VIRUNDHOMBAL

Drumstick gravy - Summer season always brings plenty of fresh drumsticks, with bright green colour. For four to six months we have a continual supply of fresh drumsticks. During drumstick season, we add them in most of the kuzhambu dishes. There are different recipes with drumsticks that can be enjoyed for your lunch. To get the most benefits of drumstick, try adding fresh drumstick to your kuzhambu, poriyal or in kootu. It's better to use fresh drumsticks. To store fresh drumsticks in the refrigerator, tie them with a knot and daily change its position and keep it in a dry rack.  This drumstick gravy is very simple to make and requires very few basic ingredients. This gravy tastes good with rice, dosa and also for rice dishes like lemon rice, mango rice and coconut rice. In this post, I have shared a unique recipe from our family friend Regina aunty. It has delicious flavours from small onions, crushed garlic and the ground coconut paste. This dish is light and not heavy like kurm...

It's a simple and healthy poriyal made with green papaya.Green papaya is unripened papaya, with a crunchy texture and neutral flavour. Green papaya poriyal is traditionally prepared in a heavy-bottomed mud pot, which is ideal for cooking to get the soft texture. For everyday busy people, I've modified the steps in this recipe a bit. The following recipe has simple ingredients with a quick preparation, so that you can enjoy a healthy side dish for your lunch without much effort. For the best poriyal, be sure to select the green papaya that are fresh and firm with dark green colour without any yellow spots and should be heavy in size. Peel the skin completely and then discard the white seeds. Cut them into small medium sized cubes. Once the chopping work is done, the rest of the process is very easy to make. I start by cooking the chopped papaya in my small pressure cooker just for 1 whistle. This method saves a lot of time and it also gives the perfect texture. Take care not to...

When I want to prepare quick side dishes for our lunch, mostly it is plantain poriyal or roast with some spices. Anything made with plantains is easy to cook within 10 minutes. All you need is a handful of easily available ingredients in our kitchen.  The first step while making any plantain dishes (except plantain puttu) is to put the plantain pieces in water to avoid discoloration.  For most of the plantain dishes, the pieces should not be too thick or too thin. Don't overcook the plantains because the dishes will turn musshy.  In this recipe black pepper adds a nice flavour, so do not reduce the quantity. I have added two garlic cloves and if you are preparing this dish during the fasting period you can skip it. A handful of fresh coconut adds a mild sweetness to this curry. Stir fry the dish until the plantain is coated well with the coconut pepper mixture and small brown spots start appearing in the plantains.  Here is the link for Insta Reels for Raw Banan...

We prepare different types of kootu dishes for our lunch and most of the  kootu varieties can be easily identified with its taste and texture. But this raw papaya kootu is completely different. You won't believe this dish is made with raw papayas. There is no smell of papayas and the taste was so amazing with sambars, rasam and even for chapathis. The addition of cooked moong dal and the coconut paste makes this kootu more tasty. As I said earlier in my posts, please do not cook the vegetables in pressure cooker for kootu because it can destroy the beautiful colour and the nutritive value of the vegetables. For any kootu do the tempering in the final stage. Check out my other kootu recipes here.   Bottle Gourd Kootu - Suraikkai Kootu   Snake Gourd Kootu  - Pudalangai Kootu  Cabbage Potato Kootu White Pumpkin (Ash gourd) Kootu Raw Papaya Kootu Yellow Pumpkin Kootu Chayote - Chow Chow Kootu Paruppu Keerai Kootu Manathakkali Keerai Kootu Ridge Gourd Kootu - Peerka...

Pidi karunai kuzhambu (Yam) provides all the important nourishment to the body which not only improves the immunity system, but also brings a glow in the body. It is used as an Ayurvedic medicine to cure piles. It is high in Vitamin B6, and contains Vitamin C and A, potassium, phosphorous and magnesium. This pidi karunai masiyal is easy to make and tamarind juice is added to remove itchiness. A healthy and low calorie dish which goes well with rice. I learnt this recipe from my mom. For pulikuzhambu we prepare this masiyal as a side dish. Try this easy and healthy masiyal for your family. 

Collection of side dishes for lunch Here is a collection of vegetable side dishes like thuvaram, kootu, aviyal, pachadi, puttu etc for your everyday lunch. All the dishes are very easy and healthy.