Bombay Potatoes, Potato Curry

          When going through pins on Pinterest, I saw some pins for this curry Bombay Potatoes and had pinned them some time back. The name and the pictures were so attractive, but while checking the ingredient list, I didn't find anything special, just the regular ones that goes into a curry. I have used baby potatoes, but we can use the big ones, the curry is so very simple, but it was very flavorful and tasted so good. It's a semi-dry curry and would go well with both rice and dal or with rotis too,do give it a try, the next time you cook potatoes..

Chitranna With Avarekalu, Lemon Rice With Field Beans

          Today's post is another simple and delicious dish with Avarekalu/Field Beans which is in season right now, it's a slight variation to the regular Chitranna or Karnataka Style Lemon Rice. We add some avarekalu to the rice and hence the name, Chitranna With Avarekalu, you'll find this in many of the shops serving Chitranna here. It's a very simple and filling dish, the avarekalu makes it more nutritious and filling and also tasty at the same time, serve it with some potato fry for a delicious meal..

Eggless Chocolate Blueberry Cake With Blueberry Sauce

          I had made this Chocolate Blueberry Cake long time back, but because of the many sweets and snacks that I had to post during the festival season, this cake had to wait. After posting some cookies for Christmas, I would have loved to try out the fruit cake, but I think, it has to wait for some more time to appear in this space. This Blueberry Cake With Chocolate is very moist, rich and delicious and perfect for this holiday season, if you love chocolate and blueberries, then this is for you..

Almond Snowball Cookies

          Snowball Cookies, also known as Russian Tea Cakes or Italian Wedding Cookies, these have been on my do list for a long time, somehow I bake more breads and cakes than cookies, so it got missed out every time and I have always thought it to be a difficult recipe too. But when I saw how simple this Almond Snowball Cookies was, I decided to make it the same day, just in time for this Christmas. As the name suggests, these cookies have some almond meal ( almond powder, either store bought or homemade ) along with the all purpose flour/maida. This gives such a nice texture and taste to these cookies, they just melt in the mouth. The lemon zest added gives the most delicious flavor to these cookies and we just loved them..

Avarekalu Sooji Rava Adai, Field Beans Adai

          Another dish that I tried out using avarekalu/field beans was this Avarekalu Sooji Rava Adai. Again for this Adai also I have used hitikida avarekalu (I have peeled the beans and used ). It's a simple dish, we mix the semolina along with ground avarekalu/field beans and few other ingredients and make this adai. It comes out crispy and soft at the same time and tastes great with some chutney or even with some butter..

Eggless Sugar Cookies

       
          I had wanted to try out so many cookies and cakes for this Christmas, but the last couple of weeks had been so busy, that I couldn't make much. So with barely 10 days to Christmas, I thought, I'll try out at least some simple cookies and these Eggless Sugar Cookies falls perfectly in that category. It's the basic cookie that anyone can make and though decorating the cookie is totally optional, I did a little bit of it, just to make it a little more glittery and in mood with the holidays..

Avarekalu Idlis, Field Beans Idlis

          Now, again, it's that season of the year, I am not talking about the holidays, it's the Avarekalu/ Field Beans season here in Bengaluru, every year we get them during the months of December and January. Last year I got a chance to go to the Avare Bele Mela at VV Puram and tasted so many dishes made with these seasonal beans. Coming home, I tried to reproduce some of the dishes at home. I had posted some of them last year itself, but some of them, I couldn't post then, so since the season has started now, I thought I can post them now. Today's post Avarekalu Idli is a simple dish that you can try out with these beans. I have used the regular idli batter to make these idlis, also refer my post Hitikida Avarekalu Saaru to see how to peel and prepare the beans, which is a two step process, first you remove the pods from the vegetable and then you peel the skin of the beans. These idlis came out very good and they taste great with sambar and coconut chutney..

Nei Appam, Ghee Appam

          Happy Karthigai Deepam, Festival Of Lights, it falls on 12th December this year, we light our houses with lots of mud lamps and as with any other festival, we make some yummy food too. I have already posted the traditional Pori Urundai that we make on that day, Nei Appam is also another sweet dish that is made on this day. The main ingredient for this is rice and sugar and of course as the name suggests 'nei' or ghee is used for frying these appams and they smell and taste very delicious..

Cabbage Kofta Curry, Cabbage Dumplings In A Creamy Gravy

          I didn't mean to take a break, it's so happened that I got a little busy on a couple of days and then as usual it took me a while to get back to the habit. Today's post is a simple and delicious kofta with cabbage, a recipe that I had tried long time back. Unlike most of the kofta gravies, this one does not have paneer, cream or any other milk products, we use cashew paste to make the rich gravy. The curry tastes very delicious and you can serve it with pilafs, rotis and naans..

Suzhiyam, Suyam, Seeyam Recipe

          Suzhiyam/Suyam is one sweet that my mother never misses to make on Diwali, but for some reason, I never made it at all till now. This year, I made it for Diwali, but of course, I didn't get a chance to post it then, since I made it on the festival day, but I managed to take some pictures. This is an easy dish, and if you like sweets made with jaggery, then you will definitely like this..

Methi Moong Dal Sabzi, Fenugreek Leaves With Lentils

          Every week, I get a bunch of fresh organic methi, and I was browsing the web for a new dish that I can try out with it, when I came across this Methi Moong Dal Sabzi, fresh fenugreek leaves cooked with moong dal. The recipe is a simple stir fry and in fact I didn't expect it to taste this good, it goes very well with rotis but you can serve it as a part of a South Indian meal too..

100% Whole Wheat Bread With Flax Seeds

          100% Whole Wheat Bread, I already have a version of it here on my blog, but I was always looking for a better and different version. I was thinking about adding some flax seed powder to the bread dough and then I came across this recipe for whole wheat bread using egg, and of course a little bread flour was used in the recipe. I didn't want to use egg and also I didn't want to use bread flour or all purpose flour, so after trying out a couple of times, I finally arrived at the perfect bread ( at least for the time being, if I find another version, I'll surely blog about it here). I have used organic whole wheat/ atta for making the bread and I have used instant yeast for baking. Because of the milk and flax seeds ued, the bread was much softer, less denser and less crumbly than the previous 100% Whole Wheat Bread, do give this a try..

Spinach Soup, Keerai (Palak) Soup

          Today's post is going to be a simple and healthy soup with spinach. I had made pizza for lunch and since we can add only so much vegetables to it, I wanted to make a salad or soup on the side to compensate for that. I had got fresh organic spinach that day, so decided to make the soup with it. As always, when I am cooking spinach, I like to keep the flavors simple without too many spices and masalas, so this soup also has just some grated garlic and pepper for flavor and some Parmesan cheese for a little taste and richness..

Rajasthani Garlic Chutney, Lahsun Ki Chutney

          When I saw a picture of this Rajasthani Garlic Chutney on pinterest, I had pinned it to my 'must try out' board, and unlike many dishes that are still waiting on the list, this one got done the very next week itself. The chutney needs very few basic ingredients and the recipe is very simple. The chutney goes very well with jowar rotis, bajra rotis, parathas or even with some rice and dal/lentils, do try this out if you like garlic..

Mushroom Parathas

          Today's post is another paratha, and this time, the stuffing is with mushrooms. I have tasted mushroom kulchas at restaurants, but I was not sure how the mushroom stuffing was going to taste in the paratha. I added the regular spices and some spring onions to add some flavor to the filling. The parathas turned out to be too good, and they tasted great on their own, you don't even need a pickle or curd on the side.

Baingan Bharta In Mustard Oil

          My family loves eggplant, especially when I prepare a dish after roasting it on stove top, they like the smoky flavor. I have a thogayal/chutney, masial and another bharta recipe on the blog, but recently this has become the most favorite eggplant dish at home. The dish is very simple, once the eggplant is roasted, peeled and mashed, the remaining can be done in just minutes. I have already mentioned that my daughter and I like dishes cooked in mustard oil, but since the husband doesn't like it if I use just mustard oil in a dish, I use a half and half mix of regular oil and mustard oil, and that way, he also likes the dish very much. This dish gets its flavor from the mustard oil and panch phoron used for seasoning and the bharta goes well with plain phulkas/rotis or even plain akki rotis ( without any added veggies, will post that recipe soon), do try this simple dish, the next time you cook eggplants..

Onion And Potato Bajjis (Fritters)

          Bajjis, it's one of the popular and easiest snack recipes, if it's raining or snowing outside and you are craving for some hot snack, then this is the first one that comes to the mind. I have done it so many times, but because it was mostly in the evenings, I couldn't take pictures and so it never made it to the blog. You can make bajjis with many vegetables, the most common ones used are plantain/ vazhakkai, onions and potatoes but you can make them with eggplant, capsicum and ridge gourd too and they pair so well with a hot cup of tea or coffee..

Moong Dal And Fenugreek Leaves (Methi,Vendaya Keerai) Paniyarams

          When I get tired of making the same idlis and dosas, I like to make these paniyarams, most of the time, I'll use the same idli/dosa batter for making it, but sometimes I make a different and separate batter. When I saw this Moong Dal Paniyarams, I wanted to give it a try. The batter is made with split moong dal/payatham paruppu ( with skin ) and to make it more flavorful and nutritious, I have also added some sauteed methi leaves. The paniyarams came out soft and fluffy, you can serve it as a snack, for breakfast or dinner and it goes very well with a spicy chutney..

Pumpkin Curry, Parangikkai Curry

          Today, it's going to be another simple and healthy dish with pumpkin/parangikkai. The pumpkin pieces are cooked and flavored with a fresh spice powder and the dish has a sweet, tangy and spicy taste from the tamarind and jaggery added. It's a semi-dry curry and tastes great when mixed with rice but would also pair well with some rotis too..

Dadpe Pohe, Rice Flakes With Coconut Paste

          There are some dishes which make you slog in the kitchen for hours and at the end of it, if the dish turns out good and the family likes it, you get a huge satisfaction. And then, there are some dishes that can be put together in the wink of an eye and again the family loves it and yes, you also get the same satisfaction. If someone asks me, which one of the dishes would I prefer to make, I would say, both, it depends upon the mood on that day. Ok, now, why am I beating around the bush, I just want to say, that today's post, Dadpe Pohe, is an easy dish and that it needs just a few minutes to put together but at the end, it's very tasty and satisfying. It's a Mahrashtrian dish and though the ingredients added to the aval/poha is the same as that we add to the Aval Upma, the way that it's added gives this dish a very different taste and makes it perfect for breakfast or an evening after school snack..

Thotakura Pappu, Amaranth Leaves With Lentils

          After that long post 'Shaam Savera' last week, I wanted to start this week with a simple dish, Thotakura Pappu. This is basically a greens and lentil preparation and a simple everyday Andhra ( a state in India) dish. We have used Amaranth leaves, known as Thotakura in Telugu and pappu means dal/lentils and we have used tuvar dal/pigeon peas in this dish. Serve this with some hot white rice and a fry or some nice spicy pickle on the side for a simple and delicious meal..

Shaam Savera, Spinach Paneer Kofta Curry

          When I was checking on the web for some spinach paneer kofta recipe, I came across this dish Shaam Savera by chef Sanjeev Kapoor. I have never heard of this dish before, or might have seen on some menu card and totally forgot about it. More than the actual recipe, the pictures of this dish on the web actually made it look very tempting and I wanted to give it a try. When I saw that, the dish is basically spinach koftas stuffed with paneer and served with a rich tomato gravy, I knew immediately, that nothing can go wrong in this combination. It's not an everyday kind of dish, needs some time, so make and enjoy it with rotis, naans or pilafs, for a relaxed brunch or a special dinner..

Cauliflower With Fenugreek Leaves, Methi Gobi

          I get organic greens 3 days a week, and it's methi/fenugreek leaves one day, so every week I have to cook something with it, sometimes I make sambar, kootu or parathas and then I try to make curries with it along with other vegetables. As much as I like Aloo Methi, now I have started making this Methi Gobi and I like it even better, and we get a good serving of vegetables. It's a simple curry, cleaning the fresh fenugreek leaves and preparing the cauliflower takes the most time, otherwise the curry gets done fast. This goes well with phulkas and rotis or even as a side with some rice and dal/sambar..

Ragi Rava Idlis, Finger Millet Idlis

          Today's post is another healthy and delicious idli with millets, Ragi Rava Idlis. I have made idlis with millets, both instant and fermented versions and for this Ragi Rava Idli, I have used ragi flour/finger millet flour and semolina/sooji/rava. The first time when I made these idlis, I used ragi flour and semolina in the ratio of 2:1, say for 1 cup ragi flour, I used 1/2 cup semolina, but I didn't like the texture of the idlis, they were dense. Only on my third try, I was fully satisfied with the idlis, I used equal quantities of ragi flour and semolina and the idlis came out really good and had the perfect rava idli texture. Serve them with some tomato chutney or tomato thokku for a filling and delicious breakfast or dinner..

Kathrikkai Thogayal, Eggplant (Brinjal) Chutney

          After all the sweets and snacks for Diwali, now we are back to some healthy day to day food, today's post is a simple and tasty thogayal/chutney with brinjals, Kathrikkai Thogayal. Thogayal is slightly thicker than a chutney and we have it mixed with some rice, but, of course we can also eat it with idlis and dosas. We can use the big eggplant for doing this, but that day, I had these medium sized eggplants and I made the thogayal with it. To give some taste and texture to the thogayal, I have added some roasted lentils/dal and coconut. The thogayal tastes very good when mixed with white rice and ghee or oil..

Whole Wheat Chocolate Burfi

          Happy Diwali, today's post is the last sweet I made for this Diwali, Whole Wheat Flour Choclate Burfi. While doing the Maida Burfi, I was thinking that I should try the same recipe with whole wheat flour. and since my daughter would have it, if it had some chocolate in it, I decided to make this Whole Wheat Flour Chocolate Burfi. Instead of making the entire sweet with chocolate, I decided to do it as two layers, one plain and the other one with chocolate. It's a simple sweet, the only thing that is a bit tricky, is removing the sweet at the right consistency and spreading it out before it solidifies, especially with 2 layers, you have to be really fast and alert. The burfi turned out good and tasted great especially because of the chocolate..

South Indian Mixture, Madras Mixture

          Today's post is going to be the last snack that I have made for Diwali 2016, in fact I am a little tired of the oil and deep frying, and the final snack is the most favorite South Indian Mixture, Madras Mixture. Though I like other types of mixtures, my favorite will always be this, mainly because of the less masalas and the simple flavors from the asafoetida and curry leaves. This is also my daughter's favorite snack, so I decided to make it this time for Diwali. Making mixture takes a little time, and the major task is making the ompodi/sev and kara boondi. If you want, you can make them the previous day and then fry the remaining ingredients the next day and finally mix everything, but the time and effort is all worth it, so do give it a try..

Kasi Halwa, Pusinikkai (White Pumpkin) Halwa

          Today's post is going to be another sweet recipe, Kasi Halwa, made with Pusinikkai/White Pumpkin. I love halwas, especially the ones made with vegetables, like the carrot halwa, bottle gourd halwa and beetroot halwa and they are all easy to make. Apart from the vegetable, we need the very basic ingredients like sugar and some cardamom for flavor and of course some food color and it's an easy recipe, even a beginner can try this out, so make and enjoy Kasi Halwa for this Diwali..

Kambu Ribbon Pakoda, Bajra (Pearl Millet) Ribbon Pakoda

          This year for Diwali, I wanted to try out snacks with millets, the first one that I made was the Ragi Murukku and the next one in line is this Kambu Ribbon Pakoda or Bajra (Pearl Millet) Ribbon Pakadoa. I have already posted the regular Ribbon Pakoda/Nada/Ola Pakoda made with rice flour, I simply followed that recipe with a few variations. Usually we add cumin or asafoetida for flavor and digestion in these snacks, this time, for a change I have used fennel seeds. The Ribbon Pakoda came out really good with a nice texture and taste, another snack that you can enjoy with your tea..

Motichoor Ladoo Recipe, Motichur Laddu

          Motichoor Ladoo, another sweet that I had wanted to try for a long time, but kept putting it off until now. The main difference between Motichoor Ladoo and the Boondi Ladoo, is the size of the boondis ( fried gram flour balls ), it is very small in size in Motichur Ladoos. Also, we add cardamom and rose essence for flavor in Motichoor Ladoos, whereas in Boondi Ladoo, we add cardamom, cloves and edible camphor for flavor, and also Motichoor Ladoos are softer than Boondi Ladoos. There is a special ladle, Boondi Karandi ( karandi meaning ladle) for making the boondis for the ladoos, and in that also we have differnt ones for making the different sizes of boondis. I had with me, only the regular Boondi Karandi, not the one for making tiny boondis, but we can still make them, they may not be 100% perfect but we can still get close enough results and taste wise there will not be any difference. Even if you don't have a Boondi Karandi, you can still make it using the regular Jali Karandi ( the one with small holes) that we have in our kitchen for deep frying, so do try out this delicious and traditional sweet for this Diwali..

Garlic Murukku, Poondu Murukku (Chakli)

          As much as we love sweets at home, both the husband and daughter like these crunchy, munchy savory snacks, especially along with the evening coffee or tea. So the next one that I tried for this Diwali is this Garlic Murukku, Poondu Murukku/Chakli. This is again a very easy snack, we don't need any specially prepared flours for it, I have just used store bought organic besan flour and rice flour for these murukkus. They turned out very good with a delicious garlic and curry leaves flavor and we loved it..

Badushah Recipe

          Badushah is one of my favorite sweets, I have tried this once long time back, before blogging days, and it had turned out good back then. after that I made it only now. I again followed the same recipe from Mallika Badrinath's cookbook, except, after checking many blogs, I added a little curd while making the dough. For those of you who don't know the taste of this delicious sweet, Badushah tastes a lot similar like doughnuts/ donuts, with a subtle sweetness. At the start, making badushahs might look like a big task, but once you get a hang of it, you'll agree with me that it's one of the easiest sweets, and also, making those beautiful swirls is actually very easy..

Baked Mathri, Whole Wheat Crackers

          As much as we love our sweets and savory snacks, they are all either deep fried or have a good dose of butter or ghee, but it's festival season, so a little bit of this is okay, just that, we have to keep in mind to eat moderately and walk an extra mile or two to burn it away. Coming to today's post, Baked Mathri, it's an easy and healthy version of the fried version. Usually it's made with maida or all purpose flour, but these baked ones are made with whole wheat flour. Of course, the fried ones with all purpose flour will be more tastier than these baked ones, so someday soon I'll be trying out that also, but these baked ones, you can still enjoy, they are crispy and very flavorful and a perfect tea-time snack..

Maida Burfi, Sweet With All Purpose Flour

          After a savory recipe, here comes another easy and delicious sweet that we can make for this Diwali, Maida Burfi, a simple sweet made with maida/all purpose flour. It just requires a few basic ingredients, it's such an easy dish and it comes out perfect if you are careful about a few things. I have adapted this recipe again from a cookbook and have made a few changes according to our taste, try out this easy sweet for this Diwali..

Karasev, Khara Sev, Spicy Sev (Savory Snack)

       
            Karasev has been on my do list for some time, I have made murukku, mixture and other stuff, but until now, for some reason, I haven't tried Karasev. We have a special ladle called 'Karasev Karandi', which is used for squeezing out the dough for this, I didn't have it, so I used the regular ladle with holes that we use for making pooris and other stuff. I have followed the recipe from Mallika Badrinath's cookbook, it's a simple snack and needs just a few ingredients. The karasev came out really good, the texture was perfect and the taste was awesome..

Sweet Somas Recipe, Karanji

          Today, it's going to be a traditional sweet recipe that we make for Diwali, Sweet Somas or Karanji/Kajjikayalu. This is one of my favorites, but I never gave it a try till now because the husband is not a big fan of it. While making it in my kitchen, all alone, my mind was flooded with so many memories. Whenever my mom made this, I would always be a part of it along with my grandmother and aunt. We would be doing such a huge quantity, that we would be spending at least 3 to 4 hours on it, and the whole time would just fly away with so many stories and gossips, missing those days. Coming to the recipe, it's not a very difficult one, the filling is very simple and can be done in minutes, and if you know to roll the dough out thinly, then you can do this sweet. Try it out with a small quantity, especially if you are doing it alone..

Ragi Murukku, Finger Millet Murukku (Chakli)

          Diwali is in a couple of weeks time, so I thought it's the time to post some goodies, both sweets and savories that we can make during this festival season. Since I have more sweets on my blog than these savory snacks, I am going to post today an easy and tasty murukku with Ragi/Finger Millet Flour, Ragi Murukku or Chakli. It's very simple to make, mixing the ingredients in the correct proportions and then making the murukkus using the murukku maker and deep frying them. The murukku came out super crispy and had the perfect texture and it's a good snack to have along with your evening cup of tea..

Besan Cheela, Gram Flour Pancakes

          Most of the days, our breakfast is either dosa, bread or idlis except during the weekends when I try to make something different. I had tried Besan Chila a couple of times before but never got a chance to post it on the blog, this is not an elaborate recipe, we can make it during weekdays too if you have everything ready. The main ingredient here is the besan flour/gram flour, it's the binding base and the other ingredients are all for taste and texture. I have added some chopped onion, spinach along with the spices, but you can use grated carrots, shredded cabbage and even tomatoes. They look like egg omelettes, taste very good and make a very filling breakfast..

Eggplant Roast, Brinjal Roast

          After making some Kerala and Karnataka dishes, I realized I haven't tried the Andhra cuisine that much, of course I have made a few dishes like the Pesarattu and Stuffed Eggplants but none from their day to day cooking. Today's dish is a simple Eggplant/Brinjal Roast and when I say simple, it's really that, just a handful of ingredients and no special masalas or anything. I found this recipe in the cookbook, 'Cooking with Pedatha', and in fact even while cooking I had doubts about how it would taste with such few ingredients. But then, it turned out really good, spicy and tasty and went very well with rice and dal..

Keerai Dosai, Spinach Dosa (Crepes)

          Today's post is another simple and healthy dosa with spinach and millets. I have added chopped spinach to adai or dosa batter, but for this dosa we grind the spinach along with millets and other ingredients to make the batter. Along with the millets, we also add some dal/lentils to the batter, this makes the dosa very filling too, serve these beautiful green dosas along with some tomato chutney for a complete and delicious meal..

Rava Kichadi, South Indian Sooji (Semolina) Khichadi

          South Indian Rava Kichadi with vegetables, I make this at least once in 2 weeks for dinner or sometimes even for lunch for a weekday lunch box. This is a dish that I fall back to when I am really tired of cooking and want to keep it simple. Of course there's a little bit of veggie chopping, but for me this is simple when compared to making rotis and sabzi. Even people who don't like the regular rava upma would like this Kichadi and as for me, I love the flavor from the ginger and garlic and ghee and it tastes great with some coconut chutney on the side..

Ragi Sheera, Finger Millet Halwa

          Today's post is going to be an easy sheera/halwa recipe using ragi flour (finger millet, kezhvaragu ). I followed the same method as we do for atta ( wheat flour ) sheera, except I have made this a little healthier, have used half the ghee and also, I have used jaggery instead of sugar. I have made a very small quantity, using just 1/4 cup flour, just enough for 2 to 3 people, so it got done in minutes. The halwa/sheera tasted great and even my daughter who's a little picky when it comes to Indian sweets loved it, and also another good thing, the sheera/halwa is also gluten free..

Vendhaya Keerai Paruppu Usili, Fenugreek Leaves (Methi) With Lentils

          Paruppu Usili is one of my favorite side dishes, especially with moru kuzhambu, we can make it with many vegetables, the common ones being green beans and cluster beans ( kothavarangai ). I have tried it with other vegetables too, but this is the first time I made it with methi/fresh fenugreek leaves. Since fenugreek leaves have a bitter taste, I also added some green peas and jaggery in the usili and it turned out really good and tasted perfect with rice and Moru Kuzhambu..

Karuppu Ulundu Sundal, Black Gram Sundal

          Happy Navratri to my friends and readers. Today's dish is one more sundal that we make during these nine days, Karuppu Ulundu (Black Gram) Sundal. For those who don't know what a sundal is, it's a healthy snack with whole beans and lentils ( chickpeas, kidney beans, bengal  gram to name a few ). Black Gram has many health benefits, especially for women, this sundal is an easy and healthy way of including it in the diet. We can serve this as a side to any meal or as an healthy and filling evening snack..

Watermelon Dhoklas

          Till a few months back, I never thought that we could do so many dishes with water melon. Till then, apart from eating it as such, the only other thing that I made with it was a juice. But then after making the dosa, I tried out idli, paniyaram and then now these Watermelon Dhoklas. For the idli, dosa and paniyaram, I used the white rind part of the fruit. But for making these dhoklas, I have used the actual fruit. The dhoklas came out too good and they looked so good too with a lovely color, do try this the next time you buy a watermelon..

Thengai Sadam, Coconut Rice

     
          Thengai Sadam/ Coconut Rice, this is one of the easiest rice preparations, might be next to the Lemon Rice. As the name says, the main ingredient other than rice, is coconut, so grating the coconut is the only time consuming part in this dish. Of course we can use frozen coconut but fresh coconut has its own taste and texture. The rice is very simple and the fresh coconut and curry leaves are the only flavors in it. You can serve this rice with a spicy potato fry or even with simple chips or papads..

Podalangai Poricha Kootu, Snake Gourd Curry With Lentils

          When making a South Indian meal, when I want a change from the sambar, I make a vegetable kootu. Kootus are made with some kind of a vegetable and usually a dal, except when we make Moru Kootus, then we don't add lentils to the dish. We also add a lot more of the vegetable when making a kootu than when we make sambar. So if you make some rice and pappads, then along with the kootu, it would be a simple and filling meal. Today's kootu is with Podalangai/Snake Gourd and we use moong dal/split green gram in it, Podalangai Poricha Kootu. This kootu/curry is very flavorful from the freshly ground coconut-spice paste. Serve this with some white rice and a little ghee and some sutta appalam on the side, it such a delicious combo..

Beetroot Pooris (Puris)

          It's been a longtime wish to make colorful Pooris/Puris, the green ones with spinach and then these pink ones with beets. For those who might ask what are pooris, well they are deep fried puffed up flat breads made using whole wheat or all purpose flour or a mix of both. For making these pink Beetroot Pooris, we add some beet paste to the dough along with some spices. The puris look really attractive and they go very well some potato kurma and they would be perfect for a kids party..

Heerekayi Palya, Karnataka Style Ridge Gourd Curry

          I am always amazed at, how the same vegetable is cooked in so many different ways, using different blend of spices across the different states in India. Today's dish, Heerekayi Palya is a Karnataka style curry with Ridge Gourd, Heerakayi in Kannada, Beerakaya in Telugu, Peerkangai in Tamil and Torai in Hindi. It's a simple curry, the vegetable is cooked and sauteed with Palya Powder/ Curry Powder. Since I don't have the curry powder, I have made a small quantity, just enough for this curry. This palya would go very well with rice and dal or even as a side dish for rotis too..

Ragda Patties, Aloo Tikki Chaat

          Ragda Patties/Pattice, this is one of my favorite chaats, it's basically aloo tikkis/potato patties served with dried white peas gravy, topped with different chutneys, onions and sev. Like most of the chaat dishes, if we have the chutneys ( green and sweet ones ) then making Ragda Patties is not very difficult, we can even make the chutneys a couple of days ahead and refrigerate them. I have adapted the recipe from here, it turned out really good and we loved it..