Thai Soup (Tom Yum)

As far as soups go, this is my favourite.

You are probably familiar with the Thai soup that incorporates coconut milk and lemon-grass. It's commonly known as Tom Kha Gai soup and blasphemous as it may sound, I don't like it because I am allergic to coconut.

You have probably have noticed by now, lemony flavours are special to me. Therefore the other, slightly lesser famous variant, Tom Yum, appeals to my taste-buds.

I had this soup when I was six years old and there has been nothing to beat this delicious, steaming concoction, specially on a rainy and/or chilly winter night. I male this frequently (though never end up noting it down, thanks to my horrific busy schedule) and last time when I made it, I had a sore throat. Interestingly (although predictably), it helped soothe my throat.

There are a number of great versions available online but I wanted something that reminded me of the first time I tasted this soup in my hometown. It's Indianised, no doubt, but it's gorgeous! This is my version through repeated trials (based on the varieties I've tasted in Kolkata, India) and it comes really, really close to those.

PS: It's also a good way to get mushroom haters (like my brother) eat mushrooms.

Shallow Fried Calamari Rings with a Twist

Squids or calamari is a widely popular seafood with a very rich flavour. These are cooked in a number of ways but the most popular variant, perhaps, is fried calamari rings. I found the recipe first in the BBC food blog. That recipe, in itself is quick and wonderful to taste. It has a simple yet rich sea flavour and is a wonderful hit among almost everyone. And if you are anything like my Dad, you are adverse to strong sea flavours. However if you are totally like my Dad and somewhat like my partner, you'll want a spicy twist on everything that comes within inches of your mouth (and/or nose).

Enter, my partner and his culinary experiments. He has an enviable spice cabinet, and an even more enviable sense of flavours and combination. I have given up counting how many times I have been sceptical about his experiments in the kitchen and then forgot about my health (diet) mission while tucking into it. But I think I am starting to trust his gut feelings. Also, we skipped the beaten eggs so that the rings do not get over-burdened. That's where I'll stop the trash-talking and take you to the calamari rings recipe with a spicy twist.

Reshmi Kabab

The name says it all. Reshmi kabab (kebab) is the ultimate delight in the kebab category due to its incredible melt-in-the-mouth softness (and hence the name reshmi). I came across the idea of making this through this website but I must admit it was a failure. I knew it would be disappointing because the recipe was something that reminded me strongly of Tandoori chicken, but the almonds kept me going because I really didn't want to believe that an about.com recipe would fail, but it did. It was far from the silken soft texture that this dish is all about. So I was looking up at other websites for a solution. I looked here and here and here and I knew one thing was common. It was the cream used instead of the yoghurt. I was not sure if the heavy cream would work so well. But then this wonderful thing happened. Also I played a little with the spices to get it accurate. I hope you'll enjoy it.