Indian Style Chickpea Water Gravy Recipe | Bassaru Recipe | Karnataka Specials

   Bassaru - is an Indian style chickpea cooked water gravy also called rasam.This is being prepared/cooked in especially northern parts of  Karnataka as an accompaniment for ragi mudde and also for idli or plain rice.Famous combination for this recipe is palya.Palya is nothing but a dry curry/sundal with the lentil which we used to get the water from. So we are not wasting anything and also getting all the nutrition from the lentil.

Flax Seed Podi Recipe | Alli Virai Powder | Podi Recipes

Flax Seed  podi a nutty ,spicy south Indian style coarse powder made with alsi seeds and spices.This is an entirely different and more aromatic podi than other.Prepared with simplest ingredients.For variations you can add urad dal and/or chana dal as well.

Keerai Poriyal | Stir Fry For Rice

      Keerai Poriyal - a quick side dish made with spinach/greens.Spinach/palak  is very good everybody knows that.I know palak paratha,palak paneer,dal palak ,what is this palak stir fry ?Palak is not  only for making north Indian dishes/dinner, this green can make a tasty accompaniment for rice too.

Raw Banana - Vazhakkai Varuval | Rice Side Dish

      Raw  Banana a much loved vegetable in our house.I do something with this veggie, for rice once in a week ,be it vazhakkai podimas, vazhakkai fry , enna vazhakkai .This type of vazhakkai varuval has become the most favourite after i tried.

Carrot Curry | Chettinad Food

     Carrot Curry-a mild comforting curry with fresh carrots and toor dal along with some tempering.Commonly called "tuvatal" served along with rasam or sambar rice in chettinad.
       In chettinad varieties of veggies are served .Pachadi-tangy curry(with toor dal and with veggies like lady's finger,raw mango),Kootu-mild curry ( made with veggies like choyote,snake gaurd,cabbageand spiced with green chilies),Tuvatal-stir fry (with or without coconut also with or without toor dal made from veggies like carrot,snake guard,green leafy veggies),Masiyal-mild curry (from veggies like spinach but when made with yam it has tamarind pulp).Kola(dry blend of fresh veggies, dal and spices).Piratal-Mixed spiced veggies(steamed veggies cooked in ground coconut ,spice paste or simply with spice paste).Varuval-dry curry(shallow roast of spiced veggies) there is still more ,but with this intro i would like to go for the recipe of carrot curry straight away.
   

Egg Omelet Recipe|How To Make Egg Omelet|South Indian Style

Egg omelet -Easy to make side dish for rice,for lazy afternoons or when there is no veggies.
    Everybody loves egg's in one or other form.I just love them in gravy or curries(only boiled ones) my better half like omelet's.In many countries egg omelet is served for breakfast along with bread and juice.In India its served mostly during lunch.How ever eating egg based dishes at night is not suggested you can eat them early before dusk so that it gets digested before you sleep.

Papaya Curry|Papali Kootu

Papaya  Curry a semi liquid gravy that goes very well with rice,roti dishes.

Other Names of Papaya:
     Raw papaya  also called as papali,green papaya, karamusa, kaplanga,Papaw,Paw paw,peper in other languages.Raw Papaya plays a major role in bengali ,Thai and Indonesia cuisine..That's why people's have a great glowing skin :)

Dal Palak|Keerai Kootu

    This is a south Indian style Dal palak (because i do it ,i say it south Indian).Dal palak is a very mild curry that goes very well with kulambu and sambhar.If added little more spice(chili or sambhar powder) you can have it for roti as well(Indian style flat bread).
     This curry can be made with any greens available,I made it with Spinach the Palak .We south Indians call it as pasalai keerai.This Spinach is mostly available in cities.So people who are trying this curry who don't have spinach/palak available go with other greens like arai keerai,mula keerai,Methi or vendhaya keerai(fenugreek leaves) etc.
     This Keerai masiyal is one of the tastiest mild curries of South.You can add toor dal instead of moong dal and temper the curry with mustard and urad dal after the curry is done.
      I pressure cooked the spinach with moong dal like my mom do,If you don't want the greens to be cooked in pressure cooker.Pressure cook the dal and mash it .Saute spinach and combine both of them together.

Egg Curry/How To Make Egg Masala

This Egg Curry or Egg Masala or Egg Gravy goes well with Phulkhas/Chapathi. It can be Eaten with Rice/Roti/Dosas.
     "Egg" was the one thing that I hated most when I was a kid. My mom insisted that I eat it, so i tried boiling it and add it to my diet whenever possible (not regularly though).This masala is one such idea to include eggs in my diet. No grinding required for this gravy but make sure you add enough onion and tomato ,so you get enough curry while serving .


Similar recipes for roti/Chapathi:

1. Egg Gravy(Rice side dish)
2. Mushroom gravy
3. Kala Channa/Kondakadalai gravy
4. Potato Masala

Preparation time:10 min
Cooking time:30 min
Serves:2

Roadside Ama Vadai/Channadal fritters/Easy Snackrecipe

               Ama Vadai is a common snack item you can find  on roadside shops in TamilNadu along with Uruddal vadai /Medhu vadai. These vada's combine very well with red chutney/milagai thuvayal or coconut chutney.

           During my recent visit to india I had bajji's and some of these vada's. I was thinking and craving these vada's after I came back here. I did know how to make them but I had never made them even once. I got some tips from my mom and made a batch of these Vadas. My little one loved it very much and she had a few.

          This is healthy and quite easy to prepare snack on a Sunday evening or even on a weekday.

 Before going to the recipe
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Interested in similar snack recipes? check

• aloo bonda(using urad dal batter)
• Vada(uluntha vadai)
• Valaipoo vadai(banana flowers vada)
• Kuli paniyaram(not fried)
• Seeyam(uraddal flour fritters)

Soaking time:2 hrs
Preparation time:10 min
Cooking time:30 min

Broccoli Pepper Fry | Indian Broccoli Recipe

     Hello readers and friends, its been long since I posted.We were on vacation, before leaving on vacation I thought I would share some recipes from India,That is impossible!!! I spent most of the time with my family. I visited them after 2 long years. Apologies for not posting a single recipe at that time. We came back a few days ago.I had to start my usual chores,of course posting too.Finally I edited post of this broccoli pepper fry recipe.

    This broccoli pepper fry is a simple broccoli recipe made with just pepper and jeera.Pepper and jeera is added in oil just before broccoli,to get a smoky taste in the fry.You can say this broccoli is prepared in Indian style.Roasted pepper/jeera gives a unique  taste to broccoli fry.I do cauliflower pepper fry this same way.So if you don't get broccoli you can make this pepper fry with cauliflower.

VengayamThakkaliThokku/EasySideDish

           This is a guest post  to my friend resna so I just want to give a little intro about her.
Resna is a good friend of mine and my fellow blogger .She is blogging since 2013 and she has many wonderful recipes collection in her blog.She is very good at non-veg items, especially kerala items .She is a very good baker  too .I love her eggpuffs so much ,apart from that i want to try her eggkebab which is so good. Check out her space for these special recipes .
         She asked me for a guest post one fine day and i sent her this post .Hope she likes my post .
     Coming to thokku. When you have no vegetables and you want to make a side dish for roti/chapathi this thokku comes in handy .Its one of the easiest recipes i do .I do it occasionally but my husband love it for sure.My mom do whenever we go on a trip .Its so good at those times when we are so tired visiting so many places .You got my point ?The good part is You can make it with your pantry ingredients without much fuss .

PotatoPoriyalWithoutPressureCooker/DrySideDishForRoti

        Potatoes are everybody favourite .Potatoes are consumed more than any other veggies around the world .From poriyal to mashed potatoes there are many variations you can do with potatoes.Potatoes available in specific regions vary in taste ,color and are good to make only specific food varieties.
Some varieties of potatoes i know

• Baby potatoes(small size potatoes .Good for frying ,Masalas)
• Russet potatoes( have little pigments shown.Good for baking,mashing,French fries)
• Idaho potatoes(large brown skin potatoes.Good for baking,mashing,French fries and chips)
• Pink potatoes(pink potatoes)

        Same potatoes cooked in different indian style.
       One is Potato masala .In there ,potatoes are pressure cooked ,peeled and added to masalas. Second is  Poori bhaji  here potatoes are pressure cooked and added to onion ,tomatoes and green chilies .In this recipe potatoes are cubed ,tempered and added to masalas .Three diff styles with same potatoes  .
        Even people without pressure cooker can do this poriyal without much fuss.Cooking the potatoes in slow fire gives the potatoes a slight crispness and masala flavours wonderfully blended to the potatoes  makes this dish so awful.

Preparation time:5 min
Cooking time:20-25 min
Serves:2

Special lunch/Puthandu special/Simple Southindian thali

"Puthandu" is a tamil word for new year .Its very special to everybody in tamilnadu and for tamilians who live in all parts of world .In new year we visit temple and wear new clothes and wish our neighbours and friends a very good year ahead.First month of new year is "chitirai".This is the starting of festival season and holiday season too .So enjoy this holiday and new year and wish everybody the same .
Another speciality is we share the new year with our neighbour state kerela which is  called gods own country.Full of greenaries and abundance of coconut trees makes this state get its name i guess.While i was working i stayed really close to one iyyapan temple where they celebrate vishu and onam in a grand manner .I love their saree,food ,santhanam a lot .

This lunch we did it for our sunday brunch and enjoyed a lot .Have a  food  feast on this new year .I will do seperate post on potato masala afterwards .

• Lemon rasam
• fenugreekleaves sambhar
• Papad
• Potato masala
• RawBanana fry(valaikai podimas)
• Rice 
• Curd
• Phulkha

Valaikai podimas :

Cooking time:25 min
Serves:2-3

Ingredients:

• 2 banana
• 2 green chilies
• salt as per taste

To temper:

• 2 tsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp urad dal

Method:

• Wash and cut each of the banana in to two .

• Boil the bananas by immersing in  water with 1/2 tsp salt until it becomes tender(takes about 10 minutes).

• Peel the skin of the banana and cut them.

• Temper the oil with urad dal ,mustard seeds,green chilies and curry leaves.
• Wait for the mustard seeds to splutter.

• Add the chopped bananas and little salt water(already we added salt so little less salt do good) 

• Cover it with lid and let it cook for 10 minutes .
• Serve it with sambhar rice,rasam rice.

Note:

• You can add some grated coconut at the end (i didnt add it)
• You can peel the skin of the banana if its cooked thoroughly .
• If you cannot peel the skin then you have to cook them again.
• You have to cook the sliced bananas second time as i mentioned otherwise  it will be very dry .
• You can grate the bananas instead of cutting them in that case just finish off with some water added, no need to cook for 10 more minutes again .

Lemon rasam:

Cooking time:15+15 min
Serves:2-3

Ingredients :

• 3 -4 tbsp toor dal/tuvaram paruppu (pressure cooked)
• rasam powder (1 1/2 tsp)
• 1 small tomato
• 1 garlic
• 1 red chili
• turmeric
• salt as per taste
• 1 tsp oil for tempering
• 1 /2 lemon (around 1 tbsp)

To temper:

• pinch of hing
• curry leaves few 
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds/kadugu
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds/jeera/jeeragam

To garnish:

• Few corinader leaves/kothamalli

Method:

• Pressure cook the toor dal with turmeric ,garlic until mushy along with sliced tomatoes 
• Add rasam powder and required salt .
• Heat the tava and temper it with mustard and cumin seeds.
• Add curry leaves and hing.
• Add the rasam water mix to it .
• Cook it in low flame until it boils (takes around 10 minutes)
• Garnish it with coriander leaves.
• Keep it covered until you serve .

Note:

• For instant rasam powder: dry roast 1 red chili ,1/2 tsp black pepper.1/2 tsp corainder seeds,1/2 tsp cumin seeds and grind it .
• You can omit the toor dal if you are in a hurry but adjust the heat and sourness accordingly .
• Rasam always needs  a little kick of salt but this lemon rasam requires less salt compared to other rasams according to me .
• You can skip curry leaves and coriander leaves if you dont have it .But adding them will give a wonderful aroma and nice flavour to the rasam.

linking this to Gayathri's WTML event and prachis 


Linking this to parisevent and shruti

Broccoli Poriyal/Easy LunchBox recipes

Broccoli is a  very tasty green veggie .Its a cousin of cauliflower and  purple cauliflowers  .Yes Broccoli looks similiar to cauliflower in shape but taste and color is little different .Like cauliflower it has more vitamin C and consumed  mainly during winter season to relieve cold  because it has lots of vitamin C.Half a cup of broccoli has 52 mg of vitamin C this is what the wikipedia says .It has many immune benefits like anti bacterial,anti viral and anti cancer. It can be taken as a soup,simple pepperfry ,in fried rice or you can add to your pasta dishes as well  .I buy these broccolis often and do this poriyal and pepper fry  .

Some other easy fries

Tindora fry/Kovakkai poriyal
RawBanana Fry
RawBanana fry(method 2)

Preparation time:2  min(taking the florets)
Cooking time:15 min
Serves:1-2

RawBanana fry/Easy sidedish/எண்ணெய் வாழைக்காய்

Banana tree is one useful tree from top to bottom. In India Banana leaf meal is very famous and it has many healthy benefits too. Banana flower is used for making vadas and dry curry which is very nutritious (has iron and helps in getting regular periods ). Banana stem can be served as a dry dish and with dal. Ripe bananas we eat everyday and it has lots of pottasium which is good for high blood pressure .Raw bananas can be fried, or with besan flour it can be made as a yummy evening snack . So when you have a backyard why not grow banana tree .

I usually do variations on banana fry one is directly adding in oil. Other one is this ,Boiling the bananas in water to give a soft texture and later frying (not deep fried) in oil. This method works faster and has less oil compared to the other method.

First time when I ate it in my aunts house I became a fan. From that time I wanted to try and make this dish in my house. When I did this I was excited and was happy with the result.
 This goes very well this sambar and curd rice.

If you want to try the traditional banana fry click here 

Cooking Time:40 min
Serves:2-3

Paneer butter masala/Paneer recipes

Paneer butter masala is a very common north indian gravy goes very well with roti,nan,tandoor items.Stir fried paneer in indian masalas with lots of butter and cashews.For health sake i reduced butter and cashews .This gravy i made with home made paneer which made it extra yummy.The freshness ,sponginess of the panner with rich gravy made with cashews was out of the world on a cold winter dinner.

Preparation time:15 min
Cooking time:15 min
Serves:2-3

Pressure cooker Cabbage Curry(கூட்டு )

I often buy purple cabbage because it tastes awesome and you can make a colorful plate with purple cabbage.You get it in mexican stores .I usually do a mexican dish with it, this time i wanted to make something traditional using purple cabbage. I decided on making kootu.This goes very well with kuzhambu and rasam rice. You can eat it with chappathis too.

Check other side dish varieties tangy okra curry,Tindora fry,Rawmango curry

Preparation time:5 min

Cooking time:15 min

Serves:2

Tangy Bhindi & Toor dal Curry (வெண்டைக்காய் பச்சடி )

Vendaikkai Pachaddi (வெண்டைக்காய் பச்சடி) is something you will find in every chettinad kitchen. This gravy is made along the lines of sambar, but with less water and toor dal remains whole instead of being mashed up. A similar curry can be made with sundaikai (சுண்டைக்காய் ) which is one of my absolute favourites. Chances of getting sundaikkai are almost impossible here, so I usually use baby okra.

You might be intrested in similar tangy curries like RawMango curry,TangyOkra curry

Preparation time:10 min

Cooking time:20 min

Serves:2-3

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound baby okra
• 1/4 cup toor dal.
• 1/2 tbsp tamarind paste.
• 1 green chili.
• 1 tbsp sambar powder.
• 1 small Onion.
• oil for tempering.
• salt as needed.

Method:

• Cut the okra in to 1/4 inch pieces.
• Cook the toor dal for 2 whistles (should not be mushy).

• Cut the onion in to small pieces.
• In a hotpan temper oil with  items "to  temper".
• Add onions and green chilies saute them until translucent.
• Add okra and saute them until the slime of the okra cooks out. The okra should not stick together.

• Add sambar powder and saute it for a min in low flame until the raw smell dissipates.
• Add required water and add tamarind paste and salt.

• Add the cooked toor dal.
• Boil the gravy until it becomes thick .
• Your bhendi -toor dal gravy is ready to eat .
• Serve it with rasam or curd rice . 

Note;

• Okra should not be sticky fry them until the stickiness leaves.
• Adjust the water content accordingly.If its too dry you can't eat this one.If its too watery this wont' taste good.

Linking it to Gayathris event and sahasra page

 Sapanas event

Lunch box recipes /Coconut rice and Potato fry

Coconut Rice

Coconut is a wonderful vegetable that I love. It has lots of calcium and nutrition ,which is good for teeth and bones. It has good cholesterol too. Coconut is very versatile it can be used a flavor enhancer, a condiment like in chutneys or you make it the feature of your dish. Coconut when boiled for too long is not very healthy.
I used to buy frozen coconut .But I love the taste of fresh coconut. In a local store I found fresh coconuts, I brought one and grated it and stored it. Coconut Rice is a dish that we used to have during our school days. My husband loves this rice .Once in a while when I buy a fresh coconut I make this for him. My little one loves coconut in any from.

Check for other rice recipes like Tomato Pulav,Mint Pulav,Pongal

Preparation Time:10 min
Cooking Time:15 min.
Serves :2

Ingredients:

• 1/4 of small coconut(grated).
• 1 cup raw Rice.
• 3 green chilies.
• salt as required 
• oil for tempering.(coconut oil is optional)

To Temper:

• 1/2 tbsp Mustard seeds.
• 1/4 tbsp split Channa dal.
• A Pinch of hing.
• Little curry leaves powder/Few Curry leaves.

Method:

• Wash the rice and  pressure cook it with little oil and required water ( Add the exact amount of water)
• Cook for one whistle and reduce the flame and cook it for  another 4 min .
• Now switch off the stove and allow it to cool till the pressure releases.
• To a hot saute pan add 2 tbsp of oil/coconut oil and add mustard seeds to it.
• After the mustard seeds splutter add channa dal (let it change color ).

• Add green chilies ,hing and saute for a min.
• Add the grated coconut and saute it for a min or two.
• Now switch off the heat and add the cooled rice .

• Add required salt and mix them thoroughly.
• Coconut rice is ready.

Note:

• Rice should be at room temperature before you add it to coconut .
• You can add coconut oil for tempering which gives extra flavor.
• Dont cook the coconut too much when you add it saute pan.

Potato Fry

Preparation time:5 min.

Cooking time:20-25 min.

Serves:2-3 

Ingredients:

• 2 large potatoes(pressure cooked for 3 whistles)
• 1 small Onion.
• 1/2 country tomato.
• A pinch of turmeric.
• 1 garlic pod.
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp Cumin powder.

To Temper:

• 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp urad dal.
• few curry leaves/ curry leaves powder.

Method:

• Pressure cook the potatoes for 2 -3 whistles until they are soft (not mushy)
• Cut them in to 1 inch pieces.
• Cut the onions and tomatoes in to small pieces as well.
• Add oil to the heated tava and add the items "to temper".
• Add onions,garlic and saute them until onions are translucent.
• Add tomatoes and cook them thorough.

• Add chili powder,cumin powder and turmeric and saute till the raw smell of the masala subsides.
• Add little water and add required salt.
• After the water  boiles and reduce in quantity add the cooked cut potatoes.

• Cover them with a lid and cook for another 5 -8 min until the potatoes absorb all the masalas.
• Potatoes should be coated and it should not have any water.

• Potato fry is ready..
• Enjoy your lunch.

Note:

• If the potatoes are not cooked allow them to cook before you add it to masala.
• Potato fry should be dry . So cook the fry until it absorbs all the water.

Linking it to Gayathris event and sahasra page