Cheesy Chicken & Corn Rice

I love making this meal because it's so darn easy to throw together, and tastes like a lot of cheesy goodness!

Normally I make this recipe with a red pepper, but I had a yellow one on hand so I used that instead. So normally you'd see pretty bits of bright red sprinkled throughout the rice.

To save on the food budget, I only use 2 chicken breasts to make this, but if you wanted to be a little heavier on the chicken and less on the rice, you could use 3.

Cheesy Chicken & Corn Rice

Original Recipe

2 chicken breasts

1 big or 2 small onions, chopped

1 red capsicum/bell pepper, chopped

1 cup of frozen or 1 can of corn

1+ cup of shredded cheese

1 cup of uncooked basmati rice (you'll need more if using Minute Rice)

1 Cream of Chicken Soup recipe:

1 Cup water

1 Chicken cube (boullion)

2 TBS butter

3 TBS flour

1/2 cup of milk

Crock Pot Directions:

Put the chicken in crock pot, frozen or thawed. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, or other desired seasonings (sometimes I add a little of Emeril's basic seasoning). Add chopped onion and pepper.

Make the cream of chicken soup recipe: Boil the 1 cup of water and dissolve the chicken cube in it. Reserve 1/2 cup of the chicken broth, and pour the other 1/2 cup into the crock pot with the chicken. Melt butter over low heat, then stir in the flour till thick and smooth. Stir in the 1/2 cup of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of milk. Stir over low/medium heat until thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the chicken in the crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours.

About 20-30 minutes before serving, cook your rice according to the package directions (I mix 1 cup of basmati rice with 2 cups of water, heat to boiling and then simmer on low heat for 15 minutes).

Meanwhile, take the chicken out of the crock pot and shred it with two forks. When rice is done, add the shredded chicken, rice, corn, and cheese back into the crock pot and stir to mix. Allow to cook for a few minutes until everything is heated through.

Serves about 6 people.

Stove Top Directions:

I've never made this on the stove before, but here's how I think it would go.

Cook and shred the chicken. Put your rice on to cook while preparing the rest. Cook the onion and pepper in the butter for 5 minutes until soft. Stir in flour until thick and smooth. Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of milk (add the extra 1/2 cup of chicken broth your chicken cube made if it seems too thick). Stir in chicken and corn, cook till heated through. Stir the chicken mixture and cheese into the rice.

Peanut Butter Smoothie

My friend Laura introduced me to my most recent obsession/addiction: this lovely Peanut Butter Smoothie. As in, I've had one every afternoon for the past 4 days (truth).

It's HOT season right now in India, so a nice cold smoothie just sounds so appealing in the heat of the afternoon. And it's definitely a health bonus to get some Dahi in the system - probiotics are always a good idea to help potential India tummy troubles.

My "measurements" in the recipe below are total guesses - who actually measures anything when making a smoothie? You just scoop and dump in. Except the banana; I do know how to count a banana.

The recipe makes one perfect portion smoothie, like this:

Peanut Butter Smoothie

A few ice cubes (I use about 4)

1 banana

1/2 cup of Dahi/Greek Yogurt

2 TBS peanut butter

1-2 TBS honey

A splash of oatmeal, maybe about 1/4 cup. I love the extra layer of texture (and grains!) it adds

Dump all of the above in a blender, and blend until smooth!

(This makes a fairly runny smoothie, for the record.)

Cute little smoothie drinkers

Taco Pasta - with Healthy Options

Tacos and pasta together in the same meal...what's not to like?!

I found a recipe on Pinterest awhile back for Taco Spaghetti that was the inspiration for this meal, but I made several changes, one major one being the type of pasta I used - Landon and Layla are slightly less messy with shaped pasta than with spaghetti noodles, and I actually like them better in this dish as well. 

The original recipe called for 1 lb of meat, but I only use 1/2 lb of chicken keema, because I also like adding black beans. This version of the recipe serves 5-6 people, and technically I guess it's more of a "halved" version - I use half a jar of salsa, half a packet of taco seasoning (they're precious enough to save the extra half for later).

Up your veggie content: Add extra bell peppers, diced tomatoes, diced zucchini, or chopped spinach! I have started adding chopped spinach and zucchini in every time, and we love it. You can't even taste the spinach, and since there's also chopped cilantro in there, it doesn't look weird either, just extra green! 

Taco Pasta

1/2 lb chicken keema (ground chicken) ** (see footnote)

1 big or 2 small onions, chopped **

1/2 medium red bell pepper, chopped **

1/2 cup salsa

1/2 cup water

1/2 package of taco seasoning, or equivalent seasonings

4-5 jalapenos from the jar, chopped

1 1/2 cups black beans, cooked and rinsed

1 cup frozen corn

Handful of chopped Coriander Leaf (cilantro) 

1 cup of shredded cheese (we like our cheese, so you could use less)

1/2 of a 500 gram package of Rotini, or penne, or similar pasta

Cook the pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, brown the chicken keema along with the onions and red pepper (and zucchini, if using). Add the black beans, water and taco seasoning, and cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until some of the water reduces. Stir in the salsa, jalapenos, and corn (and spinach, if using). Continue cooking on medium heat till everything is heated through.

When pasta is finished cooking, drain and then add to the sauce mixture. Stir well, and then stir in the cheese and chopped coriander leaf. Done!

We love to eat this with tortilla chips - adds extra crunch and a bit of salt! I highly recommend adding the coriander leaf - it adds such a brightness to the dish! I even sprinkle a little extra on mine before serving, because I just love the pop of flavor and smell.
Extra healthy options: Instead of mixing in pasta, serve the chicken/veggie mixture over brown rice, or a bed of lettuce!

Also, for the record, here's the specific type of salsa I like to use:

It's my favorite by far of the 4-5 different types of jarred salsa I've tried out here. I'm even picky enough to prefer the "Wrap Salsa" version over the "Taco Salsa" version by the same brand. It's actually very reasonably priced, as well! If you can find it, I highly recommend it (this is, of course, for India. If you're in America, you have a plethora of great salsa options, and probably not this one). 

** Also, another sidenote tip - when I make this, I actually brown the whole pound of chicken keema with the onion and one whole red pepper, and then I separate half of the mixture into a container to freeze for later use. So easy and helpful!!

Chicken A La King

I love this meal. I have absolutely no idea why it's called Chicken A La King. Apparently it's a Southern thing in America.

But I sure do like eating it! And it has translated well to India.

The extra nice thing is that you could mix up the veggies in this dish to be whatever you like - if you're a mushroom lover (we're not) I'm sure those would go great in this recipe. I've tried adding green bell peppers before (capsicum), and sometime I'd even add green beans. My favorite combo is the below recipe, with peas, corn and carrots.

I serve this over my drop biscuits, and it's just a warm, gooey, comforting food. Almost like chicken pot pie filling over biscuits!

Chicken A La King

Original recipe

Crock pot directions:

3 chicken breasts (thawed or frozen) - 2 if they're really big

1 medium sized or 2 small sized onions, finely chopped

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen corn
1 cup chopped fresh carrots

1 cup chicken broth or water

2 recipes of cream of chicken soup base 

Salt & Pepper to taste

Place your chicken in the crock pot. Add chopped onion and 1 cup chicken broth. Now make the doubled cream of chicken soup base - Melt butter over medium low heat, then stir in flour until bubbly. Stir in 1 cup of chicken broth and 1 cup of milk. Stir over heat until it thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over chicken in crock pot. Cook on low heat for 6-7 hours or high heat for 4-5 hours.

About 1 hour before serving, add your chopped carrots. 30 minutes before serving, take the chicken out of the crock pot and shred with 2 forks. Stir chicken back in, along with peas and corn. Let cook for another 30ish minutes.

Serve over drop biscuits, or you can also use store bought rolls or sliced bread of some kind.

Stovetop directions:

3 chicken breasts, thawed (2 if they're really large)

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup flour

1 medium or 2 small onions, finely chopped

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen corn
1 cup chopped fresh carrots

Salt & Pepper to taste

Cut chicken breasts in half or thirds; poach/boil in chicken broth for 12-15 minutes or until cooked through. Remove and shred/dice chicken. Set aside. You can use this chicken broth for the actual recipe if you save it.

Put the peas/corn in the microwave for 3-4 minutes to thaw out.

Melt butter over medium heat and cook onions and carrots in the butter for 5 minutes or until soft. Add flour, salt & pepper, stirring constantly until bubbly. Remove from heat. Add milk and chicken broth. Return to heat. Stir constantly and boil 1 minute. Stir in chicken, peas, and corn. 

Serve over drop biscuits, or you can use other store bought rolls or sliced bread. 

Simple Drop Biscuits

I was elated when I found a really simple recipe on Pinterest for homemade biscuits made with butter.  

The original recipe calls for the biscuits to be rolled out and cut, and then you can actually freeze them to use at later times. But I got annoyed and frustrated the first time I made them and rolled them out with how long it took, and then decided they would taste just as good as drop biscuits instead of cut out ones, since I was baking them right away and not freezing them.I also personally think they bake up with a much fluffier texture this way than when they've been rolled out. Pretty much...I'm just lazy.

I love these because they're simple, quick, fluffy, and really yummy. I make them to go along with several recipes, to use in a breakfast casserole, or just to eat plain with some butter and honey/jam. They've been my go to bread to make when I wish I could reach for a can of crescent rolls to pop in the oven for dinner. Drop biscuits for the win!

Drop Biscuits

Original recipe

4 Cups of Maida (flour)

2 TBS baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup butter (I use slightly less than one half of the block of butter)

1 3/4 cups milk

About 5-10 minutes before mixing up the biscuits, put your butter in the freezer (just trust me). 

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Then get your butter out of the freezer and grate it into your dry mixture, using the large holes on the grater. This makes it easier to mix the butter in to get the right consistency than trying to cut the butter into tiny pieces and keeping it cold. Work the grated butter into the dry ingredients with your hands until it resembles crumbly sand. Add in the milk and stir with spoon until a ball of dough forms.

Drop the dough by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. I use my large sized Pampered Chef cookie scoop (yes, I brought it with me).

Bake at 220 degrees C (or 450 degrees F) for 10-12 minutes or until the tops start turning golden brown. Makes 16 biscuits.

The grated butter

Looks crumbly enough to make a sand castle!

 Look how fluffy that is? And it was so yummy I didn't think to take a picture of the beautiful fluffiness until my very last bite.

White Chicken Enchiladas

This is possibly my favorite thing I've made in India so far.

White Chicken Enchiladas. We love our Mexican food, even in India!

Here's a link to the original recipe I found on Pinterest. But here's how I make it India style:

White Chicken Enchiladas

3 Chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I throw mine in the crock pot for several hours with some water and chicken broth cubes, then shred)

1 TBS Fajita seasoning, or any kind of taco type seasoning.

2 cups shredded cheese
3 TBS butter

3 TBS flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup Dahi

6-10 chopped up jalapeno slices (the original recipe calls for a can of diced green chiles, but they don't have that here. I did find some jarred jalapenos though, like they put on nachos, and I've found that chopping a few of those up works great!)

8-10 tortillas - you may be able to find them in an import section, but they'll be pricey. So I make my own. Here's the recipe I use for tortillas.

Mix the chicken with the Fajita seasoning. Mix chicken with 1 cup of cheese. Spoon some chicken/cheese mixture onto each tortilla and roll up, placing in a greased baking pan.

In a sauce pan, melt the butter on medium/low heat. Stir in the flour and cook 1 minute. Add the chicken broth and whisk. Heat on medium till thick and bubbly. Stir in the Dahi and chopped jalapenos and cook till heated through, but do not bring to a boil. Pour over the tortillas and top with remaining cheese.

Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees F, 170 degrees C.

Seriously, I love these things. In fact looking at these pictures makes me wish we were having them for dinner tonight. This is probably another recipe I'll transport with me back to the U.S. someday...so delicious!

Basic Pancakes

I thought it was only fitting that the first "Cooking In India Recipe" I share be the one I've made the most frequently since we arrived.

Pancakes.

I could not even begin to tell you the number of these pancakes I've turned out. When we first arrived, we had 3 other friends in the city with us (plus 2 small children!), and life was a little overwhelming. Once Kyle and I got moved into our flat, we went through the process of getting a propane tank to hook up to the incredible four burner cooktop he got me. It took several days, so after multiple weeks of eating out for every meal (or eating peanut butter sandwiches), we celebrated the arrival of our propane tanks by making pancakes. 

The first couple of times I made pancakes I used a recipe that my friend Christina (one of the 3 here with us) got from her grandma. They tasted really good, but they were really complicated, required buttermilk, and I just couldn't quite get them perfect. So I searched for an easy, basic pancake recipe and fell in love. 

Now I make these often just for our family to have for breakfast (or dinner) or frequently I'll make them when all of our friends (now 9!) come over for breakfast on Sunday mornings. (I make a quadruple batch when I'm feeding everyone...see why I can't count the number I've made??)
One of the things I love about India is that their whole wheat flour - Atta - is so much better than the whole wheat flour I used back home! It's much finer so you don't quite notice the difference as much. I used it once in this recipe and have never looked back - it makes the pancakes perfectly fluffy and practically health food with all those Whole Grains.

Even if you're living in America, you should give these a try! After making them so many times and loving them so much, even when we're back in the U.S. I still will probably make these instead of converting back to Bisquick! Here's my India version of this recipe:

I like to make a nice thick batter for fluffier pancakes!

See the fluffiness?

Basic Pancakes

Link to original recipe

1 1/2 cups flour - I recommend using Atta instead of Maida

3 TBS sugar

1 TBS baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 stick melted butter (cut the big cube of butter into 4 sticks, then one stick in half)

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

250 ml of milk (this is slightly less than the original recipe calls for. It calls for 1 1/4 cups, but I've found the 250 ml mark on my Indian liquid measuring cup makes the perfect consistency of pancakes. This would probably be 1 1/8 cup if you're in America)

In one bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients (atta, sugar, baking powder, salt) and in a separate bowl, melt your butter. Microwave your milk for about 30 seconds to bring it closer to room temperature, then add your milk, eggs and vanilla to the melted butter and whisk until well mixed. Slowly whisk in the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until just combined- try not to over mix.

Then you know the drill - pour the prepared batter onto a hot griddle and allow it to cook until little bubbles start popping in the tops of the pancake, and then flip to finish cooking.

I like to top them with a little spread of peanut butter for added flavor (and protein?). So do most of our friends here, which means we go through a lot of peanut butter on Sunday mornings! We've been able to find pancake syrup in the import section, for a high (but worth it!) price.

Enjoy!

What to Bring from America

So, this blog is about learning to cook American food using ingredients available in India. But let's face it...you HAVE to have a few things from America in order to really make American food.

Thankfully, before we moved to India, some friends already living there were able to give me some suggestions of things to bring over from America that aren’t available in India. Like deodarant - yeah, someone figure that one out. Or fitted bedsheets. Did you know those were a luxury, Americans? They just wrap a flat sheet around the bed here and it never stays on straight. 

But I digress; that has nothing to do with cooking.

Here’s my list of what I’d recommend bringing with you from America - a lot of this is purely based on preference though. If you don't ever use something that's listed, then you don't need it! What’s available varies greatly from city to city, and obviously in smaller villages nothing Western is going to be at your fingertips. This is based on my experience in Kolkata, but I know places like Delhi have a few more imported items readily available. Some of these spices may not be things that you normally use, but if so, you can’t find them here.

**August 2015 edit - before you pack anything from America, hop onto Amazon.in and search to see if they have it. Amazon.in has totally changed the ballgame on what's available in India. I've seen vanilla extract on there, I've seen liquid measuring cups - almost anything is available on there now. But a lot of things are still really expensive. So maybe check out your list on Amazon, see what the price is, and then decide if you want to purchase it here or pack it from America.

Baking items:

*Chocolate chips. In abundance, if you’re like me and put them in every baked good possible.  **EDIT: We've actually recently found mini chocolate chips in Kolkata at one random bake shop. No guarantees on availability on these though! 

* Vanilla extract (or peppermint/almond, any other kind you enjoy).
* Dream Whip packets - we have actually found one kind of cream here that is a high enough fat content to whip into whipped cream, but if this is a major need for your pies, you might bring some just in case.
* Crisco - if you're particular about using it for pie crusts, cookies, etc. However, Indians have a version of shortening called "Dalda" that works the same if you can find it.
* Sprinkles (Christmas sugar cookies, anyone?)
* Marshmallows, if that's your thing. Or I guess for sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving (they do have sweet potatoes here! The outsides are purple and the insides are white, but they taste just similar to the orange American ones).

Spices:

* Chili powder – if this is a spice you cook with frequently, I’d recommend bringing some from America. The chili/chile powder they sell here is UNBELIEVABLY hot. I am not joking. The first time I tried it I had to rinse the chicken off with water and it still made my eyes tear up.

* Onion powder

* Garlic powder – they have garlic paste and fresh garlic in abundance, but not garlic powder
(**EDIT: Just this past month, July of 2015, our grocery store started carrying onion powder and garlic powder, so you may not need these).

* Taco seasoning packets – you can obviously make your own if you bring the spices needed, or else stock up on some premade packets.

* Any kind of Mexican/fajita type seasonings. 

* Dry Ranch/Italian dressing powder
* Pumpkin pie spice (I highly recommend Pampered Chef's Cinnamon Plus Spice blend - larger quantity and smaller price than the little jars at the grocery store!)
* Corn Syrup, if you like to use it (I didn't personally bring any)
* Cream of Tartar (again, if you use it, I didn't)
* Powdered Gravy packets, for Thanksgiving or whenever

Miscellaneous:

* Bacon bits – if you like adding that bacon flavor to foods  like green beans (who doesn’t?) I’d recommend tossing in a bag of store bought bacon bits, the real bacon kind. Because many Hindus are pure vegetarians and Muslims also don’t eat pork, pork products can be hard to find or low in quality when you do find them. I love having the bag of premade bacon bits to sprinkle into dishes.

* Grated parmesan cheese, if you like cooking with it. Once, again, it's expensive if you find it here.
* Jello and Pudding packets
* The french fried onions, if you want to make green bean casserole for Thanksgiving
* Cream of mushroom soup - for green bean casserole

* Decaf coffee – Don’t waste your suitcase space on normal coffee, because we discovered the most amazing website ever, www.bluetokaicoffee.com where you can order amazing, great quality coffee that they deliver right to your door in a matter of days. But decaf is very expensive, so pack a bag or two if you enjoy the taste without the punch sometimes.

* Drink packets, like Crystal Light etc.
* A good chef's knife - good knives here aren't as easy to come by, so I'm thankful for a friend's advice to pack my own chef's knife when I'm chopping veggies
* A liquids measuring cup. You can find the measuring cups for dry ingredients here, but the only liquids measuring cup I found was in mL, and that was too annoying to convert all the time. (now available on amazon.in, but expensive)
* Cooling racks for cookies/muffins
* Wax paper for baking etc. Or you can just use parchment paper from Amazon.in

Just For Fun:
Here are some of our favorite things to pack just for fun, when you need a taste of America
* Velveeta
* Cans of Rotel
* Summer Sausage
* Jiffy cornbread & yellow cake mix
* Pepperoni
* Quick baking mixes - cornbread, muffins, garlic biscuits, etc. These aren't essential, but just fun to have every now and then!

The Basics of Cooking in India

Before diving into any recipes, we need to cover the basics of cooking in India. Thankfully, I had some friends give me some of their tips about substitutions, and I also searched Pinterest up and down for a lot of idea. Here are the overall tips/substitutions I've gleaned thus far in my India cooking journey.

Terminology to know:

* Ground chicken = Chicken Keema

* Green bell peppers = Capsicum (obviously red or yellow are called colored capsicum)

* Cilantro = Coriander leaf

* White flour = Maida

* Whole wheat flour = Atta

* Tomato sauce = Tomato puree

* Powdered sugar = Icing sugar
* Sugar, what we consider regular, fine sugar = Castor sugar

* Baking soda = May be called Cooking Soda. Can be hard to find.

* Chili powder = Still called Chile powder, but it is 1000 times hotter than American Chili Powder, so if you use it, use WAY less than the recipe calls for. Think Cayenne pepper hotness. Learned this the hard way and had to rinse our chicken off before we could eat it!

Substitutions/Products to Use:

* In recipes that call for sour cream, use Dahi yogurt. It reminds me of the taste/texture of Greek Yogurt, and is a perfect substitute for sour cream. Friends tell me they use it as sour cream like on tacos, but neither Kyle nor I are big sour cream fans, so I've never tried it. One VERY IMPORTANT thing to note...although this works as a substitute for sour cream or Greek yogurt, dahi does NOT have the same nutritional value as Greek yogurt! It does have some of the same good nutrients as Greek yogurt, but also has about 3 times the fat content. So don't treat this as a health food.

* Anytime a can of cream of chicken soup is called for, make this simple substitute.

* Chicken broth - you can't buy it canned, but you can dissolve what are basically bouillon cubes in boiling water. They'll either come in a boxed package like this:

 Inside are a bunch of mini boxes that have 2 cubes each in them. Two cubes boils in about 4 cups of water, or 1 cube in about 2 cups.

 Or you'll more commonly find them packaged in little bags like this:

These are smaller, individual cubes that boil in just one cup of water. 

* Cheese. I personally can't live without it. Probably in import stores you can find for real cheese that's really expensive, but what I use everyday is a big block called "Processed Cheddar Cheese." It's like the second cousin of Velveeta, but has worked fine in any recipe I've needed cheese. You can also get "mozzarella" cheese that's called "Pizza Cheese." I recommend the Amul brand, or Brittania. I think it melts the best. Gouda cheese is also fairly easy to find (and not crazy expensive) if you'd rather use that.

* Also if you're like me, you love all things pumpkin. Again, you can't get canned pumpkin here, but you can make your own pumpkin puree! This is what the fresh pumpkin here looks like (don't think orange on the outside):

Just scoop the seeds out, place it as face down as possible in a pan with about 1 inch of water, and bake at 400-425 degrees for 1+ hours till you can prick it with a fork. Then puree in a blender or mash it really well with a fork. 15 oz (not quite 2 cups) equals one can of pumpkin.

* Brown sugar - you can find actual brown sugar in some stores around India, but if you're unable to find it, Demerara sugar is an excellent substitute. I've used it in cookies, muffins, etc and the outcome is the same as American brown sugar. In fact, I like it even better than American brown sugar in oatmeal...it's extra good :)

* Black beans - you can't get canned black beans here, unless you want to pay an arm and a leg for them in the import section. But you an get the dry beans and then cook them. They're called "Rajma Jammu" at my grocery store and they look like this:

I also recommend buying a pressure cooker. At first I thought I wouldn't really need one, but then I batted 0 for 3 trying to make black beans. Here's a tutorial on cooking black beans.
The pressure cooker is also a great way to turn fresh green beans into the consistency of canned green beans, which was useful for the green bean casserole at Thanksgiving :)

Some of the recipes I'll post actually use a slow cooker/crock pot - a friend found one import store in Pune that carries crock pots, so I had her pick me one up and carried it on the plane on our way home. But just recently, Amazon.in started carrying them, so check there!

My number one tip about cooking in India...just realize that it is going to take a lot more time than cooking in America, and embrace it as fun! Making everything from scratch and chopping fresh vegetables takes time, but it's worth it.

** As a bonus, if you're addicted to coffee (like me) and could never bring over enough bags of coffee in your luggage to last you, there's hope! www.bluetokaicoffee.com has incredible coffee that they roast when you order it and ship to you super fast, like in about 3 days from when you order it. And it is GOOD.

An Introduction

I’m Tracy. I’m just a Kansas girl who’s, well…not in Kansas anymore. My husband Kyle’s business brought our family to the other side of the world and landed us in Kolkata, India. All sorts of challenges have come from moving to a new country, a HUGE city of 15 million (we don’t have that in Kansas), and especially bringing our two small children, Landon (3) and Layla (2) along with us. **Edit: we took a few month hiatus in America, then returned to India in May 2015 with a new baby, Mason!
It’s an adventure everyday.

When you think of India, you probably expect several challenges: navigating  the crazy traffic, communicating with a language barrier, and surviving the heat. But there’s been one challenge to overcome that I wasn’t really anticipating: cooking. 

I love to cook. I love to bake. But a lot of the essentials I used to do those things in America aren’t readily available in India.

Here’s the thing…I don’t love Indian food. I also don’t hate it. There are a handful of dishes that I really enjoy (give me a bowl full of naan any day, and no one can argue with luchi, aka fried bread). Call me a sheltered, spoiled small city girl, but I just like American food. I like eating it. I like cooking it. So this blog is not the place if you’re wanting to learn how to cook Indian food. This is about my journey of learning to create the “American” food I love with the ingredients available in India. It takes some creativity and a LOT more time than cooking in America, but I’ve come to enjoy it.

Here’s one thing you need to understand up front though. I’m not a foodie. I love food. But I’m not a foodie. I don’t have an adventurous enough palate to enjoy all the exquisite foods chefs make on the Food Network (although I love watching them create it). I cook and eat food that your everyday, average homemaker likes to cook and eat.

Another reason I’m not an official foodie: I don’t like seafood. The only fish I really eat is tilapia, and that’s about as least fishy of a fish as you get. I used to like shrimp, and then had a bad shrimp experience while pregnant with Landon and it’s been over ever since then. But I know there are a lot of great seafood recipes out there, just not here.

I also only like white meat in poultry. You’ll never see me cook something with anything other than a chicken breast (dark meat is just so slimy, ya know?) But I bet you could substitute chicken thighs in most of my recipes and just adjust the cooking time a bit.

One final disclaimer: I’m not a creative cook. I love cooking…from recipes. So although I’ll share lots of adapted-for-India recipes, I’ll always try to link back to the original recipe I referenced (which is usually from Pinterest. How did people cook before Pinterest?)

So that’s me, and that’s what this blog is all about. Hope you enjoy and get some good ideas!