on this new “Shop” section of our website so that we could launch it before Black Sunday or Cyber Monday or whatever-the-heck these gift-crazy days are called. I typically write some sort of gift guide post around this time of year, but this time I’m doing things a little bit differently....

This homemade lemon curd is so delicious that you’ll want to eat it off a spoon. It’s rich, sweet, and delightfully tart, bursting with bright citrus flavor. Imagine if the top of a lemon bar or the middle of a lemon meringue pie became a smooth and creamy spread. That’s this lemon curd. As the world’s biggest fan of anything lemon, I’ve always loved lemon curd. But I didn’t try making my own until recently....

There’s a bit of a story behind how this recipe came to me. Amma was visiting my Athamma in Salem and Athamma’s neigbour, an aunty she’s been friends with for many years, brought over Bread Upma as breakfast for everyone. One bite into it and Amma was asking her for the recipe so she could pass it to me and I could post it here! That mother of mine constantly amazes me, I tell you....

I realize, I just posted this happy sunny day post, so this is a little contradictory… but since then, I’ve been a fighting a bit of a cold. And all I can think about right now is soup. Well, and smoothies… hot and cold foods to cure a scratchy throat. And maybe some ice cream for good measure. You’re supposed to feed a cold, right? This soup/stew, whatever you want to call it, really hit the spot… it’s warm, hearty, and packed with a healthy amount of veggies....

Mushroom tikka is very easy to put together and unlike paneer tikka, it doesn’t need a lot of marinating time. I used super fresh shiitake mushrooms we got from the Orange Grove markets, one of my favourite farmers markets in Sydney. You can also use fresh button mushrooms to make this, make sure to pick small sized ones so they cook evenly. INGREDIENTS: 15 small fresh mushrooms 2 tbsp plain curd 1/2 tsp red chilli powder (adjust to taste) 1/4 tsp roasted jeera powder 1/2 tsp garam masala or chaat masala 1-2 tbsp besan (gram flour) 1/2 tsp garlic paste 1/4 tsp ginger paste (optional) 4 tbsp oil Salt INSTRUCTIONS:...

Now, before I go any further, I must say that I don’t care much for cooking in the microwave. I like cooking with fire, turning it up or simmering it down and stirring and frying and tapping the ladle against the wok, etc. All that is an essential part of cooking for me. When you cook in the microwave, how does it go? You put something in a (microwaveable, of course) pan, put inside microwave, shut it, turn the knob and wait....

Pasta e fagioli, sometimes shortened to pasta fagioli (or pasta fazool if you’re a Sopranos fan), is a classic Italian soup. Its name literally translates to “pasta and beans,” and it consists of tiny pasta, creamy beans, and tender vegetables in a fragrant tomato broth. Here in the US, many people know pasta e fagioli from the menu at Olive Garden, but I’m here to tell you that you HAVE to try making this dish at home....

One of the first few recipes that I perfected immediately after marriage is this amazing Pav Bhaji recipe. I have made it countless times since then, always volunteering to bring Pav Bhaji to potlucks and often making it for guests. The reason is simple – everyone loves a good Pav Bhaji and it’s incredibly easy to make in larger quantities. A little vegetables go a long way and if you have a good Pav Bhaji Masala in hand, you are good to go....

Lately I’ve been reading all kinds of summer bucket lists that are floating around the internet. I enjoy them – they inspire me to get away from the computer and do fun things like hang out at pools with popsicles. (which I haven’t actually done, but the idea still lifts my spirit). For me, summer + list-making don’t go hand-in-hand, so I’ll just make one goal and that is to eat ALL of the peaches....

We’ve been coffee fanatics for ages, so it was only a matter of time before some coffee recipes made their way onto Inspired Taste. And what better way to kick things off than with a simple, foolproof guide to cold brew? Cold brew is truly a game-changer. It’s incredibly easy to make—just mix coffee grounds with water and let it steep. But the real magic is in the flavor. Forget watered-down iced coffee....

My perfect white Russian ratio is 2 parts vodka, 1 part Kahlua (or other coffee liqueur), and 1 part cream, but you can adjust to your tastes (see variations below)! For more simple cocktail recipes, try our kir royale, my favorite bourbon Manhattan, or this spiked cider. Key Ingredients Vodka: I prefer vodka for a classic White Russian, but you can also try gin, bourbon, or dark rum for a different twist....

Happy early Valentine’s day… or Galentines Day… or whatever holiday you like to celebrate with heart-shaped treats and little paper cards. As I’ve written about many times before, Jack and I have this Chocolate Molten Cake Valentine’s tradition. This year I switched things up a bit and made this decadent yet mostly raw raspberry vegan cheesecake. How cute are those layers!? Vegan Cheesecake Recipe Variations I have two versions below – one version uses raw cashews for the white “cheesecake” layer and the other version uses vegan cream cheese....

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the US release of Ottolenghi’s newest book, Jerusalem… So I couldn’t have been more excited the day it showed up on my doorstep last week. I don’t know how you like to approach a new cookbook, but I like to start with a fast flip… trying to devour as much as I can all at one time. Later on during my second pass, I’ll settle down and take in the stories, reading through the recipes much more carefully than I did the first time around…...