Sprouts and Mushroom Dal - Easy and Quick Side Dish

Sprouts and mushroom dal - prepared with green gram sprouts, mushrooms and moong dals. This dal is similar to my zero oil sprouts dal. Most of the time when I find a new dish for the dinner I try to use healthy ingredients with very less oil. In this recipe, I haven't used any oil and you can cook this dal within 15 minutes. And, this dal will pair well with anything as you like.

Vazhaipoo Poriyal - Banana Blossom Stir Fry

Banana blossom or Vazhaipoo poriyal is a healthy side dish for your lunch.  This poriyal also combines the delicious coconut paste and cooked toor dal. The shelf life of Banana blossom is 2 or 3 days, so try to cook it before turning black. You will notice the colour change begins inside the flowers. After removing the thick stick and the glossy petal arrange them equally and chop it finely. After chopping the flowers, quickly put it in a buttermilk to avoid the discoloration. Now we will see how to prepare this Vazhaipoo Poriyal with step by step instructions. This poriyal tastes good with Pulikuzhambu, Sambar and Toor dal Rice.

Coconut Paratha - Quick Tiffin Recipe

Coconut Paratha is one of my oldest recipe and my favourite paratha dish. Easy and quick tiffin for your dinner within 20 minutes.

Capsicum Rice

Capsicum (Bell Pepper) rice - colourful rice with three different coloured capsicums. This capsicum rice recipe uses a very simple list of ingredients - onions, capsicums, green chillies and coriander leaves. To flavour the rice, a few spices, ginger garlic paste and a teaspoon of garam masala powder are added. This colourful rice is great for family get together, potluck and also for your kids lunch boxes.

The first step in this dish, is we have to cook the rice separately in an open vessel with a good amount of water and drain the water completely. This method helps to cook the rice fluffy and not sticky. Basmati rice is a better choice for this dish. After cooking the rice, spread the rice on a plate and allow them to cool down completely. The key to cook the capsicums perfectly is to saute it with little oil or butter on high heat just for a few minutes. I prefer to have a crunchy capsicum slices in any of the dishes prepared with capsicums. In addition to capsicums, you can also add fried panner cubes to attract your kids. Now let's see how to prepare this capsicum rice with step by step instructions.

Varagu Arisi Kozhukattai - Kodo Millet Dumplings

Varagu Arisi Kozhukattai - super easy tiffin recipe with kodo millets also called as varagu arisi. No need for soaking and no other difficult preparation works needed for this dish.

Many of us use millets as a substitute for rice. While millet flour is available in many super markets, you can easily make this at home using a mixer grinder. The kodo millets are roasted in a pan and then powdered nicely. Roasting the millets in a pan, brings a nice flavour and it gets powdered easily. Then we have to prepare the dough as we prepare for arisi upma. In this dish, I have not added onions and green chillies, you can include finely chopped onions and green chillies while tempering. For one part of millet flour add 2.5 cups of water. If you add too much of water, the dough will get soggy and it will be difficult to prepare kozhukattai. After preparing the dough, prepare small lemon sized  balls or oblong shaped balls and press it in the centre with your fingers and then steam coon the kozhukattai in an idly pot for 5 minutes.