PETPUJA. COM

Welcome to Petpuja.com, where we savour every aspect of food! From cooking delicious recipes to unravelling food myths, we're your culinary companion. Join us as we explore the science, history, and stories behind every bite. Subscribe now and embark on a flavorful journey with us!

Search This Blog

Home
About
Top Post on Indiblogger
Top Post on Blogchatter
Media

Showing posts with the label homemade meals

View all

Posts

Why Home-Cooked Food Still Wins Every Time: Health, Taste & Tradition

Posted by Neerja Bhatnagar on June 19, 2026

Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

Podcast - PETPUJA DOT COM

FOOD ITEMS FROM "Q"

"Q" is an alphabet, not many food items start with. I would like to recorrect this - not many Indian food items start from "Q". Anyway, now, as they say, the world is shrinking (literally and metaphorically too), so let us take food items from Q, irrespective of their origins. Before listing the other food items, I will share what comes to my mind with Q - this one is everybody's favourite - Quaker's oats. Quaker is a popular brand that produces many healthy(?) breakfast options. The other is Quesadilla is a Mexican Pic Wikipedia dish made with a tortilla filled with cheese and other fillings. There is a post in my blog about it. Please do check here . It has an Indian cousin invented by Indian mothers made with the available leftover roti and sabzi. :) Even Quinoa (pronounced as k iː n . w ɑ) is something we have recently introduced to. When I read about it and searched online, I found it very expensive. But to my Pic : Wikipedia surprise, I went to...

Gujarati Thali @ Iscon Thaal - Review Post

When I relocated to Ahmedabad from the Delhi-NCR region over two decades ago, I found respite in the city's milder summers. Unlike the relentless heat of North India, where April through June offers no reprieve from the scorching temperatures even at dawn or dusk, Ahmedabad's mornings and evenings were once an oasis of coolness. However, over the years, the tendrils of climate change have also insidiously tightened their grip on this city. The early morning hours are still cool, duration is reduced, blending into an oppressive daytime heat even from 9 AM, and the evenings, which used to bring a soothing breeze, are often stifling. The increasing intensity and duration of heatwaves, driven by global climate change, have not only made summers harsher but also strained the city's resources and tested the resilience of its inhabitants. The transformation is a stark reminder of the broader environmental crisis, reflecting how even the most familiar of climates can become hostile...

The Lost Tradition of Homemade Snacks in Indian Homes

Why Indian Kitchens Always Had a Dabba of Homemade Snacks There was a time when almost every Indian kitchen had a particular sound — the metallic clink of a round steel dabba being opened. Before fancy airtight jars arrived in matching pastel colours, before “snack subscriptions” and imported chips took over supermarket aisles, there was always a homemade snack waiting quietly in the kitchen. Mathri wrapped in old newspaper. Namakpare is hidden from greedy little hands. Shakkarpare is made before festivals, but disappears long before the guests arrive. Roasted chana, murmura mixtures,gunjhiya, coconut laddoos, besan sev, poha chivda — every home had its own signature dabba. And somehow, those snacks tasted of more than just spices and ghee. They tasted of home itself. Snacks Were Never Just Snacks In Indian homes, food has always carried emotion. A mother filling a child’s tiffin before school. A grandmother quietly pushes an extra laddoo into your hand. A father returning fr...

Foods Indians Ate in Summer Before Refrigerators

There was a time when Indian kitchens had no humming refrigerators, no frozen packets, no chemical preservatives hiding behind glossy labels. Yet somehow, our grandparents survived fierce Indian summers with remarkable wisdom, stamina, and simplicity. The old Indian kitchen was built on understanding the season, not fighting it. Clay pots cool water naturally. Fermented foods soothed the stomach. Raw mangoes prevented heatstroke. Buttermilk flowed through homes like a summer blessing. Long before modern nutritionists began discussing hydration, gut health, and probiotics, Indian households were already practising them quietly — one steel glass, one earthen pot, one hand-ground spice mix at a time. I still remember the taste of matka water from my childhood. Every year, as winter slowly stepped aside and summer entered the courtyard, a new matka would arrive at home. Even today, I continue the same tradition. The fridge may hold cold bottles for guests, but for myself, it is usually roo...

Foods We Ate Before Protein Shakes Took Over | Traditional Indian Healthy Foods

Foods We Ate Before Protein Shakes Took Over AI Image There was a time when Indian homes produced strong children, hardworking adults and energetic grandparents without anyone counting grams of protein on a mobile app. No shaker bottles. No chocolate-flavoured powder costing half the monthly grocery budget. No “mass gainers” with names sounding like gym wrestlers. And somehow, people still managed to grow up healthy, active and remarkably sturdy. Long before protein shakes became fashionable, Indian kitchens already had their own quiet nutritional wisdom. It did not arrive in glossy tubs. It arrived in steel bowls, dabba-filled kitchens and handwritten recipes passed from one generation to another. Our Childhood Protein Came With Ghee, Not Branding Nobody in the house announced, “This contains 22 grams of protein.” Yet every kitchen had foods that kept people full for hours. Roasted chana mixed with gud. Handfuls of peanuts during winter afternoo...

Why Food Sticks to Stainless Steel Pans

Stainless steel pans are a staple in almost every Indian kitchen due to their durability and resistance to food reactions. However, they do come with their fair share of challenges, one of the most common being food sticking to the surface. Let us find out the science behind why food sticks to stainless steel pans. I will share some valuable tips to prevent it. Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Twitter | Podcast | Why Does Food Stick to Stainless Steel Pans? The phenomenon of food sticking to stainless steel pans is primarily a result of chemical bonds formed between the food and the metal surface of the pan. These bonds can be relatively weak van der Waals forces or covalent bonds. Listen to the podcast here . Protein-rich foods are especially prone to sticking, as the proteins can form complexes with metal atoms, such as iron, in the pan. Preventing Sticking: The Role of Hot Oil One effective way to prevent food from sticking to sta...