Eggless Lemon Ricotta Cookies

          I had made ricotta cheese at home for making the Spinach Ricotta Raviolis and I had some left after making the raviolis. I wanted to use it in something within the next few days and I was not ready to make another pasta dish, so while browsing I found these Lemon Ricotta Cookies. There are so many recipes out there, but I followed this one from Food Network, the recipe is from Giada De Laurentiis, when I was in the US, I used to watch her shows regularly. Lemon and ricotta is a beautiful combination, and I made the cookies without eggs, replaced the eggs with corn starch and water. These cookies have a soft texture and they taste delicious with the beautiful lemon glaze on the top..

Olan ( Kerala Style Stew With Ash Gourd And Black Eyed Peas )

          We love Kerala food at home, both the husband and I love the Sadya served during Onam, in fact I want to cook a complete sadya, at least once. I don't know when that's going to happen, might be by next Onam, but I do make Kerala dishes once in a while, especially the moru kuzhambu. Olan had been on my do list for a long time, and finally I made it, a couple of weeks back. I don't know why it took me so long to try it, this being such an easy dish, the only major task, might be extracting the coconut milk, even that I wouldn't say is a big task. Anyway, this is a mild stew with pusinikkai or ash gourd/ winter melon and black eyed peas and the seasoning is done with coconut oil which gives a wonderful flavor to the dish. It goes very well with plain rice, but I think it might also taste good with dosas and adais too..

Bread Uttapam, Bread And Vegetable Pancakes

          For the last couple of days, all that was going in my mind was the rains and floods in Chennai, Pondicherry and Cuddalore. Sitting in Bangalore, and trying to reach out to relatives and friends was the only thing I had been doing the past few days and reading and sharing the huge task done by volunteers, in rescuing the affected people to safer places and feeding them as well. It'll take some time for Chennai and the other places to get back to normalcy, but at least for now, the rain has slowed down its pace and the flood waters are receding. So today, to take my mind off a little, from rains and floods, I thought I'll do a post, but it's a simple one, Bread Uttapams.

           For my family, a simple toast with some butter or jelly will not work, once in a while they are okay with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but they are more the savory kind. Any kind of savory sandwich, like with pesto or guacamole or just even with some thokku or chutney is fine, anything that's not sweet. So when I made this Bread Uttapam for a weekend breakfast, they simply loved it, in fact, they couldn't taste the bread in it. I added some capsicum, onion and tomatoes to the bread batter and made the uttapams, this is a delicious alternative to the regular uttapam made with idli/dosa batter. They come in handy when you don't have idli/dosa batter but you still feel like having some uttapams, serve them with some coconut chutney for a tasty and filling breakfast..

Kongu Nadu Keerai, Spinach Pachadi

          Kongu Nadu Keerai, this is a recipe that I had jotted down many years back and I had tried it once then. After that, when I wanted to do it, I thought I had lost the piece of paper, then finally after so many years, I found it back, all neatly jotted down in a notebook. I had taken it from a TV show, and I think it's a kind of spinach preparation done in Kongu Nadu region ( Coimbatore, Erode,Salem, Tiruppur and some more places in Tamilnadu, India belong to this region ). The recipe is very simple and different, it's like a Pachadi kind of dish and it goes very well with plain rice, give it a try next time when you make spinach..

Pusinikkai Dosa, Ash Gourd ( Winter Melon ) Dosa

          Today's post is going to be one more dosa, and this time I have used Vella Pusinikkai/ Ash Gourd or Winter Melon to make it. As I have said so many times, we love idlis and dosas at home, and this one again turned out to be really good. To make it a little more healthier, I have used idli rice and jowar ( solam ) in equal proportions. This is not an instant dosa, it needs previous soaking, grinding and then the batter has to be fermented. The dosas came out so soft and spongy like set dosas and they would go very well with coconut chutney, sambar or vada curry..

Eggless Rich & Chewy Brownies

          Though I have posted a couple of brownie recipes in my blog, they all have a cake like texture and I was looking for a chewy one. Even when I tried this recipe from here, I was still not sure, but then it turned out to be rich and chewy and absolutely delicious. This recipe is not only eggless but also with whole wheat flour ( atta ), but nobody can tell from the taste, it's not dense as most whole wheat bakes tend to be. This could be because, this recipe has more cocoa powder than flour and also it uses browned butter, which is actually our Indian ghee, this gives such a delicious flavor to these brownies, do try this method when you make brownies next time..

Pasta With Alfredo Sauce

          Every time I made pasta at home, I somehow avoided making Alfredo Sauce, even if I did a white sauce, I usually made a healthy version. This time, I was making pasta for lunch, just for my daughter, so I went ahead and made a creamier version, something that was a little closer to the creamy Alfredo sauce. But even so, I can tell you that I have made a healthier version, replaced half of the butter with olive oil and I have not used heavy cream or full cream, but still the sauce turned out very very delicious and my daughter loved it..

Maa Inji Thokku, Mango Ginger Pickle

          After, all the festive food for the last couple of days, most of us should be tired of seeing sweets and snacks, so today's post is going to be a spicy and tangy Thokku/Pickle with Maa Inji/ Mango Ginger. I actually made this some time back, when I had a couple of bags of maa inji, the same time, that I had made the simple pickle with it and the rice. This thokku is again easy to make, and it tastes very good with curd rice, or mixed with some plain white rice, or even as a side to idlis, dosas and rotis..

Sweet Corn Halwa, Makai Ka Halwa

          Wishing all my fellow bloggers and friends a Very Happy Diwali, many of us would be busy with last minute sweet preparations and decorations, for those who love fireworks, have a Safe Diwali. Today's post is going to be another easy sweet dish, Sweet Corn Halwa. I never thought that we could make sweet dish with sweet corn, until I saw this halwa here. I have made vadas with it, long time back, but usually I boil it or grill it. After doing the sundal with sweet corn, I had one more lying in the refrigerator, and I wanted to try something new with it or something new that I have not made with sweet corn. Most of the corn halwas that I found on the net used mawa or fresh khoya in it, I didn't have either and I was a little lazy to go out and get it. Then I found this one which used just milk, the method was almost similar to the one used for making Lauki ( Bottle Gourd ) Halwa. The recipe as such is very simple, the only thing that takes time and patience, is sauteing the corn well, otherwise the halwa will have the raw smell of corn. If you like the other halwas made with vegetables like lauki, carrot and beetroot, then give this a shot..

Ribbon Pakoda, Ola Pakoda

          Ribbon Pakoda called otherwise as Ola Pakoda, Nada or Ribbon Murukku, is one of the easiest snack that you can make for Diwali. The dough is simple and there is no particular shape to be followed like the regular murukku, so it's once again a beginner's dish. Just adding the right amount of fat to the dough and frying it properly is all that's required to get good Ribbon Pakodas. I have made it mildly spicy and added sesame seeds for flavor and they came out very crispy, another snack that would go perfectly with a cup of tea or coffee..

Seven Cup Cake ( Burfi ), Besan And Coconut Fudge

          Seven Cup Cake ( Burfi ), is an easy sweet but somehow I have never tried to do it till now. It's basically a combination of the mysore pak ( besan fudge ) and the coconut burfi. The name seven cup denotes the total cups of all the ingredients used, 1 cup besan flour, 1 cup coconut, 1 cup milk, 3 cups sugar and 1 cup ghee. I found the sugar was a little too much, so I made small changes in the quantity. The burfi came out really good and it tasted very delicious..

Savory Diamond Cuts, Savory Maida Biscuits

          This year, I had made up my mind on a couple of sweets and savory items that I wanted to make, this Savory Diamond Cuts/Maida Kara Biscuits was one among them. I saw them in a couple of blogs, they looked so cute and tempting, and while going through the recipe, I saw that they were not difficult to make, in fact a very easy one that even a beginner can make. These savory biscuits are not very spicy, they have a very subtle ajwain flavor and a perfect match with your tea or coffee..

Dates And Nuts Roll, Khajoor Katri

          Another easy and delicious recipe for this Diwali, Dates And Nuts Roll or Khajoor Katri. This has been on my do list for a long time, it's a healthy and delicious sweet. It's a ' no sugar ' sweet, the dates give all the sweetness for these rolls. It's a fool proof recipe, anyone can do it and it just takes less than 30 minutes, what more can you ask for, try it out for this Diwali and enjoy..

Thattai

          Thattai, for the last couple of years , I have been making this for Diwali. There are so many versions of this, we can make it using rice flour in combination with besan flour ( kadalai maavu ) or roasted gram dal flour. But I have been following this method, I soak and grind the rice, then add roasted gram flour ( pottukadalai maavu ) along with other spices and ingredients and make this thattai. It's a simple recipe, using simple ingredients, but it takes some time to flatten the thattais and frying them, especially if you're making a large quantity. The first time I made it, I remember, I had soaked 5 cups of rice and it took me a good 3 hours to finish making the thattais. But other than that, I can say, that this can been made even by beginners, just start with a small quantity..

Kaju Katli, Cashew Burfi

          Kaju Katli is one of my favorite sweets, of course, having a big sweet tooth, I end up saying this for most of the sweets. On the other hand, my daughter doesn't like it at all, so I hardly make it or buy it. This time also, I made a small batch, using just 1/2 cup of cashews. This is a simple sweet, you have to follow a few steps carefully and I am sure anybody can make it. And even if you didn't get them perfect the first time, you can still eat it, since the taste is not the problem, only getting the smooth and soft texture is the tricky part. If you are a beginner, then this could be an easy sweet to try out for this Diwali..

Homemade Bread Crumbs

          Today's post is Homemade Bread Crumbs, though this is not a big recipe, I just wanted to have it in my basic posts. Whenever I bought bread crumbs, I used a small amount and most of the time the remaining got trashed, because it crossed the expiry date. I prefer making it at home, that way, I can make just the amount I needed, and also, we can add different seasonings or flavors to the bread crumbs..

Green Grapes Gojju/Curry

           Couple of weeks back, I had bought some green grapes, but they turned out to be too sour that we couldn't eat them as such. I had to do something with it or it would finally find its way to the garbage bin. I have tasted grapes along with pineapples in pachadis, but I had never tasted anything with just grapes alone. Somehow, even before I started searching the web, the word gojju got stuck in my mind, so I browsed only for grapes gojju, and finally settled down with this recipe here, of course I made a few changes to suit our taste. The gojju tasted sweet, sour and spicy at the same time and went very well with white rice..

Yellow Pumpkin Idlis, Parangikkai Idlis

          At home, we never get tired of idlis and dosas, so whenever I find a new type of idli or dosa, I immediately try it out. Today's post is going to be yet another healthy idli, Yellow Pumpkin Idlis, Parangikkai Idlis. The original recipe here uses idli rava ( rice semolina ), I have replaced it with millet rava, this time I have used saamai rava/little millet rava. The idlis are a lot similar to the Cucumber Idlis that I have already posted. The texture is not like that of regular rice idlis, it's more like rava idlis and sort of crumbly, like, when we dip it in chutney or sambar, it breaks down. We loved it with some coconut and peanut chutney, do give it a try..

Paneer Kofta Curry

          This is the first time I am making Paneer Koftas at home, I have made cabbage koftas and lauki koftas ( I have not blogged them yet, will do it soon ), but never this. I think it's because, whenever I bought paneer, Palak Paneer ( my daughter's favorite ) was the first thing that I made with it and then the Paneer Butter Masala. Also, since koftas need a little more work, time and deep frying, I always find an excuse to avoid it. But this time, I had decided to make the koftas and I realized that actually it's not really too much work. I had checked a couple of recipes from my cookbooks and online and this is a combination of couple of them. The koftas turned out really soft and the curry turned out absolutely delicious, a good side dish to go with naans, pilafs and rotis..

Baklava ( With Walnuts And Honey )

          Baklava, it's a rich and delicious dessert made with phyllo ( fillo ) pastry, which is layered with nuts and drizzled with sugar and honey syrup. I have tasted this a couple of times, but mostly store bought and I was not that much impressed by the taste. But, couple of years back, I tasted a homemade version of this delicious dessert, it was simply too good, the baked pastry was crispy and at the same time juicy from the syrup. I didn't get a chance to ask for the recipe and then I totally forgot about it. After that time, I have tasted some store bought versions, but nothing came close to that homemade version. I have never tried looking for it in Bangalore, but then, when I saw Phyllo Pastry in the freezer section of the grocery store, I just had to pick it up. I had a couple of dishes in my mind that I want to try with it, the topmost being this super delicious Baklava and I found the perfect recipe here. Working with phyllo pastry needs some patience, you have to be very gentle with it, it took me almost an hour to layer the sheets. I made it yesterday evening, I had to wait till today morning to taste it, the baklava has to soak in the syrup. I took the first bite, Hurrah!, it tasted just like the one that I had tasted so many years back, it was worth all the effort, time and wait..

Maa Inji Saadam, Mango Ginger Rice

          I had this large quantity of mango ginger/maa inji, had brought it from Chennai ( I am not able to find this in Bangalore, at least where I stay ). I made some mango ginger pickle, maa inji thokku ( still to post ) and then this rice. This is an easy and simple recipe, almost done in the same way as lemon rice, in fact we add some lemon juice in the recipe. As I had already said, mango ginger does not taste like mango or ginger, it looks like ginger and smells like mango, hence the name. The rice has a very refreshing taste, serve it with some avial or potato fry or chips..

Payatham Payaru Sweet Sundal, Moong Bean Sweet Sundal

          This Payatham Payaru Sweet Sundal had been on my do list for a long time, finally I did it today. This is again a simple recipe, the only part that has to been taken care is cooking the moong beans perfectly, they should be cooked well but at the same time not mushy. We add a little jaggery to give a slight sweetish taste to the sundal, other than that, everything else is like the regular sundal..

Methi Parathas - 2, Fenugreek Leaves ( Vendiya Keerai ) Parathas

          Till now, for making methi parathas, I used to make the dough with wheat flour, methi leaves along with some spices and rolled out the parathas. But today's methi parathas are a little different, I found this recipe here, when I was browsing for some Maharashtrian recipes. The first thing that attracted me to this dish was the nice green color of the parathas. The methi leaves are sauteed with some ginger, garlic and other spices and then added to the flour, the parathas get a nice flavor from this. It might take an extra 10 to 15 minutes to saute the leaves, but it's worth all out of it, the parathas turned out really good..

Aval Ladoos, Poha ( Rice Flakes ) Ladoos With Jaggery

          Another easy and delicious sweet, Aval Ladoos, Poha ( Rice Flakes ) Ladoos. We can make these ladoos with regular white rice flakes and sugar but I have used red rice poha and jaggery and also a little bit of roasted gram dal/dalia in the ladoos, so it's a little more healthier. I just tried it out with just 1/2 cup of rice flakes, so it hardly took me 15 minutes to make them, actually this is such a simple dish, even beginners can make it easily. Though we use some ghee to shape the ladoos, it's still a very healthy snack for kids..

Semiya Payasam, Vermicelli Kheer

          Semiya Payasam/Vermicelli Kheer, I have made it so many times, but somehow till today, I couldn't post it. This is one of the easiest payasams or should I say the easiest of all payasams. Now that, we get roasted vermicelli in the market, it has become even more easier to do this, the time taken for roasting it is also saved. I always have a couple of vermicelli packets in the pantry, it comes in handy when I have to make a quick dessert for unexpected guests..

Sweet Corn Sundal

          Sweet Corn Sundal, this is such an easy and delicious dish. Actually today I had planned to make another sundal, but the dal got overcooked, so I had to put it aside for some other use. When I was thinking about what other sundal to make, I remembered that I had some fresh corn lying in the refrigerator. The sweet corn was really very fresh and good and it tasted so juicy and delicious in the sundal. You can have it as a sundal or salad or even as a side dish with rice and dal too..

Aate Ka Halwa ( Sheera ), Wheat Flour Halwa

         
          Happy Navratri, though I don't keep Golu in our house, I enjoy going to Golus, looking at the beautiful dolls, listening to the songs and last but not the least, the sundals and sweets. Of course I should not forget the Dandiya, everything is so colorful and beautiful and for their share, the Indian food blogs are also showcasing so many sundals and sweets. To keep up with that, I am posting this simple, yet delicious Aate Ka Halwa/Sheera. It's such a simple sweet, needs just four ingredients but it tastes so good..

Quick Maa Inji Urugai, Mango Ginger Pickle

          Maa Inji or Mango Ginger, for those who are hearing about it the first time, it looks similar to ginger but it doesn't taste like ginger. It has a bland taste but it smells like raw mangoes, hence the name Maa Inji ( in Tamil ). We can't use this in place of ginger in teas or curries, it's mainly used for making pickles. Today's pickle is a simple one, since the ginger is tasteless, we mix it with lemon juice and green chillies to give the pickle the required tartness and spiciness. This goes well with curd rice, dal and rice, a perfect accompaniment to any meal..

Paneer Recipes

          Paneer being a favorite at home, especially for my daughter, appears in our lunch or dinner menu, atleast once in 2 weeks. Paneer is one of the few ingredients that can be used in both sweet and savory dishes and both homemade and store bought paneer are good for making the dishes, except for making sweets, homemade paneer is required. I have used paneer in sandwiches and a number of curries and snacks, thought I'll make a compilation of the dishes. There are many more dishes that I would love to try with paneer and I will be adding them to this collection as and when I do them..

Baby Corn - 65, Baby Corn Fry

          Baby Corn Fry or Baby Corn 65, this has been on my do-list for a long time and I made it finally. The first time, I made a shallow fry version, it came out very well and tasted very good too, the only thing lacking was the crispiness from deep frying. So the second time I tried the deep fried version and I got the expected crispiness. It's a simple recipe, adding some common spice powders to boiled corn, mixing it well and then deep frying them. It can be served as a side dish with rice and dal for lunch or as a tea-time snack..

Potato Raitha, Urulaikizhangu Thayir Pachadi

          Everytime, I made raitha/thayir pachadi, it was mostly cucumber or onion or tomato raitha or a combination of all these vegetables together. I have even made raitha with zucchini and pumpkin, but this is the first time I made this raitha with potatoes. Once the potatoes are boiled and peeled, the raitha can be put together in no time and can be served as a side to parathas, rotis, briyanis or pilafs..

Rajgira ( Amaranth ) Ladoos

       
          Rajgira ( Amaranth ), I have been reading about this seed, so much on the web for so long, but only recently I bought a pack of this nutritious grain. Though you can read about its nutritional value on the web, let me give a brief information about it, since this is the first time I am posting something with it on my blog. It's gluten free, it's high in protein, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, iron and has twice the calcium as milk. It's the only grain that has Vitamin C and has all the 9 amino acids needed by the body. It's good for the eyes and for you ladies ( men too ) out there, it's very good for the hair. This grain/seed is not used in the Tamil cuisine, at least as far as I know, but it's widely used in North Indian cooking, the seeds are popped and made into ladoos, chikkis or kheer and the rajgira/amaranth flour is used to make rotis and parathas. Since, I had bought the seeds, I thought I'll try out the ladoos, we can't make the ladoos with the raw seeds, they have to be popped first. Popping the seeds needs a little patience and time, once the seeds are popped ( you also get popped rajgira ), then the ladoos can be made in no time. To start with, I popped just 1/3 of a cup of these seeds and made the ladoos. They turned out really good, tasted nutty but very, very light when compared to sesame ladoos..

Spinach Ricotta Ravioli

          Today's post is going to be a long one, it's Spinach Ricotta Ravioli. My last post was homemade Ricotta Cheese, and I had mentioned there, that I had made Spinach Ricotta Ravioli and some cookies using the cheese. Making Raviolis takes a little extra time, we can divide the whole process into two parts, making the ravioli, then the creamy tomato sauce and then finally serving them together. It might sound a bit lengthy, but with a little bit of planning, it can be done easily, plan it for a weekend lunch or dinner. The raviolis turned out great, the sauce was delicious, only thing, might be the next time I'll increase the filling a little bit..

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

         Ricotta cheese is available in India, at least in the big cities, but somehow I didn't like the texture of it. Ricotta ( meaning recooked ) is actually made from the whey left from making cheese. But when we make it at home, the method is almost similar to how we make Paneer/Indian Cottage Cheese. The texture of homemade Ricotta was creamy and it tasted very good. We can have it in sandwiches, use it in baking or in pasta dishes, I used my batch of ricotta to make ravioli and some cookies, will be posting them soon..

Kuthiraivali Sorakkai Idli, Barnyard Millet Lauki ( Bottle Gourd ) Idli

          Millets, no longer we need to go into, how healthy they are, it's a known fact now. Now, in India we not only get whole millets and millet flour, we also get them now in rava ( semolina ) form and also as instant idiyappams ( noodles ). For today's idli I have used Kuthiraivali ( Barnyard Millet ) rava and sorakkai/bottle gourd. The idlis came out soft and delicious, the texture was like that of regular rava/semolina idlis. Try out this super healthy idlis, you can use varagu/kodo millet or saamai/little millet too, they go very well with peanut or coconut chutney..

Peanut Butter Banana Cake With Whole Wheat Flour ( Vegan )

          I love peanut butter and banana sandwiches and I wanted to try out this delicious combo in a cake and also, I got tired of making banana breads whenever I had overripe bananas (which was practically every time I bought bananas ), so last time I made this cake with them. I have followed this recipe from here, but made a few changes to make it eggless and also left out the chocolate chips. There's no butter or any other dairy products used in this cake, so it's vegan too. The cake came out super moist and tasted so good, do try this cake if you like peanut butter and bananas..

Paneer Shahi Kurma, Creamy Curry With Cottage Cheese

          Though the first choice in my house, when I make paneer is Palak Paneer, there are a couple of dishes that I want to try out with it, Paneer Shahi Kurma being one among them. After looking at a couple of recipes. I settled down with this one from here, of course with a few small changes. This is a creamy and rich curry, but I have not added any cream or butter here, the curry gets its richness from the nuts added. It goes very well with rotis, nans and pilafs, ideal for parties or for those special weekend lunch or dinner..

Thakkali Dosa - 2, Tomato Dosa - 2

         
          I have already posted one Thakkali Dosa in my blog, today's post is another one, unlike the first Thakkali Dosa, this one does not need fermentation. The rice is soaked, ground with tomatoes, flavored with some spices and made into dosas immediately. The dosa gets a nice color from the tomatoes, they come out very crispy and goes very well with sambar and coconut chutney..

Upma Kozhukattai ( With Broken Wheat, Godhumai Rava )

          Upma Kozhukattai, usually it's made with idli rava or broken rice ( semolina ), but we can do it with broken wheat ( godhumai rava or even with millet semolina too ). The first time I made it with broken wheat, I think I made it with a very coarse variety, so it was difficult to shape the kozhukattais. This is an easy recipe, we make the basic upma, then let it cool a little, shape the kozhukattais and steam them. The kozhukattais taste delicious by themselves or we can serve them with some coconut chutney or peanut chutney or even some pickle..

Banana Blueberry Oats Cakes ( Microwave Recipe )

          Couple of months back, my husband on his trip to the US, had bought me two big packets of dried blueberries. Now, I have to find ways of using the berries, apart from eating it alone or with cereal ( with a family that's not a big fan of cereals ). I was browsing the web for blueberry recipes, I also I had bananas with me that day, so I was looking for a recipe to use blueberries along with bananas, then I saw this here. An easy dish that takes just about 4 to 5 minutes in the microwave, great for breakfast or snack..

Jackfruit Seeds Curry, Palakottai Varuval

          This year's jackfruit season is over, as much as I miss the fruits, I miss the seeds too. In fact my daughter doesn't like the fruit at all, but she likes the seeds very much, especially in the sambar that I make with drumstick and the seeds. Usually I'll buy a dozen jackfruit bulbs or the edible part of the fruit and always used the seeds for making the sambar. Once, I got a large quantity of the seeds alone and I wanted to try out a varuval ( curry ) with it, I made it just like the way I make potato curry. It's an easy dish and it goes very well with rice and dal/sambar..

Mohanthal ( Besan Fudge )

          After making payasam I had some leftover condensed milk in the fridge and I wanted to try out something new with it. For quite some time now, I had wanted to try out a sweet using besan flour and condensed milk, then I saw this recipe here for Mohanthal. I had all the ingredients in hand, so just went ahead and made it today, the entire dish took about 30 minutes to cook and a little extra time to cool and slice the burfis. The sweet turned out really good, it had a fudgy texture unlike our Mysore Pak but it's much easier to make..

Mushroom And Basil Rice

          Mushroom And Basil Rice, this is another easy rice that can be put together in no time. The main and important ingredient here is the basil leaves, the leaves along with the chopped garlic gives all the flavor to this simple rice. I have just added a few sliced mushrooms to the rice, it goes well with the basil, just serve it with some chips and raitha for a delicious meal..

Black Bean Brownies

          Black Bean Brownies, I had wanted to give this a try, just to know how black beans would taste in a brownie. I checked out a couple of recipes and finally settled down with this one from here. She has not used butter but coconut oil, I have used vegetable oil and maple syrup instead of sugar. It's very simple to make, just blending together all the ingredients and baking. The brownies were on the denser side, nobody would be able to make out that it has been made with black beans. Now coming to the verdict, I would still prefer my flour brownies, and I have figured out an eggless and whole wheat flour brownies which turned out too good ( will post them soon ), but definitely these are healthy brownies, and also, I am thinking, that I can make them even better by increasing the cocoa powder a little, will try out and update..

Murungakkai Palakottai Sambar, Drumstick Jackfruit Seeds Sambar

          I like jackfruit seeds as much as I like the fruit itself, though it's a pain to peel these seeds, they taste delicious. We can make curries with the seeds alone, but I like this sambar made with these seeds and murungakkai/drumsticks more than the curries. The flavor from the murungakkai and also the tamarind added in the sambar adds more taste to the seeds. Serve it with rice and any vegetable curry..

Basil Pesto And Zucchini Risotto

          We love Italian food at home, so I make pasta dishes once a week or so, other than pasta, risotto is also a favorite. I have made Mushroom and Baby Corn Risotto a couple of times, I wanted to try out a different one this time, so I made this Basil Pesto And Zucchini Risotto. It's an easy one pot dish, of course you have to have store bought or homemade basil pesto in hand. Serve this creamy and delicious risotto along with a some lentil soup and salad for a complete and delicious meal..

Pumpkin Paratha

          Pumpkin is not a vegetable that I buy every other day, I cook something with it, might be, once or twice in a month. That's mainly because, I know and have tried only very few dishes with it, a pachadi, soup and sometimes added it to sambar/kuzhambu. This pumpkin paratha has been on the try out list for some time, and finally, I made it couple of weeks back. These parathas are not the stuffed version, in this one, we just add pumpkin puree along with other spices to the flour while making the dough. The parathas turned out very soft and I have also added some ajwain, sesame seeds and ginger which gave a nice flavor to them..

Murungai Keerai Poriyal, Drumstick Leaves Stir Fry

          When something is available in abundance, we don't appreciate it, but then, when the same thing is not available easily, then you start liking it more. As far as food is concerned, this applies a lot, as a kid I didn't like sundakkai/turkey berries, vazhaithandu, small bitter gourds/midhi pavakkai and then the different varieties of greens/keerai, especially murungai keerai/ drumstick leaves. Forget about finding it when I was in the US, but even after coming to India, I don't get this keerai/greens that much here in Bangalore, or at least where I stay. So, now when I see it sometimes, I just get a couple of bunches. Usually my mom prepares this poriyal separately or along with vazhaipoo/banana flower, either way I love it. If you stir fry just the greens alone, it might not be that tasty, but the dal/lentils and grated coconut give it a nice taste and it goes well with rice and sambar/kuzhambu..

Eggless Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Muffins

          It's been a long time since I made chocolate chip muffins, or is this my first time, I don't remember, but when I decided to make it, I wanted to make it whole wheat and of course eggless. Now a days, I am more confident in doing eggless and whole wheat flour bakes, especially muffins have always come out well. I followed the recipe from Joy of Baking, I liked the cinnamon and sugar topping, it not only gave a nice flavor, but also gave a rustic, homemade look to the muffins. I just made a few changes to make it eggless and more healthier..

Vazhaithandu Kootu, Banana Stem Curry

           Vazhaithandu/Banana Stem, when I see a good one in the market, I never fail to buy it, but there are only a couple of dishes that I do with it, a pachadi, poriyal and this kootu. It's a simple dish, once you're done with cleaning and chopping the banana stem ( you can checkout here to see how to chop vazhaithandu ). Usually kootu has vegetables and cooked dal/lentils, but we don't add lentils in this kootu, but yoghurt/curd. Vazhaithandu Kootu goes very well with rice and a spicy kuzhambu/curry..