Beet Yam Parathas, Beet Suran Parathas

          Usually I buy a slice of yam ( karunai kizhangu, suran ) and I make the masial or varuval with it. This time I had bought a whole one, I had used half of it for the varuval and with the remaining, I wanted to try something new and then I remembered seeing parathas made with it. The recipe that I saw used raw grated yam, but I decided to use cooked and mashed yam, I also added some grated beets and other spices and the parathas turned out soft and delicious. Serve them with some pickle and curd for a simple and delicious meal..

Mysore Sambar

          Mysore Sambar, just like Mysore Rasam or Mysore Pak I really don't know why we have 'Mysore' in the name of this dish. This a recipe from the cookbook Dakshin by Chandra Padmanabhan, I can say that, this is one of the first cookbooks that I started following after my marriage. Back then, I had written down all the recipes from this book, which I had borrowed from the library,  and to this day, I follow many of her recipes for day to day cooking. I have made this sambar so many times and it had always received good reviews from all those who had tasted it. The sambar is very simple to make and it gets its unique flavor and taste from the ground paste that we add to it. It goes well with plain rice and can also be served with idlis and dosas too, do try this when you want to have a change from the regular sambar..

Rice Flour Rotis, Arisi Maavu Chappathis, Ukkarisida Akki Roti

          Rice Flour Rotis ( Arisi Maavu Chappathis, Ukkarisida Akki Roti ), my friend had made this for her son who had gluten allergy, it looked close to wheat flour rotis and it tasted good too. She had also mentioned that unlike the wheat flour rotis, these were a little difficult to roll out, because it lacked the gluten. So, instead of adding just hot water to the flour to make the dough, I followed the same way as I did for the ragi ( finger millet ) rotis. I cooked the flour and then made the dough. This made it a lot easier to roll out the rotis, but of course we have to roll it out carefully, keeping in mind that the dough will break ( lack of gluten ) if rolled out very fast. We can make them like phulkas without oil or cook it with oil too, and it goes well with all curries, but I love it with Baingan Bharta With Mustard Oil..

Methi Muthiya, Wheat Flour & Fenugreek Leaves Dumplings

          Every week I get a bunch of fresh methi ( fenugreek leaves, vendaya keerai ) bunch and sometimes the bunch turns out to be slightly bigger. After having used half of a big bunch for sambar or kootu, I was left with a little more leaves, which I decided to use for making these Methi Muthiya. This is again another healthy and filling Gujarati snack, I have already posted Khandvi and Dhokla and now these Methi Muthiyas join the healthy snack list. As the name suggests, we use methi leaves along with whole wheat flour and besan flour to make them and there are two ways of making them, deep fried version and the steamed version. Today's post is the steamed Methi Muthiyas, and they can be eaten as such or with some spicy chutney or sauce..

Potato Curry In A Peanut-Curd Gravy

          Today's dish is going to be another simple and delicious dish with potatoes, Potato Curry In A Peanut-Curd Gravy. I have made curries with a curd/yogurt base, but I liked the addition of coarsely pounded peanuts in the curry. While making the curry, I was thinking that this would also taste somewhat similar to the other curd based curries, but it tasted very different and delicious, might be because of the peanuts. The curry would go very well with rotis, naans or even with a pilaf..

Green Peas Dosa, Pattani Dosai

          Will I ever get tired of eating idlis and dosas, never, and I am always ready to try a new one. Today's dish is yet another dosa, Green Peas Dosa or Pattani Dosa and what better time to make them, than now, when fresh green peas are still in season. I have already posted Moong Dal Dosa, Pesarattu and this Peas Dosa is a slight variation of the pesarattu. This is a very healthy dosa, rich in protein and also, we can make them immediately after making the batter as there is no need for fermentation. If fresh green peas are not available, we can make them with frozen peas too, so make and serve it with some spicy chutney..

Manathakkali Kai Masiyal, Mashed Black Nightshade Berries Curry

          Manathakkali/Black Nightshade, till now I have cooked with only the keerai/greens, of course a few berries would be there with the greens, but this is the first time, I have made a dish with the berries alone. These berries are green when raw and turn blackish purple when they ripen, for today's dish we are using the raw green berries. Whenever we go to Chennai, I always remember to buy sundakkai ( turkey berries ) and fresh green peppercorns as I don't find them in Bangalore. This time, my husband had bought these manathakkali kai, mistaking these berries for the green peppercorns. Since I had never cooked these berries, I had to call my co-sister for a recipe and she asked me to do this masiyal with it. Since these berries have a bitter taste, I was not sure about this dish till I tasted it and, to my surprise, the curry tasted so good, didn't have the bitter taste at all. I am not going to say anything about the health benefits of these berries ( there's a lot of information on the net ), but do try out this masiyal, the next time you get these berries. Serve the Manathakkali Kai Masiyal with plain rice along with a vegetable curry and papads for a simple and delicious meal..

Choliya Paratha, Fresh Green Chickpeas Paratha

          Choliya Paratha, this is the last dish that I made with the fresh green chickpeas ( choliya ) that I had bought, the other two dishes are Choliya Paneer and Choliya Kofta Curry. There are some more dishes that I would love to try out with these chickpeas, but they have to wait till I can get another batch of them. Coming to today's post, it's very simple, we make a mixture with the fresh chickpeas and other spices and use it as a stuffing for these parathas. As usual, serve these parathas with a vegetable curry, some curd, pickle or chutney for a simple and delicious meal..

Bread Halwa Recipe

          The first and perhaps the only time that I had tasted Bread Halwa is some 20 years back. My knowledge about cooking was negative back then, but I can still remember the rich taste and texture of it. After that, I had wanted to try it so many times and finally got to make it only now. I am not exaggerating, when I say that it's one of the easiest sweets you can make, and you just need some bread and the other basic ingredients in a sweet. Try it out the next time you have some extra slices of bread and you have the sudden craving for something sweet..