VIRUNDHOMBAL

Tomato Mint Leaves Chutney is a delicious variation of the classic onion–tomato chutney, prepared with green chillies, fresh mint leaves, chana dal and coconut. We first tasted this chutney at a small millet restaurant, where it was served alongside kodo millet dosa, and the flavour was truly impressive. The mint leaves add a refreshing aroma without overpowering the chutney. Using fresh mint or coriander leaves is essential for achieving the right colour and taste. A key technique is to sauté the leaves only until they wilt, which helps retain their natural flavour. Green chillies are preferred in kara chutneys for a fresh spiciness, while a small amount of Kashmiri red chilli powder can be added at the final stage for colour, if desired. This chutney pairs beautifully with idli, dosa and millet-based tiffin items. Follow the recipe and video instructions to prepare this flavourful chutney for your breakfast or dinner. Here is the video link for Tomato Mint Leaves Chutney...

Tomato Puli Milagai is a unique and flavorful side dish recipe that holds a special memory for me. A few years ago, I prepared this dish for idli during my Grandpa’s visit, and he loved it so much that he gave it its name – Tomato Puli Milagai. Though it’s a simple one-pot recipe, I had postponed sharing it until now. Finally, I’ve recorded a step-by-step video to guide you through this delicious dish! This mildly spiced Tomato Puli Milagai is made with small onions, green chillies, juicy red tomatoes, mustard seeds, fenugreek, jaggery, asafoetida, and curry leaves. It's packed with authentic South Indian flavor and comes together in just 20 minutes, making it the perfect side dish for idli, dosa, or even curd rice. Is Tomato Puli Milagai Spicy? Not really! It's a mild to medium-spicy dish. The green chillies blend beautifully with the tomatoes, mellowing the overall heat. You can adjust the number of green chillies to suit your taste. What Makes This Dish So Delicious? Small o...

This is a simple home style kichadi or kothsu made with onions, tomatoes, potatoes and other basic ingredients. The recipe of this potato kichadi is an easy one pot dish and yet tastes so good. Nowadays, kichadis are excellent comfort food for the busy weekdays with different types of vegetables.  There are some most important tips to make the delicious kichadi to your taste. First of all, the kichadi needs to have the perfect texture. Usually for kichadi dishes we mash the cooked vegetables halfway leaving half of the vegetables in small chunks. This will give a perfect texture which is suitable for idli and dosa. But if you prefer a smooth consistency, you can blend it in a mixer jar or adding dals is an easy way to thicken the kichadi. In this recipe, we are using potato as it gives a creamy texture there is no need to add dals. For this kichadi a tablespoon of idli batter is added to make it thicker. Please do not add more than one tablespoon and also do not boil the kichadi lo...

Easy pumpkin sambar - this tiffin sambar is one of those nostalgic dishes prepared by my Kamatchi athai during our vacation visit to their house. During our summer vacation to Tirunelveli, she prepared this delicious and quick sambar within 20 minutes for idli. This was a few decades ago, and still I remember that beautiful yellow colour and the authentic taste.  My athai still follows this method for  pumpkin sambar due to its ease of preparation with rich flavours. A few days ago I asked my athai to share the recipe details and immediately she messaged me with the recipe instructions. Apart from the taste of the vegetables or dals or spices, there is one more magic ingredient we want to add in every dish is always love. Cooking with love always makes delicious meals.  Now coming to today's sambar recipe, it's a simple tiffin sambar made with yellow pumpkin, toor dal and sambar powder. The addition of fresh sambar powder makes this sambar so unique and gives the restaura...

Mint leaves coconut chutney - a simple chutney made with mint leaves, coconut, garlic cloves, green chillies, urid dal and tamarind. This mint leaves chutney is a regular dish in hotels for tiffin varieties. Though I make this regularly for rava dosa and dosa, the colour of the chutney will change a little bit. Recently when I spoke to Chef Revathi Shanmugam mam through a phone call, I asked her how to prepare hotel style mint leaves chutney.  She clearly explained the recipe and clarified my few doubts. Today I tried this chutney, and it turned out well and tasted similar to the hotel style mint leaves chutney. Now I am confident to post this popular mint leaves coconut chutney.  Let's see some few tips for this chutney For this chutney you can add 2 to 3 cloves of garlic or a small piece of ginger.  Always use fresh mint leaves. Wash the mint leaves well and drain the water completely. Do not overcook or saute the mint leaves for a long time.It will reduce the colour an...

Raw Papaya Kichadi - quick and healthy side dish for idli and dosa with raw papaya. We use raw papaya in kootu, poriyal or sometimes we add in sambar.  Last year when I visited my hometown Ilanji, I got many fresh raw papayas from our backyard. Few months ago, I have posted semi ripe papaya stir fry in virundhombal. I recently heard about this kichadi from my Kamatchi Athai. She frequently prepares many kichadi dishes with different vegetables for idli and dosa. Different versions of kichadi recipes are there with slight variations. Some people like to add dal while some people won't prefer dals for kichadi. I have added a tbsp of moong dal which gives a slight thickness to the kichadi.  The main ingredients in this kichadi are raw papaya, green chillies, small onions and tamarind. I haven't used coconut in this kichadi, but you can add ground coconut paste in the final stage. Ensure the papayas are cooked until soft, so that it will be easy mash or grind. This raw papaya kich...

This Saravan bhavan tomato thokku recipe which is actually a different tomato chutney and easy to make. This thokku tastes good with idli, dosa, chapathi and curd rice.  The method and preparation of this tomato thokku doesn't require much time. To make this tomato thokku we have to cook the tomatoes along with tamarind and ginger. Then the cooked tomato mixture is flavoured with chilli powder and a pinch of sambar powder. Make sure to use fresh red ripe tomatoes which makes the best thokku.  Few tips for a tasty thokku Use less ginger or omit it completely.  Do not cook the thokku in an iron kadai. Do not add water while grinding the tomato mixture.  If you like a smooth thokku grind them to a smooth paste or if you like small bits of tomatoes here and there in the thokku grind it coarsely.  You can also increase the garlic cloves for an extra kick of flavour.  A perfect thokku does not have a runny consistency or a dry thick chutney consistency. While coo...

Quick tiffin sambar recipe with moong dal, toor dal and combination of vegetables. We have tasted this tiffin sambar many times at our Grandma's house prepared by our home chef Deivanai at Tirunelveli. Usually they put onions, chow chow (chayote), carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, green chillies and dals. We have different versions of tiffin sambar in every household with any vegetables as they prefer. You can add capsicum, drumstick or yellow pumpkins too. This sambar recipe is a bit unique recipe with a  combination of dals and  without any tamarind. I wanted to try this quick tiffin sambar at home for a long time. Last week during my visit to Tirunelveli I called her up and asked for the recipe. She explained the recipe  with a few simple steps and the sambar turned out well. This tiffin sambar is a simple yet tasty sambar and perfect side dish for idli, dosa and ven pongal.  Check out my other side dishes for idli and dosa Brinjal Kichadi  Brinjal Kichadi wi...

Tomato Coriander Leaves Chutney - prepared with onions, tomato, coriander leaves, red chillies, garlic cloves, red chilly powder and jaggery. Daily we make different varieties of chutney for tiffin with little variations in the ingredients. Yesterday I tried this chutney with  tomatoes and fresh coriander leaves and it tasted good. We make kara chutney with onions, tomatoes and red chillies as the main ingredients. Sometimes we include garlic cloves, mint leaves, coriander leaves and we can also include chana dal, urid dal or peanuts. You can prepare different varieties of tomato chutney with so many variations. For this tomato coriander leaves chutney, just grind all the ingredients in a mixer jar and then sauted for a few minutes.  Checkout my other chutney recipes Coconut Garlic Green Chilly Chutney Tomato chutney Tomato chutney with green chillies  Chettinad Onion Tomato Chutney Small onion chutney with black urid dal Coconut chutney with red chillies Coconut chutney ...

Ridge Gourd Brinjal Kichadi  recipe with full video and step by step pictures. Today we are going to see another kichadi recipe for idli, dosa and ven pongal. We make kichadi using ridge gourd or brinjal. Here we have to include both the vegetables along with onions, tomatoes, green chillies and moong dal. My Grandmother often makes kichadi whenever she have sudden guests at home and everytime it tastes so good with her soft idlies. I followed her method which my Grandmother used to make. To reduce the cooking time by half  I have simplified it by pressure cooking the brinjals and ridge gourds along with a tbsp of moong dal. Traditionally kichadi dishes are prepared in the kal chatti and mathu is used for mashing the brinjals. Generally for  kichadi dishes, we use only green chillies and red chillies for the heat. I have added just a teaspoon of sambar powder and it doesn't alter the taste. When compared to sambar, this kichadi can be made in very less time which it makes...