VIRUNDHOMBAL

Today we are going to see our all time favourite Chana Masala. It's a simple yet complete food that's easy to make within 30 minutes. I got this recipe from our friend's mom who is from Bodi. The flavours are just delicious. She gave me one kg of her homemade garamasala powder and it is one of our new favourites! The garamasala powder is free from the addition of preservatives, artificial colours and mono sodium glutamate. Any masalas or kurmas made with a unique blend of spices, tastes good. I have been trying to make my own garamasala powder but just keep putting it off. Now I am confident to prepare homemade garamasala powder as she clearly explained the recipe with exact ingredients and measurements. I will try posting the homemade garamasala recipe in virundhombal soon. During our visit to their house, she prepared so many dishes and all of them were lip smacking and the masalas were perfectly balanced, not overpowering the other.  This Chana masala is not the authenti...

Chickpeas and potato kurma - prepared with chickpeas(kondaikadalai), potato and flavoured with onions, tomato and whole garam masala. A perfect side to chapathi, poori, dosa and aapam. Kurmas are especially a special dish in Tamil Nadu with different varieties. In most of the South Indian restaurants this chickpeas potato kurma is served as a side dish for chola poori. My son Siva like this chickpeas kurma for poori very much. Most of the time I prepare potato masala or chana masala for poori but now a days Siva is asking me to prepare this kurma for poori. The best kind of kurmas are the ones with a correct balance of flavours without much oil. I learned these tips with lots of experiments with kurma. For this kurma there is no need to add cashew nuts, poppy seeds or any other fresh creams for a thick consistency. The onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and whole garam masala is ground to a thick paste along with fresh coconut. The fennel seeds add a mild sweetness to th...