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..