Vegetable Sagu, Vegetable Curry For Rava Idlis

          Vegetable Sagu, the first time I had this with rava idlis was so many years back, of course, back then, I didn't know anything about vegetable sagu, but I just loved it with the rava idlis. It's a simple and easy dish, mixed vegetables are cooked with some freshly ground masala paste and seasoned with ghee. Though we can serve the idlis with regular chutneys, I personally feel that they go very well with this vegetable sagu, and of course we can serve the sagu with rotis, parottas and dosas too..

Lachha Paratha, Layered Flat Bread

          Lachha Paratha, another dish that I had wanted to try out, but for some reason, kept putting it off until now. These parathas are layered flat breads, very soft and flaky from the oil and ghee that is added while making the dough. This goes very well with any side dish or even with some pickle, but since it's slightly on the fatty side, I would recommend it for special occasions..

Date And Cocoa Truffles - Guest Post

           Who doesn't like a sweet or dessert that doesn't need any cooking and at the same time, healthy too, well when I saw these cocoa and date truffles here, I simply wanted to try it out right away. They just need a couple of ingredients, some good quality dates and cocoa powder, no added sugar, the sweetness from the dates is more than enough. Mix them both and roll it in more cocoa powder or as I did, with some chocolate vermicelli..

Paruppu Thogayal, Lentil Chutney

          As I had mentioned in my last post, today's dish is the simple and tasty Paruppu Thogayal or Lentil Chutney. When I say Paruppu/Lentils, I mean tuvar dal or arhar dal or split pigeon pea and the thogayal needs just 3 more ingredients along with the dal. An easy and flavorful chutney that makes a perfect combination with the Sundakkai Vathal kuzhambu, serve it with some hot white rice, drizzled with ghee or sesame oil and some sutta appalam ( pappads ) for a simple and delicious lunch..

Sundakkai Vathal Kuzhambu, Dried Turkey Berries Curry

          Today's dish is Sundakkai Vathal ( Dried Turkey Berries ) Kuzhambu, this is a recipe that I had jotted down so many many years back and it's a favorite till now. We're not using any fresh vegetables in this kuzhambu, just these dried and preserved sundakkai vathals ( the fresh turkey berries are prepared in a special way, so that they can be stored year around ). This is a tangy and spicy curry and I serve it with plain white rice along with some paruppu thogayal ( lentil chutney ), will post that recipe next. It's such a simple and flavorful kuzhambu, but tastes so delicious when mixed with the chutney and rice. Serve it along with some poriyal/stir fried vegetables and pappads for a complete and satisfying meal..

Paneer Lababdar

          Back after a small break, didn't mean to take it, but had a houseful of guests for a week, then caught a very bad cold, so I just had to do it. Coming to today's post Paneer Lababdar, I was a little tired of making the same dishes with paneer, I wanted to try out something new with it and I saw this cooking video of Chef Vikas Khanna, it was a healthy version of Paneer Lababdar sans the butter and cream. It's a simple dish, takes less than thirty minutes to make.and though the it didn't have any butter or cream, it still tasted very creamy and delicious and went very well with rotis..

Sundakkai Oorugai, Turkey Berry Pickle

          Sundakkai/Turkey Berries, we had missed this when we were in the US, then one year in Chennai, we got this, but now again in Bangalore, I am not able to find them. So whenever we go to Chennai, if we can find them, we usually bring some back. This time I had so much of these ( freshly plucked ), even after giving some to my friend and doing the Kuzhambu with it, I had some left. I wanted to do a pickle with it, something similar to the pickle made with kovakkai/tindora. This is a simple recipe, once done, we can have it after 5 to 6 hours, but I felt, that it tasted even better after I left it in the refrigerator for at least 2 to 3 days, it gives some time for the sundakkai to soak in the spice powders..