Pepper Mushroom Fry
I adapted this recipe from a South Indian TV show. It’s very simple yet tasty. I love mushroom and this recipe is easy to cook and you don’t need a lot of ingredients. If you eat spicy food this is the perfect recipe for you. It goes well with fried rice or even with chapathi. Ingredients: Mushroom : 1 cup Olive oil : 5 tbsp Cumin seeds : 2 tsp Garlic : 7-8 (Finely chopped) Onion : 1 1/2 cup ( finely chopped) Whole Black pepper : 10-14 (Coarsely powdered)(according to your spice level) Salt : according to your taste Method of Preparation: Heat oil in a pan after that add cumin seeds fry them for a minute and chopped garlic . Fry them for 2 – 3 minutes. After that add the chopped onions sautee them till it...
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Baingan Bhartha – Roasted Eggplant Curry
Baingan Bhartha is a traditional North Indian dish and a vegetarian delight. Traditionally Baingan Bhartha is made from roasted eggplants mashed into the consistency seen in the picture. My husband hates Eggplants but this time I made him try this and I think I’ve seen a little change of heart towards eggplant from him. I love eggplant dishes and this is one of them. If you like eggplants too, this is a great recipe to try. Ingredients: Egg plant : 1(big) Cumin seeds : 2 tsp Onion : 1/2 cup(finely chopped) Tomato : 1 cup ( finely chopped) Garlic : 5-6 ( pressed) Ginger : 1 tbsp Green chilies : 4 Red chili powder : 2 tsp Coriander Powder : 1 tsp Garam Masala Powder : 1/2 tbsp Coriander Leaves : 2 tbsp (for garnishing) Method Of Preparation: Apply...
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Masala Vada – Spicy Lentil Dumplings
I was wondering what to cook on saturday because I felt like eating some spicy snack with hot tea. I soaked some chana dal to make some urundai kozhambhu but suddenly I remebered this uber-popular South Indian that goes great with tea – Masala vada. Masala vadai is a staple food in all breakfast menu as well in a lot of festival platters. It is even more popular as street food and is usually available in any street corner tea shop. Having Masala vada with hot tea on a rainy day is pure bliss. Ingredients: Oil : 2 cups ( for deep fry) Chana dal/Black gram dal : 11/2 cup Dry red chilies : 7-8 (according to your spice level) Urda dal : 1 tbsp Cumin seeds : 2 tsp Garlic : 3-4 Onion : 1 1/2 cups (Finely...
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Soya Chunks Vegetable Pulao
When I was a kid my mother used to make lots of dishes with Soya chunks. And being the kind of kid who eats only non-veg and hate veggies, she used to cook with soya chunks which looks just like chicken – very tender and tastes a bit like meat. So I easily agreed to eat the soyas. And after that I started liking it. It’s been a while since I cooked anything using soya chunks. Recently I went to the Indian store and I found some Soya chunks which refreshed my childhood day memories and so I bought it. I came back and made this yummy Puloa using the soya chunks and vegetables. It came out really good. Let me know if you try it. Ingredients: Basamati rice : 11/2 cups Ghee : 2 tbsp Cooking Oil :...
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Beetroot Poriyal/Curry
I was not very fond of Beetroot for a long time. But when I was in India recently, my mother-in-law made this easy and yummy Beetroot curry and after that I got hooked on to it. It’s very easy to make and healthy too. It goes well with white rice and chapathi. Just mix it with white rice, voila! you have Beetroot rice ready for lunch with some crisp papad or potato curry. Ingredients: Beetroot : 2 cups (grated) Onion : 1 (finely chopped) Oil : 2 tbsp Green chilies : 4-5 (according to your spice level) Mustard seeds : 2 tsp Urad dal : 2 tsp Curry leaves : 4-5 Shredded coconut : 1/4 cup Method of Preparation: Heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds and urad dal after it sputters add onion. Fry them till it...
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J.A. Henckels 17-Piece Knife Block Set for $70 Shipped
Amazon offer this J.A. Henckels International Fine Edge Synergy 17-Piece Knife Block Set for $70 shipped. I’ve already posted about this knife set. It’s a great Knife block set. It has some very good reviews in amazon. Product Description: The J.A. Henckels International Fine Edge Synergy 17 pc Block Set features all the essential knives you need for a variety of kitchen tasks. The blades are constructed from stamped stainless steel and are hand honed for a long lasting cutting edge. The contoured santoprene handles are brushed with stainless steel for a remarkably comfortable and secure grip. Includes 2 3/4″ Paring Knife, 6″ Utility, 5 1/2″ Boning knife, 8″ Chef’s, 8″ Carver, 8″ Bread, 7″ Hollow Edge Santoku, 9″ Steel, 8 – 4 1/2″ Stamped Steak Knives, and black Storage Block. Dishwasher safe (not recommended by J.A. Henckels International)...
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Coconut Rice
Coconut rice is one of the easiest variety rice dish in South Indian recipes. Especially it’s an most famous lunch box dish. I love all types of variety rices like lemon rice, tamarind rice, tomato rice and coconut rice. When we got married, my husband and I discovered that we had varied taste in food. But we found ourselves agreeing on one dish – “coconut rice”. So sentimentally it’s our favorite dish 🙂 . It is so easy to make when you are out of vegetables in your kitchen and wondering what to make for lunch/dinner today. Eat with some potato fry trust me it tastes too good. Ingredients: Shredded Coconut – 1 cup Cooked rice : 2 cups Mustard seeds : 1 tsp Cooking oil : 1 tbsp Urad dal : 2 tsp Channa dal : 2 tbsp...
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Mint (Pudhina) Chutney
I love to make dishes with mint leaves because it always gives such an mouthwatering flavor to the dishes. And Mint has such awesome qualities like it could be used as a refreshing and a cleansing facial wash. In South India, we call this recipe as “Pudhina Thoghayal”. It goes great with a lot of dishes like Dosa, Idlies, or even with rice and sambhar, rice and vathakuzhambu, etc. Ingredients: Mint Leaves : 1 bunch (separate the leaves from stem) Coriander Leaves : 1/2 bunch Vegetable Oil : 1 tbsp Red Chilies : 6-7 (According to your spice level) Grated Coconut : 3 tbsp Urad dal : 1tbsp Asafoetida : 1/4 tsp Ginger : 1tbsp Tamarind Juice: 1/2 cup Method Of Preparation: Heat oil in a pan add Urad dal and asafoetida, fry them till urad dal turns light...
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Araichuvitta Sambar – Lentil Soup (with Jackfruit Seeds/Drumstick)
I am back from my long India vacation. And started my cooking in my favorite kitchen. I had brought some jackfruit seeds from India. So I just made my all time favorite sambar (lentil soup) with my mom’s recipe. This sambar recipe is a very traditional recipe in south India. It’s little different from the regular sambar. If you don’t have jackfruit seeds you can substitute any vegetable. This goes very well with idli, dosa and rice. Trust me it tastes like heaven! Ingredients: Shallots: 7-8(Peeled) Tomato: 1 Oil: 2 tbsp Toor dal: 1/2 cup Mustard seeds : 1 tsp Asafoetida: 1/4 tsp Urad dal: 1 tsp Jack fruit seeds: 1/2 cup Drumsticks : 7-8 nos Coriander Leaves : 2 tbsp (For garnishing) Tamarind paste: 2 tbsp Masala to Grind: Coriander Seeds : 11/2tbsp Channa dal: 1tbsp Cumin seeds...
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Sweet Pongal for Makara Shankranthi
Sweet Pongal is one of the signature dishes made on Makara Shankranthi or Pongal festival. I got to spend this Pongal with my parents after a few years and it was lovely to have hot sweet pongal served on a banana leaf. Heavenly! Pongal is the Hindu festival that follows a solar calendar and is celebrated on the fourteenth of January every year. Pongal has astronomical significance: it marks the beginning of Uttarayana, the Sun’s movement northward for a six month period. In Hinduism, Uttarayana is considered auspicious, as opposed to Dakshinaayana, or the southern movement of the sun. All important events are scheduled during this period. Makara Sankranthi refers to the event of the Sun entering the zodiac sign of Makara or Capricorn. Here is how you can make it too.. Ingredients: Raw Rice: 1cup Moong dal: 1/2...
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Mutton Liver Fry
First of all I want to say sorry to all my readers for the late post. I am still on my India vacation and I couldn’t find time to post recipes but I promise when I come back I’ ll post variety of mouthwatering recipes in ST. “Mutton Liver fry” or “Eeral varuval” is very popular dish in south india. And its one of my favorite too. My mom used to make this every weekends in my chilhood days. She says it’s good for health. And cooking mutton liver is little tricky. It should be soft and juicy. If you overcooked it it will turn out into rubber-like texture. So its all with the trial cooking and practice. So do get the right proportion adjust the water and cooking time. My mom usually make this for breakfast, it goes very well with...
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SteriPEN Journey with FitsAll Filter and Nalgene 1-Liter BPA Free Bottle
If you live in the warmer part of the world and can still go hiking or camping, SteriPEN Journey LCD water filter is an absolutely must have. The revolutionary SteriPEN Journey LCD water filter uses universal symbols to take the guesswork out of the water purification process. The Journey’s integrated LCD screen displays your dose selection (0.5 or 1 liter), battery status, and countdown timer and also tracks the number of uses and signals when the lamp usage approaches its life limit. At 8,000 cycles, the lamp life for the Journey LCD reaches a new high: purify 1 liter four times a day for nearly seven years. Like all SteriPEN products, the Journey is fast (48 seconds for 0.5 liters / 16 ounces and lightweight (128 grams / 4.5 ounces). Effective and easy to use, the Journey includes two...
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Podalangai kootu(Snake Gourd with Lentils)
My mom made this kootu yesterday and it tasted really good and yummy. Kootu is a combo of vegetables and lentils. It’s very easy to make and goes well with rice, vathakuzhambhu, rasam and sambhar. You can make kootu with any kind of vegetables with the same recipe only substituting the main vegetable. After I go home I think this easy recipe is going to make me cook this kootu often. I am learning a lot of new recipes from my mom. Ingredients: Snake Gourd: 2 cups(clean up the seeds inside and chopped into slices) Channa dal : 1/4 cup oil: 2tbsp Onion: 1/2 (medium) Tomato : 1 Ginger : 1/2 tsp Green chilies : 5 Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp Salt: required to taste Coconut : 1/2(shredded) For Seasonings: Mustard seeds : 1 tsp Urad dal : 1 tsp Curry leaves...
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Spicy Macaroni Recipe
This recipe is from my sister’s (Suja’s) kitchen. She made this spicy macroni for her 4 years old son. It’s no secret kids love Macaroni & Cheese like it’s the next best thing to chocolate. But, how do we get them to eat veggies. My sis tricks my nephew by adding a lot of vegetables and spicing up the Macaroni and creating this tasty dish. Spicy Macaroni is very easy to make and it can be made for dinner or even as an evening snack. Ingredients: Oil : 2 tbsp Onion : 1 Tomato : 1 Green chilies : 3-4 (according to your spice level) Garlic : 3 (chopped) Ginger : 1tsp (chopped) Garam masala : 1 tbsp Maggi masala Powder : 1 tbsp(optional) salt : required to taste Vegetables: 1 cup(I’ve added bell pepper, green peas and carrots)...
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Spicy Fish Kuzhambhu (Spicy Indian Fish Curry)
I am going to be celebrating Diwali in India with my family after 4 years and I am so excited. Just getting used to the jetlag and I am happy to be spending time with my family. For those unfamiliar, Meen Kuzhanbu is the Tamil name for traditional South Indian Fish Curry. It is very rich in flavor, spicy and tastes heavenly. And it is a common saying that it tastes better the day after you make it as the spices get deep into the fish as it sits around. I made this with Salmon filets but catfish tastes great as well. In South India, this is made with locally popular fish like Sankara, Vavval, etc. Ingredients: Sesame oil : 3 tbsp Vegetable oil : 2 tbsp Fenugree k Seeds : 1/4 tsp Vadagam: 11/2 tbsp (Optional) Fish :...
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Indian Diwali Snack Murukku (Chakali) Recipe
Murukku is one of the most popular snacks in South India and it is even more popular at Deepavali (aka Diwali) festival time. It has been long been the tradition at most homes to make delicious snacks such as Murukku, Thattai, etc. along with some special Indian sweets for Deepavali. I am going to be spending over 3 months with my family in India starting next week. But, don’t you worry! I am going to learn, experiment and continue making more variety of Indian dishes and will be sharing my experiences and recipes in the coming months straight from India! So stay tuned. So, I wanted to make some special Diwali snacks for my hubby and made Murukku. It came out very nice (as you can see), crunchy and tasty. 🙂 Although like most things we haven’t tried, making...
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Chole Bhatura
Chole Bhatura is a mouth watering dish and is the bigger cousin of a well-known Indian breakfast dish – Poori. Chole Bhatura is a combination of Chick Peas dish (chole) and the fried bread made from maida flour (bhatura). My memory of Chole Bhatura growing up in South India has been that it is one of those exotic dishes that you can eat at a restaurant. I still remember the big puffed up dish served hot with fresh cut onions and a sliver of lime. It turns out that even though it takes a little bit of time, Chole Bhatura can be made at home! And I am here to share that secret with you. Although I have to give a special mention to our friend Archie, who gave away his secret to making the perfect Bhatura! Read on.....
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Paal Kozhukatai
I got this recipe from my sister. She used to make it for special ocassions and “Paal Kozhukatai” is one of my favorite recipes from her kitchen. As many other not so often made dishes, I’ve always thought it would be pretty tough to make it. But I finally decided to make it on Gokulashtami (an Indian festival) and it came out really awesome. And its not at all tough to make. It just took like 30-40 minutes for me to make this lovely dessert. Hope you enjoy making this recipe. Ingredients: Rice flour: 1 cup Coconut milk : 1 cup water :1 cup Milk : 1/2 cup cardamom : 5-6 (crushed) saffron : a pinch Sugar : 1/2 cup (according to your sweet level) Method Of Preparation: Take a cup of rice flour in a pan and add...
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Gokulashtami Special – Vella Seedai/Sweet marbles
Today is Gokulashtami. This festival is celebrated for lord krishna and it’s his birthday. This festival is called in different names as “krishna jayanthi”, “krishnashtami”,” sri jayanthi” and “janma ashtami”. Last year my Mother-in-Law was here with us so she made it easy for me. This year I tried out my family recipes for the festival. This is one of the most popular festival in India. Today I made “paal kozhukatai/Sweet Rice Pudding”, Vella Seedai/Sweet marbles”, “Sundal/chick Peas Fry”, “Medhu vadai”. I was planning to make two more dishes but I don’t have time to do it. Now I am sharing the Vella seedai(Sweet marbles) recipe here. This dish is used to make especially for the Gokulashtami festival. This is pretty popular snack in South India. I got this recipe from my sister and this is the first time...
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Tools of Trade Sale at Macys
Macys offer this tools of trade basics 10-piece measure and prep set for 9.99$ with shipping or in store pickup. It Includes a mixing bowl, 4 measuring cups and 5 measuring spoons. Macys also offer this Tools of the Trade Basics Starter 12-Piece Cookware Set for 59.99$ with shipping or instore pickup. It includes 1- and 2-qt. covered saucepan, 6.5-qt. covered stock pot, 10″ covered fry pan, 8″ open fry pan and three nylon utensils – slotted spoon, spoon and pasta fork Safe for electric, gas, induction and glass stoves Oven safe up to 300 degrees Dishwasher safe. If you are looking for some simple starter cookware kit, this is a best set for...
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