VIRUNDHOMBAL

This semiya (vermicelli) javarisi (sago) payasam(kheer) made with just four ingredients. This payasam is the ultimate dessert for special occasions, festivals and also for family get together. Like the kesari and halwa we add a good quantity of sugar for this payasam. My favourite sagos for this payasam are the very tiny sagos which can be easily cooked with vermicelli. You can use any variety as you wish. For best results, I suggest to pressure cook the roasted vermicellis and the sagos just for 1 whistle. In the payasam, the sagos must look like individual balls and vermicellis must not stick to each other . Now let's see how to prepare this payasam with step by step photos.

Mor Kuzhambu/Buttermilk curry with paruppu vada This mor kuzhambu is an easy traditional kuzhambu from South India made with butter milk. We prepare, the mor kuzhambu with any vegetables very often, and this mor kuzhambu with paruppu vada is our family favourite.  This mor kuzhambu is such a simple dish that you can prepare within 15 minutes. I used homemade paruppu vada for this kuzhambu so it takes around 25 minutes. Always try to use a well beaten curd. For a smoother curd, you can blend the curd in a mixer jar or you can whisk it with the butter churner. Fresh homemade curds works good for this kuzhambu. This kuzhambu can be easily doubled for bigger batches. 

Kesar pedas prepared with milk, sugar and saffrons. These kesar pedas prepared with fresh milk have a smoother texture and perfect shapes. Surprise your kids with these home made kesar pedas. You can make the kova the day before or prepare it right away. It tastes good with the homemade kova. Kesar peda, milk peda are a favourite dessert for us. After so many experiments and practices I found this recipe. There is also another method for Kesar pedas with condensed milk and milk powder, but those pedas are not fully satisfied for me. You need a little patience to do these pedas, but the result is perfect like store bought kesar pedas. For any milk sweets I usually buy aavin(magic) green sachet or aavin premium milk. The kova prepared with these milks is much tastier compared to other milk. If you don't have this brand in your place, you can buy any full fat cream milk. The full fat milk are best preferred for pedas. When preparing the pedas always use heavy and wide bottomed n...

Dal fry is a healthy side dish for roti. This dal fry can be quickly prepared and almost everyone in your family, including kids love this creamy dal. For this dal fry I have used both moong dal and toor dal. This dal fry is a perfect side dish for roti during winter season. In this winter, you can enjoy this warm dal fry and roti or rice with your family and friends .  This dal fry includes few classic spices with simple cooking techniques. Anything that made with moong dal must have the touch of lemon juice. The final touch of lemon juice and the coriander leaves add a lot of flavours to this dal. The best part about this dal fry is it will impress everyone without much work. Plus, this dal is full of healthy ingredients. I hope you all try this dal fry for your next dinner. 

Vegetable fried rice is a favourite dish for all of us. Usually vegetable fried rice are prepared with finely chopped vegetables and seasoned with white pepper powder, vinegar, chilly sauce and MSG (ajinomotto) is added to enhance the taste.  Last year for summer vacation we went for a family trip to Nelliampathi(Kerala) . There we stayed in a resort and they served us a wonderful meal for lunch. For dinner they served us a tasty vegetable fried rice with chilli paneer. The vegetable fried rice and chilli paneer were a special on that day and they were made with fresh vegetables, celeries, spring onions and a few whole black peppercorns. There is no mono sodium glutamate. The one of the best fried rice I ate in my life. There the food was fresh, flavorful and delicious. The chef was friendly and more happy to serve us a variety of their specials. He taught me how to prepare this Vegetable fried rice. For perfect fried rice follow these simple steps. Do not pressure cook the...

Beetroot puttu is a quick side dish for your lunch. In my blog, I have already posted plantain puttu and potato puttu which can be prepared easily without much work. This beetroot puttu is also similar and there is no need for precooking as done for plantain and potatoes. Anyone can prepare this easy dish for your family. For this dish also I suggest to use fresh beetroots which can be easily grated and gets cooked within few minutes. If you use 4 days old refrigerated beetroots it is difficult for grating and the taste is also not good. This beetroot puttu is a perfect side dish for sambar , rasam and pulikuzhambu . The leftover puttu can be used to prepare beetroot utthapam. Now let's see how to prepare this beetroot puttu.

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.  It is prepared with coconut milk, moong dal, drumsticks, carrots, potatoes and plenty of aromatics like ginger, garlic, green chillies, small onions and lemon juice. The freshly extracted coconut milk gives you the perfect taste for this kuzhambu. We prepare this kuzhambu often during weekends, family get togethers and special occasions. My Mom, Grandma and Athai are experts in preparing this Sodhi. Let us see the important tips to follow before preparing this kuzhambu. 1. Main Ingredients The main ingredients for this kuzhambu are good quality coconuts, drumsticks, lemon juice, ginger and garlic. For this kuzhambu always use fresh coconuts. When you choose the coconuts, shake it and if you  hear lots of water sound then the coconut is fre...

In South Indian cuisine, there is nothing simpler than a rasam. Rasam is prepared with lots of spices and flavours and just takes a few minutes to prepare with simple process. If you prepare a perfect rasam your tongue will ask you to eat for one more time.  The perfect rasam will have a balance of flavours that comes from the garlic, pepper, cumins and coriander leaves. The garlic, pepper and cumins gives the powerful flavour to the rasam. There are a few tricks for cooking a good rasam. The spices   Do not load it with too much of spices for the ground paste. Use all the flavours in minimal amount, so that you can have a nice flavourful rasam. Do not peel the garlic cloves fully. Just cut the top and then grind it. This is my mother's tip. You will feel the aroma of the garlics, when you taste it. Tomatoes The tomatoes, add taste and colour to the rasam. It's beautiful to see the chopped tomatoes floating on the top of the rasam. Try to chop the tomatoes fin...

Brinjal(Eggplant)/Kathirikkai kichadi is a popular side dish in Tirunelveli served for idly or dosa. The white or green brinjals (thinner varieties) are more ideal for this kichadi. The small finger sized purple brinjals also taste good for this kichadi.  We prepare this kichadi in two different ways such as kichadi with dal and without dal. Now we are going to see Brinjal kichadi with moong dal. It is prepared by cooking the brinjals along with moong dal, tomatoes, green chillies, tamarind and onions. For flavours add a tsp of sambar powder and asafoetida powder. These type of kichadi or sambar are free from cholesterol, high in fibre and keeps you energized throughout the day. If you are eating a mix of vegetables, dals with carbohydrates for breakfast help in increasing energy level because they are digested slowly. So follow the simple instructions and prepare this healthy and easy Brinjal kichadi for your next breakfast. If you do not have brinjals, you can replace it...

Tomato chutney is commonly called as Kara chutney in hotels due to the red colour of the dish. This chutney is not much spicy and it has a combination of flavours like sweet, hot and sour. The sweet taste of the onions, heat from the red chillies and sour from the red tomatoes make the chutney so delicious.  Not only this chutney looks good, but also tastes nice. You can use this chutney as a side dish for idly, dosa, poori, panniyaram, bajis and bondas and also you can use this as a spread for bread slices. My son is a big fan for this kara chutney and he asks me to spread inside the dosas.  A simple and tasty tomato chutney with just four ingredients. I have used small onions for this chutney you can also use big onions too.  Here is my other recipes with tomatoes Tomato onion thokku , Tomato sabji , Tomato chutney with green chillies , Tomato dal , Tomato rasam and Tomato pasta .  Here is a short video for Tomato Chutney

Aloo gobi (Potato Cauliflower) is a healthy and filling sabji with minimal flavours and ingredients. A great side dish for roti, pulav and nann which can be easily prepared within 15 minutes. My uncle ( mother's brother) taught me this aloo gobi recipe. During my school days he taught me to prepare perfect rotis. Even now in our family, he is the master in preparing rotis. Not only in cooking he is having so many talents like painting, drawing, writing poems and stories. He started his career in Delhi so he was familiar with different varieties of sabjis, pulavs and rotis. One day he invited us for a dinner. For dinner, He prepared this Aloo gobi, roti and veg pulav within 30 minutes. He made this aloo gobi within 10 minutes and he served it with soft rotis, veg pulav and a bowl of veg salad. He had actually used simple, everyday, basic ingredients  to prepare this tasty aloo gobi.  

This diamond chips are a famous snack from Tirunelveli, they can also be known as thukkada. They are pretty easy to make. We use both maida and wheat flour for this thukkadas. Red chilly powder or green chilly paste are used to flavour the thukkada. These thukkadas can be shaped in several shapes like square, diamond or small circle. For crispy thukkadas, knead the dough tightly, so that it will be easy to roll the chapathi for cutting the diamonds.  When you make thukkadas, you want to make sharp cuts on the chapathi  so that you get the perfect diamonds. Melted butter or ghee or hot oil is added while kneading the dough will give you a crispy thukkadas. Depending on the consistency of your dough you can dust your dough with a little wheat flour and then roll the chapathi. Thukkadas can be easily cooked in oil, so be careful while deep frying. These thukkadas can be enjoyed with a cup of tea or coffee and also for the curd rice. Now we will how to prepare this t...

Ladies finger/okra is a high fibre vegetable and are easy to cook. When it comes to preparing a side dish for rice with ladies finger there are many interesting dishes that tastes good.  This ladies finger poriyal is prepared with lots of chopped onions and coconuts. You can eat this poriyal simply as a salad. Be it a poriyal or sabzi, always use fresh ladies finger. Please avoid refrigeration for ladies finger because it loses its beautiful colour and texture. If you are using refrigeration use within 1 or 2 days. And one more point store them in a cotton cloth bag. After washing the ladies finger spread them in a towel for 30 minutes and then chop them. I always suggest to cook with less oil for any dishes made with ladies finger.  If you follow these simple instructions you can get perfect results. Now let's see how to prepare this poriyal.

Today I'm going to share a healthy and easy soup. One day my husband bought  cabbage, carrots and beans from the market. All the veggies are so beautiful and fresh. He always prefers to buy different varieties of vegetables, greens and fruits  from the wholesale markets. As soon as I saw the fresh, beautiful vegetables I decided to prepare a homemade veg clear soup.  The soup was so tasty and refreshing. I like the crunchy vegetables in the soup and the fresh aromas from the finely chopped garlics and ginger was awesome. There is no need for any other additional flavours. Finally garnishing the soup with fresh coriander leaves is a great flavour for this soup. Hope you give it a try.

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. T...

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 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 ...

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...

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 varietie...

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 e...