VIRUNDHOMBAL

This Pineapple Kesari dessert uses only four ingredients and comes together in less than 30 minutes. This Kesari is made with fresh pineapple chunks so they have a bold pineapple flavour. You can also use canned pineapple chunks, but I have not tested this recipe with the canned pineapples. Have you noticed that all kesari dishes always require double the measure of sugar? That's the only thing I won't prefer to do these type of dishes frequently. Once in a while for special occasions or festivals, I prepare this kesari with a good amount of sugar and ghee. If we reduce the sugar and ghee it won't taste and look like kesari.

Butter murukku - an easy snack that is crisp with soft texture. It's a favourite evening snack for kids and also as a side dish for their lunch. In my blog, I have already posted traditional thenkuzhal and mullu thenkuzhal recipes which will be prepared with the grounded rice batter. But for this butter murukku we have to use rice flour, besan flour and fried gram flour and there is no soaking or grinding works. This butter murukku is super simple to make compared with mullu thenkuzhal. In just 40 minutes, you will have a crispy butter murukku to impress your kids.

Sarkkarai Pongal - this is a quick and easy dish for prasadam. And this Sarkkarai Pongal has also been an absolute favourite prasadam for many of us. The taste of this Sarkkarai Pongal, depend on the quality of the jaggery we use. I usually prefer pagu vellam for pongal and payasam dishes. The colour and taste of this jaggery vary from place to place. Some jaggery are dark brown while others are yellow or orange coloured jaggery. In this recipe, I have used the dark brown jaggery and it tastes so good. My husband bought me this dark brown jaggery (Kottayam Vellam) from Nanguneri. Now let's see some important tips for perfect Sarkkarai Pongal.

Today we are going to see a beautiful green colour dosa, which is prepared with a healthy mudakathan keerai (balloon vine leaves). This mudakathan keerai (balloon vine leaves) has so much of health benefits. The health benefits of mudakathan keerai (balloon vine leaves) include it relieves joint pains, treats cold and cough, helps in treating diarrhoea etc. Try to include this medicinal herb monthly twice or thrice in your regular diet. The best way to include this keerai is to prepare this dosa. There is no bitterness in the dosa and it tastes so good.

Vegetable Cutlet - favourite evening snack for many of us. There was a time we had this vegetable cutlets whenever we visit our Rema aunt's house. She is an expert in preparing this vegetable cutlets and many kid's friendly dishes. Her native place is Nagercoil , so all of her dishes taste good with a touch of Kerala cuisine. Soon I will post many of her traditional dishes in my blog. It was  a long time interest for me to prepare perfect vegetable cutlets like my aunt's cutlets. She taught me to prepare perfect vegetable cutlets with important techniques. Preparing these types of appetizers will take around an hour or more to spend in your kitchen. But once in a month you can spend time for these kind of snacks for your kids so that they can enjoy restaurant style snacks in our home itself. Before proceeding with the recipe we will see some important tips and techniques.

Brinjal rice - prepared with roasted brinjals and flavoured with an aromatic spice powder. Rice varieties such as lemon rice, tamarind rice or mango rice have been popular for lunch box dishes because of their less time preparation and long time shelf life. This brinjal rice is also one among them. The rice is precooked in a pressure cooker and it’s mixed with the roasted brinjals and spice powders. In my opinion, the taste of this brinjal rice is very similar to the tamarind rice, but the ingredients may vary a little bit. If you feel it’s difficult to prepare the spice powder, plan it a day before and it will take less than 15 minutes to mix the rice. Many people do not have time to prepare and therefore prefer ready mix powders for these kind of rice varieties but it is not healthy. In ready mix spice powders they are adding attractive colours and preservatives which are allergic to us. All the ingredients are easily available in our pantry and you can prepare it if you plan ahead

Kara Vadai - simple evening snack for your weekend and party appetizer too. This Kara Vadai is very easy to make using very few ingredients. It is made with pattani paruppu (yellow split peas), urid dal and rice flour. The vadais are flavoured with green chillies, coriander leaves, mint leaves and onions. Kara Vadais with crispy outer layer and tender texture make this as a special one. I learnt this recipe from our relatives at Nanguneri . They are experts in cooking a variety of meals, tiffin varieties, evening snacks and cater for small family functions too.

Kadalai Paruppu (Chana dal) Payasam is prepared with chana dal, jaggery, coconut and cashew nuts. There are several jaggery based payasam dishes in Tamil Nadu. Moong dal payasam, chana dal payasam, rice payasam are the most popular payasam dishes. I learnt this payasam from my Chithi. All the ingredients are handy and you can prepare this delicious payasam within 20 minutes. We will see some important tips for this payasam.

Cabbage Potato kootu is one of my favourite side dishes for Pulikuzhambu. Along with cabbage, potatoes, moong dal and coconut paste are also added in this kootu. People generally eat stir fry with cabbage and many people don't know this yummy and healthy kootu with cabbage. I felt that there is no raw smell of the cabbage in kootu when compared with stir fry. This kootu goes well with sambar, rasam , pulikuzhambu , karakuzhambu and tomato rice. In addition to potatoes and moong dal, you can also include cooked chickpeas or green peas. Prolonged cooking the cabbage on high temperature will result in losing the beautiful colour. Hence it is important to cook the cabbage on medium heat with correct time. If you are planning to cook in a pressure cooker or pan, cook for 1 whistle on medium heat and slowly release the pressure to maintain the colour and texture of the cabbage. Now let's see how to prepare this Cabbage Potato kootu with step by step instructions.

Badam halwa is prepared with just four ingredients such as badam, sugar, ghee and saffrons. They are so flavorful and super pretty too. This badam halwa is perfect for special occasions, family get together and potlucks.