VIRUNDHOMBAL

Today’s recipe is a simple, wholesome Bitter Gourd Fry that’s both flavorful and light, using just 2 tablespoons of oil. It’s a great way to enjoy this nutritious vegetable without overwhelming bitterness. We begin by lightly steaming the sliced bitter gourds, which helps mellow their natural bitterness while preserving their shape. Next, they’re gently tossed with a few basic spices and slow-roasted in a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. The result? Crisp, golden edges with deep, earthy flavors — all achieved with minimal oil. Why cast iron? Cooking in cast iron not only enhances texture and flavor but also distributes heat evenly, making it perfect for achieving a delicious roast without soaking in oil. It’s a practical and healthy choice for everyday home cooking. A few tips to get the best results: Steam just until tender – avoid overcooking to keep the slices firm during roasting. Stir occasionally – this helps the pieces brown evenly and prevents sticking. Serve this fry as a perf...

Welcome to our new series featuring my beautiful cast iron vessels! During our recent trip to Madurai, we discovered the wonderful Sikandar shop, where we picked up these stunning cast iron vessels. They have an amazing variety of products, and we were impressed with the quality. In today's post, I'll show you how to make a delicious sweet potato fry using one of our new cast iron skillets - and the best part? It's made with very little oil! Sweet potatoes are a staple in our kitchen, adaptable to countless preparations like fries, sabji, and roasts. This pan-fried version is quick and delicious, seasoned with a simple mix of crushed garlic and homemade red chili flakes. Customize the spices to your taste and enjoy a flavorful side dish.  This pan-fried sweet potato recipe is one of the easiest ways to get crispy sweet potatoes without any complicated steps. Many recipes suggest parboiling or steaming the sweet potatoes first to shorten the cooking time. However, this recip...

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...

This quick and easy broccoli stir fry is loaded with garlic flavour and crunchy peanuts. This simple broccoli stir fry turned out so good. The ground mixture has just three ingredients - garlic, roasted peanuts and red chilli. There are many complaints about its texture, but when prepared in proper cooking methods, it tastes perfect.  Here is the short video for Broccoli Stir Fry Check out my other low calorie recipes here Broccoli Capsicum Sabji Carrot Capsicum Stir Fry Low calorie Black Chana Masala Sprouts and Mushroom Dal Green Moong Dal Sabji Easy Dal Soya chunks and Potato Sabji  Dal Fry  Easy Moth Dal Sabji  Tomato Dal  Zero Oil Sprouted Green gram Dal   Low calorie Rajma Masala Broccoli Stir fry Recipe Details Prep time : 10 minutes Cook time : 15 minutes Serves : 3 Category : side dishes Ingredients 2 broccoli  1/4 cup finely chopped onions 1/2 tsp cumin 1/4 tsp turmeric powder  4 garlic cloves  2 red chilly or 2 tbsp chilli flakes 2...

A healthy and easy kootu recipe for this winter season. During my college days, I learnt this recipe from Aval Vikatan supplement book. After so many years, I made this kootu for lunch. Today's kootu recipe is different with pepper flavour. It tastes good with sambar, rasam, coconut rice, jeera rice and also for roti.  When buying chow chow, choose the ones which have even green on the outside. Also slightly press them with your nail and if it is dry then it is not a very fresh chow chow. The skin on the sides and bottom of the chow chow will be difficult to peel, so try to use a sharp knife or a potato peeler to remove the skin completely.  Moong dal adds an excellent consistency to the chow chow kootu. You can also replace it with toor dal or the combination of moong dal and toor dal. As I told you before, do not pressure cook chow chow because you will lose the beautiful colour and texture in the kootu.  Black pepper, cumin, red chilli, urid dal, curry leaves and fresh...

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...

Yellow Pumpkin Eriseri is a curry made with yellow pumpkin,  karamani and coconut paste. It is one of the delicious and satisfying side dishes that takes just 25 minutes to make.  The flavouring comes from the ground coconut paste which is added in two forms. The first coconut paste is prepared by grinding coconut, cumin, red chilli and garlic to a smooth paste which is added when the pumpkins are done. The second coconut paste is prepared by grinding the coconut, red chilli and cumin coarsely which is then roasted well in the coconut oil and added in the final stage. This yellow pumpkin eriseri goes well with pulikuzhambu, theeyal and sambar. This pumpkin eriseri is another delicious recipe from my aunt Raji Tamilselvi from Nagercoil. She taught many of their traditional dishes from Nagercoil. This eriseri tastes good with green skin pumpkin which has deep orange pulp. You can also replace white chick peas instead of karamani. Coconut oil gives the eriseri a subtle aroma. The...

This stir fry is prepared with shredded semi ripe papaya. This stir fry is easy to make within 10 minutes. This stir fry is similar to carrot puttu and beetroot puttu.    Semi ripe papaya is light orange in colour with a crisp texture and it has a very mild flavour. The shredded papaya is flavoured with green chillies, onions and finally garnished with fresh coconut. The semi raw papayas are peeled and the innermost white layers are removed along with their tiny seeds. Then they are cut into halves or quarters and  grate it using a slightly thick grater. After grating, we have to saute with mustard, chillies, onions and curry leaves. For this puttu dishes, like carrot puttu and beetroot puttu, the grated vegetables will need to be sauted first for an extra few minutes and then close and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. No water is required for this stir fry. Simply close and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. A handful of freshly grated coconut adds a beautiful colour and taste to t...