VIRUNDHOMBAL

Baby Corn Fry - baby corns are mixed with a seasoned flour and deep fried till golden. Baby corns have a hard texture that takes more time to cook when compared to paneer and mushrooms. So I have precooked the baby corn pieces in a separate vessel for 5 minutes. Do not cook more than 5 minutes because it will absorb more oil. Then the cooked baby corn pieces are mixed with the flours. Here also I have used the besan flour, rice flour, corn flour and maida. The flours are seasoned enough with all the flavours to bring a restaurant taste for your kids. It starts with garlic paste, red chilly powder, garam masala powder, chat masala powder, pepper powder and lemon juice. Just mix all the ingredients to the baby corn along with the flours and required salt. Sprinkle a handful of water and mix them gently. Here I will tell you some important tips for Crispy baby corn fry. 1. Adding corn flour and rice flour gives you a crispy texture without being oily. Do not add more quantity b

Nenthram Pazham Payasam - delicious dessert with nenthram (banana) pazham, jaggery and coconut milk. An easy make ahead payasam dish for special occasions and festivals. This payasam is a popular dessert in Kerala. In Kerala and Nagercoil nenthram pazham is often used in desserts. I have already shared a quick halwa with nenthram pazham which can be easily cooked within 15 minutes. For best taste make sure to use extremely ripe bananas. Here also I used pagu vellam(brown jaggery) and fresh coconut milk for this payasam. If you are using canned coconut milk dilute the coconut milk with water as 1:1 ratio. When I first tasted this payasam in a restaurant I  thought it had chunks of bananas but it was just full of banana pulp with their tiny seeds in it. The bananas are cooked until soft and then grounded smoothly. Then the banana pulp is cooked in the jaggery syrup for 15 minutes on medium heat. After 15 minutes, we have to add the thin coconut milk. For additional flavours dry gi

Neeragara Sadham is prepared with rice, neeragaram (neethani - fermented rice water) curry leaves and salt. Then the sadham is mixed with gingely oil, coconut curry leaves thuvaiyal along with citron pickle. This is also a great dish for short picnics. For this sadham you can use ponni rice, kurunai rice and also millets. Generally, this neeragara sadham is prepared in a pot. To save time, I use a small pressure cooker to cook the rice . You can a feel nice aroma in the kitchen when the curry leaves are cooked in the fermented rice water. I will tell you briefly how to prepare the fermented rice water. Take 1 cup of rice in a vessel and rinse it well for 2 to 3 times and drain the water. For 1 cup of rice boil 6 cups of water in a wide vessel. When the water boils well add the rice, reduce the heat and cook the rice for 20 to 25 minutes, while keeping the vessel uncovered. When the rice has cooked well drain the water in another vessel using a slotted plate or a colander. We c

Tomato Jam - prepared with tomato, sugar, ghee and cashew nuts. Just four ingredients are required to prepare this jam. This tomato  jam is a popular sweet in Nagercoil marriages. This sweet and tangy jam can be prepared easily within 20 minutes. Before preparing this jam I am not sure that how tomato would be suitable for dessert, because its texture is not smooth like other vegetables. But after preparing the jam I came to know that tomatoes absorb the sugar beautifully and tastes so good. To prepare this jam you have to cook the tomatoes until soft. Once the tomatoes have cooked, simply remove the skins and grind it to a smooth paste. To get a smoother jam I have drained the tomato puree after grinding it, but you can leave this step. Then the tomato puree is mixed along with the required sugar and cooked on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes. As I told you before in the beetroot jam , using a heavy bottomed kadai  will keep the jam from burning in the bottom.

Avarakkai poriyal is a quick side dish for your lunch. This poriyal recipe is also prepared with the coconut cumin masala and cooked toor dal as we do for beans carrot poriyal and keerai poriyal dishes. The chopped avarakkais are cooked in a separate vessel and then mixed with the toor dal and coconut mixture. Finally, they are tossed in a pan for a few minutes. This goes well with sambar, rasam, lemon rice and puli illa kuzhambu. Cooking the vegetables in a separate vessel is the secret to get a colourful look in the dish. If you do not prefer you can add it after tempering and sprinkle a handful of water and cook for a few minutes. For these poriyal dishes, a handful of cooked toor dal enhances the taste, so do not skip it. The coconut cumin masala also gives the poriyal a delicious flavour. Similar recipes Beans Carrot Poriyal/Thuvaram Sirukeerai Thuvaram Beetroot and Green Peas Poriyal Ladies finger(Okra) Poriyal Potato Poriyal Carrot Poriyal