Carrot, Paneer ( Cottage Cheese ) Sandwiches And Rolls

          My family likes savory sandwiches, when I am tired of making the regular cucumber and tomato sandwich, I try to make something with a different filling. Carrots and paneer make a nice combination, even kids  ( like my daughter ) who don't like carrots will like this because of the paneer, but I have not added too much of it, just enough to give that delicious creamy flavor. If you have your paneer ready, either homemade or store bought, the filling can be done in about 5 minutes. Actually I had started making bread rolls with the filling, but the bread slices turned out to be a little dry and crumbly, rolling them was difficult, so after making four rolls I ended up making the sandwiches. Sandwich or rolls, they both tasted very delicious,  can have it either for breakfast or as an evening snack..

Bottle Gourd Curry, Lauki ( Sorakkai ) Curry

          Today it's another curry to go with rotis, another curry with bottle gourd, lauki or sorakkai. I have cooked the bottle gourd in a cashew and tomato paste along with other spices and flavored with kasuri methi. I have done the entire cooking in the pressure pan, a simple and delicious curry that goes very well with both rotis and rice dishes..

Cauliflower Manchurian

          Cauliflower Manchurian, I have made this so many times but today only I got a chance to post it in my blog. I had seen this recipe so many years back and I have always made it this way. This is a semi-dry dish that goes very well with any pilaf, fried rice or even with naans and rotis. Whenever I make it, we always have it with some light pilaf, dal and raitha for lunch and with rotis for dinner but it can also be served as a starter or appetizer too..

Vazhaipazha, Banana Paniyarams, Banana Aebelskivers

          Vazhaipazha, Banana Paniyarams, this has been on my do list for a long time now, whenever I had some overripe bananas in hand, it ended up in a bread or pancake, this time I wanted to make these cuties. Well, we can say that these paniyarams bear a close resemblance to Aebelskivers or Danish pancakes, starting from the ingredients to the pans that we use for making them. We can do this with all purpose flour or maida, but I have used whole wheat flour today, they tasted very good with a nice flavor from the bananas, cardamom and jaggery added to it, a perfect and healthy snack..

Senai Kizhangu Masial, Mashed Elephant Yam

          There are certain dishes that we link with certain days or festivals. It's not that we don't eat them on other days, but just that, it'll be definitely made for that particular festival. This Senai Kizhangu Masial is one such dish for me, this is one of the many curries that my mom makes on the day after Ekadasi. I know, Ekadasi is associated with fasting and staying awake the whole night, but for me, I always remember the day after Ekadasi, with that delicious meal that we have in the morning, this year, I was at my parents' place and I truly enjoyed it. Usually this masial is made with 'Pidi Karunai, Yam' and not with 'Senai Kizhangu, Elephant Yam', but the problem with pidi karunai is, sometimes, it leaves a 'biting feeling' on the tongue, so I prefer to stick to the Elephant Yam. It's a simple dish, tastes slightly tangy from the tamarind and goes well with rice and sambar or any kuzhambu..

Cumin Rice, Jeera Rice

          Cumin Rice/ Jeera Rice or pilaf/ pulao, this is one of the most simplest rice dishes, it's just rice flavored with cumin seeds. The rice has very few ingredients in it and it goes very well with all side dishes. If you're planning a meal which has a rich or spicy side dish, then this is the perfect rice to go with it..

Oats & Vegetable Tikkis, Patties

          Happy Valentine's Day ! I am seeing so many Valentine recipes across the blogs, from delicious smoothies to decadent cakes, brownies and other yummy desserts. Initially even I was thinking of doing some kind of dessert or cake, but as my husband is more of a 'starter' person, I thought I'll do these heart shaped tikkis for him. I saw the recipe on the packet of Quick Cooking Oats, and I had wanted to try it out. What better day than today , these tikkis are made with oats, which is so healthy for the heart and it's also loaded with vegetables. These healthy heart shaped tikkis are so perfect for the occasion and my daughter just loved them so much too..

Beets And Baby Potato Curry, Kurma

          Sometimes, it actually takes more time, for me, to decide on what to make for dinner or lunch, than the actual process of cooking it. Today was one such day, I had some boiled potatoes in the fridge and I wanted to cook something with it along with another vegetable, then finally decided to add some beets and do a curry or kurma to go with rotis. Since the potatoes were already cooked, it took me less than thirty minutes to make the actual dish. The curry tasted really good, it would pair very well with any kind of pilaf, rotis or even with dosas..

Savory Bread Toast

          We have bread for breakfast, at least once a week, mostly it's a sandwich with guacamole or pesto and cheese or with some kind of spread. For a change I made this savory toast, though it's very easy and tasty, it's been a long time since I had made these simple and delicious toasts. I have used some kasuri methi for flavor, you can replace it with any of your favorite herbs. Serve it with some spread, chutney or even salsa, we had it with some Tomato thokku, they tasted really good..

Appalam Kootu, Dal With Pappads

          Appala Kootu, a dal/ lentil dish where at the end, you add fried pappads to the curry, I tasted this so many years back, I liked the taste but those were the days when I had no idea about cooking. Later I had noted it down from some magazine, I don't remember it, and then once again, totally forgot about it. Recently while sorting out things, I saw this piece of paper with the recipe, and this time I made it the very next day. It's a very simple dish, no chopping vegetables or grinding masalas involved, but the taste is awesome. It tastes very good when mixed with plain rice, also goes equally well with rotis and dosas too..

Peerkangai Podi Curry, Ridge Gourd Curry

       
          Ridge Gourd, this is another vegetable that I buy quite often, I usually make some kind of kootu, curry or sambar with it. Today's curry is similar to the Eggplant Podi Curry, but I have added a couple of more ingredients to the podi, I have added sesame seeds and peanuts which gives a nice nutty flavor and taste to this curry. This curry can be served as a side dish with rice and dal and also with rotis. The slight sweetish taste from the gourds along with fresh spice and peanut powder makes this curry very delicious..