Nei Appam - Traditional Sweet Delicacy

'நெய்' அப்பம் - நெய்யிலேயே  சுட்டா  இன்னும் நல்லாத்தான் இருக்கும்... 😊

Nei appam is a simple sweet deep-fried food made with rice flour and jaggery which i always consider as the healthy combination. the typical south Indian desserts are made with rice or its flour and jaggery as main ingredients. some dishes even call for coconut milk than regular milk.

Sweet Poli - Stuffed with Coconut and Dhal in Jaggery

இனிப்பு பருப்பு/தேங்காய் போளி  

Drizzling ghee on poli as they come out of the stove and letting the ghee to melt itself on the hot poli.. brings the best aroma of ghee - that extra special finishing touch on poli! 😋

Black (Whole) Urad Dhal Laddu

கறுப்பு உளுந்து லட்டு  - Black (Whole) Urad Dhal Laddu

Only recently i noticed that urad dhal is one of the key ingredient in many of south Indian recipes. It is only for the past few decades we have been using white skinned (white) urad dhal. Before that it was the black whole urad dhal which was mostly in use. There were many special recipes here in Tamil Nadu with whole black urad dhal exclusively for its health benefits. Example உளுத்தம் களி, உளுத்தம் கஞ்சி, உளுத்தம் வடை, உளுத்தம் புட்டு, உளுத்தம் தோசை, உளுத்தம் லட்டு etc. Urad dhal is good to be consumed by women especially young girls during menstruation.

Rice Flour Puttu - Easy, Tasty and Healthy !

Rice Flour Puttu - Easy, Tasty and Healthy !

Puttu is another polite, easy to cook, no oil, steam cooked, good-to-eat and healthy dish. It is good for breakfast or dinner. It is one of the easily digestible food for sick people. 

Sesame Seeds Balls - Keep it Simple, Keep it Healthy.

Sesame Seeds balls - Healthy and Easy Snack

Sesame seeds jaggery balls is a sweet laddu which is easy to make and good to eat. I remember my grandmother making it.. pounding the roasted sesame seeds manually with jaggery. But now.. all the hard work is saved. Use a mixer or blender. But taste - I can say we have compromised. The taste and flavour we get by manually pounding the sesame seeds and jaggery is incomparable. But now we cannot think about traditional manual gadgets. We have lost them! But, something is better than nothing. Use a mixer. That is all 😁.

Maangaai Pachadi / Green Mango Pachadi - Use the Season - Summer's Sweet-Sour-Spicy

Green Mango Pachadi - Sweet-Sour-Spicy

This green mango sweet-sour-spicy pachadi is the seasonal dish. Summer comes.. mango comes.. this mangaai pachadi also comes!! Maangaai pachadi has sweetness from jaggery, sourness for mango, and spiciness is contributed by chilli powder.

Kadalai Urundai - Indian Peanut-Jaggery Balls

Kadalai Urundai / Kadalai Mittai

I can assure that anyone born before 1990 will have this kadalai mittai in their childhood favourites list. Those small bite-size dark brown peanut-jaggery balls.. for which we used to drool when we used to go to shops with mom. Those days these candies were not individually wrapped in fancy wrappers.

It's Deepavali !

Wish You All My Friends a Very Happy and Safe Deepavali !

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Adhirasam - King of Desserts in Tamil Cuisine

Adhirasam - King of Desserts in Tamil Cuisine

Adirasam is the South Indian sweet made during Deepavali in most of the houses. Our previous generations, had this recipe in finger tips. But, we in our busy life style, missed to spare time to know about this recipe. And today there are some people, who just spend their Deepavali without adirasam just because they don't know how to make it.

Yellu Poornam Kozhukattai

Yellu Poornam Kozhukattai / Vinayagar Chathurthi Special

Yellu poornam kozhukattai is one of the traditional dish which we generally make in our homes for Vinayagar Chathurthi and Varalakshmi Viratham. It is another healthiest steam cooked dish with the best flavour of sesame seeds and jaggery packed in fine rice flour outer covering. 

This kozhukattai can also be done with coconut poornam or kadalai paruppu poornam instead of sesame seed (yellu) poornam. Our favourite is yellu poornam. Just the sesame seeds and jaggery - complement each other very well in both taste and medical property. The flavour of yellu is intense and has lots of good fat. One of my best buddy A shared some good quality sesame seeds from her native which are more flavourful. I have used it in today's recipe with gratitude.

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Yellu Poornam Kozhukattai for Pillaiyaar Chathurthi.

Vella Kozhukattai / Pidi Kozhukattai

Vella / Pidi Kozhukattai - Vinayagar Chathurthi 

Vella kozhukattai is a very humble and light dish made with rice flour and jaggery. It is steam cooked dish. This kozhukattai is Vinayagar Chathurthi🌺🌻 special. This recipe is easy with minimum ingredients and healthy too.

We can either prepare the rice flour at home or buy from shop. Today I used the store bought rice flour. Make sure you buy fresh rice fours just before making and never use old flours which had been there in your pantry for long. Such rice flours smells stale and rancid. Here is how I make the vella kozhukattai.

For more festival foods click here - Festival Foods

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Vella Appam/Vella Paniyaram - Krishna Jayanthi Special

Vella Appam/Nei Appam/Vella Paniyaram - Krishna Jayanthi Special

Appam was a sweet snack/Neiveidhyam which I always enjoyed eating from temples or friends but never tried doing as I didn't know it was such easy dish. Once, I came across this recipe in a magazine, I was really surprised to see how easy the recipe was and wanted to give it a try. Bingo !!first attempt itself was a super hit. it is the feast for the eyes ... that golden brown or can i say little more than golden.. beautiful dark amber colour.. sparkling. Here is how to do it..

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Nei appaam/vella paniyaram

Sarkkarai Pongal / Sweet Pongal

Sarkkarai Pongal / Sweet Pongal

Sarkkarai pongal - I love making this divine dessert. When the jaggery boils, it fills the house with the festival mood. This smell of boiling jaggery is so very nostalgic. It kindles all the beautiful memories of my childhood when I used to wait for my mother to finish her cooking and start the pooja. I just cant wait to feast on the banana leaf. We use banana leaf only during festivals which is hardly 3 to 4 times a year. So, its worth waiting.

For more festival foods click here - Festival Foods

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Sarkarai pongal