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Moringa Shrimp- Chemmeen Aviyal Recipe

✇Cooking with Thas
By: Thas
2 October 2025 at 17:36
Moringa-Drumsticks & Shrimp- Chemmeen together tastes delicious. One of the combinations I love the most is moringa & shrimp. I make curries and stir fries with them. This time I made this Kerala style aviyal. Aviyal is a traditional Kerala vegetarian dish made with mixed vegetables & ground coconut. It’s one of the dishes served …

Baked root vegetables

✇Mildly Indian
By: mildlyindian
18 September 2025 at 00:08
baked root vegetables
Why would you skip a platterful of colourful vegetables, that are a perfect side, salad or morning hash? Enjoy the starchy bites of roasted goodness.
It is a small respite from the numerous Indian festivals and the chill in the air is still hanging around. Therefore a perfect time to get that platter or baked root vegetables out. I like baked root vegetables a bit more than pan roasted ones for the following reasons
  • They are one pot so much less effort.
  • The starchier sweetness improves your baking adding a ton more cozy feeling.
  • When I bake my kitchen is warm at the same time.
  • It is a recipe that you can do as a big batch with minimal prep and have all week long in the fridge.
  • It pairs well with pasta, rice or any grains,can be rolled as wraps or made into a salad.

Ingredients for baked root vegetables.

The vegetables: the baked vegetable tray is one recipe that allows you so much flexibility in terms of what you can have. You can make it as colourful as you like or as monochrome as you prefer. Here is a list of vegetables I like to throw into the tray.

  • Sweet potatoes
  • Carrot
  • Turnip
  • Potato
  • Radish
  • Swedes
  • Beetroot

For roasting: Olive oil, salt and herbs are the ones that work. The herbs I have chosen is rosemary and oregano. You can use thyme or basil as well. 

Lets make baked root vegetables

The baked vegetables is the best use of a roasting tray.

Prep the vegetables: choose starchy tough vegetables to start with. Wash thoroughly. Cut them into big chunks or dices as you prefer. Keep the beets separately. The carrots, potato sweet potato, radish, parsnip, swedes, turnip can all go together.

Coat them in flavours. Since the vegetables are going to be soft and bland, it is best to coat them with flavours. Sprinkle salt, pepper abd drizzle oil and toss them well. For flavours I prefer to add fresh study herbs that just dont burn away. Rosemary, oregano and thyme are my first choice. Go with what feels natural to you. You can replace the pepper with chilli flakes if you like the heat. Lets the vegetable mix sit while you preheat the oven
Ensure that the beets are coated and kept separate.

Bake: preheat the oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes. Place the vegetables on a roasting tray. Spread them out evenly. Poke in pieces of beets into the gaps so they cook along. Roast the vegetables for 35 to 40 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius on heat both from up and down. Half way through the time, flip the vegetables over to ensure even roasting. After about 35 minutes the vegetables will be ready and fork tender. Remove from heat and direct to the table. Or cool and proceed for storage.

baked vegetables

Meal prep and storage

The baked root vegetables are wonderful to add bulk to any meal or in the lunch box.

Is this a vegan recipe?

Baked root vegetable is an excellent vegan platter. It is filling, a mix of good healthy fibre and carbs and perfect for any vegan meal.

How to make baked root vegetables into a salad?

Once you have the baked veggies in meal prep you can have a hearty salad with it. For the dressing I prepare a generous mix of lemon and lime juice with some pepper and salt. Then you need some freshness. Chop up some tomatoes, a cucumber and handful of oregano, mint and parsley. Add all this into the mixing bowl with double the quantity of baked vegetables. Pour the dressing over it. Toss well and serve immediately. They are great sides to meals and double up as salads. You can add a bunch to your breakfasts to as hash.

How do you ensure the beets don’t leech the colour all over?

There are a couple of ways you can achieve this. If you peel chop and place the beets separately, then place them on the tray to bake it will have zero leaching.
Another method is to ensure you add the beets right at the end, a quick toss in the oil and salt and straight into the oven.

Print

Baked root vegetables

Course Main Dish
Cuisine Baking, gluten free, Vegan
Keyword pot luck recipes, vegetarian barbecue, Winter warmers
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 6

Equipment

  • baking trays
  • Cutting board
  • Knife

Ingredients

  • 3 medium sized carrots
  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 1 turnip
  • 1 swedes
  • 1 large beetroot
  • 1 medium sized potatoes
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt to taste
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 5-7 leaves oregano

Instructions

  • Wash, peel and cut the vegetables into big chunks.
  • Add them to the baking tray.
  • Tuck in rosemary and oregano.
  • Spinkle salt and drizzle oilve oil and massage it in.
  • Preheat the oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes.
  • Place the tray in the oven to bake.
  • Bake for 30 minutes.
  • About 15 minutes in turn the vegetables for even baking.
  • After 30 minutes, check if the vegetables are fork tender.
  • The vegetables are then ready to be served.

Other baked recipes from us that make a good mealprep

Baked whole cauliflower

Dried peas nuggets

Baked veggie sheek kebabs

Paneer puffs

Stay connected

Hope you enjoy making this batch of low effort baked root vegetables. When you make your batch using this recipe, do share your thoughts and improvements in the comments below.
Pin this for later.
Stay subscribed see you in the next post. 

baked root vegetables

Okoy | Filipino mixed vegetable fritters and sweet vinegar dipping sauce

✇Mildly Indian
By: mildlyindian
13 July 2025 at 17:00
Mixed veg fritter
Turn your ordinary fritters into something amazing the way the Filipinos make it. Try this okoy recipe loaded with veggies and the sweet vinegar dipping sauce ( pink vinegar sauce) to go with it.
When we were living in the Philippines, my son went to a kindy and learnt a children’s song.
The “” Bahay kobo song” that every kid knows in Tagalog. It is a song about a village house surrounded by vegetables and fruits.  The song was more beneficial for me than to him as I could navigate the veggie open market, on my own, with this song and knowing a few numbers to calculate the prices. I felt less alien and more like I belong. Little did people near me know that i was humming this song on repeat so I knew what to ask for.
Following learning this song, i learnt to make the street food okoy from the kindy mums.  Filled with a lot of vegetables the fritter is crisp flat and always hits the right notes.  The song always felt right with the okoy always and is a lovely memory of the kids growing up.

What is okoy?

The veggie loaded Filipino style fritters is called okoy or ukoy. Classic okoy is made with shrimps, however the pumpkin or vegetable version is equally popular. Made with rice flour the street style snack is gluten free, vegan and nut free.  It can hide a lot of finely shredded vegetables and hence is a perfect recipe for hidden veggies fritter. It is usually served with a sweet pink vinegar based dipping sauce that balances out the deep fried effect. 

Ingredients to make Filipino fritters

The filipino  fritter doesn’t look like it hides a lot, but the flavour is partly from this deception. the Main flavour come from the vegetable mix you choose.
Vegetable mix:this is where you literally get to play god. As long as you have some starchy veggies to hold everything together, you can literally add any vegetable to this mix. I like cabbage, pumpkin,carrot, shallots in this recipe. You can add sweet potato, capsicum, potato, beans, corn, kohlrabi and any Asian greens you like.  So feel free to vary based on what you have. Here is what I will avoid in this mix cucumbers, tomato,  bottle gourd and winter melons are not suitable as they make the batter too runny.
Glutinous rice flour: also known as sticky rice flour or sweet rice flour, is a high starch content flour used in Asian cooking.  i use the flour to vegetable mix ratio as 1: 1. For every cup of grated vegetable use 1 cup of glutinous rice flour. You can use all-purpose flour instead of rice flour. A table spoon of cornflour  with the all purpose flour makes the fritters crisp. Otherwise the fritter goes limp pretty fast.
Seasoning:not much of spices are added to this recipe. It is usually just salt and pepper that is added.
Oil: peanut oil or vegetable oil id used for frying the fritters this is just based on your preferences. For the authentic flavors peanut oil is the best.

Ingredients the make pink vinegar dipping sauce

Vinegar: the dipping sauce with plain cooking vinegar cuts through the deep fried fritter and make the dipping sauce an excellent combo. You can make it with cooking white vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
Onion: the red onion when soaked in the vinegar provides a pink hue to the dipping sauce. This is why the red one is preferred. If you don’t have  it  yellow brown onion will do just fine.
Sugar: the dipping sauce is made sweeter than usual by stirring in some sugar. Though it feels odd the combination tastes good with the fried fritter.
Salt: salt balances the sauce flavours. General table salt will provide the necessary flavour.
okoy fritter
Lets make sweet dipping vinegar
  • The pink colour takes a few minutes to seep in so I prefer making the dipping sauce first.
  • The pink dipping sauce is so easy to make.
  • Finely chop the red onion and add it to a bowl, add the vinegar, salt and sugar.
  • Stir well and set it aside for 10 minutes.
Now, let’s make the okoy fritters
  • I have used cabbage, pumpkin, carrots, a small capsicum that grew in the garden to make this recipe.
  • Grate these so that they make a  easy mix and cook evenly.
  • Add these into the mixing bowl. Use 1:1 ratio of glutinous flour to vegetable grated.
  • Add the flour, salt and crushed black pepper.
  • Mix this well and set aside for 10 minutes. do not add any water as the vegetables will provide enough moisture.
  • Heat oil in a pan . Once oil is hot, lower the heat to medium.
  • Scoop and shape the batter in to flat  and as far as round you can. Then gently place in the oil. Let this cook on on side and gently flip to the other side.
  • Once both sides are golden and crispy, remove and drain from oil.
  • The okoy is ready to have.

Meal prep the okoy

Okoy is a favorite in the lunch boxes and as after school snacks. So,  yes we meal prep them. Once you make them cool them well and store in tight lidded boxes. This will ensure they don’t go soggy. Store them in the refrigerator for up to a week. To reheat  them I prefer a flat pan or the toaster. This keeps them crisp and not go soft.
Print

Okoy

Course Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine Filipino
Keyword fritters, Lunch recipes, pot luck recipes
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings 4 people

Equipment

  • frying pan
  • grater
  • mixing bowls and spoons.

Ingredients

for the batter

  • 4 cups mixed vegetable grated ( I have used carrot, cabbage, pumpkin and sweet potato)
  • 1 cup glutinous rice flour
  • 2 tbsp scallions chopped
  • salt to taste
  • 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper

for frying

  • 1 cup cooking oil

for the sweet vinegar dipping sauce

  • 1/2 cup vinegar distilled
  • 1 small red onion
  • 1 medium green chilli
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • salt to taste use a little at a time

Instructions

For the sweet vinegar dipping sauce

  • Peel, wash an finely chop the onion and chillies.
  • Add this into a mixing bowl, with vinegar, salt, sugar and the chillies.
  • Set this aside for the pink colour of the onions to infuse.
  • If keeping for longer, store in the fridge in a tight jar.

For the filipino fritter dough

  • Peel and grate carrots, pumpkin and sweet potato.
  • Grate the cabbages and add to the mixing bowl.
  • Chop the scallions and add to the mix.
  • Add the rice flour, salt and pepper to this mix.
  • Mix well and set it aside.

For frying the okoy

  • Heat oil in a frying pan on medium heat.
  • Scoop a bit of the batter and place in the warm oil.
  • Gently flatten the surface.
  • Once the sizzling slows down, flip over and cook the other side as well.
  • Once it crisps up, remove from oil.
  • Serve warm with dipping sauce.

Other recipes from the Filipino cuisine

We have not written about a lot of recipes from the Philippines. Here is a couple we have posted.
Pancit bihon
Ampalaya salad

Stay connected

Hope you enjoy making this comforting but unique street style Filipino recipe. Initially it is hard to understand how the vinegar is the best combo till you actually try it. The veggie loaded bite is perfectly balanced by the acidic sweetness of the dipping sauce. 
We enjoy having these a lot and take some in a lunch boxes. 
Share with us in the comments if you enjoyed making okoy in the comments below.
Pin this for later
Stay subscribed and see you in the next post.

Shepuchi Bhaji (Stir fried Dill leaves dish)

✇Pinch Of Swad
By: noreply@blogger.com (Vandana Pai Badal- (VPB))
4 May 2020 at 16:06
Shepuchi bhaji is a well known Maharashtrian dish. Very popular food amongst villagers and farmers. It falls under the category of either you Love it or Hate it, more or less like Karela (bitter gourd). It has a cult followers of its own if you ask me heheh and I am one of them. I can polish off my plate when I get served these cult vegetable curries like karela, shepu(dill), bitter beans etc. My husband is just the opposite, he doesn't like it at all. One other reason I look forward to make it as I make it once in a while :)


It is used as a herb in western countries. Dill has been used for culinary and medicinal purposes for hundreds of years. Apart from giving a strong, tangy, appetizing flavor and taste, it possesses plenty of medicinal properties. It is very good for health and has a pretty green color on it. Used these days for garnish, flavoring and for styling food plates to present on Internet handles, it is has multipurpose value- so Dill ain't going anywhere soon :)



I have enjoyed it so much while growing up- eating it with jowar bhakri or rice bhakri elevates its taste 10 folds more. I sill get all nostalgic when I visit my hometown in Belgaum and step into our family friends home, that aroma always lingers in their house. Have you ever experienced that? Every house has its own typical aroma and energy around it.



Anyways coming back to Shepu- my moms fav dish is shepu Idlis...well that is one thing which I am not a great fan of maybe because we add loads of jaggery in it... my tastebuds go crazy where ever it finds spice. Even now when I visit home there is a list of things that I want from my moms kitchen and Shepuchi, methichi bhajis are one of them. I am actually drooling as I am writing this as its dinner time and I cant wait to get my hands on it :)

Lets check the simple recipe:


Ingredients: 
  • 2 bunch of Dill leaves (about 21/2 cups of chopped dill)
  • 4-5 garlic pods chopped (large in size)
  • 3 green chillies slit
  • 1 onion med size chopped
  • 1/4th cup toor dal soaked for 30 mins (or split yellow moong dal)
  • 1 tbsp grated coconut for garnish
  • 1/4th tsp jaggery 
  • 3 tbsp oil
  • salt to taste






Preparation:
  • Clean and wash Dill leaves for a couple of times. It is usually muddy by the roots, so clean it nicely.
  • Chop the leaves and keep aside.
  • Soak the toor dal in little water for about 30 minutes and drain the water.
  • Heat oil in a pan, then add garlic, saute for a few seconds. Add onions and chillies, saute and let it cook till onions are translucent. 
  • Add toor dal and mix it well, add 2 tbsp water and cook it covered for 5-6 minutes.
  • Now add the dill leaves, salt, jaggery and mix everything nicely. Close the lid and let it cook for another 5-6 minutes. Do not add water. It gets cooked in the steam that gets generated. If need be then add very little water. 
  • Garnish with grated coconut and serve hot with roti, yogurt, rice etc
Njoy cooKing!

Health Benefits:

Dill is packed with micronutrients that provide health benefits. It is a good vitamin A intake that helps you to maintain healthy vision, skin, immune function, growth, and reproductive health. You'll also get a significant boost of vitamin C, an important antioxidant that helps your body to resist infection. Dill is also a good source of fiber, folate (important for cell division and production of DNA), calcium for healthy bones, riboflavin for cell function and development, manganese, and iron.
Dill has been used for centuries in traditional Asian and Ayurvedic medicine. Currently, people use dill for certain medicinal purposes, including: Gastrointestinal disorders  Loss of appetite, Kidney disease, Flatulence, Fever and colds, Cough, Bronchitis, Urinary tract disorders, Hemorrhoids, Insomnia and other sleep disorders.
source:https://www.verywellfit.com

Moving Forward and Coping

✇Give Me Some Spice!
By: Mina Joshi
9 October 2022 at 11:39

Thank you very much to all of you who have got in touch personally or through social media asking why I have not posted anything on my blog recently.  Some of you have asked for Read More ...

The post Moving Forward and Coping appeared first on Give Me Some Spice!.

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