VIRUNDHOMBAL

Arisi Upma is prepared with raw rice, idly rice and toor dal. All the ingredients are powdered in mixer jar and then upma is prepared with this rava. After preparing the rava,  this upma takes just 15 minutes from start to finish.

Ladies finger (Okra) is usually prepared as poriyal, pachadi or roasts. Today we are going to see how to prepare aviyal with ladies finger. When it comes to side dish for our lunch, aviyal is a great side dish which can be prepared easily. Ladies finger is a wonderful source of vitamins and other nutrients that must be included frequently in our regular diet. My Grandma taught me this Ladies finger aviyal. For mixed vegetables aviyal and aviyal with any other vegetables, we won't add onions and no sauteing is required. But for this Ladies finger aviyal we have to add thinly sliced onions and saute both the onions and ladies finger in the coconut oil before cooking them. For the ground coconut paste we have to add both the red chillies and green chillies. This aviyal is a good combination for sambar, pulikuzhambu  and karakuzhambu. Once you have finished sauteing the ladies fingers, it doesn't take long to cook and you can finish the dish within 15 minutes. Check out my ...

Easy dal is a healthy side dish for roti within 20 minutes. This healthy dal includes moong dal, a few vegetables, mashed garlic cloves and lots of cumin. It's a comfortable dish for your dinner with roti. This dal is healthier than store bought ready mix packs and easier too.

A lemon rice is a perfect lunch box dish. It is really a pleasure to prepare rice varieties and to taste and pack it in the lunch boxes. Moreover, lemon rice is one of the easiest rice to prepare for your busy weekdays. Let us see some important tips for perfect lemon rice. 1. For perfect lemon rice always choose a juiciest lemon. If you are using older lemon, then it will have less juice and won't taste good for this rice. 2. Whether you cook the rice in a pressure cooker or in a vessel, the rice should not be sticking to each other. As I mentioned in my other posts, ponni raw rice tastes good for these kind of rice varieties. 3. Do not add too much of the  ingredients for tempering. It will be difficult while eating. With correct tempering the rice will taste good and also it looks beautiful. Try packing this rice once it cools down. Check out my other similar rice recipes Tamarind rice Coconut rice Tomato rice Carrot rice

Puzhungal arisi (boiled rice) kozhukattais are one of the most popular evening snacks in Tirunelveli. We can prepare this kozhukattai either by grinding the rice or by using good quality rice flour. Kozhukattais prepared by grinding the rice are softer than the kozhukattais made with rice flour. If you plan to make kozhukattais with rice flour, use hot water for kneading the dough so your kozhukattais will be soft and easy to cook. If possible, choose fresh curry leaves and fresh coconuts for this kozhukattai. For most of the kozhukattais we use fresh coconuts which adds an exotic taste to it. If you use coconuts which have water content fry them along with the sauted ingredients and then add the ground rice batter. If it has less water content, you can add the coconuts in the end. Making kozhukattai is one of the interesting part in this dish. You can make medium balls or after preparing oblong shaped balls a slight press is made in the centre to prepare kozhukattai. Now let...

Carrot poriyal is also similar to my other thuvaram/poriyal varieties. It includes simple ingredients like coconut, small onions, green chillies, cumins and other tempering ingredients. For this poriyal, you can add cooked green peas or black eyed peas. I always recommend to cook the vegetables with little water and then sauted with the mustard and urid dal and ground coconut mixture is added for flavours. The ground coconut paste adds lot of flavours to any poriyal or thuvaram rather than garnishing with few grated coconuts. This carrot poriyal is a good side dish for sambar, puli illa kuzhambu, lemon rice and coconut rice. Checkout my other poriyal/thuvaram recipes Snake gourd poriyal Beetroot and green peas poriyal Cabbage carrot beans thuvaram Bitter gourd thuvaram Keerai thuvaram  Ladies finger (Okra) poriyal

Small onion/Chinna vengaya thuvaiyal is prepared with raw small onions, a few garlic cloves, red chillies and tamarind.  This chutney is a best accompaniment for black urid dal dosa, ragi idly or horse gram dosa. Raw onions offer many incredible benefits. To reduce the sharp and pungent smell from small onions we use tamarind for this chutney. You can mix the chutney with a tbsp of gingely oil and enjoy this chutney with your favourite dosas. Checkout my other chutney recipes Onion garlic coconut chutney Tomato chutney Coconut chutney with green chillies Coconut chutney with red chillies

Red Ponnangani keerai thuvaram is prepared with onions, coconut small onions paste and with cooked moong dal or toor dal. This red ponnangani keerai has so many medicinal  benefits. After removing these leaves from this greens, you can plant these stems in a small pot or in your backyard. This greens require regular watering. It grows well within a  few weeks and you can pick the fresh leaves from the stem for cooking. For any greens poriyal/thuvaram I add some cooked toor dal or moong dal along with the coconut masala. Because it gives you a nice taste and flavour to the dish. In this dish I have added cooked moong dal and the coconut paste. Make sure to cook the greens well. This ponnangani keerai requires some time to cook. For any dishes  prepared with greens regular sauteing is very important. Now we will see how to prepare this poriyal. Checkout my other keerai recipes Siru keerai thuvaram Murungai keerai thuvaram Paruppu keerai kootu Manathakkali keer...

Sundakkai karakuzhambu is prepared using fresh green sundakkai, small onions, garlics, tomatoes and ground coconut paste. The sundakkai are sauted well in the oil and then cooked in the tamarind extract along with the red chilly powder. This sundakkai has lots of health benefits. It helps to treat kidney diseases. It is also a very powerful antioxidant. Considering the medicinal values of this wonderful vegetable we must include them in our regular food. This kuzhambu is an effective way to use the fresh sundakkai and can be prepared easily with simple cooking methods. The sundaikkais are crushed by a mortal pestle and then sauted well in the oil to remove the bitterness. The sundakkai tastes good in the kuzhambu. I have added homemade chilly powder which gives a good thickness for the kuzhambu. If you are using store bought chilly powder, add according to the spice level. Here is a short video for Sundakkai Karakuzhambu Checkout my other similar kuzhambu recipes Vellai...

Paneer Kurma is a delicious kurma made with paneer cubes in a creamy coconut gravy. This Kurma is very easier to prepare for your dinner. After preparing this Kurma, it will be your family's favourite. Most of us are familiar with paneer. They are an easy to cook ingredient in gravies so there is no pressure cooking or soaking work for this kurma. Unlike most kurmas, some grinding work is required for this kurma with classic spices, tomatoes, onions and coconut. In this kurma I have sprinkled few kasuri methi leaves to enhance the flavour. This kurma will pair well with chapathi, dosa, parotta and jeera rice. The paneer cubes combined with the coconut gravy gives a tasty side dish for your dinner. Instead of ordering gravies from outside, you can quickly prepare this delicious kurma within 20 minutes.  If you are planning to prepare for a get together or dinner party, you can easily double this recipe. Now let's see how to prepare this Paneer Kurma with step by step instr...

A mouth -.watering sabji for your kids with their favorite soya chunks and potatoes. This sabji is very easy to prepare for their lunch boxes. So simple to make this sabji. This sabji goes well with roti, parathas and also for any rice varieties.

Tomato rice is a simple rice that makes the perfect lunch box dish for the whole family during busy weekdays. For lunch box dishes, it's uncomfortable for us to eat the tomatoes along with their skins. So in this dish I have cooked the tomatoes and removed the skins completely. After removing the skins, I have mashed the tomatoes and then sauted along with the onions. Cooking the tomatoes and removing the skins  will taste better than the tomatoes sauted along with their skins. This is my Grandma's tip and it tastes so good. There is no need for any additional flavours for this rice. If you want, you can sprinkle a pinch of garam masala powder in the final stage. If you add any other spices you may lose the flavour of the tomatoes. Checkout my other recipes with tomatoes Tomato onion sabji Tomato thokku Tomato dal Tomato chutney Tomato onion thokku

Mixed vegetable soup prepared with carrots, tomatoes, cauliflower and potatoes. There are endless varieties in preparing a soup. In this soup you can include additional vegetables like radish, beetroots, cabbage, broccoli, green peas and chayote. There is no need for any additional flour like corn flour or any other thickening agents. This soup is great for kids, elderly people and also a perfect appetizer for a dinner party. There are so many ways you can do this mixed vegetable soup, but this recipe is easy and healthy. I like the lemon juice flavour in my soup so I have squeezed it while serving. If you want to add some protein to your soup, you can add a tbsp of moong dal along with the vegetables. Now we will easy how to prepare this easy and healthy soup.