Instant Pot Pumpkin Curry

It’s FALL! Do you know what that means? PUMPKINS, PUMPKIN EVERYTHING. And we thought, with our new little toy called the Instant Pot, that we would make some pumpkin Instant Pot recipes! Although the weather doesn’t get too cool during a Los Angeles October, Hungry and I still enjoy a good curry. So, what was the next natural step? Pumpkin Curry! This recipe is inspired and based off Piping Pot Curry’s recipe. This pumpkin curry is smooth, flavorful, and warm. We served it over brown rice, but you could also serve with any type of rice, naan, or flatbread you desire.

Oct072018

India’s Tandoori Hollywood

You may have noticed that India’s Tandoori – Hollywood isn’t on our 2018 LA’s Must-Visit Restaurants list. That’s because we were simply craving Indian food one night and instead of ordering in like we usually do, we pulled up Yelp and looked in vain for walkable Indian restaurants. That’s when I was blinking a few times at my screen when an Indian restaurant I hadn’t seen before showed, with a location that was only 0.3 miles away! Now, here’s the humdinger. Once we finally discovered where the restaurant was, we realized that the Himilayan/Indian restaurant that was there before it was gone. This location had a frequent turn-over for restaurants. Sometimes, it would be the same management, but simply a re-branding, so needless to say, we were a little skeptical. But, cautious as we were, we still tramped on down to eat at India’s Tandoori Hollywood.

May292018

Easy Chickpea Curry

Watch out, another “Indian” recipe! This time from Martha Stewart (ha!). Though nobody would venture to say Martha Stewart is Indian, I also think nobody would say she’s a poor cook. She’s legendary. I’ve wanted to involve more chickpeas in my diet for a while, but laziness prevented me from actually looking up recipes and finding ways to use them. Sure, I could use them in salads, but what about cooked recipes? I did a quick search and came up with Martha Stewart’s EASY chickpea curry. Like really easy. Like just throw spices and cook chickpeas together easy.

I altered Martha’s recipe into my own easy chickpea curry that would fit my needs and–more importantly–my ingredients. This recipe is a great whip-up-at-home-quickly-after-work dish when you don’t have a lot of time but would like to have something tasty and nutritious. I felt great about eating it! And curry is a heavy word for this dish, it’s really just stewing chickpeas in spices and liquid. Let’s get cooking.

May272018

Easy Mushroom Coconut Curry

Yeah, I’ve been on an Indian food kick lately. I mean, I’m always on one as a consumer, but in the past week, I made three different Indian dishes. Hopefully, you already saw the delightfully easy and delicious naan recipe I put out. And today…I bring you a delicious mushroom coconut curry! I really really enjoyed it. We received Vegetarian India (a cookbook) by Madhur Jaffrey, a well-known Indian chef and cookbook author, as a wedding present. I’m really loving this cookbook and can’t wait to try more from it.

This recipe is based off of her recipe called “Kodava Mushroom Curry with Coconut,” though I deviated quite a bit. Get her cookbook if you want the exact recipe–she’s a genius! Apparently, this dish comes from a more meat-eating region in India and thus she was fascinated by their vegetarian dishes. It’s rich, scrumptious, and filling. She suggests to have it with rice, but we had it with quinoa. I think it would go well with anything–rice, quinoa, naan, paratha, you name it!

May262018

How to Make Naan to Be Proud of

Here at Hungry & Fit, we are BIG Indian food fans. It competes with pizza for our most-delivered food. We love the flavors, the complexity, and the comfort it brings. I’ve always wanted to cook more Indian food since we love it so much, but I was intimidated by the many ingredients you usually need. Naan, however, seemed to have less ingredients and it is probably my favorite “bread” product on the planet. So one day, I find this wonderfully simple naan recipe from Jo Cooks and I committed myself to trying it. I tweaked the recipe slightly because I’m usually too lazy to get the exact ingredients that the original recipe uses. I can proudly say I now know how to make naan!

I was nervous to try it. I’m bad with tedious things and sometimes recipes that call for rolling and cutting dough are just that. I don’t even have a rolling pin! Naan is one of my favorite things to eat and I wanted to do it right. Feeling creative and ambitious one night, I set out to make my very first naan. And guess what, it turned out great if I do say so myself! And don’t be nervous, it’s honestly incredibly simple.

May182013

Fit’s Restaurant Rave: Curry n Kebob

Curry n Kebob is a FAVORITE of ours–tons of authentic Indian food on a budget. For a while, Chris wasn’t all about this place because every time we got something, it would be too spicy (even though he said mild). I’ve always loved this place because I always love me some good Indian food. Recently, they have expanded and also have changed their spice levels to “white person” standard so when Chris gets a dish ordered mild, it comes out mild and perfect for him to enjoy.

This place was actually one of our first meals here in Boulder, before we even got our apartment! I was hooked from then, and we’ve been frequenting the place ever since. It’s a family-owned joint, dishing out 4.5 star-quality food (as per Yelp, out of 5 stars) with a nice price to boot. It’s always the mom and pop in the kitchen, with the kids running the cash register and serving the food. You pay up front and they bring you your meal. It’s prompt service and they are always ready to answer questions about food when needed.

We always go for the “Daily Specials” whether that be $7.95 for lunch or $9.95 for dinner. And it is so worth it because I can never finish the endless pot of the main dish they give us, PLUS all the other sides that come with it. It ends up being two meals for me, which I can never argue with. With the daily specials, you have a choice of about 10 dishes (5 meat, 5 veggie). It comes in a big pot, way more than just one serving. In addition to the main dish, you get a full naan (which is split into 4 massive, buttery pieces–oops I’m drooling), huge thing of rice, an onion bhaji, pineapple for dessert, and a red sweet dipping sauce I can’t quite figure out (but love). Sounds like a lot of food? It is!

Perfection on a plate

I usually get the Mushroom Mutter with medium heat and Chris gets the Chicken Masala with mild. I am satisfied every time and leave with a smile. I have no complaints about this place and would suggest it to everyone living or visiting Boulder. I just think how much my Dad would love this place too (I get my love for spice from him). They also have take-out and delivery. I would get this on a regular basis if my budget would allow it. It is an awesome post-workout meal, with enough protein and carbs to re-build muscles and re-energize you. Traditional Indian families don’t know how lucky they are that they get to eat this food every day. This is a perfect place to stay hungry and fit! Cheers!