Gulaab Jamoon - It's Deepavali! Where's Gulaab Jamoon?

Gulaab Jamoon - It's Deepavali !

Haa !! It's Deepavali. And we get to eat gulaab jamoons. It has been like this from my child hood, more than fireworks, Deepavali means gulaab jamoons. 

For more sweets recipes click the link - Sweets

Murukku - It's Festival Season.. Let's Begin

Murukku / Festival / Evening Snack

There is no reason to wait for the festival season when it is about murukku. We have seen many varieties of murukku. Different in size, shape, taste, texture, colour, place of origin, even different for the occasion for which it is made. It was a very rare instance when I get to see someone in my family make murukku.. like my grandma or my auntie. I have never seen my mom making murukku. The first time I made murukku was for one Krishna Jayanthi, when my daughter was 3 years old. I am here to share this simple recipe for murukku which we all like in our family. This recipe was from my grandmom (nanamma).

Rice Flour - Basics

Rice Flour - Basics

Rice flour - is a versatile ingredient in South Indian pantries. Most of the traditional recipes calls for the rice flour. Sweets such as.. adirasam or kozhukattais, or snacks such as murukkus or thattai, or breakfast such as iddiyappam or puttu.. rice flour.. rules!

Home made Rice Flour

When I talk about how to prepare rice flour for cooking, I do not forget the traditional practice of using unprocessed rice flours to put kolam in South Indian houses. This practice has almost disappeared. But I still see some people (including me) sticking with putting the maa kolam during festivals. 

Rasam - Completes the Meal

Rasam - Completes the Meal

The end product which you get when you make rasam depends on the rasam powder we use. And this in turn depends on the spice ingredients used in the rasam powder. Rasam is a beautiful blend of few spices which has excellent medicinal properties. Key spices used in rasam powder such as pepper and cumin enhances digestion. When we look at the ingredients.. it will prove that rasam was added in our South Indian menu to somehow incorporate all these spices in our diet. I make the rasam powder in small batches which is enough to make rasam approximately six times for three of us in the family. This is the link for the recipe of my way of Rasam Powder. My recipe for rasam is as follows..

Bisi Bele Bhath Spice Powder

Bisi Bele Bhath Spice Powder - Harmonious Combination of Spices

The bisi bela bhath spice powder - just like how a good orchestra feasts your ears. This recipe has some of the fine spices brought together in an unique combination to play with our taste buds. 

I wonder how the person who created the recipe for this spice powder would have thought about this combination of these many spices... Is that all or are there any more!? 

Dindukkal Mutton Biryani - Weekend Feast

Dindukkal Mutton Biryani - Weekend Feast

I started doing this biryani almost 10 years back. This is our favourite version of biryani. If you can perfectly reproduce this recipe, then, I can assure that you will not go to any restaurant which say they serve authentic "Dindukkal Biryani", because this recipe gives such an typical Dindukkal briyni. Try once to believe it.

Vegetable Khurma - South Indian Style

Vegetable Khurma - Royal Dish - South Indian Style

KHURMA - I do not want to go into the history and geography of 'khurma' or 'korma' or whether it is Shahi or Mughal. How many varities of khurma do you see on your daily basis? The person who sells parotta on road side "kaiyendhi bhavan" calls his side dish as khurma. The person who sells tiffin in push cart.. names his side dish for poori as "khurma". In restaurants, they give khurma with idiyappam. They also have seperate item as " vegetable khurma" in the menu for side dish. All are different recipe, but same base - coconut paste and garam masala.

For more sidedish/chutney recipe click  - Sidedish / chutney

The khurma which I make is an influence from my moms recipe. When I was a little girl, I was not a big fan of vegetable khurma. Other members in my family were fond of chicken/mutton khurma which again was not on my favourites list.

Vengaya Kaara Chutney - Raw Onion Spicy Chutney

Vengaya Kaara Chutney - Raw Onion Spicy Chutney for Ildi

This vengayam-kaara chutney - basically has 4 ingredients. This is my husband's favourite chutney. Here we use raw onion, red chillies and tamarind. Some of you might get scared hearing raw onion and red chillies.. but believe me.. you have to try this to actually believe it!

Yes, initially it does have strong raw onion flavour. That's why we add tamarind and chilli.

And tempering the chutney with lots of sesame oil and mustard seeds.. gives it an extra punch of flavour. So, practically, the raw smell of onion becomes very subtle with the tamarind, red chilli and sesame oil. This hot-spicy-tangy chutney recipe goes like this..

For more sidedish/chutney recipe click  - Sidedish / chutney

Vaazhai Poo Vadai / Banana Blossom Vadai

Vaazhai Poo Vadai

Vaazhai Poo Vadai

Vaazhaippo vadai or the banana blossom fritters is a tasty snack with a little twist with goodness of banana blossoms. Generally masala vadai is a simple deep fried snack. Just adding vaazhaippo to this vadai makes it special. 

Rasam Powder / Rasam Podi - Basics

Rasam Powder / Rasam Podi

Hello everyone.. I am here with the recipe for rasam powder or rasam podi. There are many recipes for this rasam podi. I tried many recipes and finally settled with this recipe for rasam podi. But, I never failed to try new recipes for rasam with different rasam powders recipes.

For rasam recipe click - Rasam - Completes the Meal

The addition or deletion of a single spice in rasam podi, makes a big difference. Few people make a batch of rasam podi and store it. Some grind it freshly every time they make rasam. Some don't grind at all, they just use mortar-pestle to pound the spices.

Rasam Podi / Rasam Powder

For the sourness there is again a wide choice for ingredients like tamarind, lemon, tomato etc.  People make rasam with or without garlic, with or without dhal water, some make different tempering, some boil the rasam and some don't. The variations are countless...!!

Paneer Masala

Paneer Masala 

This paneer masala is a frequently occuring paneer dish in our house. My daughter loves paneer in any form. Of course we too love paneer. This is the easiest version of paneer masala. This is a fool proof recipe.. it can never go wrong ! In this recipe I use the store bought masala powder - Kitchen King by Everest, which completes the recipe. So, it is quicker than other paneer dishes and it gives this dish a restaurant taste. Give it a try to know it. The list of ingredients might be long, but most of them will be there in your kitchen shelves. Lets jump to the recipe.

Cantaloupe and Fig Duet

Cantaloupe and Fig Duet

Cantaloupe for flavour and fig for texture.. not a bad combo right? But, like you.. even I guessed it will be 'less' sweet. So, called "honey!" for help. Yes. Cantaloupe, fig and honey. It came out good. It was a nice, cool, forenoon drink. My hubby loves such surprising 11 o'clock drinks. He never hesitates to try new combinations of fruits in juices. So, I'm not scared to experiment. Kids too like it. So, here is another trial from my kitchen.. to yours..

For more - Juices / Shakes