Mysore Bonda

Mysore is the name of a city in India and Bonda is a deep fried flour dumpling. I have no clue why this is called Mysore bonda. May be the recipe originated in Mysore and got that name. This is a perfect snack for the chilly evenings. All purpose flour is mixed with sour yogurt and the dumplings are deep fried in oil. Mysore bonda is a popular street food in South India - often sold along with Mirchi Bajjis(green peppers dipped in chickpea flour and deep fried in oil) in portable stalls on the street corners. Ingredients: All purpose flour: 2 cups Sour yogurt: 1 cup Onions, finely chopped: 1/2 cup(optional) Cilantro,...

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Cranberry Rice

Hope you all had a very good Thanksgiving. We had a very relaxing Thanksgiving this year. Most of the time we make travel plans during thanksgiving. But, this year we decided to stay home and relax. Moreover we got back from a trip to a beautiful resort just last week and did not want to travel again. We had a potluck at a friend's place and I made the curry leaf chicken and this cranberry rice. Sometimes it feels so good just to sit back and relax. So, do you have any cranberries left from the cranberry sauce you made for Thanksgiving? If so, you can try your hands at this simple cranberry rice. This is a colorful and vibrant...

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Red Beer - Hubby's recipe

Do you like beer? I hate beer. If you are a person like me who doesn't like drinking beer then this is for you. In this house 'P' is a beer person and I am the wine person. Yes, I don't like beer and he doesn't like wine. Red beer is something we both like and we occasionally make this. Bloody mary mix is combined with beer along with hot sauce, salt and pepper making it taste more like spicy tomato juice than beer. 'P' is not very fond of cooking. I am the one who cooks and he is the one who cleans(....once in a while). The only time he enters the kitchen to make something from scratch is to make this "Red Beer"(Oh...he can make...

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Beetroot Rice

Rice is a staple food in the South Indian families. We eat rice for at least one meal everyday. Some of my non Indian friends call me "Starch Girl" :) Most of the times rice is served with a curry or a vegetable side dish or the rice is cooked along with vegetables and/or lentils. I often find it easy and interesting to make rice with different vegetables. Here is a simple rice dish made with grated beetroot. Ingredients: Beetroot: 2 medium sized Onion: 1 medium sized(finely chopped) Salt to taste Garam Masala: 1 tsp Oil: 3 tbsp Red chili powder: 1/2 tsp(optional) Cooked Rice: 2 Cups Tempering: Split black gram(Urad dal): 1 tsp Mustard...

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Red Lentil Rice

Before I start cooking, when time permits, I go through the food blogosphere to get some inspiration and ideas. Sometimes it is the recipe that grabs my attention, but most of the time it is the beautiful pictures that really make me drool so much that I cook immediately. Even though you know that recipe, have been cooking for ages, when you look at a beautifully taken shot, you feel like eating it right away. This is one such recipe from DK's Chef In You. this is the second recipe I am trying form Chef In You. The first was Tres Leches Cake. What I like about her site is the step by step instructions with pictures. You don't even have to read...

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Colorful Potato Curry

Potato is one vegetable that is everybody's favorite. I have never met a person who doesn't like potatoes and they obviously taste good cooked in a any form. I usually make this as a side dish with rasam or sambar. Addition of cilantro and red pepper falkes make this dish vibrant and colorful. The picture was taken before adding cilantro. The kiddo doesn't like the cilantro, so I had to add after she was done eating. Ingredients: Potatoes: 4(medium sized) Onions: 1(medium sized) Green onions: 3 Red Pepper Flakes: 2 tsp Salt to taste Oil: 2 tbsp Cilantro(chopped): 2 tbsp Tempering: Mustard Seeds: 1 tsp Cumin Seeds: 1 tsp Turmeric Powder:...

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Tofu in Sichuan Sauce

Chinese food at home and from scratch? Sounds good isn't it? It is easy to cook Chinese food if you have the ready made sauces. But, if you can make the sauce at home from the most common ingredients, what's better than that. I follow this recipe for the Sichuan Sauce. It is simple, can be made with the readily available ingredients and most importantly can be prepared in 5 minutes. I usually use paneer( Indian Cottage Cheese) with it and make Sichuan Paneer. This time I used fried tofu in the sauce. I followed the recipe for the sauce exactly as mentioned in the above link. I just doubled the quantity so that is is sufficient for one pack...

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Pomegranate Milkshake for Pinktober

October is national breast cancer awareness month. Everything turns pink in October. From the flight crew wearing pink uniforms to football players wearing pink helmets and shoes- Everyone doing their part for the breast cancer awareness. I too have been thinking of doing(cooking) something pink for pinktober in honor of all those who suffered/suffering from breast cancer. All the recipes I could think of were sweets/desserts and I am not a sweet person and I wanted to post something healthy and not loaded with calories and sugars. Yesterday, when I was opening the pomegranates, the idea of pomegranate milk shake struck me and I tried it immediately....

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A simple cauliflower fry

If a recipe is simple, requires less cutting and cleaning and can be done in 10 minutes, who doesn't want to try it. I love super fast recipes. I hate cutting and cleaning as much as I like cooking. When it is raining and you are in a mood for some spicy tangy food and you are lazy to cook, here is a simple recipe for you. Ingredients: Cauliflower florets: 2 cups Dhaniya(Coriander) powder: 1 1/2 tsp Jheera(Cumin) powder: 1 1/2 tsp Turmeric: 1 tsp Sal to taste Lime juice: 1/2 tsp Aamchur powder: 1/2 tsp( optional) Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp Ground black pepper: 1/2 tsp Oil: 2 tbsp Water: 1/2 cup Chopped Cilantro: 2 tbsp Procedure: Rinse...

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Gongura Sorakaya Pulusu

Gongura is a leafy vegetable widely used in South India. It has a sour taste. It is difficult to find Gongura in the place I live. So I decided to grow them. Usually Gongura is made in to a pickle/pachadi. Since I did not have enough to make pachadi, I made the gongura pulusu. Doesn't it feel good to cook with home grown vegetables? and the best thing about gongura is it doesn't catch any bugs. I tried my hands at growing different vegetables, but when they get bugs I loose my interest in gardening. Ingrediesnts: Gongura Leaves(rinsed): 2 cups Bottle Gourd(Sorakaya)(Cubed): 1 cup Channa Dal: 2 tbsp Onions(Finely chopped): 1/2 cup Green...

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Rajma Masala

Ingredients: Kidney Beans: 1 cup Onions(Finely chopped): 3/4 cup Tomatoes(finely chopped): 3/4 cup salt to taste Red Chilli Powder: 1 tsp Cumin Powder: 1 tsp Coriander Powder: 1 tsp Garam Masala: 1/2 tsp Aamchur Powder: 1/2 tsp Oil: 3 tbsp Cilantro(finely chopped): 3 tbsp Cumin seeds: 1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste: 1 tbsp Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp Kasuri Methi: 1 tsp Procedure: Soak the kidney beans in water overnight and pressure cook them until you get 7-8 whistles. Add little salt to the water when cooking the kidney beans in the pressure cooker. The kidney beans should be thoroughly cooked but they should not become mashed. Add oil to pan...

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Spanish/Mexican Rice

Like I mentioned before, my kiddo is a picky eater. She hates eating rice. Other day they had Spanish rice at the day care and her teacher said the kiddo loved it. I was like - my kiddo and eating rice, couldn't believe that. Over the weekend I searched couple of recipes over the internet for Spanish/Mexican rice and made this version. It was a huge success. Little monster loved it. Ingredients: Basmati Rice: 1 cup Tomatoes(medium sized): 2 Green Bell Pepper (chopped): 1/2 cup Garlic cloves: 2 Tomato Paste: 2 tsp Chicken broth: 2 cups Red Onion(finely chopped): 1/2 cup Cilantro(finely chopped): 2 tbsp Green onions(chopped): 2 tbsp Salt to...

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Vegetable Cutlets

My mom used to make different varieties of snacks for us to eat by the time we returned from school and these vegetable cutlets were my all time favorite. She used to make something different and fresh every day. She always tried to make them healthy using lot of vegetables and very little oil and she always served them with fresh fruits of the season. My little kiddo is a very picky eater. So the other day I decided to make these cutlets for her. I used potato, carrots, beans and green peas - all the vegetables that the kiddo loves. She likes to eat cooked vegetables, but does not like them in curries or rice. So, did she like the cutlets?...

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Stuffed Okra - Bendakaya Ullikaram

Ingredients: Okra: 10 Onion(large sized): 1/2 Cilantro( chopped): 3 tbsp Ginger root: 1/2 inch piece Green chillies: 4 Salt to taste Curry leaves: 4 Fresh shredded coconut: 2 tsp Seasoning: Urad dal: 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp Procedure: Make a paste of green chillies and ginger and set it aside. Cut the okra length wise into two slits to fill the stuffing. In a bowl add the chopped onions, green chillies paste, salt, chopped cilantro, shredded coconut, Curry leaves and mix well. Add oil to the pan and add the seasoning ingredients. When the mustard seeds start spluttering, stuff the okra with the...

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Cilantro Rice/ Kothimeera Rice

Long time back when went to Vegas, we ate at a Mexican restaurant in Venetian. We ordered something( I don't remember what it was) and they served cilantro rice as a side dish. The side dish was so good that I don't remember the main entrée. Me and my husband loved that rice. It looked like a simple recipe and I could taste cilantro lime and ginger. I thought of trying that after I get back home, but never really made it again. I usually make the Indian version of the cilantro rice with ginger garlic, tomatoes and garam masala etc. but I just loved this simple rice with not much of the seasoning dominating the cilantro...

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Black Bean, corn and mango salad

Ingredients: Black Beans: 1 can Red Onions(finely chopped): 1 medium sized. Fresh Corn Kernels: 1/2 cup Ripe Mango(chopped): 1/2 cup Honey: 1 tbsp Lime Juice: 1 tbsp salt to taste Olive oil: 1 tsp Bell Pepper(chopped): 1/4 cup Cilantro(finely chopped): 1 tbsp Procedure: Add oil to a pan and when the oil is heated add the corn kernels and cook until the corn is cooked. Add the cooked corn to the remaining ingredients and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. Garnish with cilant...

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Coconut Rice

Coconut rice is a simple south Indian dish that can be fixed in minutes. If you have left over rice, this is a great way to use it. I personally like it better with hot freshly cooked rice. When the rice is hot it soaks in the flavors of the seasoning and the coconut very well. Ingredients: Cooked White Rice( long grain or basmati) : 2 cups Fresh shredded coconut: 1/2 cup Salt to taste Seasoning Oil: 2 tbsp Channa Dal: 1 tsp Urad Dal: 1 tsp Mustard Seeds: 1 tsp Cumin Seeds: 1 tsp Broken Red Chillies: 3 Green Chillies: 4 Curry Leaves: 5 Asafoetida(Hing): a pinch Procedure: Add oil to the pan and when the oil is heated, add...

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Tofu Cabbage Rice - An article inspired dish

Other day I was reading an article on CNN that had a list of some super foods that are good for you. The list consisted of Cabbage, Tofu, Black Beans, Cinnamon, Tomato, Blueberries, Salmon, Cocoa, Basil, Yogurt. Here is link to the article.While I was reading that, I thought most of them we use on a day to day basis in our Indian cooking.  I don't usually come up with a menu for my meals before hand. I open my fridge stare at the veggies for a while and come up with something. It was lunch time and as always I was staring at the fridge and suddenly remembered this article I read in the morning. Then I was like why not combine...

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Pachi Pulusu - no cooking required

When I started this blog my main intention was to treasure some of the traditional recipes from my family. There are certain recipes from my grand mother that only my mom knows now, after grand mother passed away. If I don't learn those recipes from her and pass on to future generations, that's it. They are gone. Saving those authentic traditional recipes in a blog on the world wide web is a great way to preserve them for ever I thought and that's how this blog was born. This is an instant no cooking required recipe. My mom usually makes this during summer. When the temperatures are in 100s, and the last thing you want to do is stand...

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Tres Leches Cake - 3 milk cake

My friend "S" told me about this Tres Leches Cake some time back and then she sent me pics of the cake she made. I have never heard of this cake before and the gorgeous pics she sent made me drool. When she told me Tres Leches means 3 milks and this cake contains the three milks whole milk, evaporated milk and the condensed milk, I had to try it immediately being a milk fan. I generally like anything made with milk. I am not a sweet person, but tend to like the ones made with milk products. The first time I tried this cake, it was a big flop. I did not beat the eggs properly and the cake turned out to be hard and not at all fluffy. It did...

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Pepper Rasam

I am not a big fan of sweets. Spicy, tangy are my flavors. Today's post pepper rasam is a spicy tangy soup made with lentils and falvoured with freshly ground pepper. Back home in India, our meal often comprised of a dal, rasam/sambar or pulusu and a curry or a fry. Rasam/sambar was a must every day and my mom can cook at least 10 different varieties of rasams. This pepper rasam tastes heavenly specially when you are down with cold/cough. Ingredients: Toor dal: 1/4 cup Pepper Corns: 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds: 1 tsp Tamarind Juice: 1 tbsp Salt as required. Chopped Cilantro: 2 tbsp Seasoning: Oil: 2 tbsp Mustard seeds: 1 tsp Cumin seeds: 1 tsp Curry...

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Alu Palak/Potato Spinach Curry

Other day when we were watching the soccer finals, hubby asked me if I knew why Holland dress color was Orange. I was like may be it was a color from their flag or a random color that they chose. Honestly, I did not know the answer. Then he told me that Dutch were the first ones to make orange carrots! I laughed and said Carrots were supposed to be orange and what was it that they had to make specially. He then said that carrots were originally in purple color and the Dutch made the first orange carrots. I did not buy that. How could they even make an orange carrot from a purple carrot and even if they did what happened to the original purple...

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Green Beans Fry

Beans fry is a quick fix meal when I run out of options or groceries or when I am just lazy to cook.I usually buy green beans in bulk form cotco/sams, clean them and cut them into small pieces and store in the freezer.That makes it even more easy to cook. No cutting/cleaning required. Just toss the veggies in oil and add the spices. Hardly takes 10 -15 minutes from start to finish. Ingredients: Green Beans( cut into small pieces): 2 cups Channa Dalia: 2 tbsp Salt as required. Red Chilli Powder: 1 tsp Seasoning: Oil: 2 tbsp Mustard seeds: 1 tsp Cumin Seeds: 1 tsp Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp Broken Red Chillies: 2 Curry leaves: 4 Asoefetida(hing):...

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Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken..........the name itself makes my mouth water. Who doesn't like butter chicken? Butter chicken and naan......can there be a better combo? This recipe is by my friend 'S'. Vegetarians can substitute chicken with paneer and that makes Paneer butter masala. Ingredients: Chicken – 1.5 lbs, boneless skinless thighs Lemon Juice – 3 tbsp Red Chili Powder – to taste Salt – to taste Yogurt – 1/2 cup Ginger & Garlic Paste – 4 tsp Tandoori Masala – 2 tsp Unsalted Butter – 1.5 tbsp Garam Masala – 2 tsp Big Cardamom – 3 Green Cardamom – 4 Cinnamon Stick – 1″ pc. Bay Leaf – 2 Tomatoes – 3 large, pureed Sugar – 1 tsp or to taste Dried...

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Egg Fry - A simple dish for a busy day

Ingredients: Eggs: 2 Onion(large) : 1 Salt as required Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp Seasoning: Oil: 2 tsp Mustard seeds: 1/2tsp Cumin seeds: 1/2tsp Red chillies(broken): 2 Turmeric: 1/4 tsp Curry leaves: 4 Asoefetida: a pinch Procedure: Boil the eggs in water. Peel them and set them aside. To a pan add oil and all the seasoning ingredients in the order mentioned. When the seeds start spluttering, add onions and fry them until they become soft. Now add the hardboiled eggs to the onions and fry for few minutes. Add salt and chilli powder. Serve with rice or rot...

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Tomato Rice - South Indian Style

Well there are different styles of making tomato rice. This one I called it the south Indian style because I did not use the ginger garlic paste or the garam masala. Tomato rice is one of my favorite rice items however it is made. Ingredients: Onion(cut length wise): 1 cup Tomatoes( finely chopped): 1 cup Tomato paste: 1 tsp Green chillies( cut length wise): 3 Lime juice: 1/2 tsp Cilantro( finely chopped): 2 tbsp Curry leaves: 2 Red chilli powder: 1 tsp Salt as required Channa dal: 1/2 tsp Urad dal : 1/2 tsp Peanuts: 1/2 tsp Sesame seeds: 1/2 tsp cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp Cooked Rice: 2 cups Seasoning: Oil: 3 tbsp Turmeric: 1/4 tsp Channa...

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Gutti Vankaya/Stuffed eggplants in peanut and sesame sauce

Eggplant is one vegetable that can be cooked in 100 different ways. I have said this before too in one of my eggplant posts and now I'm saying again. In India if you go to the vegetable market, you can see some 10-15 varieties of eggplants. the colors ranging from light green to dark purple. Gutti Vankaya or stuffed brinjal(we call eggplant as brinjal in India) is an authentic south Indian dish. Different spices are stuffed into brinjal and then cooked slowly on a low heat. Again when it comes to stuffing brinjal there are different combinations of spices you can stuff that leads to different varieties of stuffed brinjal. If you ask...

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Quinoa with stir fried veggies

Here is another Quinoa dish from me. I tried to make it similar to the Chinese style veggie fried rice. Just used quinoa instead of rice. Ingredients: Quinoa: 1 cup Carrots (cut into small pieces): 1/2 cup Tofu: 1/4 cup Green Beans (cut into small pieces): 1/4 cup Soy sauce: 1/2 tsp Red chilli sauce: 1/4 tsp salt as required. Green onions (finely chopped): 1/4 cup. Oil: 2 tsp Pepper: 1/2 tsp Procedure: Cook the quinoa in a rice cooker with 2 cups of water.  Add oil to a pan and when the oil is heated add the veggies and the tofu and stir fry them. Add the cooked quinoa to the veggies and mix them together. Add the soy sauce,...

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Creamy Corn Curry

Here is a simple corn curry that is very easy to make, tastes great with rotis or you can just eat it by itself like a side dish. Ingredients: Sweet Corn: 1 cup Onion ( Big sized)( finely chopped): 1 Milk: 3/4 cup Salt as required Seasoning: Oil: 1 tbsp Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp Turmeric: 1/4 tsp Curry leaves: 4 Green chillies: 2 (optional) Red chillies( Broken): 2 Asoefetida( Hind): a pinch Procedure: For the corn, I used the frozen yellow corn. You ca use canned or fresh corn too. Add oil to a pan and heat it. When the oil is heated, add all the seasoning ingredients in the order mentioned. When the seeds...

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Pasta Salad - Deli style

I love the pasta salads that you get in a deli. So decided to make this at home and searched on google for the deli style pasta salad recipe. Went through a couple of recipes and combined a few and the result is my Deli style pasta salad.  Cold salads right out of the fridge taste heavenly during summers. Pasta salads are so filling that they can be had like the main course rather than a side dish. Ingredients: Rotini pasta( spiral shaped pasta): 1 cup medium sized tomatoes: 2 Black olives(cut in half): 1/2 cup Feta cheese(Crumbled): 2 tbsp Chopped Cilantro: 2 tsp Parmesan cheese: 1 tbsp Sundried tomatoes in oil(drained and chopped):...

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Pottu Pesara Kattu

Blogging is very addictive. I open up my blog with the intention of posting a recipe and before I start that, I will check some of my fav blogs and from the comments section on those blogs, I enter few more blogs and from there to few other blogs and this goes on. Does that sound like "been there done that" :) I'm sure it sounds familiar to every food blogger. Here are some of the blogs I check almost every day. RedChillies - I like her style of writing. VeggieBelly - This blog I visit for it's amazing pictures. Talimpu - Has some authentic south Indian recipes. RedChillies maintains a food blog aggregator. My fav space on the web:)...

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Orzo Salad

When summer hits it's stride and produce at it's peak, a simple salad can be magical. This a simple pasta salad with orzo, cucumbers, onions and olives. Orzo is rice shaped pasta. It looks just like long grains of rice and you can find in the pasta section of the grocery store. Ingredients: Orzo pasta: 3/4 cup Cucumber(Kheera): 1 Red onion(medium sized): 1 Blck olives: 1/2 cup Pepper: 1 tsp Salt as required Olive oil: 4 tsp Cilantro( finely chopped): 2 tbsp Pesto sauce: 2 tbsp Feta cheese: 2 tbsp Procedure: Cook the orzo pasta just like regular pasta with water, a pinch of salt and a tsp of olive oil. When the pasta is soft drain the water...

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Cilantro Chutney

Ingredients: Cilantro : 1 cup Tomato( small-sized) : 1 Green chillies: 2 Red chillies: 2 Coriander seeds: 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp Urad dal: 1 tsp Channa dal: 1 tbsp Jaggery or Sugar : 1 tsp Tamarind: cherry size. Oil: 1 tbsp Seasoning: Oil: 1 tsp Urad dal: 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp Curry leaves: 4 Red chillies( broken): 1 Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp Asoefetida( hing): a pinch Procedure: Add oil to a pan and when the oil is heated enough, add channa dal, urad dal, red chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and green chillies. When the seeds start to turn brown, add the chopped tomato and cook for few minutes...

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Quinoa salad with spinach, black beans and chickpeas

Have been hearing a lot about "quinoa - the super grain" lately and wanted to give it a try. Quinoa is not actually a grain. It is the seed of a plant that is closely related to species such as spinach and beets. You can read more about quinoa here. I bought them and they have been sitting in the pantry for a while now waiting for their turn. I never ate or cooked quinoa before. I also had some left over canned black beans and canned chickpeas that I had to use.There was also some baby spinach waiting for its turn. Before all these get spoiled I wanted to use them and combined them all and cooked with quinoa. The result was just wonderful!!! Quinoa...

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Vegetable Fried Rice

This is indian chinese style vegetable fried rice. One of my favorites and an instant food if you have left over rice.   Could there be a better way to use the left over rice than loading up with tons of fresh vegetables and make it complete sumptuous nutritional meal?  I had some left over rice from the previous day and made this yummy colorful fried rice. I added more vegetables to make it more nutritious.     I generally cut carrots and beans into small pieces and keep them in my freezer. That makes it even more easy to cook this rice. All you have to do is heat the oil in a pan, toss in the veggies, add rice and spice...

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Black Bean and Corn Salad

 Ingredients: Black Beans: 1 can Whole kernel corn: 1/2 can Bell Pepper: 1/2(finely chopped) Tomatoes: 1 medium - sized (finely chopped) Onions: 1 medium - sized (finely chopped) Salt: as required. Sugar: 1 tsp. Extra virgin olive oil: 1 tbsp Cilantro: (finely chopped) White wine venigar: 1/2 tsp lemon juice: 1 tbsp Procedure: Mix all the ingredients, refrigerate for 30 minutes and serve. This was big hit in my house. My little girl just loved it. &nb...

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Nimmakaya Pappucharu(Lime lentil soup)

Ingredients: Tomatoes1 medium - sized Onion1/2 Large - sized Green Chillies3 Cilantro leaves10-15 Garlic1 pod Lime Juice1 tbsp Toor dal1/2 cup Saltas required Ghee1 tbsp Seasoning: Urad dal1/2 tsp Mustard seeds1/2 tsp Cumin seeds1/2 tsp Curry leaves5 Broken red chillies2 Turmeric1/4 tsp Asafetida/hing1 pinch Procedure: Boil toor dal with water in a pressure cooker adding salt and turmeric powder. Mash the boiled dal evenly in to a smooth paste without any lumps. Add more water to the dal and keep boiling on a low flame. Chop the onions length wise. Cut the tomatoes into medium size pieces. Cut the green chillies length wise. Now...

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Besan Dosa

Ingredients: Besan(Chickpea flour)1/2 cup Rice flour1 cup Green Chilli paste1 tsp Ajwain seeds1 tsp Curry leaves5 Water3.5- 4  cups Saltas required Oil2 tbsp Procedure: Mix the rice flour and besan in the water and add all the remaining ingredients and mix well. Set it aside for 10 - 15 minutes. Heat the dosa tava/pan on high flame and when the pan is heated enough pour the dosa batter with ladle on the pan. Now reduce the heat and pour oil with a spoon around the dosa and let it cook. Turn the dosa to the other side and cook for few more seconds. repeat the process with the remaining batter. Serve with coconut chutney. Tip:...

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Rava Idli

I am not a big fan of idli. But this version of idli, I like because it is loaded with veggies and the best thing is it is instant. No soaking, grinding, fermenting. Ingredients: Roasted upma rava 1 cup Carrots(finely diced) 1/2 cup Beans(finely diced) 1/2 cup Green Chillies(finely chopped( 2 Yogurt 1/2 cup Salt as required Cilantro(finely chopped) 2 tsp Baking soda 2 pinches Seasoning: Oil/Ghee 2 tsp Cashews 6 Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp Curry leaves 5 Procedure: I used roasted upma rava. If using regular sooji, just roast the rava in a pan for few seconds without oil. Add...

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Bell Pepper(Capsicum) Tomato Curry

Here is a dish for all those who love  bell pepper/capsicum. I love the smell of capsicum when it is cooking. It adds great flavor to any curry or fried rice. Before we get to the recipe let's see some health facts about capsicum. Health Benefits: They contain small amounts of vitamin K which is important in bone health. Red bell peppers contain both lycopene which reduces the rate of some cancers and beta-cryptoxathin which is a ceratoid that also lowers the risk of certain cancers. Bell pepper is an excellent source of vitamin A and C, two very powerful antioxidants that may help to reduce risk of cardiovascular diseases and several...

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