My earliest memories as a child are filled with aromas. Earthen pot sambar cooked on woodfire (A South Indian lentil and vegetable dish laced with aromatic spices) from my grandmother’s kitchen, Hoppers and, curries from my aunt, baked goodies from favorite neighbors and, Indian Chinese food from my mother. You know how when you go back for a visit, these very people would make your favorite dish for you? All the years I spent in college and during my first few years working, I would cook out of memory, handwritten recipes, or a quick phone call asking how do you make this? Hardly necessary now that we have recipe apps at our fingertips. And what with easy access to ingredients across almost all global cuisines, cooking has never been easier! Being an enthusiastic cook most days, I have a few resources I use regularly. While I love flipping through and gazing at spice-stained pages of cookbooks on my shelf, I have found myself often resorting to recipes online. These 4 free apps, that I have used on my android device, take the cake literally when it comes to just being easy to use.
- Tasty IOS/Android
We have all seen the quick recipe videos across social media platforms by Tasty! Attention-grabbing, fun and, appetizing clips. If you hit the search icon, it gives you options to choose from like cuisine, dish style, occasion and, more. The recipes will show depending on your preferences. The great thing about this app is that you can read top tips by people who have tried the recipe of your choice. The layout is attractive, colorful and fun and, user-friendly. My favorites from this one are Pizza In a Mug and Chicken & Veggie Stir- Fry. Yum!
2. Hebbars Kitchen IOS/Android
This is a wonderful place to get Indian vegetarian recipes, however, you can easily substitute some dishes with your preferred meats. For example, the paneer butter masala is the vegetarian version of the widely popular Butter Chicken. The choices are vast and have quick access menus and a responsive search tool. There is a section for cooking tips, tricks and, methods, which have come in handy on many an occasion. You can bookmark your favorite recipes just by clicking the star icon at the top. Want to share it with your friends? Hit the share icon and send it through Whatsapp or Email. You will find a ‘message’ icon as well, or a notes icon, however, it doesn’t seem to do anything. Try out the Vanilla Ice Cream and Veg Jalfrezi. These are always a hit with my kids!
3. Yummly IOS/Android
I remember how excited I was when I discovered and downloaded this one! Here is an app that I could use on annoying ‘what do I cook?’ days. Why? Well, Yummly has a feature where you can key in what you have in your pantry and it will show you recipes you can use! What got me even more excited was the in-app camera feature, which you can use to scan your refrigerator and kitchen larder. You may have to enter some of the things manually, like for me, it identified a bag of greens to be kale, when it was spinach. Like the other recipe apps, this one too allows you to bookmark the ones you want to use for easy access. Another trendy feature is that you can connect this app to smart appliances in your kitchen. I don’t have any yet, but, how cool is that! Have you run out of ingredients? You can add these to a shopping list. Like me, if you live in India, we don’t have the option of shopping directly through this app, but we can save it and use it when we are out shopping. Yummly features recommended articles as well, make for good reading while you wait for the onions to caramelize. I love the Classic Olive Oil Cake and the Easy Baked Sweet Potato Fries. I have made these more than twice!
4. Dinner Spinner by All Recipes IOS/Android
All Recipes used to be my go-to website when I wanted to try out something new. I was glad when the app Dinner Spinner, was finally launched. I love the personalization options this one has. Apart from the usual food preferences, they have options like cooking for 2, budget cooking, and my favorite, Quick and Easy. What makes this app stand out is that we have the option to increase or decrease the serving size, and the recipe is displayed accordingly. So, no more calculating! I also love the fact that I can add notes to each recipe just for me so that, you know, I’ll remember not to skip the salt next time! My Waffle Sundays stemmed from here as did my go-to Vanilla Cupcakes which are always a big hit.
Food is memorable, it connects people and is often a conversation starter. How fantastic is it that we can now conjure up different kinds of dishes in a click! Cookbooks will always be special, and I have a few on my countertop, but there are days when I succumb to the constantly evolving digital universe. These four apps have spruced up my everyday cooking. So, whether it is your usual family weekend dinner or a casual gathering of friends or, just another day, these apps will help you cook something glorious and Instagram worthy. Better still, no annoying ads popping up. You may not even need to go shopping! There is nothing better than a home-cooked meal, and now there is not much stopping us from it, especially with recipe apps like these. Grab that apron, play some music and cook! You could leave the washing up for later!
