VIRUNDHOMBAL

Karamani rice - delicious, protein rich and healthy lunch box rice with black eyed peas or cowpeas. I got fresh karamani from the market and decided to do many varieties like poriyal, sabji and rice. If you are using dried cowpeas, you need to soak for 5 hours. The ingredients list might be lengthy, but it is easy to make within 30 minutes. In this rice, fresh karamani along with rice cooked with onions, tomatoes and mild masala paste to get fluffy and delicious rice. This rice can be served with any thayir pachadi of your choice and appalam. Make this rice once and it will be your regular dish on your lunch menu. Few tips for making Karamani sadham Regular ponni boiled rice is preferred for karamani sadham because it cooks up fluffier and less sticky than other rice varieties. Soak the rice for at least 20 minutes. Soaking helps the rice to get cooked easily ensuring each grain remains distinct and absorbs the flavourful masala.   Small onions, garlic, ginger, fennel, cinnamo...

Paneer Biryani - a simple home style biryani recipe with paneer. There are unlimited varieties of biryani with so many different variations. Today I prepared this paneer biryani similar to Hyderabadi veg dum biryani.  I recreated this recipe with my own methods and I have used  the ingredients which are easily accessible. Making this paneer biryani needs some preparation work so we have to plan ahead. Though the recipe is very simple, we may not have all the ingredients. To get the taste and flavor, I suggest you add a drop of kewra essence and saffron milk mentioned below without exceeding the quantity. These two flavours are really needed for this paneer biryani. For this paneer biryani, the classic basmati variety has a wonderful unique flavour and texture. If it is not available you can use any other basmati rice. We have to cook the basmati rice separately until 90 percent is the key to make perfect biryani. If you are using fully cooked rice, it tends to stick to each ot...

Fenugreek Rice - a simple rice recipe with no onion and  no tomato. This is a traditional rice recipe made with fenugreek, rice, coconut and garlic cloves. I learnt this recipe from my Grandmother. This recipe is very similar to our black urid dal rice. I tried this rice many times and we all loved it very much. We can easily prepare this rice within 10 minutes since there is no need for any chopping works. The main flavouring for this rice recipe is the fenugreek. While roasting the fenugreek keep an eye on it, over roasting can make it bitter and you will miss their aroma and flavor in the rice. As it is a summer season, this fenugreek rice will be perfect and it helps to lower the body temperature.  Also, this is a perfect dish for diabetes. Because fenugreek is high in soluble fibre, which helps to  lower blood sugar by slowing down digestion. This fenugreek rice can be served with coconut thuvaiyal and appalam.  Rice Varieties Coriander leaves and Tomato Pulav...

Coriander leaves rice - Kothamalli sadham recipe with full video and step by step pictures. This rice is an easy, no onion no garlic lunch recipe, using fresh coriander leaves and other ingredients like ginger, garlic, grated coconut and chillies. The recipe of this coriander leaves rice is I read in my prize cookbook long back and today prepared this rice for Siva's lunch box with raw banana fry.  All you need to do is to grind a masala paste for the rice. Everyone has their own style of preparing this masala and you can adjust the taste according to your taste buds. The ground paste is prepared with the regular ingredients like red chillies, green chillies, grated coconut, ginger, coriander leaves, chana dal and urid dal. A teaspoon of chana dal and urid dal the unique combination of rice varieties are dry roasted and added to the masala paste which helps to prevent the rice from drying out. If you like to add tamarind, you can add a small piece while grinding. I prefer fresh lem...

Milagu Jeeraga Sadham with step by step pictures and video. The first time we tasted this milagu jeeraga sadham was at the Porur Ramanatheeswarar Sivan temple and we all liked it very much. The next day itself, I tried this rice and packed it for my husband's lunch box. It tasted exactly the same. It is a very healthy dish and has been on my list for a long time. Recently I shared Milk rava kesari and thattapayaru sundal  and a few videos for Navaratri and today decided to prepare this milagu jeeragam rice to share in my blog along with the video.  This rice is simple and quick to make with a very few ingredients. For this milagu jeeraga sadham use ponni raw rice, which has a unique texture that is perfect for rice dishes like coconut rice, lemon rice, tamarind rice. If it is not available in your place you can use basmati rice or any other millets. To get the real flavour and taste, freshly ground pepper cumin powder is important. The black pepper, cumin and a  few...

Mixed vegetable rice with step by step photos and video. Quick one pot rice within 30 minutes. Apart from kootanchoru and thuvaram paruppu sadham we make this mixed vegetable rice for weekend lunch and family get togethers.  During our childhood days, my Karthi mama makes this rice for dinner and always one of our favourite rice dishes for our whole family. During his bachelor days in Delhi, they prepared this rice frequently with whatever vegetables available in their kitchen. Making of this vegetable  rice doesn't involve any grinding or soaking and bachelor's can easily cook this rice. When it comes to any rice with dals, it must be slightly mushy with soft texture. But I do not like mushy rice, so I have reduced the amount of water. You can change it according to your preference. Allow the rice to cook on medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes or pressure cook for 2 whistles. Cooking time may vary depending on the quality of the rice and the pressure cooker.  To make this h...

Mushroom Peas Pulao - today we are going to see mushroom peas pulao recipe, with full video and step by step pictures. Pulao is one of our favourite lunch dishes for me and my son Siva. I have the tasted mushroom pulao in many hotels, but the best I would say is the one I tasted in a buffet at GRT grand in T.Nagar. The pulao was so tasty with fluffy, separate rice grains and mild aromatic flavours. I wanted  to try that same mushroom pulao after tasting that but after lockdown I am rarely preparing rice varieties for lunch. I have tried the mushroom peas pulao yesterday for lunch and it turned out great.  The mild flavour from the spices will make you to taste again and again. A mixture of cinnamon, cloves, star aniseed, black pepper and mace are coarsely powdered in a mortal pestle or in a mixer jar brings the flavour to this pulao. The cooking process is very simple and you can easily prepare this pulao within 30 minutes. To make pulao, the coarsely powdered masala is sauted...