Kara Pori – Spiced Puffed Rice
Kara Pori ( Spicy Puffed rice) is one the most popular street-side snack in southern part of India. I still remember those childhood days, I used to buy this puffed rice when I come home from school. It’s one of my favorite snack. My aunt used to make this when I go to her place at holidays. Try this recipe and let me know how it turned out for you. Preparation Time : 20 minutes No of servings : 4-5 Spice level : 3 out of 5 Ingredients: Puffed Rice/Pori : 3 cups Oil : 1 tsp Roasted Peanuts : 1/4 cup Split chana dal : 2 tbsp Garlic : 6 (pressed) Red chili powder : 2 tsp Turmeric Powder : 1/4 tsp Curry Leaves : 8-9 Salt : to taste Method Of preparation : Heat oil in a...
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Eggplant Parmigiana
From Wikipedia: Parmigiana or eggplant parmigiana (Italian: melanzane alla parmigiana or parmigiana di melanzane) is a Southern Italian dish made with shallow fried eggplant (aubergine) slices layered with cheese and tomato sauce, then baked. In some versions, the eggplant slices are first dipped in beaten eggs and dredged in flour or breadcrumbs before frying. Some recipes use hard grated cheeses such as Parmesan or Pecorino Romano, while others use softer melting cheeses like Mozzarella or Caciocavallo, or a combination of these. Ingredients: Big eggplant – 1 Italian seasoned bread crumbs – 2 cups [Substitute: 2 cups bread crumbs, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, 1/4 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp dried marjoram] All purpose flour or Maida – 1 cup Eggs – 3 Spaghetti sauce – 1 large can Mozzarella cheese – 8 oz Parmesan cheese – 1/4 cup Fresh basil...
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Tomato Idiyappam
Idiyappam is a popular South Indian dish made with Rice Flour. You can make different types of Idiyappam like Curd Idiyappam and Tomato Idiyappam. Tomato Idiyappam is one of the varieties of Idiyappam we make. Tomato Idiyappam is similar to Tomato rice and it is a tasty and simple dish. Preparation time: 20 minutes (excluding the time for making Idiyappam) No of Servings: 1 -2 Spice level: 3 Ingredients: Idiyappam – 1 1 / 2 cups Tomato – 1 (large) (finely chopped) Onion – 1/2 (finely chopped) Green chilly – 1 (slitted) Red chili powder – 1 tsp (according to spice level) Coriander powder – 1/2 tsp Garam Masala – 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp Oil – 1 tbsp Curry leaves – a few Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Salt –...
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Gulab Jamun – Milk Balls in Sugar Syrup
Gulab Jamun is a popular and traditional North Indian desserts made of milk based dough, which is fried and soaked in sugar syrup. The fried dough balls soaked in sugar syrup melts in your mouth. It’s such an tasty and yummy dessert. It’s usually prepared in the festival times. I made this Gulab Jamun for Vinayaka Chathurthi festival. It came out really good and tasty. It’s one of my favorite dessert and I’ve learned this recipe from my mother. Try this recipe and let me know how it came out for you. Feel free to ask any doubts in this recipe. Ingredients: All purpose Flour or maida : 1/4 cup Milk powder : 1 cup Baking soda : a pinch Milk : 1/4 cup (Just make sure it’s enough to make dough) Unsalted Butter : 2 tbsp(room temperature) Cardamom...
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Chakka Payasam – Jack Fruit Kheer
Jack fruit kheer or Chakka Payasam is a popular sweet in Kerala. The main ingredient of this kheer is Chakka Varatti or Jack fruit Jam. This jack fruit jam is made by cooking steamed ripe jack fruit , ghee and jaggery. It lasts for over an year without loosing its taste. We make Chakka Varatti during the jack fruit season and use it through out the year for making Elai Adai, Chakka Payasam and other sweets. This Chakka Payasam is a simple yet delicious sweet for any occassion or an auspicious day. Here you go… Preparation Time: 15 mins (with ready made chakka varatti) No. of Servings: 4 to 5 Check here for the recipe of Chakka Varatti or Jack fruit jam. Ingredients: Chakka Varatti or Jack fruit jam – 3 tbsp Powdered Jaggery – 1/4 cup Coconut Milk –...
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Vegetable Korma ( Version 2 )
This is another version of Vegetable Korma which can be served along with Roti, Ghee Rice, Pilaf or Idiyappam. The ground coconut paste gives a creamy texture and the perfect blend of spices enhances the taste. This will definitely be a treat for veggie lovers. My Mother-in-law is a wonderful cook and she share all her wonderful recipes with me. This recipe for Vegetable Korma is also hers and it is my all time favorite. Preparation time : 4o minutes No of Servings : 4 – 5 Spice Level : 4 Ingredients: Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp Onion – 1 (large) (finely chopped) Green chillies – 3 (grounded) Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp Tomato – 1 (medium size) (finely chopped) Coriander powder – 1 tbsp Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp (according to spice level) Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp...
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Happy Vinayaka Chaturthi
Happy Vinayaka Chaturthi to all our readers. For those unaware, Ganesha Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi is the Hindu festival of Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, who is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees in the duration of this festival. It is the birthday of Lord Ganesha who is widely worshipped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. The festival is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhaadrapada, starting on the shukla chaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon period). The date usually falls between 20 August and 15 September. The festival lasts for 10 days, ending on Anant Chaturdashi (fourteenth day of the waxing moon period). While celebrated all over India, it is most elaborate in Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh....
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Idichakka Thoran – Unripe Jackfruit dry Curry
Jackfruit is a fleshy, starchy, fibrous fruit. This is commonly used in Indian Cuisine. ‘Idichakka’ means unripe jackfruit and ‘Thoran’ means fry. Both ripe jackfruit and unripe jackfruit are used for making delicious dishes. Ripe jackfruit can be eaten uncooked. Here in the U.S., fresh and frozen Jackfruit are available in most of the Asian or Global market. From Wikipedia: The young fruit is called Polos in Sri Lanka, and ‘Idichakka” in Kerala. It is a wonderful dish with spices to replace meat curries in Sri Lankan cuisine. The skin of unripe (young) jack fruit must be pared first and discarded and then the whole fruit can be chopped into edible portions and cooked to be eaten. The raw young fruit is not edible.[24] Young jackfruit has a mild flavour and distinctive texture. The cuisines of India, Nepal, Bangladesh,...
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Masoor dal Sambar – Lentil Soup
It’s easy to make and goes very well with dosa and idli. It’ s a great and tasty south Indian breakfast dish. One of my fav too. Try this recipe and let me know how it came out. Time of Preparation : 30 minutes Spice level : 3 out of 5 No of servings : 2 to 3 Ingredients: Masoor dal (Red split lentils) – 1/2 cup Shallots – 5 Onion – 1/2 (Roughly chopped lengthwise) Tomato – 1/2 Green chillies – 4 (slitted lengthwise) Sambar powder – 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp Salt – to taste Asafoetida – a pinch Curry leaves – a few Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp Oil – 2 tbsp Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Tamarind – Small lemon size (take the tamarind extract) Method of Preparation: Pressure cook the masoor dal...
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Curd Idiyappam – Yogurt Steamed Rice Noodles
We love to have curd in everything. Like Curd semiya, Curd Idiyappam is also different and will be tasty. Preparation time: 10 minutes (excluding Idiyappam preparation) No of Servings: 1-2 Spice level:1 Ingredients: Idiyappam – 2 cups Curd – 1/2 cup Milk – 1/2 cup Salt – to taste For Seasoning: Oil – 1 tbsp Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Pearl Onions – 4 (finely chopped) Curry leaves – a few Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp Green chillies – 2( finely chopped) Ginger – 1/4″ (finely chopped) Method of Preparation: Mix all the ingredients like how we do for curd rice. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. Then add the curry leaves followed by the green chillies, ginger and the chopped onions. Fry them till they turn pink and to the Idiyappam. Add the coriander...
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Swiss Chard Avial (Curry)
Recently I started eating lot of greens. And I have been trying different recipes using greens. I adapted this recipe from YummyOYummy blog by yummy team. I made a few changes and tried it out. It came out really good. Ingredients: Swiss chard white : 1 Bunch Onions : 1 (Medium) (Finely Chopped) Green Chilies : 3-4 ( According to your spice level) Oil : 1 tbsp Cumin seeds : 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder : 1/4 tsp Chili Powder : 1 tsp Grated Coconut : 1/4 cup Salt : to taste Curry Leaves : 4-5 Method Of Preparation: Grind coconut with cumin seeds into smooth paste and put it aside. Now wash the greens and chop them, also chop the stems into fine pieces. Now in wide pan add the chopped onions and fry them for few minutes. After...
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Sambar Rice – Lentil Rice
I was planning to make this sambar sadam since a long time. After I saw this recipe in Sharmispassions.com by Sharmilee, I loved it. I tried this sambar rice and it really tastes like Vasantha Bhavan’s sambar rice 🙂 I added the vegetables to my taste and I’ve also added the green chilli. This is really a very nice recipe and easy to make too. I’ve suggested this recipe to couple of my friends and everyone said it came out really good. Preparation Time: 45 mins Spice level : 3 out of 5 No of Servings : 3-4 Ingredients: Oil : 1 tbsp Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp Fennel seeds : 1/2 tsp Asafoetida: a pinch Curry leaves: a few Green chilly : 1 Shallots: 9 Tomato: 1 (chopped) Salt: to taste Drumsticks: 3-4 (You can use any type of...
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Karthik’s Spicy Chicken Curry
If you are wondering who is Karthik, he is my husband. You might wonder why I named a dish after him? Actually, I didn’t. His friend, Matt Jabs did! 🙂 Matt & Karthik were roommates a few years back and they had a few ‘curry nights’ when Karthik would make this chicken curry. Fact is, Karthik can’t make the same dish twice in the same way. But, Matt had wrote down the recipe as Karthik was making the chicken curry one night and named it after him. Matt has been making chicken curry ever since and his wife and Matt always speak highly of this recipe. Recently he typed it up and sent it to us with pictures. How can I not publish this awesome effort? I haven’t had this curry myself yet but the hubby was so impressed...
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Blueberry Scones with Vanilla Glaze
My friend Shriya introduced me to Blueberry Scones when I was not a big fan of Blueberry. From then I became a huge fan of scones and blueberries. I adapted this wonderful recipe from Food Network and made a few changes to it. It is so simple to make yet an yummy snack. I felt that there was less sweet in the scones and I made this Vanilla Glaze to increase the sweetness. Here you go… Preparation time: 35 minutes Spice level: 0 No. of servings: 8 Ingredients: All purpose flour – 2 cups Confectioner’s sugar – 1/2 cup Baking powder – 1 tbsp Unsalted butter – 5 tbsp Heavy cream or milk- 1 cup (I used 2% milk) Salt – 1/4 tsp Egg – 1 Fresh Blueberries – 3/4 cup For Glaze: Confectioner’s sugar – 1 cup Milk...
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Hyderabadi Veggie Dum Biryani
Hyderabadi Veggie Dum Biryani is a wonderful and popular dish in India. I have become a die hard fan of it recently after eating the vegetarian version of it. Being a vegetarian, it was really painful watching my friends eat this lovely biryani with meat. Finally I happened to try the vegetarian version and I just fell in love. Now I can understand why my friends are so crazy about this Biryani all the time. I was looking for the recipe and alas! Shriya had posted Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani a few months back. I just altered it a bit here and there and replaced chicken with veggies and it came out really good. So the next time this is going to be the main dish for our weekend get-together. Here you go… Preparation time: 90 minutes Spice Level:...
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Beans Poriyal / Beans Stir fry
I love all the vegetables especially when they are cooked in a simple way..Beans poriyal is one of that kind. It is nutritious too. It goes well with Sambar, Rasam.. Time of Preparation : 20 minutes No of Servings : 2 Spice level : 3 out of 5 Ingredients: Beans – 200g (cut into small cubes) Onions – 1/2 (finely chopped) Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Red chillies / green chillies – 4 (according to spice level) Coconut – 1 tbsp Oil – 1 tbsp Salt – to taste Asafoetida – a pinch Curry leaves – a few Method of Preparation: Take the beans in a microwave bowl and add little salt and sprinkle some water. Cover it with a plate and microwave it for 5 minutes so that they are half cooked. In the meantime heat oil in...
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Thakkali Thokku – Tomato Pickle
Ever year we plant some vegetables in our garden. This year we planted Tomatoes, Green chilies, coriander and Mint. I’ve made this thokku (pickle) from our garden picked fresh tomatoes. I din’t know what to do with lots of tomatoes we are harvesting so I’ve made thokku this time since I can store this for a long time in the fridge. This can go as a great side dish with idly, dosa or chapathi. Ingredients: Tomatoes : 8 Garlic : 7-8 (pressed) Oil : 1/4 cup Mustard seeds : 1/2 tsp Urad dal : 1/2 tsp Asafoetida / Hing : a pinch Red chili powder : 1 tbsp ( according to your spice level) Turmeric Powder : 1 tsp Method Of Preapartion: Make tomato puree out of the tomatoes and keep it aside. Heat 1/4 cup of oil in...
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Sprouted Green Gram (Moong) Stir Fry
I adapted this recipe from vazhayila.com by Sarah and totally loved it. I have always loved green gram, which is, lucky for me (and you) – is healthy and nutritious. I was totally impressed by this recipe and made it with sprouted moong (Green Gram), it really came out very tasty. Thanks to Sarah for sharing this wonderful recipe. Ingredients: Sprouted Moong (Green Gram) :2 cups Onion : 1/2 (medium) (finely chopped) Garlic : 3 (cloves) (pressed) Green Chilies : 3-4 Shredded coconut : 1/2 cup Crushed Peppercorns : 1 tsp Turmeric Powder : 1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds : 1/2 tsp Urad dal : 1/2 tsp Curry Leaves : 4-5 Salt : according to taste Method Of Preparation : Heat oil in a kadai (a fry pan) add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Once it sputters add...
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