Hard-boiled Egg Whites with Veggies — Mutta Thoran

With the Easter egg frenzy visible in every food magazine, I decided to try and share something new with this egg-ceptional food. Right in time for celebration.

Eggs are central to many cuisines and one of the most versatile of all ingredients in the kitchen, as it's used to bind, thicken or lighten a dish, as well as for glazing. Many recipes, sweet and savory, call for the extensive use of eggs—cakes, macaroons, cookies, custards, pancakes, waffles, fritters, French toast, soufflé, frittata—and it can be quite tricky for anyone following a vegan diet, or allergic to eggs, to avoid dishes prepared with this food.

Steamed Rice-Cake with Black Garbanzo Beans Curry — Puttu with Kadala

The weather was gorgeous the past few days. In the midst of rising mercury, we were back to spring with the drizzling rain. Oh yeah. Drizzling rain, balmy breeze and peals of thunder. Aha. The tinkling wind chimes and sweet fragrance of flowers from my garden evoked a sense of déjà vu—blissful memories of times past. I wish the weather would stay like this for a while. Calm, beautiful and soothing. Before summer truly envelops us.

Clams Fry — Kakka Irachi Varuthathu

We love shellfish. Everyone in my family does. We especially adore clams and mussels marinated in freshly ground spices and shallow-fried with plenty of curry leaves. Much to our regret, it is simply too hard to find fresh clams or mussels in Doha and even more rare to find fried shellfish around the menus here. Sigh.

 

In the coastal area, where my husband comes from in Kerala, exotic food like shellfish is found in abundance. Truly world-class prawns, crabs and clams are plentiful, and that too with no hefty price tags. My mother-in-law uses the freshest succulent seafood to make simply rustic dishes that are just too scrumptious and finger-licking good.

Mango Spritzer

This space has been eerily quite for a while—my apologies for the short absence. I was not able to get in touch as my Internet connection ceased to exist without notice. Anyways, I’m glad to connect with you all again and feel a sense of oneness. I missed all the warmth and joys from this much appreciated web of companionship. Thank you so much, new and old readers, for coming back every time with your thoughtful encouragement and generous words. As always, I’m very touched. You make this space different, this journey worthwhile. Thank you.