Ragi / Fingermillet/ Kezhvaragu is something that I genuine enjoy cooking with. Unlike most healthy ingredients Ragi to me is very versatile and can be used in day to day cooking be it a healthy Ragi Malt or Ragi Chappati or a crumbly sweet Ragi Almond Cookie or even a laddu. I have tried various recipes using fingermillet and each time it never fails to turn out yum and delicious. One such trial was this Ragi Maavu Laddu, how many of you love maavu laddu? I totally am a crazy fan for this melt in the mouth laddu. While my household gaze at all the cashew sweets in the sweet stall my eyes would roll over to find these delicious melt in mouth laddu - Maavu Laddu. One thing that really attracts me to Maavu laddu is the fact that is melts in your mouth and another reason is you cannot have more than one at a time ;-) So the other day I was wanting to try a Ragi Laddu and come up with this total twist to Maavu Laddu. The result was so satisfying and my family simply loved this sweet so much, I think I have raved too much about this, now lets move on to the recipe.
Vendakkai Thenga Pal Kozhambhu | Ladies Finger Coconutmilk Curry | Orka Coconut Curry Recipe
If there is this one veggie that both Hus and me love it would be Ladiesfinger/ Orka/ Bindhi and on a usual basis I make ladies finger stir fy or Ladiesfinger Puli Kuzhambhu and this coconut milk curry. So the otherday when I made this curry Hus asked me if this curry made an appearance in my blog ;-) and I said no, so that's when I realised Its time to post this family favourite curry. This is my own take to the curry and I sure take pride to say that it is so yum and goes well with rice and appalam. Try it for yourself and see I am sure you will love it too.
Ladies finger is a versatile vegetable that can be made as fries, pakodas, sides and curries. In South India most common recipes with Vendakkai would be poriyal, ouli kuzhambhu and moor kuzhambhu. This coconut milk curry is light and filled with a lovely coconut milk flavour. The spice combinations and curry leaves gives the boost to the curry a lot.
Baked Samosa | Oven Baked Samosa | Step by Step Recipe
I love Samosa, period ! the deep fried crispy and spicy kind. Every since school days till now I would never fail to have samosas. Being a food blogger i do get pressured to try different recipes from time to time and I have to admit this baked samosas were done from scratch. Although I did miss the oily samosa shells this recipe is a killer with a yum stuffing you are sure to treat yourself with a guild-free samosa. To be honest the beauty of samosa is for it to stand on its own, don't you think so? I do like it that way compared to ones that lie flat. Nevertheless no matter how ever you like this sure does not comprise taste wise. I have done a step by step recipe to show you how to shape these samosas.
Samosas are pure Indian snacks with a pastry wrapper and filled with spicy filling of potato, peas, onions or meat. It is served hot along with a chutney/ sauce for dipping. Each state in India prepares a different kind of samosa either thick, small or flat samosas nevertheless they all have similar taste.
Wheat Semolina Kheer | Godhumai Rava Payasam | Wheat Payasam with Jaggery & Coconut
Being a South Indian how can I not love payasam? Over the weekend I tried this delicious wheat rava payasam with jaggery and coconut and everyone at home simply loved this combination. I could not stop myself from clicking some pictures. I was waiting to use this silver tray and tumblers for one of the recipes and so I quickly unpacked it, plated and clicked ;-) how cute does this look, I must thank our dear friend who gifted us this silver wear for our wedding. Those tumbles are so tiny only a one year old can drink from them but I still adore this and kept it really well packed.
Wheart rava or cream of wheat is a fine textured grains that looks similar to white sooji or semolina, this is quite different from broken wheat which is more like rice grains. Sooji by nature gives thickness and puff up a bit while cooking, the payasam has a thick texture because of the wheat rava. Wheat rava is tasteless, a perfect diabetic ingedient and is can absorb flavour from the milk and other ingredients, give it a try and I am sure you will love it. For a diabetic version simply skip sugar and serve as it is :-)
Chettinad Vazhakkai Kola Urrundai | Vegeterian Kheema Balls | Step by Step Recipe
Chettinad Vazhakkai Kola Urrundai is a delicious starter to a meal also can be versatile as a side or served in a curry too. Cooked raw banana is well mashed and spiced up with freshly roast and ground paste and then deep fried to get a golden crust. A simple yet delightful way to use up raw bananas, you can do variations by using cooked beets, carrots along with potatos too. A real vegetarian meaty treat served as a snack, side or even adored in a spicy curry/ kozhambhu.
Varutha Kozhi Masala | Spicy Chicken Curry | Chicken Side with Mint leaves
The weekend went busy and I was up and all excited about cooking, :P yes such miracles happen you know. I think I was excited about the fact that it was weekend and hence my taste-buds were craving for a good home cooked meal. This recipe sure did fulfil my taste-buds with its delicious taste. Needless to say my foodie husband was all happy and excited about this dish and he said you have to put this on the blog ;-) so here I go... What really intrigued me about this recipe of the addition of egg in chicken marination and also coconut pieces and coconut oil. I prep'd the chicken by marinating it the previous night and it sure bring loads of flavour to the curry.
Chocolate Lassi | Chocolate Yoghurt Drink | Chocolate Drink Recipe
R & me are big foodies and we love to try different cuisines, but we do love to go back to favourite recipes and restaurants although its the same usual dishes that we would love to order. We have this one biryani centred restaurant that we both love and on Sunday afternoon's we would go there for a biryani meal and for drinks it has to be chocolate lassi. It certainly is the best drink that I love to enjoy, being a chocoholic I really wonder why I had never thought of this combo hmmm... having that said me being me came home and tried this chocolate lassi..... yum!!!! is the word, try it for yourself and you will keep making this drink often I promise.
Long Beans Stir Fry with Ground coconut | Karamani Thengai Poriyal | Vegetarian Side
Long beans Poriyal is one of my favourite from Amma's kitchen, a simple easy peesy recipe with her twist of adding ground coconut makes this a super tasting dish. Amma never fails to make vegetarian sides along with veg and non veg curry, meaning there is always a poriyal or stir fry everyday at home. Although I never had an issue eating vegetables when it comes to cooking for 2 hungry tummies and time crunch, I sometimes miss to cook a poriyal hmm I think I must make it a point to cook veggie sides more often like Amma. Ok back to long beans they are known for their rich source of dietary fibre and vitamin A.
Rava Kesari | Ananda Bhavan Rava Kesari Recipe | Sooji Halwa | Indian Sweet Recipe
Rava Kesari is one famous and quick to do South Indian sweet. There are so many versions of kesari online and I am sure each one of us have a method to make this sweet. But of all recipes and versions I have always been this big fan of Adyar Ananda Bhavan Kesari, if you live in South India I recommend you to visit this restaurant and order a plate of kesari, you are sure to fall in love with it. Let me be clear this is no promotional post for Ananda Bhavan or did I get their secret recipe. After many attempts at making this kesari, I did have a good taste of this kesari this morning for breakfast when we went to a close by Ananda Bhavan and with every bite behind my mind I was trying to understand how the recipe is made what ingredients are there and how it gets its taste, on the other hand I had my husband simply enjoying the melt in mouth kesari ;-) long story short I came home and tried this sweet this evening and it turned out an almost close version to the kesari served in A2B. To know if this recipe is a killer you got to try it to know it :P Do we need excuse to make sweets? No right?
I must admit that this kesari version uses 4 tbsp ghee than the usual home version you gotto remember that this is sure a special sweet so reserve it for those sweet moments and occasions. The trademark taste of A2B kesari is mild sweetness, melt in mouth texture, mild yellow tint and topped with nuts, raisins. Also when you taste this kesari you will not find a trace of cardamom/ elaichi as A2B does not use this ingredient in their kesari. The rava pearls are cooked soft, melt in mouth texture and each spoonful is a sure heavenly bliss.
Sukku Kaapi | Ginger Coffee | Hot Indian Drink recipe
Sukku Kaapi is one of my comfort drinks when I am down with fever or cold or even during rainy days. It has a punch of ginger that gives the drink a good punch. Soothing in nature dry ginger is well known for its medicinal properties one such goodness is blood circulation with helps in skin and hair health. Since dry ginger has a strong taste adding too much of it can cause heart burn for some. So take care while taking this drink and a little goes a long way.
How do you like the props in the pictures? I used Amma's tea set with her personal journal and her glasses ;-)
Raw Banana Pan Fry | Vazhakhai Porriyal | Vegetarian Sides
How was your weekend? we had a super fun one, ate out with friends and slept early too, all in all relaxing too. Since its Monday and Onam I was all set for an Onam recipe but things changed as today one of our neighbours invited us for Onam Sadhya, so I am all excited about the feast. Happy Onam to all my readers and friends, since there is no Onam recipe thought of sharing a post from the draft. Vazhakhai poriyal/ stir fry is a simple vegetarian side for white rice and curry, a bit spicy and crisp on the outside. I love to have this along with sambar / curd rice but you can almost make this for any curry. Did you all notice the new header? ;-) I was bored of the old one so changed it.
Chocolate Forest Cake ~ Happy Birthday Husband ♥
I've always been this person who thought birthday's are special little did I know that this birthday boy is the one who is so special :-) Yes, it was my husband's birthday yesterday and I have been planning his special day for over a month. I have to admit this time I asked him what cake he wanted me to bake, he said a 3 layered one and chocolate to be exact. Then started my confusions, I have to tell you my husband is a picky eater and also my biggest critic, does this sound familiar? He really challenges me with his tastes and likings. One time he would say no butter another time it would be no eggs, thankfully for his birthday cake he was being really nice and let me do as I please ;-). Ok if you are thinking that this is a cake recipe from some big baking legend, the answer is no... I made a moist chocolate 3 layer sponge and frosted it with chocolate whipped cream and decorated with chocolate curls and shavings. I tried to mix and match and this was a result of it, as it has a resemblance of a black forest cake and has moist layers I thought let me name this a Chocolate BlackForest, sounds cool right? . But nevertheless he loved everything about the cake.
His Verdict - a super soft birthday cake and the best chocolate cake I ever had
Banana Snack Cake | Banana Bread - Rich, moist & so so soft for my dear parents :-)
Truly Madly Deeply cakes, yep that's how I dream about them. I was and am always this kid who loves cakes and never failed or missed a birthday cake ever. My big time excitement would be to visit a local bakery for a cake and milkshake. On the completion of every exam calender Amma used to promise me to take me to the bakers for a cake and milkshake. And I used to dream about going to the shop while writing my exams :P. I was packing bags to go home (parents) and I wanted to bake them a cake to take along with me. Truth be told this is the first time I baked a cake for them, hmmm let me put it this way the first time they got to taste my bakes. Since my parents are not cream cake fans I made this simple super moist banana cake for them, it turned out so perfect and I was one happy child ;-) and really I had this joy of them relishing this cake which is priceless.
Banana cake is a super soft and tender cake that is rich in favour, truly makes you eat more and enjoy every crumb. Since banans give great moisture to cakes with the addition of nuts and eggs they taste heavenly. Give it a try and go bananas... :P Happy Weekend Y'll :D
Andhra Pesaruttu Dosa | Green Moong Dal Dosa Recipe | Andhra Breakfast Recipe
Andhra Pesaruttu Dosa is a famous breakfast special from the state of Andhra Pradesh. It is healthy, filling and a quick to do dosa that does not require fermenting of dosa batter. I make this quite often and its always a big welcome recipe with my family. I love to spice it up with onions and green chilli and the perfect combo would be coconut chutney. Usually in tiffen centres in Andra I have heard they they serve it with rawa upma as a stuffing inside but I have personally never tried it. You can mix and match ingredients to suit your tastebuds.
Pesaruttu Dosa is green in colour and made using green moong dal/ pachapayaru, raw rice, onions and green chilli. Its very filling and soft in texture, usually a little thick compared to paper dosas or the usual dosa varieties. A loose batter will result in a crisp outer and a soft and spongy inside. Don't mind to drizzle with some oil while making this dosa for added taste.
Mango Dal | Manga Vendaiyam Paruppu | Raw Mango Curry Recipe
Mango Dal have you ever tried it? Its absolutely delicious and it was my first time that I ever tasted it and I cannot stop raving about it because Amma made this yumm dal for me when I visited her a while ago. I really wonder how she does magic to food.. I know all our mothers are great cooks, they perfect recipes and their recipes taste the same every time they make them right? If you are food blogger I have this one question to you, do you only post recipes that are a favourite at home? or your trails too? just curious you know :P
Watermelon Lassi | Watermelon Yogurt Recipe | Watermelon Drink Recipe
Sometimes something as simple as a fresh drink can make me all satisfying. Do you get what I mean? I always love to load myself with juices and drinks more so the fresh ones with fruits and yogurts. So I have been in this whirlwind of trying different drink recipes and if you have noticed just last month I posted a couple of them like - Carrot Orange Cooler, Pomegranate Milkshake, Watermelon Aguafresca, Kesar Malai Lassi and Pink Guava Lassi. Yes that many juices and drinks ;-) so this month is no exception I have few juices and drink recipes that will be up on this space. So if you are someone like me who loves fresh juices and you are sure to enjoy those posts. So the other day I was in this juice prank and I remembered this recipe of Watermelon Lassi done by Priya aks so I immediately chopped some watermelon and added some yogurt and vola a great tasting Lassi was ready :-) the taste is quite unique and with an inviting color who can so no to this pretty looking lassi?
Masala Oats Breakfast Recipe | Spicy Oats Tofu Porridge | Healthy Diabetic Friendly Breakfast
Oats is low in GI (Glycemic Index) which means its great for those who have diabetes and PCOS. A great filling breakfast/ dinner with oats is said to reduce bad cholesterol improve digestion and control blood pressure. One other thing is that never have more than 2-3 tbsp of oats per meal the quantity also matters if you are looking at oats as a diet food. Adding lots of fresh vegetables to this porridge make it really filling at the same time balance in fibre and I have also added tofu for a bit of protein to make this a complete fulfilling meal.
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