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..

Capsicum Chutney, Red Bell Pepper Chutney

          Idlis and dosas appear in our breakfast or dinner menu, at least 2 to 4 times in a week, so I make a chutney for them at least 2 to 4 times in a week. Though the tomato chutney is a favorite at home, to keep us from getting bored of it, I try to make chutneys with other vegetables too, today's Capsicum/Bell Pepper Chutney is one such. Usually I add a capsicum along with the tomato and do it the same way as the Tomato chutney, but this time I left out the tomato and tried a slightly different version. The chutney came out very good and it goes very well with idlis, dosas and other South Indian breakfast dishes. If made a little thick like a thogayal, it would taste good with rice too..

Coriander Chana (Chickpeas) Rice

          Today's post is a simple and flavorful rice with Chana/Chickpeas/Kondaikadalai and Coriander/ Kothamalli. Fresh coriander leaves is ground with other spices, sauteed with onions and then mixed with cooked rice and chickpeas and this is a perfect lunch box recipe. Serve it with some chips/ papadams and raitha/curd for a complete and delicious meal..

Pavakkai Gojju, Bitter Gourd (Karela) Curry

          Bitter Gourd, not a very favorite vegetable for most of us, some of us just can't eat it at all, but in my house, we like it, and this Pavakkai/Karela Gojju is a favorite. This is a simple recipe, the vegetable is sauteed really well and this removes the bitterness ( at least most of it ) and we also add jaggery which makes this curry really tasty. This goes very well as part of a South Indian meal, with rice and sambar, as a side dish for rotis, tastes great when mixed with some white rice or as a side for some curd rice..

Eggless Cheddar Cheese Scones

 
          Another dish that I had made with Cheddar Cheese is these delicious Savory Scones. Scones have neither a soft or a hard texture, they are somewhere in the middle and they are great for breakfast or as a teatime snack. I have already posted a couple of scones on my blog and they are all sweet ones, this is my first savory one. When I say that the whole house smelled divine, while the scones were in the oven, I am not exaggerating, in fact they smelt so good even when I was mixing and rolling out the dough. Do try out these delicious scones if you like savory bakes and cheddar cheese, I am sure you'll love it..

Kerala Style Paal Payasam, Milk Kheer

          Today is the last post on the Onam Sadya recipes and I thought I'll end it with a sweet. Since I have already posted the Chakka Pradaman and Cherupayar Paruppu Pradaman, I decided on this Kerala Style Paal Payasam. This is similar to the Paal Payasam we make but the special Chemba Pachari ( Kerala Red Raw Rice ) gives a unique taste and beautiful color to this payasam/kheer. The first day, I had bought broken matta rice, then I realized that it's not the rice used for the payasam. Then again the second day, with some help from the store guy ( he's from Kerala ), my husband bought me the rice. I have adapted the recipe from here and the Paal Payasam came out really good. I used the pressure cooker to save some time, but still the dish takes anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour to be done, depending on the quantity. But, at the end, it's worth all the time and effort, it tastes absolutely delicious and before going to the recipe, Onam Ashamsakal! to all my friends and readers from Kerala..

Kerala Style Tomato Rasam

          When I was looking at Sadya menus, a Rasam is also a part of it. Just like the sambar which is prepared in the Kerala style, the rasam is also different from the Tamil style. So I checked some recipes and finally settled down on this, since it didn't require any rasam powder. Tomatoes are the main ingredient for this rasam and we add both ginger and garlic to it, the rasam tasted very good and had a different flavor, do try it when you want a change from your regular style of rasam..

Cabbage Thoran, Kerala Style Cabbage Stir Fry

          Next in line on Onam Sadya Dishes is Cabbage Thoran. Thoran is stir fry with vegetables and can be made with cabbage, carrot, beans or greens and is close in taste to the poriyal in the Tamil Cuisine. The main difference is the cooking oil, which is coconut oil and the amount of coconut that is added at the end. It's a very easy dish, and a perfect side to any South Indian meal..

Mathanga Erissery, Kerala Style Pumpkin Curry

            Today's post is going to be Mathanga Erissery/Pumpkin Curry, another dish that's served in the Onam Sadya. This is a very flavorful dish with a double dosage of coconut, it's added as a paste to the cooked vegetable and then again some sauteed coconut is mixed at the end and of course, coconut oil is used for cooking. I followed the recipe from ' The Essential Kerala Cookbook', it's again an easy dish and since pumpkin cooks fast, it's done in no time. The curry tastes really delicious and goes very well with rice, try it out if you like coconut..

Varutharacha Sambar, Kerala Style Sambar, Sadya Recipes

       
            As I had mentioned in my earlier post, this whole week till Onam is going to be only Sadya recipes from Kerala. So next in line is Varutharacha Sambar which literally means Roast and Ground Sambar, we have our own Tamilian version of Araichuvitta Sambar, this is Kerala style. As in most of the Kerala dishes, the cooking oil used here is coconut oil and that itself gives a different flavor to this sambar. I have adapted the recipe from here and the sambar tasted really good with both rice and dosas..

Kerala Style Beetroot Kichadi, Onam Sadya Recipes

          This whole week it's going to be all Kerala dishes here, especially ones that are served in the Sadya. Yesterday, I had posted Inji Puli, and today it's the Beetroot Kichadi. The Kerala Kichadi is a curd and coconut based dish and not the Rava Khichadi that we Tamilians make or the Rice and Dal Khichdi that they make in the North. It's more like our Pachadi and we can use other vegetables like okra, cucumber and bitter gourds too. There is also another dish called Pachadi in the Sadya and there's only a small difference between the Kichadi and Pachadi. Again I followed the recipe from a cook book, it's a very easy dish and would be a nice accompaniment to any Indian meal and we loved it at home..

Puli Inji, Inji Puli, Sweet & Sour Ginger Pickle

          Onam is a festival, celebrated in the state of Kerala, India, and it is celebrated for 10 days. As much as the Pookkalam ( Art With Flowers ), the Onam Sadya is equally important and has become very popular, that many restaurants offer a Onam Sadya Special for at least 3 to 4 days. Last year I had the chance of having it and being a big fan of Kerala food, I loved it. The traditional Onam Sadya has a couple of pickles, number of curries, pachadis and pradamans/payasams and is served on a banana leaf. One of the items served is this Inji Puli or Puli Inji, a sweet, spicy and sour pickle with ginger and tamarind. I have adapted the recipe from a cookbook, this is a simple dish and it goes very well with just plain rice or as a side to curd rice too..

Jowar (Cholam) Pidi Kozhukattai (Sweet), Jowar Modaks

          Tomorrow is Vinayagar Chathurthi, and here is another healthy Kozhukattai recipe that you can try out, Jowar/Cholam/Sorghum Pidi Kozhukattai. This is such an easy dish, so if you don't have time to make the Stuffed Kozhukattais/Modaks, you can make these simple ones and they would also make for an healthy evening snack for kids. I made it just like the regular rice flour ones and they tasted very good both warm and cold..

Millet Kozhukattai With Date Almond Filling, Millet Modaks With Date Badam Filling

          Ganesh/Vinayagar Chaturthi is just 3 days away and I see so many varieties of Kozhukattais in many blogs. Usually I make kozhukattais with paruppu-thengai-vellam pooranam/filling and sundal on Vinayagar Chathurthi, but this time I wanted to try out a different filling. For today's kozhukattais, I have use date-almond-coconut filling and I have also used millet flour instead of rice flour for the outer layer. Also, there is no added sugar in the filling, so this is very healthy too. I have used varagu flour/kodo millet flour, the outer layer came out really good, do give this a try and enjoy these healthy and delicious kozhukattais..