Ulundu Purana Kozhukattai, Urad Dal Kozhukattai

          Happy Ganesh Chathurthi ! I usually make Kadala Paruppu Sweet Kozhukattai and Chana Sundal on that day, but this time I am going to be at my mom's place, so before going there, I made two varieties of kozhukattais, one was the Aval Sweet Pidi Kozhukattai and then this Ulundu Purana Kozhukattai. Though I have tasted this many times at my friend's place, this is the first time I made it at home. I used organic Unpolished Arisi Maavu ( Rice Flour ) for the outer layer, the kozhukattais turned out very soft with a beautiful color and tasted very good with the savory filling..

Kovakkai ( Tindora/Dondakaya/Gherkins/Ivy Gourd ) And Peas Curry

          With Ganesh Chathurthi around the corner, I see a lot of kozhukattai and sundal recipes across blogs ( Indian food blogs ). Even my last post was a kozhukattai and I am planning to post another one too, but for today, it's going to be a curry, Kovakkai/Tindora/Dondakaya/Ivy Gourd/Gherkins curry along with fresh green peas. I love to try different combinations of vegetables and I made this curry to go with rotis/chappatis. It's not a dry curry but it doesn't have too much gravy either, and it tasted really good with the rotis..

Aval Sweet Pidi Kozhukattai, Rice Flakes Kozhukattai

          Since it's only a few days for Vinayakar/ Ganesh Chathurthi, I wanted to make a post about some kind of kozhukattai and made these aval/ rice flakes kozhukattais. I used red rice flakes ( slight thick variety ) to make them, and jaggery since this is a sweet version. It's a very easy recipe, the kozhukattais turned out very good, with the right amount of sweetness and flavor..

Soft And Fluffy Idlis ( Steamed Rice Cakes )

          Soft and fluffy idlis, I wanted to have a post on it, in my Basic Recipes section, for a long time now. Though I make it so often, I keep forgetting to take pictures or I put it off, thinking that I'll make a post the next time, when I make them. Finally, today I made it..

Amaranth Leaves And Sprouts Curry, Mulai Keerai Mulai Payaru Curry

          My family loves green leafy vegetables, both the husband and daughter can have any type of greens in almost any kind of dish, so, we have them at least 2 or 3 times in a week. The only problem is cleaning and chopping them, but spinach and then, these amaranth leaves/ mulai keerai are very easy to clean, we have to remove the thick bottom portion of the stem, wash the leaves a couple of times and then chop them. I had made some sprouts/ mulai kattia payaru the previous day from whole green gram, so I made a simple and delicious curry with it along with the amaranth leaves. The taste was excellent, very refreshing and healthy, this curry goes very well, both as a side dish for rotis and rice along with some dal or sambar..

Carrot Falafels, Chickpeas And Carrot Vadas ( Fritters )

          Falafel is a traditional Middle Eastern food, served usually, stuffed in pita bread pockets along with cucumber and tomato slices, pickles and tahini sauce. It's made out of chickpeas or fava beans along with other spices. When Vijialakshmi  Dharmaraj of Virunthu Unna Vaanga gave me chickpeas and carrots as the secret ingredients for the ' Shhhhhh Cooking Challenge ', I thought I should do carrot falafels. To say a few words of Viji, she's such a sweet person, whom I got to know much better while chatting on facebook and do check her space for the nice recipe ( and of course her other wonderful recipes too ) that she came up with the ingredients that I had given her, apples and coconut. Coming back to the falafels, they turned out really superb and also very easy to make too. Since I didn't have pita bread or tahini sauce ( didn't have time to make them from scratch ), I served them on pav ( buns or dinner rolls ) along with cucumber, tomato slices, red and green chutneys and a yoghurt dip, but you can simply have them as an evening snack just with the yoghurt dip..

Kothamalli ( Kothimbir ) Upma, Coriander Upma

          Upma is a very common breakfast or tiffin in many Indian households, a dish that is made in a jiffy, and in my house I make some upma ( using semolina, vermicelli or rice flakes ) at least once a week, when I run out of idli/ dosa batter. Sometimes, when I make it for dinner, I try to make it a little more interesting by adding some vegetables or masalas. For today's upma, I have added some ground and fresh coriander, and this gives the upma a nice flavor and taste, serve it along with some sambar and chutney for a delicious meal..

Kadala Paruppu Chutney, Chana Dal ( Bengal Gram ) Chutney

          We have idlis and dosas at least 2 or 3 times in a week, either with sambar or chutneys, the most common ones being the tomato and coconut chutneys. But we also make other chutnies with coriander, mint, onions and even with other vegetables like carrots, cabbage and chayote. Today's chutney is made with chana dal/ kadala paruppu/ bengal gram along with some coconut and onions and spiced up with some dried red chillies. This is a very easy one and goes very well with both idlis and dosas and adais too..

Vegan Date Cake

          I had bookmarked this cake, longtime back from Tickling Palates, but could not make till now. I loved everything about this cake, it didn't have any butter, eggs, very healthy and the then the rich golden color. But more than that, the method used for making this cake was even more interesting, we have to make a date mixture, cook it on stove top, cool and then mix in the flours. The cake turned out very good, moist, had a beautiful texture, delicious flavor and the taste was awesome, this is one cake that I would be making again and again..

Agathi Keerai Poriyal, Agase Soppu Palya, Greens Curry

          Agathi Keerai, now I also know it as Agase Soppu ( Kannada name for agathi keerai ), and in English, leaves of the Humming Bird Tree, is very nutritious and is known for it's medicinal values ( can check the web for more details ). The only way, I remember eating this keerai is this poriyal, a dry curry with coconut and dal/ lentils, especially on the day after Ekadasi, this is one of the curries that's definitely made. When living in the US, I never had a chance to make this, even after moving to India, I never made this, but now, we get these leaves, fresh, right from the small vegetable patch in our apartment community. This poriyal is very easy to make, gets its taste from the tuvar dal and coconut added and it goes very well with rice and sambar/ kuzhambu, a very tasty and healthy curry..

Eggless Swedish Tea Rings ( Vetekrans ), Savory Version

          This month, for the Eggless Baking Challenge, Gayathri had chosen Swedish Tea Rings/ Vetekrans, an easy and at the same time, very attractive and appetizing bread. When compared to the challenges of the past, this one was very easy, the recipe used just one egg and replacing that was not a hard task. But still, the challenge was very interesting, because of the beautiful shape of the bread. The original bread was a sweet version, using cinnamon, sugar and raisins in the filling, but I wanted a savory version of the Tea Rings, so I did a filling with caramelized onions and parmesan cheese. The Swedish Tea Rings were so good, we loved the savory version, perfect with a cup of tea or coffee..

Dahi Bhindi, Okra In Yogurt Gravy

          Dahi Bhindi, Okra/ Lady's Finger in a Yogurt Based Sauce, I have been wanting to try this dish for some time now, but every time, I put it off for some reason or the other. Also, I had my doubts about how it would turn out and how it would taste with rotis or naans. Not many restaurants serve this dish, so I never got a chance to taste it also, until I made it myself. But then, now, after I made and tasted it, this dish has become one of my favorite side dishes to go with naans or rotis. The sauce is so rich and creamy from the cashew and coconut paste added and it has the right balance of spices, the flavor is awesome and we totally loved it with our phulkas..