Tag: recipe with step-by-step photo

Spinach curry with paneer

Spinach curry is one of the most popular Indian curries not only for Indians but also for the people across the globe. It is a traditional winter curry prepared using leafy greens & cottage cheese (paneer). Spinach curry with paneer is commonly prepared using palak (Indian spinach), whereas saag paneer is prepared using mustard leaves. Here I have prepared spinach curry with the South Indian spinach namely Amaranth leaves (mulai keerai). Actually it is as delicious as palak paneer and creamier than palak paneer.

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Kurunai Dosai

A majority of my ancestors were farmers, my maternal grandfather became the last agriculturist of our family due to several reasons. They mostly grew rice & lentil crops in their farmland. There were large amounts of nutrient-rich broken rice and broken lentils kept inside kudhil (a gigantic earthenware used to store foodgrains) in my grandfather’s house. Since those small uneven particles of rice & lentil (kurunai) could not be sold in the market, they were used by our grandmother for making upma, payasam, kanji, kurunai dosai, etc.

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Omam Kuzhambu

Omam kuzhambu is a traditional kuzhambu prepared using aromatic spices with medicinal properties. Omam is beneficial to treat indigestion or flatulence. Hence I like to prepare omam kuzhambu when we return home from a vacation, or after attending a wedding ceremony for few days. I usually serve it with hot steaming rice & roasted papad (sutta appalam), when we crave for a home-cooked food that soothes our stomach. Now I have prepared a meal with omam Kuzhambu, dal (paruppu), stir-fried ladies finger (vendakai poriyal), spicy veg gravy (chettinad masala kootu) & sutta appalam and served for lunch.

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Modhagam

This is my first post in the second year of blogging. On this first anniversary I thank WordPress team for their fantastic support, readers & fellow bloggers for their continuing support and my family, relatives & friends for their kind cooperation, invaluable assistance & honest reviews. I also thank Lord Ganesha by posting the most appropriate recipe for Modhagam that we usually offer to Him on the festival of Ganesh Chathurthi. I have always been delighted to share our heirloom recipes in this space, and now I share a new method that I found very helpful for making soft, smooth dough for modhagam.

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Kummiyanam

Kummiyanam is a nutritious dessert prepared with rice, assorted legumes & palm jaggery for Aadi Iruthi celebrated by the people living in & around Tirunelveli. We offer kummiyanam to the lamented souls while remembering them in the Aadi month, a Tamil calendar month usually falls between 15th of July & 15th of August. In this month we remember the departed men on the day of amavasyai (no moon day) and the departed women on aadi irudhi (the last day of Aadi). Ironically, Japanese also visit the cemeteries during the same period to pay tributes to the departed souls.

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Idli Podi

Idli Milagai podi is an indispensable condiment in every south Indian’s pantry.  I find idli podi satisfying only when I feel the coarse grits inside my mouth. Hence I prefer to use the gritty home-made podi over the powder-like store-bought idli podi. We use roasted rice for its sandy texture, roasted asafoetida & raw garlic for the wonderful aroma that brings everyone to the kitchen while grinding idli podi.

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Ayurvedic Lemonade

Panakam is a traditional ayurvedic lemonade offered as neivedyam to deities at home on the day of Sashti Viratham (fasting) observed by Saivites and also on the day of Rama Navami celebrated by Vaishnavites. Rama navami is celebrated on the birthday of Lord Rama and Kandha Sashti Viratham is usually observed on the Sashti thithi of every month and is also observed for seven consecutive days in the month of Iyppasi after Deepavali.

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Ice Apple Pudding

Ice apple pudding (nungu payasam) is a delightful dessert nowadays featured in the menu of premier restaurants here to treat the people with impeccable taste. Lately it is also served in the wedding banquets particularly in South India. Ice apple pudding is a creamy dreamy dessert with enticing flavors of saffron, cardamom and ice apple (nungu or palm fruits) considered as a perfect finish to a sumptuous feast. You may click here for my other payasam recipes.

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Mushroom Masala

Mushroom masala is a healthy and also a hearty dish that can be sandwiched between toasted bread slices or served as a side for rice & roti. Since I have spiced mushroom masala up with pepper & ginger and avoided using chillies, it can be served to people who can not bear the heat of chilli particularly to kids.

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Nei kadalai

Nei kadalai is one of my favorite childhood snacks that I relished along with wheat halwa. It brings me back fond memories associated with this delicious savory as our family get-togethers were incomplete without spicy crunchy flavorful nei kadalai and soft gelatinous wheat halwa. I still cherish all those happy moments with my father when he brought me nei kadalai and Tirunelveli halwa.

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Fresh Fruit Salad

I like to take a bowl of fresh fruit salad for my lunch whenever I don’t feel like cooking an elaborate meal. I also don’t feel like missing my meal because of mint leaves & chaat masala, the star ingredients used in here. So anyone who wants to reduce the in-take of carbs can try this salad as it satiates one’s hunger. Besides we can serve this delicious fruit salad to children who refuse to take fruits, as they like the flavor of chaat masala.

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Indian Popsicles

Hot sunny days always remind me the summer vacations spent during my childhood days indulging in ice pops (Popsicle) like paal-ice, semiya ice, javvarisi ice, thengai ice, pazha ice, panchamirtha ice, etc. Indian popsicles are so flavourful that we could find delicious chunks of native fruits like mango, grated coconut, chopped nuts, slimy tapioca pearls or smooth vermicelli while relishing chilled pops. Nowadays it is hard to find ice pops with Indian flavours, those milky ice pops are replaced by creamy ice cream, chocolate sticks, etc.

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Blackgram Rice with Sesame Chutney

Ulundham Paruppu Sadham (Blackgram rice) is a unique rice dish popular in Tirunelveli and surrounding regions and this rice is typically served with ellu thuvaiyal for lunch. We usually serve this nutritious meal to young girls during their cycle every month and also to pregnant women as blackgram is beneficial to strengthen their hip bones. Nevertheless it can be served to kids, men & old people alike.

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Pounded Palmyra Sprout

Panang kizhangu (Palmyra sprout) is popular among south Indians & Sri Lankans. We usually steam the palmyra sprouts, pound them when dried, and relish the pounded palmyra sprout as a savory snack. Sri Lankans boil these sprouts, dry them, make into a flour and use the flour to make sweet puttu, koozh or add into some non-veg curries as a thickening agent.

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Amla Pickle

Indian gooseberries (amla) were mentioned in Sangam Tamil literature 2000 years ago for their anti-aging properties. The king Adhiyamaan of Chera dynasty was famous for his munificence and he was regarded as one of the kadaiyezhu vallal (meaning last seven patrons) in the history of Tamil monarchy. In those days amla was a scarcely available fruit and it was believed to have anti-aging properties to prolong one’s life. The king as a patron of literature offered such a rarest & precious nellikani (amla) to an old poetess Avvaiyar rather than partaking it by himself. Avvaiyar rendered beautiful verses after receiving amla praising the magnanimity of king Adhiyamaan (you may click here to read those lines).

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Aval Puttu

Aval puttu is a traditional sweet prepared using beaten rice mainly for Chithirai Vishu (Tamil New Year). We usually offer this sweet dish to the deities at home as neivedyam during festivals especially Chithirai Vishu and also serve as prasadam during Navarathri. Beaten rice (rice flakes) is easily digestible, and the gluten in rice is reduced to a large extent when beaten. So we can also serve aval puttu as a light healthy snack on other days.

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