VIRUNDHOMBAL

This is a simple kurma with button mushrooms in a creamy coconut gravy which can be easily done within 20 minutes.This kurma goes very well with dosa, chapathi and poori. You can customize this kurma according to your taste preference. The fennel seeds, cloves and cinnamon are a must and you can also include other spices like bay leaf, star aniseed or cardamom depending on your cuisine. If you want to add any extra vegetables, you can add cooked green peas or sweet corn kernels. The coconut paste blends beautifully together with the mushrooms. You may adjust the coconuts and fried grams. Once the kurma is complete, let the kurma to cool for 15 to 20 minutes and then serve. The spices will release the flavours into the mushrooms once the kurma has cool down to room temperature. You can enjoy a juicy mushroom in this kurma that will ask you to pour more and more over the chapathi or parotta. Check out my other kurma recipes Hotel vegetable kurma Carrot and green

Baby corn pulav is so easy to prepare, but has a unique combination of flavours, even though all the ingredients are easily available in your kitchen. This pulav is colourful, beautiful and will be great for lunch boxes, simple family potlucks or even for your next dinner party.  The rice is flavoured with cumins, cinnamon, bay leaves, cloves and star aniseed. In addition, you can add some more spices. I like to have green chillies for this pulav because it produces the right amount of heat and flavour without being too spicy. If you like a more orange or red colour appearance for this pulav then include red chilly powder. This baby corn pulav  is one of my son's favourite lunch box dish. When I am cooking pulav or fried rice he really likes and he helps me in the kitchen. He likes fried bread cubes in the biriyani, so I have added the fried breads in this pulav also. As always, when cooking biriyani or pulav, I start cooking on a broad kadai and finish in the cooker. This m

Pooris are one of my favourite weekend breakfast dishes. During my childhood days I helped my mom to prepare chapathi and poori during weekends. So I started learning the kneading work from my school days onwards. After so many practices I found the trick for perfect pooris. As you all familiar with pooris we will see the tips for perfect pooris.  Tips for perfect pooris We have to knead the dough a little bit tighter than the chapathi dough.  For softness I add ghee in the flour and then knead the dough by adding water little by little so that you can get softer pooris.  For poori dough, I prefer whole wheat flour. There is no need for any soaked rava or sugar or any baking powder.  For rolling the pooris apply a tsp of oil on the rolling board and on the rolling pin. One more important tip. Do not keep the pooris long after you roll them. Fry them as soon as you prepare them.  F or frying the pooris heat the oil well on medium flame and then fry the pooris. If th

Potato masala - the ultimate side dish for poori . A simple side dish for poori with mild flavours and fantastic taste. In TamilNadu, it is popularly called as poorikizhangu. It is usually prepared with onions, green chillies, ginger and potatoes. We can also add tomatoes, green peas or carrots, but the technique remains the same. The classic poori kizhangu recipe remains the same for many years.  For perfect potato masala the potatoes must be cooked well and then mashed well. You have to slice the onions thinly so that the onions get cooked easily and blended well with the potatoes. The addition of besan flour or fried gram flour for the masala is optional. If you want a thick masala you can add a tbsp of besan flour or fried gram flour in the final stage. These are the important tips to follow for this easy potato masala. Unlike idly and sambar, this poori and kizhangu has been a favourite breakfast dish for many of us. 

This is a very popular dish in Chinese cuisine. This hot and sour eggplant is an easy and delicious dish with very few ingredients that are already available in your pantry. The Chinese eggplant has thinner skins and few seeds, but I have substituted it with the small purple Indian brinjals.Chinese Hot and Sour Eggplant is a popular aromatic and delicious dish. You can try making this amazing Chinese Hot and Sour Eggplant in your kitchen. This recipe requires 10 minutes for preparation and 10 minutes to cook. Now let's see how to prepare this dish with step by step photos.

Pirandai is a creeper which has so many health benefits. Pirandai thuvaiyal is good for all digestion problems like indigestion, lack of appetite and gastritis. I learnt this recipe from my grandma which has a nice flavour of black urid dal. We have to add more tamarind to prevent the itching in the tongue after eating this. Wear gloves or grease your hands with sesame oil before chopping it. You can serve this thuvaiyal as an accompaniment for curd rice, idly and dosa or you can mix it with the hot rice and a tsp of ghee. 

Black urid dal dosa also called as mulu ulundhu dosa in Tirunelveli. This is a famous breakfast dish in Tirunelveli. This is an easy and healthy dosa with rice, black urid dal and fenugreek. We often prepare this dosa for weekend breakfast or dinner. The addition of black urid dal with its skin is what it makes it so special and unique.  Black urid dal contains a lot of nutritional value. In most of our food items we include black urid dal rather than the white variety. This black urid dal dosa is also super easy to make with simple two step process. I use split black gram dal in this recipe, but you may also use the whole black gram dal. Many people have a doubt that if black split  grams are ground along with the skin then how it will taste. It is very tasty if they are ground and fermented properly. The best accompaniment for this black urid dal dosa are onion garlic coconut thuvaiyal , ellu podi   and  powdered palm jaggery.  Follow these simple step by step instruction

A quick spicy masala noodles cooked with our Indian masalas in a simple method. The boiled plain noodles are tossed with onions, tomatoes, spice powders and finally served with a squeeze of lemon juice. In this noodles I have not added any vegetables, if you want, you can add any veggies of your choice. Cooked noodles must be firm for perfect noodles.If you overcook the noodles then it will be sticky. Cooking time may vary so please stir occasionally while boiling and drain the water immediately when it's done. Now let's see how to prepare this quick masala noodles.

Capsicum(Bell pepper) potato masala (Dry side dish) - simple, quick and tasty side dish within 15 minutes. All you need for this masala is a handful of sliced capsicums and potatoes. The other ingredients are basic ingredients such as turmeric powder, sambar powder, cumin and little tamarind juice. There is no need for any soaking or grinding or pressure cooking. Sometimes you can prepare a tastiest  dish in a matter of minutes. This capsicum potato masala is one among them. You can serve this masala for chapathi, jeera rice, coconut rice, lemon rice and curd rice too. I frequently prepare this easy and quick masala for lunch. This masala tastes so good if you serve right after you prepare it, because the crunchiness in the capsicums will be lost if you prepare in advance. So follow the simple instructions and prepare this easy masala for your family.

Yellow pumpkin kootu - Usually we prepare kootu with the addition of moongdal or channa dal. For this yellow pumpkin kootu we do not add any dals, just the coconut masala paste and a small piece of jaggery. This kootu has a bright yellow colour with a mild sweetness. Yellow pumpkins are soft in nature and it is a perfect vegetable for kootu and sambar. This pumpkin kootu tastes best for pulikuzhambu and sambar. Creeper vegetables like yellow pumpkin, white pumpkin, bottle gourd, ridge gourd etc. are easily cooked with little water.They are usually soft and require very less time to cook. The skin of these vegetables are hard to remove. So, peel them gently with a knife. In some places, pumpkins are cooked along with the skin, but it is very hard to eat. You can check out my other kootu recipes here with step by step photos. The videos and step by step photos are taken on different days so the colour may be different.  Here is a short video for Yellow Pumpkin Kootu  Cho

Kuska - One pot aromatic rice cooked with coconut milk and whole garamasala. Easy, delicious and flavourful rice within an hour. In this recipe, I used onions, tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, coriander leaves, mint leaves and spices. The coconut milk adds a certain richness to this rice.  If you do not prefer to add coconut milk, then skip it. I have used all the other ingredients in minimal quantities so that the rice becomes more flavourful after it sits for a while and its delicious to serve at room temperature. The best side dishes for this rice are any kurmas made in thin consistency and onion raita. I don't prefer to cook this recipe on a pressure cooker. If you are in a hurry, then cook with 1 cup coconut milk and 1/2 cup water. Everything cooks together in one pot, the rice is really flavourful and tasty. Make sure you have all  ingredients ready before you begin. Now let's see how to prepare this rice with step by step photos. Check out my other rice varieties

This super soft and spicy Paneer 65 are made with a few ingredients gives a tasty and healthy appetizer for your kids. My son is a great fan of different types of appetizer. He told me to prepare this Paneer 65 for evening snack. 

Green Moong dal masala/Pasi payaru masala This Green moong dal masala is a simple, flavourful and pleasing dal when served with warm rice, rotis, nann or any breads. It is super easy to make when you have soaked green moong dal.  You can use any variety (split or whole moong dal) depending on what you have on hand.  I usually go for whole green moong dal, which gives a nice  flavour for this dish. The basic ingredients for this dal are ginger, garlic, tomatoes and spice powders. You can also enjoy this dal as given below. 1. Just stuff this dal inside of a roti with a little grated cheese and roll it up for a quick healthy home made frankie. 2. Take a small bowl and add some puffed rice. Add a tbsp of this masala to the puffed rice along with a few chopped onions, tomatoes and grated carrots. Thats it you can enjoy homemade masala pori for your kids.  3. Toast the bread slices with ghee and spread this dal over the bread and place some sliced onions and enjoy a healthy sand

Coconut rice - Thengai Sadham Coconut rice - this is one of my favourite lunch box dish. My mom frequently prepares this delicious coconut rice for our lunch box. This rice can be easily prepared within 15 minutes without any grinding and chopping work. For this rice you can use any rice of your choice. I prefer ponni raw rice or basmati rice, which gives you the perfect texture. My mom adds finely chopped gingers, finely chopped green chillies and little black pepper powder for this rice. You have to add all the flavours in a minimal level. Then one more thing I want to say is try to use fresh grated coconuts for the natural sweetness in the rice. Please avoid refrigerated coconuts or coconut powder. The addition of cashew nuts and peanuts is optional. The perfect side dish for coconut rice are plantain fry, potato fry and chips.

KUZHAMBU RECIPES, 20 KUZHAMBU RECIPES FOR LUNCH Kuzhambus are the foundation for a good lunch in South Indian cuisine. Although there are many rice varieties in South Indian cuisine, a bowl of rice and kuzhambu with any vegetable side dish makes our tummy happy. In this collection, I have shared many traditional Tirunelveli kuzhambu recipes. I have suggested authentic ingredients and spices in my kuzhambu recipes. If you find any spices are inconvenient, you may change according to your taste. Now let's see the collection of kuzhambu recipes here. Click on the pictures or the recipe here to view the recipe details with step by step instructions.   Collection of Kuzhambu varieties for lunch 1. Sodhi - Sodhi is one of Tirunelveli's traditional and popular kuzhambu.This kuzhambu is a special menu on the next day of marriage. A Tirunelveli wedding meal would not be complete without this Sodhi, potato poriyal and ginger chutney.  RECIPE HERE. 2. Pulikuzh

White Pumpkin(Ash gourd) Sambar/ Vellai poosanika Sambar White pumpkin sambar - Easy, flavourful and healthy dish with white pumpkins and karamani. You can prepare this sambar within 20 minutes. After preparing this sambar you can feel how a simple dish could turn into your favourite dish of the day. I learnt this recipe form Chef. Mallika Badrinath's cookbook.  There is no need for peeling lots of onions or grinding any paste. Just little things like chopping the white pumpkins and cooking the dals. You may also substitute karamani  (black eye beans)  with any other cooked lentils depending on your preference. If you like an easy yet tasty dish you might prefer this White pumpkin sambar. Check out my other sambar recipes also. Here is a video for White Pumpkin (Ash Gourd) Sambar Tirunelveli Sambar Idi Sambar Green chilly Sambar Keerai Sambar  Yellow pumpkin Sambar Radish Sambar Nanjil Sambar - Nagercoil Style Sambar 

This quick and Easy Chana Masala is the perfect way to prepare a restaurant style gravy for your family on busy weekdays. Just a little preparation work like cutting the onions, and tomatoes to prepare this easy chana masala. Kids like this chana masala very much and it's a best way to include protein-rich food for them. I frequently prepare this chana masala for my son's lunch box. For this masala I have used very few ingredients that are already available in your kitchen. Don't forget to soak the chickpeas for 8 hours or soak them overnight. I have used garamasala powder for this gravy, but you can use sabzi masala or channa masala powder of your choice. Check out my other Chana masala recipe also. Chana masala 

This beetroot jam is a common sweet in Tirunelveli. It is served on plantain leaves at lunch meals for special occasions. Beetroot has very good flavour and texture when its cooked and its natural sweetness makes it perfect for jams. My periyappa (uncle) taught me this tasty jam. The cooking time is very less and you can prepare this jam within 30 minutes. Kids always enjoy colourful sweets, so surprise your kids with this beetroot jam when they returned from the school. Now let's see how to prepare this Beetroot jam with step by step photos.