Raw Mango Pickle
This is one of the easiest mango pickle recipes from my mom. I love mangoes and especially mango pickles. It goes well with curd (yogurt) rice and sambar (lentil) rice. Preparation Time : 20 minutes Spice Level : 3 out of 5 No of Servings: 8-10 Ingredients: Raw Mango : 1 Oil : 2 tbsp Mustard seeds : 1/2 tsp Urad dal : 1/2 tsp Curry Leaves : 5-6 Asafoetida : a pinch Red chili powder : 1 tbsp Salt : to taste Method Of Preparation: Chop the mango into cube like small pieces. In a wide bowl add red chili powder, salt and cut raw mango. Shake it well so it will mix together evenly. Heat oil in a small pan add mustard seeds, urad dal, asafoetida and curry leaves. Once the seeds sputter remove from heat and add it...
Read More
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....
Read More
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,...
Read More
Carrot & Beans Stir Fry (Poriyal)
Carrot and Beans stir fry is one of the easiest stir fries to cook. It’s healthy and you can make it real quick. In South India it’s must to have porial (Stir fry ) in your meal. It’s really easy to make and good for your health too. This stir fry is one of my favorites and I make it atleast once in a week. It goes well with sambar rice, appalam poo kozhambhu etc.. Preparation Time : 30 mins No of servings : 3-4 Spice level : 2 out of 5 Ingredients : Carrot : 3 (chopped into small pieces ) Beans : 200gms (Chopped into small pieces) Green Peas : 1/2 cup (optional) Onion: 1(medium) (Finely chopped) Green Chilies : 3-4 (According to your spice level) Coconut : 1/2 cup (shredded) Oil : 1 tbsp Mustard seeds...
Read More
Thakkali Rasam – Spicy Tomato Soup
Rasam is a comfort food in south India. It’s a very traditional dish and everyone in south India almost used to make it everyday. It is considered as a second main course and can be eaten with white rice. It’s very good for health, because lots of different spices are used in it. You can just drink it like a soup or as an appetizer too. Rasam can be cooked in different ways. Milagu (pepper) rasam, Dal(Lentil) rasam. Preparation Time: 30 mins No of servings : 3-4 Spice level : 2 out of 5 Ingredients : Tomatoes : 2 Coriander Leaves : a handful ( chopped finely) Green chilies : 2-3 Garlic : 2-3 Peppercorns: 10 Cumin seeds : 2 tsp Fennel seeds : 1 tsp Curry leaves : 6-7 Tamarind : lemon sized ball ( if you using...
Read More
Puran Kozhukattai (Rice Dumplings)
Sweet Puran Kozhukkatai or Sweet Rice Dumpling is a popular delicacy in India which is commonly prepared during the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi (Lord Ganesh’s Birthday). It is believed that this is one of Lord Ganesh’s favorite food. Hence it comes on the list of offerings that we make during this festival. Puran means filling which can be anything such as sweetened coconut, channa dal puran, spicy puran, etc. Here I am sharing the recipe for sweetened coconut puran. Kozhukkattai (modakam or modak) is more like Japanese Mochi which is made of glutinous rice. But here we use raw rice for making the outer spongy shell. I have detailed two methods for making the outer shell. You can go with whichever is easy for you. For me the rice flour/idiappam flour method is easier. But my mom always goes with...
Read More
Karadayan Nombu – Nombu Adai – Steamed Rice Flour Cake
Karadayan Nonbu also called Savitri Vratham is observed in Tamil Nadu. This is a tradition is observed women, married women for the prosperity of their husband and unmarried women to get an ideal person as their husband. During this festival, women perform fasting and does pooja and offerings to God. Nonbu Adai is the main dish for the day. There are spicy and sweet adais. We offer these adais to Goddess Gowri Devi and will tie a holy thread around the neck. I love these adais and used to wait for the pooja to get over so that I can munch on. Here you go… For 1 cup of flour, Preparation time: 35 – 40 minutes No of servings: 12 to 14 pieces Ingredients: For Sweet Adai: Rice flour – 1 cup Jaggery – 1 1/4 cup (powdered) Coconut...
Read More
Elai Adai – Jack fruit Dumpling
Elai Adai is one of the popular sweets in Kerala. Elai adai is made of jack fruit jam which is called as “Chakka Varatti” in Kerala. This is made using plantain leaf which gives a special flavor to the adai. Jack fruit by itself is tasty. When it is prepared as a jam and added to coconut puran, it is divine. My mouth waters when I think about it. Recently I went to Kerala for a wedding. Such a beautiful place it is. I spent a week there and had a good time. I tasted their food, specially the sweets. It was yummy!!! The Pazha Payasam (Fruit Kheer), Paladai Pradhaman (Milk Kheer), Chakka Pradhaman (Jack fruit kheer), Elai adai, the list goes on…My mother in law makes awesome sweets. She made this Elai Adai specially for me today and...
Read More
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...
Read More
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...
Read More
Coconut and Rice Kheer – Thengai Arisi Payasam
Kheer or Payasam is an Indian dessert made for festivals and special occasions. Coconut and Rice kheer is popular in South India and I love this kheer just for the combination of rice and coconut cooked in milk. To sweeten this dish, we can add either sugar or jaggery. I prefer sugar to jaggery for this payasam. Finally enhanced with the flavor of cardamom and fried cashew nut. It is a bit time consuming but very simple procedure. Try this and let me know how it turns out. Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 2 hours No. of servings: 6 t0 7 Ingredients: Basmati rice – 4 tbsp Shredded coconut – 1/2 cup Milk – 8 cups Sugar – 3/4 cup Cardamom pods – 4 Broken cashew nut – 2 tbsp Ghee (clarified butter) – 1 tsp Method of Preparation: Soak...
Read More
Pidi Kozhukkattai – Steamed Sweet and Hot Dumpling
Pidi Kozhukkattai or Steamed Rice Dumpling is a South Indian delicacy which is made for an evening snack or tiffin. There are two types, sweet and the spicy version. It is more like making upma and then steaming it. So it is also known as Upma Kozhukkattai. The spicy dumpling is generally served with coconut chutney or by itself. It is very easy to make and perfect for kids and adults. Ingredients: For Sweet Dumpling: Rice – 1 cup Shredded coconut – 3 tbsp Crus ed jaggery – 1 cup Cardamom – 2 count Water Method of Preparation: Wash rice, strain it and dry it on a clean cotton towel or paper towel. Spread it well so that it helps in drying. Once the rice is dried, grind it coarsely like rawa/sooji. Separate into two halves and measure the quantity....
Read More
Lemon Rice
Lemon rice is one of the popular rice dishes in South India. It is easy to make and perfect for a quick lunch or lunch box. When you make lemon rice use cooked and cooled rice. Hot rice will tend to break while mixing. You can prepare this dish as neivedhyam for any pooja or auspicious day. Serve this dish with potato chips, potato fry, papad or just any pickle. Preparation time: 15 minutes No. of servings: 2 Spice level: 3 out of 5 Ingredients: Lemon juice from one big lemon Cooked white rice – 2 cups Oil – 2 tbsp Mustard seeds – 1 tsp White lentil or Urad dal – 1 tsp Channa dal or Split gram – 1 tbsp Peanuts – 2 tbsp Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp Curry leaves – 5 to 6 Green chillies...
Read More
Thiruvadirai Kali – Arudhra Darshan Festival with Kali
Thiruvathirai Kali (Rice Pudding) is South Indian sweet dish made on the festival of Thiruvadirai. Thiruvadhirai or Arudhra Darshan festival on the full moon day of Margazhi(Tamil calender month, between Dec 15- Jan 15) is auspicious to Lord Nataraja, the dancing Shiva. Arudhra is the largest of the stars. It is two-and-a-half crore times bigger than the sun. There will be 10 days of festival in Chidambaram (Tamil Nadu, South India) during this month which involves a grand scheme of traditional observances commencing with the hoisting of the temple flag on the first day, followed by colorful processions of the five deities (Pancha Murthys) on the first eight days on various mounts. The fifth day features Mount Kailasam, while the sixth day features the elephant mount. It is only on the ninth day when Arudhra star and new moon coincide,...
Read More
Thattai – Rice & Peanut Savory Snack
Thattai is a crunchy snack very popular in Tamilnadu and it’s a staple snack for many of the festive occasions in karnataka and Tamilnadu. The peanut and channa dal in that tastes really good .Thattai is made during festive days and makes for a great snack in evening times. I know it’s not Diwali now but this special snack has to be the trademark snack of Diwali in Tamilnadu. My Mother-in law made this for us. she has taken me back in time by making Thattai this week and it turned out so delicious. I think I am gonna be a lazy bee for the rest of the 6 months but learning a lot of dishes from her that I haven’t tried before. It’s one of my husband’s favorite snack and she made it especially for him. Thattai...
Read More
Pattani Sundal-Green Peas Sundal
In South India, if there is one thing Navrathri days will bring to mind is the delicious varieties of sundals made and shared with visitors 9 days of Golu will see different variations and recipes of sundal (gram) served hot.. They are rich in protein and makes a great evening snack on any day. This variety of sundal is one of my favorites my mom used to make this when I was in school and served it when I got back from school. And the other specialty of this sundal is it’s so popular in beach, if you have been to Marina beach or the Elliott’s beach in chennai, you’d find this selling fast with some fresh onions and raw mango slivers. Ah.. I still remember those golden days with my friends we used to go to beach to...
Read More
Rasmalai
Rasmalai (rasa malai to some) is an Indian delicacy often categorized as a Milk Sweet. It is made from Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) and it makes a great dessert and is served chilled. Just because this dessert is so delicious, I thought it would be difficult to make. But, it turns out to be quite an easy recipe. One of my friends recently shared this recipe with me. It’s my husband’s favorite dessert and he loved it. We have always bought the canned ones but never made it at home. But, this time I made it and he kept asking me where I bought this and that it tasted better than ever. 😉 Ingredients: Milk : 3 cups ( For Paneer) Milk : 3 cups (for malai) Cardamom: 1/2 tbsp Sugar : 2 cup (for making syrup) Sugar...
Read More
Morkuzhambu
Morkuzhambu (Yogurt and Spiced Coconut Curry) is a popular dish in Tamil Nadu and Kerala (South India). It plays an important role in the traditional wedding menu and festivals. It can be prepared quickly and easily. Vegetables such as okra, colocasia, chayote, squash, winter melon are generally used for making this dish. Cook the vegetable accordingly before adding it to the sauce. Yogurt or buttermilk can be used to make this dish. If you want it to be thick and creamy use yogurt (2% or whole milk). For a less fat version, use low fat butter milk or yogurt. This dish is served with cooked rice and papad or thogayal (chutney). Preparation time: 30 minutes. No. of servings: 6 Spice level: 2.5 out of 5 Ingredients: Plain yogurt – 4 cups Shredded coconut – 3/4 cup (preferred fresh or frozen)...
Read MoreChristmas Recipes
Recent Comments