VIRUNDHOMBAL

This is a simple kurma with button mushrooms in a creamy coconut gravy which can be easily done within 20 minutes.This kurma goes very well with dosa, chapathi and poori. You can customize this kurma according to your taste preference. The fennel seeds, cloves and cinnamon are a must and you can also include other spices like bay leaf, star aniseed or cardamom depending on your cuisine. If you want to add any extra vegetables, you can add cooked green peas or sweet corn kernels. The coconut paste blends beautifully together with the mushrooms. You may adjust the coconuts and fried grams. Once the kurma is complete, let the kurma to cool for 15 to 20 minutes and then serve. The spices will release the flavours into the mushrooms once the kurma has cool down to room temperature. You can enjoy a juicy mushroom in this kurma that will ask you to pour more and more over the chapathi or parotta. Check out my other kurma recipes Hotel vegetable kurma Carrot and green ...

Baby corn pulav is so easy to prepare, but has a unique combination of flavours, even though all the ingredients are easily available in your kitchen. This pulav is colourful, beautiful and will be great for lunch boxes, simple family potlucks or even for your next dinner party.  The rice is flavoured with cumins, cinnamon, bay leaves, cloves and star aniseed. In addition, you can add some more spices. I like to have green chillies for this pulav because it produces the right amount of heat and flavour without being too spicy. If you like a more orange or red colour appearance for this pulav then include red chilly powder. This baby corn pulav  is one of my son's favourite lunch box dish. When I am cooking pulav or fried rice he really likes and he helps me in the kitchen. He likes fried bread cubes in the biriyani, so I have added the fried breads in this pulav also. As always, when cooking biriyani or pulav, I start cooking on a broad kadai and finish in the cooker. T...

Pooris are one of my favourite weekend breakfast dishes. During my childhood days I helped my mom to prepare chapathi and poori during weekends. So I started learning the kneading work from my school days onwards. After so many practices I found the trick for perfect pooris. As you all familiar with pooris we will see the tips for perfect pooris.  Tips for perfect pooris We have to knead the dough a little bit tighter than the chapathi dough.  For softness I add ghee in the flour and then knead the dough by adding water little by little so that you can get softer pooris.  For poori dough, I prefer whole wheat flour. There is no need for any soaked rava or sugar or any baking powder.  For rolling the pooris apply a tsp of oil on the rolling board and on the rolling pin. One more important tip. Do not keep the pooris long after you roll them. Fry them as soon as you prepare them.  F or frying the pooris heat the oil well on medium flame and th...

Potato masala - the ultimate side dish for poori . A simple side dish for poori with mild flavours and fantastic taste. In TamilNadu, it is popularly called as poorikizhangu. It is usually prepared with onions, green chillies, ginger and potatoes. We can also add tomatoes, green peas or carrots, but the technique remains the same. The classic poori kizhangu recipe remains the same for many years.  For perfect potato masala the potatoes must be cooked well and then mashed well. You have to slice the onions thinly so that the onions get cooked easily and blended well with the potatoes. The addition of besan flour or fried gram flour for the masala is optional. If you want a thick masala you can add a tbsp of besan flour or fried gram flour in the final stage. These are the important tips to follow for this easy potato masala. Unlike idly and sambar, this poori and kizhangu has been a favourite breakfast dish for many of us. 

This is a very popular dish in Chinese cuisine. This hot and sour eggplant is an easy and delicious dish with very few ingredients that are already available in your pantry. The Chinese eggplant has thinner skins and few seeds, but I have substituted it with the small purple Indian brinjals.Chinese Hot and Sour Eggplant is a popular aromatic and delicious dish. You can try making this amazing Chinese Hot and Sour Eggplant in your kitchen. This recipe requires 10 minutes for preparation and 10 minutes to cook. Now let's see how to prepare this dish with step by step photos.

Pirandai is a creeper which has so many health benefits. Pirandai thuvaiyal is good for all digestion problems like indigestion, lack of appetite and gastritis. I learnt this recipe from my grandma which has a nice flavour of black urid dal. We have to add more tamarind to prevent the itching in the tongue after eating this. Wear gloves or grease your hands with sesame oil before chopping it. You can serve this thuvaiyal as an accompaniment for curd rice, idly and dosa or you can mix it with the hot rice and a tsp of ghee. 

Black urid dal dosa also called as mulu ulundhu dosa in Tirunelveli. This is a famous breakfast dish in Tirunelveli. This is an easy and healthy dosa with rice, black urid dal and fenugreek. We often prepare this dosa for weekend breakfast or dinner. The addition of black urid dal with its skin is what it makes it so special and unique.  Black urid dal contains a lot of nutritional value. In most of our food items we include black urid dal rather than the white variety. This black urid dal dosa is also super easy to make with simple two step process. I use split black gram dal in this recipe, but you may also use the whole black gram dal. Many people have a doubt that if black split  grams are ground along with the skin then how it will taste. It is very tasty if they are ground and fermented properly. The best accompaniment for this black urid dal dosa are onion garlic coconut thuvaiyal , ellu podi   and  powdered palm jaggery.  Follow these simple ...