The blog that started as a pet project has flourished into something a lot more meaningful— it has become a community! There is nothing more gratifying than building a platform that moves others while moving you at the same time and that is what this blog means to me. I love all the food you make, but more than that, I love how many of you have taken up cooking as a burgeoning passion. As I close three years of my blog, I also complete another milestone— a community of 30,000 on my Instagram handle! I can’t believe how far we have come. From what was an ugly little black and yellow WordPress site to a magazine that encompasses stories of passion, vulnerabilities, and aspirational (not inspirational, and yes there is a difference!) in multiple formats (check out the podcast if you haven’t yet!). I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate this moment than to showcase all the meals that you have been making!

Of the 123 entries submitted, these five cooks were the best. They had a great recipe, a beautiful shot, or just a wonderful story. This post is dedicated to all of you. Thank you so much for being a part of my life ❤️

Burmese Khaowsuey

Dinika Khatri, 21, Mumbai

There’s something about doing what you love, and when it’s around food, who wouldn’t love it more! My love for being in the kitchen and cooking for my loved ones began as early as a young school girl. Evolving from standing next to mom to having her asking to cook her favourite dishes has been a wonderful journey. You know that one dish is worth repeating (and being in my own imaginary cookbook one day) if she says she liked it.
With the world under lockdown, there had to be some way of being able to eat restaurant favourites at the comfort of your home. Here’s how I created my The Burmese Khowsuey with limited ingredients at home!

For the stock
Oil, Onion, Carrots, Ginger, Garlic, Green chillies, Few peppercorns
For the curry
Oil as required, Vegetables of choice (chopped), Coconut milk (or you could make some at home), Turmeric powder, Ginger juliennes, Garlic, Sugar, Lime juice, Soy sauce, Salt and pepper to taste, Coriander leaves and spring onions for garnish
For the accompaniments
Hakka noodles (boiled), Fried Garlic, Fried Onion, Spring onion greens, Lime wedges, Chilli flakes, Roasted Peanuts (sautéed in chilli powder), Coriander leaves

Method

1. To start with the stock, in a saucepan heat some oil and add all the ingredients. Char these well. Fill the saucepan with water and let it boil on a low flame for a few hours.

2. For the curry, In a pan, heat oil, add ginger juliennes and garlic. I added green chillies for

3. some extra spice which is completely optional. Next, add in the vegetables of your choice.

4. Then goes in the turmeric, a little bit of sugar, lime juice, salt and pepper. Let these vegetables cook a little, and then you add in your coconut milk. If you do not have coconut milk, you can make some using coconut pieces and hot water. Blend these together, and strain it and voila, that’s your homemade coconut milk.

5. With this, add in your stock, ladle by ladle according to your consistency. Add some soy sauce for flavour. Let this boil for about 8-10 mins. Check for seasoning and then add coriander leaves and spring onion greens for garnish.

6. Also, I grilled some prawns in oyster sauce separately as a non-vegetarian option!

Peanut Sesame Noodles

Harini Rama, 28, New York City

Working from home? Struggling to find dedicated time to make your meals in the middle of your workday? Here's a quick fix meal with basic ingredients that most of us already have in our fridge:

Ingredients
200g of any variety of stir fry noodles (just try and avoid rice noodles)
5-6 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 cup of chopped cilantro

For the sauce
3 tablespoons of peanut satay sauce or 2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon of regular soy sauce
1 tablespoon of sweet soy sauce
2 tablespoons of sesame oil
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
2 - 3 tablespoons of chilli oil, (alternates - chilli flakes or chopped green chillies to make it spicy)

Method

1. Cook the noodles as per the instructions on its cover. No need to add extra salt if it doesn't call for it.

2. Toast the sesame oil, and add the minced garlic to it. Let it cook until the raw smell of the garlic goes away, stirring occasionally.

3. f you're using green chillies or chilli flakes for the spice, add now, until the oil is infused with the spice.

4. In a mixing bowl, add the sauce ingredients and mix well (soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, rice vinegar, peanut satay or peanut butter). Now add the cooked noodles and toss until the noodles are well coated with the sauce.

5. Finish it off by adding in the chopped cilantro. You can also add crushed peanuts, or spring onion greens for extra crunch!

Eid Ki Kheer

Sakshi Rane, 19, Bangalore

Festivities I believe are those opportunities you should never miss to indulge in a good dessert. Most Indian and international desserts come with other cons like excessively loaded with refined sugar, flour and some unhealthy fats. I have always made it a conscious effort to make some of the best desserts a little less sinful. This rice kheer is one of those babies of mine. Not only does it require just pantry staples, but also packs in the creamiest kheer experience ever minus the guilt.

It’s got the perfect balance of aromatics like saffron and cardamom and the lovely texture from the mushy rice. This one feels like a warm hug. Let us now jump into the recipe.

Ingredients

Serves 4-5

3 tbsp of Basmati rice

500 ml of full-fat milk

0.5 cups of powdered jaggery

a pinch of saffron strands

0.5 tsp of powdered cardamom

1 tsp of slivered almonds

1 tsp of chopped pistachio

1 tsp of chopped cashew nuts

2 tbsp of ghee/clarified butter

Method

1. Wash the rice until water runs clear and soak it in some water for 30 minutes.

2. In the meanwhile, heat the milk on a low heat while stirring it continuously. Scrape the cream of the sides of the vessel to get the creamiest kheer.

3. After the rice is soaked, drain the water and mildly crush the rice in a mortar & pestle to break it into halves. (Do not crush it to a powder)

4. Add the crushed rice into the boiling milk and stir well.

5. Add the powdered cardamom too.

6. Soak the pinch of Kesar in 1 tbsp of warm milk aside.

7. Stir the milk-rice mixture well until it is cooked. The rice should turn mushy. This should take you about 30 minutes.

8. On another pan, add the jaggery and 2 tbsp of water and heat it until it dissolves only.

9. Add the jaggery syrup into the rice-milk mixture and give it a stir. Cook it for another 3-5 minutes.

10. Now, add the soaked saffron to the kheer.

11. Finally, fry the nuts in the ghee until golden and pour the tempering over the kheer.

12. The most beautiful Eid Ki Kheer is ready to be devoured. Serve it warm or chilled as per preference.

Vanilla Cherry Soft Serve

Shikha Gulecha, 22, Chennai

So I lost my grandmother a month ago due to cardiac arrest and it was a nightmare. I wanted to chug tubs of Ice cream as I lost my best friend but the lockdown made it impossible for us to step out.
She was someone who always enjoyed cooking for others. She's my inspiration for starting out food blogging. Luckily I had few ingredients handy and I was able to make this super easy and quick Ice cream.

Recipe
Whipping cream - 180 ml
Condensed Milk - 175 ml
Homemade berry compote (Strawberries, Raspberries & Blueberries) - 1/2 cup

Method

1. Whisk the condensed milk until it's light and fluffy.

2. Add whipped cream and mix until everything is well combined.

3. Add a layer of the cream mixture and swirl in the berry compote (it has vanilla extract) and repeat this until you've used ur cream mix completely.

4. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 12 hours.

5. Uncover, scoop it out and enjoy!

Pan Fried Dumplings

Richa Gupta, 33, Pune

These momos are not a regular momo that we get on the streets and I can bet you that once you try this, you will not crave for those street style momos, EVER :D
Well, how's it different?

Let's talk stuffing.  The combination of Spinach and Paneer is anyday very good but crushed walnuts add the TASTE BOMB to it. And the best part is, there is no grating of veggies, no squeezing. It is that simple to make. Just chop and cook. Done.

Now making. These dumplings have a roasted, crispy base and soft top. And the sesame seeds on the bottom, wao. Exotic :) Moreover, I find steaming momos a hassle.

Last and the soul of momos - ''The Sauce''. I know we love momos because of its teekhi red chutney but chilli oil sauce tastes so good. It's tangy, sweet and spicy. Love it. I love this sauce so much that I even eat it with noodles, fried rice, spring rolls. And guess what, I even made the chilli oil at home. It is so easy and quick to make that now you will find it in my kitchen all the time.

Making momos at home is a task. You end up spending so much time in the kitchen and in the end, you get to eat just 5 momos. But for me, it is an art. It is so therapeutic. Especially shaping momos. I even involve my husband in it and even after following my instructions as it is, he ends up innovating some new shapes. I would say that making momos could be a family bonding exercise. What do you say?

Dumpling Wrapper

Ingredients

1 Cup Refined Flour

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

1 teaspoon salt

Water - 1 + 1⁄4 Cup

1. Boil water.

2. Take whole wheat flour and refined flour in a bowl. Add salt to the flour. Mix everything.

3. Add water in the flour bowl and make a dough. Add water in parts. Knead till you get a

   soft & firm dough. Firm dough means it should be able to hold its shape. Adjust the volume of water needed accordingly. Every flour is different and needs a different amount of water to make a soft dough.

4. Once it is done, cover the dough and set aside for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, let’s prepare the stuffing.

Stuffing

Ingredients

Finely Chopped Spinach: 2 cups (200 gm) Paneer: 250 gm
Crushed Walnut: 1⁄4 cup
Oil - 1 Tbsp

1.  Heat a pan and add oil to it.

2.  Add your chopped spinach in the pan and let it cook on high flame. Cook till all the

   moisture is evaporated. We don’t want a soggy stuffing.

3. Crumble paneer and add to the spinach. Paneer will also release some moisture but

   saute it on high flame till moisture is evaporated.

4. Once spinach and paneer is done, switch off the flame and add crushed walnut to the

   mixture. Mix well and let it cool.

5.  Once it is cooled down, add salt and mix. Now it is time to shape & cook dumplings.

Pan-Fried Dumplings

1. Take a ball from the dough and roll it on a large surface. It could be your kitchen slab too. Dust some flour on the surface, as needed. Also, do not worry about the perfectly round shape. We are going to cut it with a mould or in my case a jar lid :)

2. Do not roll it very thin as it will be tough to make a shape with that.

3. Once it is rolled, take a cutter or any jar lid (around 5 cm diameter) and cut circles from the rolled dough. We need a large cutter here to make sure that the shape comes out nice and clean.

4. Take the wrapper and place around 1 tbsp of stuffing in the centre. Shape the wrappers and seal the edges.

5. Heat a pan and brush some oil on it. Sprinkle some sesame seeds.

6. Place your dumplings on the pan but do not overcrowd. Cook on medium-low flame till the bottom of the momos are slightly golden and roasted.

7. To the pan, add 1⁄4 cup of water and cover the pan. Let the momos cook in the steam. Once the water is evaporated, let the dumplings sit on the pan for another minute.

8. Take out on a plate. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and spring onions on top & Serve with chilli oil sauce.