Virundhombal

Potato masala dosas are those dosas that nobody can say no to it. You can easily prepare this masala dosas by simple techniques. For potato masala dosa we will first see about how to prepare the masal. Potatoes are the main ingredient for the masala. Plus, we have to add onions, green chillies, ginger and other tempering ingredients. The potatoes must be cooked well to get a smooth masala. Next we are going to see about the dosa batter. The simple method is to prepare with the regular idli dosa batter. The batter should be light and you must prepare the dosa as thin as possible. I strongly suggest to use iron dosa pan for preparing dosas. There are many new non stick dosa pans are available, but I have not tested with them. I suggest to cook the dosas on low to medium low heat. When dosas are cooked for a few seconds, gently scrape the thick layer with a spatula to get thin dosas. After a few practice, you will find your perfect timing and temperature to scrape it.  We will see how t…

In our motherland there are so many varieties of greens. Different varieties of greens such as murungai keerai, ponnangani keerai, manathakkali keerai, agathi keerai are nature's gift for us because there are so many health benefits in each and every greens. Cooking greens properly is very important for digestion. Particularly, for agathi keerai poriyal, we have to cook the leaves well because the leaves are thick and  it takes more time to cook when compared to other greens.


Naturally, this keerai has a very good flavour too. It's slightly bitter and is combined with the coconut and cooked toor dal to prepare a delicious poriyal. The ground coconut paste is the final touch of many dishes in Tirunelveli cooking and in addition to it a tbsp of powdered jaggery and coconut oil is added to this poriyal to enhance the taste. Now we will see some important points to remember about this keerai.
After removing the leaves from the stalk  don't need to chop the leaves. Just toss th…

Cauliflower fry is a favorite evening snack for my son Siva. This cauliflower fry is a deep fried snack, which many of us will order as a starter in restaurants. This cauliflower fry is an easy dish to prepare, but it requires some little attention to get perfect results. The ready made mix for snacks are slowly entering in many of our kitchens for cooking easily without much effort. But it's not healthy as it includes artificial colour, preservatives and monosodium glutamate. Actually, preparing homemade snacks is very easy and healthy too.


This cauliflower fry includes besan flour, rice flour, corn flour and maida. To add the flavours ginger garlic paste, chilly powder and lemon juice are added. After mixing the batter, it takes only 20 minutes to prepare it. Now we will see some important tips for Cauliflower fry.
When selecting cauliflower, always choose medium flower which is tightly packed. If they have black spots then it's not fresh.
The consistency of the batter sh…

Sambar powder - perfect homemade sambar powder with few basic ingredients in your kitchen. My mom is an expert in preparing homemade spice powders for kuzhambu varieties. This is also my mom's recipe. My mom taught me that fresh ingredients are all you need to make a good sambar powder. Plus, roasting the spices right before powdering gives the sambar powder more flavour. So  always try to use fresh spices for sambar powder.


Sambar powder tastes good with the perfect blend of spices. For this measurement, you will get around 250 grams of sambar powder which will be good for 2 to 3 months. The first thing about making sambar powder I learned was this : the dals and coriander seeds need to be roasted in the correct heat until you can smell a nice aroma from it. Excess roasted chana dal and coriander seeds will change the taste also. If the spices are not roasted well, then there will be no flavour in the sambar powder. The next important thing is roasting the dried chillies. We hav…

Kuzhi Paniyaram is an easy and healthy tiffin prepared with a few basic ingredients in our kitchen.Once you have decided to prepare kuzhi paniyaram for your dinner, prepare the batter and allow it to ferment for 5 to 7 hours.  You can also ferment the batter overnight and you can prepare a healthy tiffin for your family during weekends. Makes an easy tiffin for your regular week night or weekend breakfast. It's spongy and slightly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.


In this kuzhi paniyaram recipe, you need idly rice, raw rice, urid dal, fenugreek and other tempering ingredients. Many people prepare kuzhi paniyaram with the dosa batter, but I recommend to grind the batter separately for kuzhi paniyaram. Never skip the fenugreek because it  helps to give you a soft and spongy paniyarams. To add additional flavours I have added fresh grated coconuts, chopped onions and green chillies. For frying the kuzhi paniyaram you can use groundnut oil or gingely oil. Finally, don'…

Methi (Fenugreek) leaves Poriyal - simple and healthy side dish for your lunch with 5 basic ingredients. For methi leaves poriyal, there is no need to chop the greens. Just remove the leaves from the stem and wash it well for 3 to 5 times because it has more mud and sand when compared to other greens. The aroma in the kitchen was very nice when we saute the methi leaves. Methi leaves poriyal tastes good when made with fresh leaves. I recommend making it the same day, but if you have busy mornings just pluck the leaves and keep it in a ziploc bag.


How to make perfect methi leaves poriyal

The trick is to make a perfect methi leaves poriyal is use plenty of onions, coconut, cooked toor dal and finally a tbsp of ghee. Adding a tbsp of ghee in the final stage is my mom's tip and it boosts the methi leaves flavour also. For any keerai poriyal dishes, we have to saute the greens frequently for uniform cooking. Do not pour water for cooking because your poriyal will turn mushy. Just sprin…