Virundhombal

Posts

Sambar Sadham - Sambar Rice - Rice prepared with Dals and Vegetables

Sambar sadham (rice) is a quick, healthy meal which can prepared easily within 30 minutes. This sambar sadham is usually prepared with fresh vegetables, rice, dal and flavoured with freshly grounded sambar powder. Sambar sadham is a popular food in many restaurants and temples. It is also a great food for a family get together.When combining any dals with rice, you can get a protein packed dish for your lunch. Plus, we add vegetables for fibre and ghee for fat, which will give you a healthy dish for your whole family.

How to cook the rice For the sambar sadham recipe, I recommend boiled rice and toor dal. If you are replacing the rice with millets, you can use moong dal instead of toor dal as it gets cooked easily with the millets. The ratio is for 1 cup of rice add 1/2 cup of toor dal. We have to add 3 to 4 measures of water to cook the rice softly.

How to prepare the gravy This is the most important step in this dish. I like to prepare the gravy with fresh homemade sambar powder, sm…

Paal Kozhukattai - Milk Kozhukattai - Rice Dumplings in Milk

Paal Kozhukattai - our family favourite evening dessert. Paal Kozhukattai is an easy dessert made with just 4 ingredients. This paal kozhukattai is made with rice flour and then cooked in the milk. The kozhukattais are then sweetened with sugar and to add some extra flavours grated coconuts and a teaspoon of cardamom powder are added. So good when it's served hot.

To make this kozhukattai you will need rice flour, fresh grated coconuts, milk and cardamom powder. All the ingredients are easily available in your kitchen and definitely it will be your favourite evening tiffin. I suggest using idiyappam rice flour for this kozhukattai because the plain rice flour won't taste good for this dish. If you have homemade idiyappam then it will be the best option. The rice flour is kneaded with a warm water and then you have to prepare mini oblong shaped balls. This is the only difficult work in this dish, because you have to prepare very small balls with patience. Because if you prepar…

Vendhaya Milagai - Green Chilly Pickle - Sauted Chillies in Fenugreek Powder

Vendhaya Milagai is a flavourful pickle for your idly and dosa. It is prepared with green chillies, roasted fenugreek powder, asafoetida powder and salt.

You won't believe how simple is this pickle to make. To make vendhaya milagai, you will need the small and fat green chillies which we use for more milagai. This variety chilly gives a nice flavour to the dish and it is less spicy after sauteing. This time I can't get those green chillies, so replaced with regular green chillies.The main ingredient in this dish is the fenugreek. You have to roast the fenugreek until it gives you a nice aroma and then you have to powder it along with the roasted asafoetida and salt. This homemade roasted fenugreek mixture will give a very authentic taste to this dish. You have to keep this fenugreek mixture in each of the green chillies with a spoon. Then the mixed green chillies are sauted in a teaspoon of oil for a few minutes on low heat.Our dish is ready within 10 minutes.This pickle last…

Adai Pradaman - Adai Payasam - Kerala style Adai Pradaman with jaggery and coconut milk

Adai Pradaman is a rich and delicious dessert prepared with rice adai, jaggery and coconut milk. This payasam is a perfect dessert for special occasions and special festivals. I like the combination of rice adai with jaggery and coconut milk. If you like jaggery based desserts, I'm confident that you will love this payasam. My favourite way to enjoy this payasam is to eat it in the plantain leaf with small pieces of bananas.

To make adai pradaman, you will need rice adai, jaggery, coconut, ghee and cashew nuts. I bought this rice adai from Kottayam in Kerala. This adai is different from the tiny palada which is available in supermarkets. This rice adai looks like crushed pappads. I strongly suggest to use pagu jaggery for this payasam which gives you the perfect taste and colour to the dish. As I said in my previous payasam recipes, I recommend to extract coconut milk with freshly grated coconuts. If you are using canned coconut milk, dilute the milk with water and then add it …

Narthangai Pachadi - Citron Pachadi

Narthangai Pachadi - tangy and spicy pachadi prepared with narthangai (citron), small onions, green chillies, tamarind and jaggery. In our hometown Tirunelveli, pachadis or thokkus are a staple dish for our lunch.

Narthangai is a citrus fruit similar to lemon. With its tangy and citrus flavour, it is a great ingredient for pickles and pachadis. Narthangai pachadis can be prepared in two different methods. For this narthangai pachadi recipe, I use the simple method which can be prepared quickly within 30 minutes. This fruit has a mild bitterness in it. The best pachadi has an equal balance of flavours. If the bitter taste of the narthangai overpowers the taste of the pachadi, there are simple tricks to reduce the bitterness. Jaggery helps to balance out the bitter taste of the narthangai fruit, so please don't skip it. If your pachadi is still bitter after cooking, add some more powdered jaggery and cook well for a few minutes. The pachadi tastes good with an equal balance of flav…

Pasiparuppu Thuvaiyal - Moong Dal Chutney for Rice

Pasiparuppu thuvaiyal - we use to make thuvaiyal with different kind of dals (fried grams, chana dal, horse gram and moong dal) as a side dish for tamarind rice or tamarind based kuzhambu dishes. They are super healthy and I like to taste them with a cup of warm rice. I recommend to prepare this as a side dish for your short picnic for your favourite puliyodarai or lemon rice. Because they taste really amazing with puliyodarai and have a beautiful flavour. The moong das are roasted well and then ground with a few tablespoons of grated coconut. It requires minimal ingredients but tastes delicious.

Mochai and Potato Sagu - Lima beans and Potato Curry - Side dish for Chapathi, Poori, Idiyappam

Mochai Potato Sagu - made with fresh mochai (lima beans), potatoes and other basic ingredients. This sagu dish tastes good with idiyappam, aapam, chapati and dosas. The cooking method is very easy and you can prepare it within 30 minutes.

Mochai beans come in both fresh and dried varieties. When buying fresh mochai pods from the market, look for green and firm pods. After removing the beans store it in the freezer in an airtight containers. They stay well for up to 2 to 3 weeks. If you are using dry mochai, soak in water for at least 6 hours to make them tender. Fresh, mochais are generally cooked like vegetables in a vessel. But in this dish, to finish the cooking process within 20 minutes, I have pressure cooked the mochai along with potatoes. In this sagu dish, butter beans may be added as a replacement to mochais to prepare this gravy. For dinner dishes, most of the times we avoid preparing dishes which involve too much of oil and cream because it takes more time to digest. In t…