Recipe Collections

Mushroom is one of those vegetables well a fungi which makes a tasty and healthy dish. Mushrooms add a soft texture to your recipes whether it's a salad, soup, sauce or a gravy. Other than salads and scrambles, you can even use these small delights to make different types of Indian gravies across different cuisines. The flavour from local spices and different styles of cooking, gives each and every Mushroom recipe a unique taste.

In the recent years, Quinoa has risen to superstardom and with good reason too. Quinoa is a nutritious gluten-free grain that is high in fibre, protein, iron, magnesium, essential amino acids and much more.

Mint chutney is a magnificent chutney that would go great with numerous dishes. It's a deliciously spicy chutney prepared from fresh mint leaves, coriander leaves, ginger and garlic and yogurt. The preparation time takes as less as 15 minutes and and serve the mint chutney with any snack of your choice. Here are a list of dishes that's a tastes best with green chutney.

In most of the Indian homes, family members sit together in the evening to share a cup of tea along with a favorite snack. This is the time when everyone sits together after a long and tiring day to relax and share some talks. And as we were thinking this moment, we felt that there is no better way to spend an evening with a pot of tea and a slice of scrumptious tea cake. Dont you agree?

Weekends are ideal to take out time from our busy lives to catch up with friends and family. And a Saturday night get together can never go wrong given the added advantage of not having to worry about work the following morning.

Vada recipe is authentically a South Indian fritter with lentils. Lentils are usually soaked and ground to batter, and various spices and other leafy greens or onions are mixed to get a thick batter. Different vada recipes call for differing instructions and processing to make; some have a smooth batter and a few recipes have smooth batter with soaked or coarsely ground lentils. These lentil dumplings are traditionally deep fried and served hot as snack along with a suitable accompaniment out of many recipes that pairs with these, like chutneys or sambars. Vada recipes are now popular in all of India as a snack option in many food joints.

Pongal being a popular Harvest festival for all the South Indians, It has left us filled with all the rich and everlasting taste of all the festival food being prepared on this auspicious occasion. I will be taking you through the preparation of what “Pongal Sapad” or " Pongal Bhojanam" (Pongal Lunch Meal) would be in South Indian households. 

Green Peas are one of a type legumes given their versatility and health benefits. They are little powerhouses of nutrition that are a blessing to mankind. Not only are these sweet legumes delicious, but they are a great source of folic acid, vitamin K, manganese, dietary fiber, vitamin B1, copper, vitamin C, phosphorus and folate. They are also a good source of vitamin B6, niacin, vitamin B2, molybdenum, zinc, protein, magnesium, iron, potassium and choline.

Makara Sankranti / Pongal is a day that marks the northward traverse of Sun and a festival that celebrates the new harvest of the year. The festival of Sankranti in South India lasts for 4 days. 

Some festivals in India are celebrated through out the country, but some are celebrated in specific regions. ‘Lohri’ is one such festival which is especially celebrated in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu.

'Tis the season to be merry!

The smell of baked sweets lingering in the air, the faint sound of soothing carols, the banter of family members, the beautifully decorated tree, and not to forget everyones' favourite, the ever so joyful Santa, this is what makes Christmas a day to look forward to. It is the perfect occasion for friends and families to get together, and share delicious food, and memories.

2016 has been a delightful year for Archana's Kitchen where we created wonderful recipes from 100's of contributors, home chefs to bloggers. It has been a great year filled with absolutely amazing recipes that flew in day after day. Our community has only gotten bigger and better this year. We thought it would be good to take a walk down the memory lane and do a flashback of this year with some of our favourite recipes. We have loved each and every recipe that we received, and were in absolute dilemma to select just 40 from such fabulous recipes.

Rain or shine, afternoon tea is a delightful affair for one and all! And it is a known fact that no one does afternoon tea better than the British. Elegantly dressed men and women enjoying conversations over hot brimming tea, freshly baked sweets and savouries is a common tradition amongst the British.

Yay! Christmas is coming, it’s time for you to take out your Christmas decorations and start planning for a Cheerful Christmas Party. This is the season to be merry and have a get together with your loved ones and spend a joyful time with a comforting Christmas meal. And the main part of each festival is Food, delicious and mouth watering food.

"It was a cloudy morning which made me sleep a little longer than planned. To please myself, I covered up my blanket and rolled over. When I finally woke up, I realized that I need to cook before I rush to office". This probably is the scene with many of us who want to have a healthy homemade breakfast before we leave home and that breakfast must be ready in only 20 minutes. With only less time in hand, you want to wanted to fix up a decent breakfast not for just yourself, but may be your family or partner.

Ever since I started my experiments in making bread, I realised each time, that there is something missing in texture. I had kept making whole wheat multigrain breads which made them denser in texture. And I used ready bakers yeast. The fermentation was quick and I was happy about it fermenting well. But they did not taste like the artisan breads I had in Europe. This is when I decided I will work on the starter myself and make wild yeast. This post is about my first ever candid experiment and inspired from the book Tartine Bread.

Bottle gourd is a cucurbitaceous veggie that falls along with other gourds and melons. Dearly called as lauki, doodhi, giya, sorakkai in various parts of India, bottle gourd is blessed with an accountable number of health benefits. If we could maintain health by making recipes from one of the most popular veggies in India, why not use it often? Of all the major cuisines across India, people have found artful ways of whipping up various course of meals from the same vegetable.

They say 'A Sunday well spent, brings a week of content' which we believe is absolutely true, and what better way to start your sunday than with hearty conversations with your loved ones over a super satiating breakfast.

A leisurely breakfast will set the right pace for a great day ahead.

As holidays and festive season descends, we start thinking of entertaining friends and family at home. Planning and putting things together for holiday parties can be quite a task. I have hosted countless parties over many years and in almost all of them there is always a talk about food and drinks. The one thing that I love is when people gather around the table or kitchen, move around with their glasses, picking up good food and having good conversations. It makes it completely worth the effort you have put in when you and your guests are having a good time.

There's no better way to up the festive spirit at your Christmas party than to say "thank you for coming" with a bag of handmade gifts. Edible, homemade gifts, put together with love will only fetch you extra brownie points! So this Christmas, plan ahead and make some of these edible homemade party favours for your guests. 

When someone says creamy and crunchy, the first thing comes to our mind is Peanut Butter. Peanut butter is a healthy replacement to add into an everyday diet to supply the source of good protein, fats and micro nutrients. Peanut butter can be used in various ways, as a dip, as a salad dressing, as a sandwich spread and as a base for curries and pastas too. In addition, peanut butter can be used in making chocolates, cupcakes, cakes, tarts and also the cupcake frosting.

It's Friday so that's kind of a party in itself. But to make your Friday ever more fabulous, cook up some delicious food for the family and watch them savour the labour of your love.

East Asian cuisine is food native to countries like China, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei etc. These regions have a splendid set of cuisines that are packed with flavours, spice and taste. Rice, noodles, beans, seafood, mutton, bok choy et al make up for the staple food in these regions. Galangal, lemongrass and fish sauce are the flavours that are prominent in South East Asia, whereas soy sauce takes over in the West.

The best way to slim down, without missing out on the right nutrients, is by focusing on your diet. A great addition to it are fresh homemade smoothies. These blends of fresh fruits and vegetables are the perfect vehicle for a low-calorie yet nutrient-rich ingredients that keep you satiated for long, without compromising on the nutrition required for the body. A good mix of protein, complex carbohydrates and good fats along with vitamins and nutrients should be used to create a well-balanced smoothie.