Purée de Petits Pois Recipe (Mashed Peas)

Mashed potatoes are my guilty pleasure. For this version, green peas complement the flavor of this version and gives a beautiful color and wonderful texture to the purée.

My baby girl is already over 5 months old and I've started introducing solid food to her in the past 2 weeks. I've given her a diversity of vegetables already. Today, I tried feeding  her legumes and made some baby food for her using peas. They're perfect because they're starchy and have a wonderful texture. I passed them through a large mesh sieve to remove the "skin" from the peas, which gave me the idea of making something similar for the family.

Tandoori Mattar Paneer Recipe

After editing the grilled tandoori shrimp recipe yesterday, I couldn't help but feel the urge to make a similar dish today for dinner. Given that I have so many vegetarians in the house, I opted for a mattar paneer dish (peas and cheese) flavored with tandoori paste.

In the morning, I made fresh homemade  paneer cheese (it's ultra easy). Later, I marinated the paneer cubes in tandoori paste, which dressed them in a beautiful crimson red color. The rest is the usual paneer masala recipe that my husband Lulu loves so much. I used fresh green peas from a local Indian market for color, texture and nutrition.

This recipe isn't strictly authentic since I combined two dishes I learned from my husband's late grandmother Baji. But your taste buds won't complain, I promise.

Aloo Gobi Recipe with Purple Cauliflower and Potatoes

Aloo gobi is an Indian vegetarian dish made with potatoes (aloo) and cauliflower (gobi). I gave a little twist to the dish by using purple cauliflower and Peruvian purples, which are Fingerling-sized, purple-tinted potatoes. Except for these changes, the recipe remains the same.

The lilac color from the cauliflower slightly fades once it's cooked, but it's still a great addition of color to the Indian dish. It stokes curiosity and brings a new experience to the dinner table. I've made the same recipe using orange cauliflower and sweet potatoes in the past, and it also worked quite well.

Now, I'm off to test carrot purée using Okinawan sweet potatoes and purple carrots. I’ve been having way too much fun with this!

Mattar Tofu Paneer (Indian Tofu Recipe)

Mattar paneer is a dish made with peas and Indian cheese. This time, I decided to make the same flavorful dish, but with fewer calories. To accomplish this, I substituted firm tofu in place of traditional paneer cheese.

I fried cubes of tofu the same way as I would paneer, then simmered them in a delectable, creamy onion and tomato curry sauce with green peas. If you’re looking to make a foray into veganism, this is the perfect way to start (see tips).

Of course, if - like my father-in-law - you feel cheated by the absence of golden chunks of fried cheese, you can always try the traditional mattar paneer recipe. I won’t tell!

Aloo Gobi Recipe

Aloo gobi is an Indian vegetarian dish made with potatoes (aloo), cauliflower (gobi) and Indian spices. I also added peas, tomatoes and the usual ginger garlic paste.

I think aloo gobi was the first Indian dish I ever cooked when I got married. It's very easy to assemble all the ingredients, making it a good introduction to Indian cooking. First, a paste is formed from the spices, and then the vegetables are cooked in the paste until soft. Even though children may not love cauliflower, it is actually a kid-friendly dish. I’ve found it’s a great way to get my little munchkin to eat her vegetables. I just reduce the number of chiles, and serve it with a warm roti (flat Indian bread). Today I made it for us big kids, so I served it with basmati rice.

If you’re looking to try your hand at Indian cuisine, this is a great place to start!