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Favourite Recipe Of The Week

Nanjil Sambar - Nagercoil Style Sambar

Nanjil Sambar - prepared with the  combination of seasonal vegetables, toor dal and flavoured with freshly prepared sambar powder. Another interesting recipe from my Rema athai. As Nagercoil is her hometown, I learned many nanjil recipes from her. Nanjil refers to the area around Nagercoil, Agastheeswaram, Thovalai etc. Last month I prepared 30 varieties Nanjil recipes for the Aval Vikatan magazine. I have no time to take step by step pictures for all the 30 recipes, but took some pictures for a few recipes. All the 30 varieties are evergreen recipes of Nanjil.


This Nanjil sambar is one of my favourite sambar for lunch. This sambar is similar to our Tirunelveli idi sambar but there is no need for any coconut paste.In both Tirunelveli sambar and idi sambar we add coconut paste in the final stage. For this sambar, you need fresh vegetables like drumsticks, brinjal, lady's finger, raw mango, yellow pumpkin, potato and carrot. Plus sambar onions, green chillies and freshly ground sam…
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Tapioca Masala - Masala for Poori and Dosa with Tapioca - Tapioca Recipes

Tapioca masala - this masala is similar to our classic potato masala with creamy texture which is perfect for poori and dosa. To make this tapioca masala you will need tapioca, onions, green chillies and ginger. Sometimes for potato masala I add gram flour to add thickness to the masala but for this tapioca masala there is no need to add other thickening ingredients as tapioca are starchy and waxy which will be perfect for masalas. 
The tapioca skins must be peeled completely and then transferred it to a pressure cooker. Pressure cook the tapiocas for  6 to 10 whistles. Meanwhile, the tapiocas are cooking, cut the onions, green chillies and ginger. Usually for potato masala I prefer to add a good amount of ginger as it gives a nice flavor for the masala. Using your preferred masher, mash the cooked tapiocas without any solid pieces to your desired consistency. Today I have grated the cooked tapiocas and then mashed well. If you are cooking the masala longer in advance, cook the masala …
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Pineapple Rasam - Annasipazham Rasam

Pineapple Rasam - sweet and tangy rasam dish.This pineapple rasam is a rasam your whole family will like it.  I have tasted this rasam twice or thrice in marriage lunches, but haven't tried this before. Due to lockdown we are in our hometown Courtallam for the past three months and we bought lots of fresh pineapples here regularly. They sit on the kitchen countertop for a few days and tried dishes with pineapples like pineapple kesari, pineapple jam, pineapple rasam and this rasam is a big hit in our family. Cutting the pineapples is a bit tough work for me but most of the time my husband helped it.  For pineapple rasam, I have used both pineapple puree and diced pineapple. The pineapple puree adds a nice flavor and colour to the rasam and the diced pineapples are added for the appearance. In addition to the pineapple puree, I have added cooked toor dal to give thickness for the rasam. As pineapple has a sour taste, no need to add tamarind extract for this rasam. Here I have includ…
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Low Calorie Black Chana Masala - Black Chick Peas Gravy - Low Calorie Side Dishes for Dinner

Black Chana Masala - this is a low calorie side dish prepared with black chick peas, onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and masala powders. 
For this masala, no need to add any special ingredients like cashewnuts, fresh cream or milk. Just a few basic simple ingredients which are easily available in your kitchen. You can prepare this masala within 15 minutes. Having a low calorie sabji or masala for dinner will help to digest faster than the gravies prepared with cashewnuts or cream. For low calorie dishes use teaspoons of oil rather than tablespoons. This masala tastes good with dosa, chapathi, idiyappam and aapam. For a balanced diet pair it with a carbs along with a cup of vegetable salad. This year prepared this side dish for 30 varieties low calorie sabji recipes for the Aval vikatan magazine. Here is a short video for low calorie black chana masala.


Here is a short video for Low Calorie Black Chana Masala
Side dishes for RotiPaneer Methi Masala
Paneer Butter Masala
Shahi Gobi Masala
Mu…
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Pasalaikeerai Kootu - Pasalaikeerai with moong dal and coconut

Pasalaikeerai Kootu - prepared with pasalaikeerai, moong dal, coconut paste, onions and tomatoes. Today I am going to share the kootu recipe with homegrown pasalaikeerai leaves. This keerai has broad leaves with a tiny pink colour flower in it. These greens can be planted all the time and they will grow quickly. After plucking the leaves try to use them immediately because you will lose the taste when refrigerated. 
Making this kootu is quite easy. The first step is to chop the greens. This greens have no tough work for cleaning and chopping when compared to other greens. For this greens, no need to include the stems because it is hard and takes more time to cook. After chopping works you can start preparing the kootu. Just like any kootu recipes, you can add whatever dals you want to make this kootu healthy. It's also a great dish to mix with a bowl of warm rice so that you don't need to prepare any kuzhambu. Now we will see how to prepare Pasalaikeerai kootu with a short vide…
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Dates Halwa - Dates halwa with dates, coconut, unrefined jaggery powder and ghee - Easy dessert with dates

Dates halwa - prepared with dates, coconut, unrefined jaggery  and ghee. There are lots of halwas I have tried before, but never tried halwa with dates. Today I am going to share my own version of the dates halwa recipe along with a short video. This dates halwa is prepared with three simple methods. The dates itself has a soft texture which is suitable for halwa but it should be soaked in water or milk for 2 to 3 hours to get a smooth consistency. After soaking, we have to grind the dates without any solid pieces so that it would be easy to mix with sugar. To add some extra taste, I have also added 1 cup fresh grated coconut so that the halwa gets doubled and the texture is also good. After grinding the dates and coconut, the mixture is mixed with unrefined jaggery powder and ghee. Then, the mixture must be cooked in the ghee for 15 to 20 minutes until you get a thick halwa.  Similar Halwa Recipes  Potato HalwaCarrtot HalwaBanana HalwaMilk HalwaBadam Halwa  Here is a short video for Dat…
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