Appam Recipe (without yeast) | Appam and Thengai Pal | South Indian Breakfast Recipe

Appam & thengai pal such a heavenly combo and makes me so nostalgic. Appam is a rice pancake that is lacy and tender, very filling and usually famous as a South Indian Breakfast special. Even since I can remember we have been having appam and thenga pal at home once a month. It takes loads of patience and a good recipe to make fool-proof appams. Who other than our mother's can get the equation right? There are tons of appam recipes that are flooded on the internet. I am sure each one has a unique and distinctive taste and texture. Let me tell you the appams I have seen in Tamil Nadu and Kerala are so different. The ones in Tamil Nadu are soft on the inside and crisp on the outside, whereas in Kerala majority of the places I have visited appams are fully white tender and lase like. Both kinds I enjoy as long as I have a good cup of coconut milk to accompany with. In TN we have Nallas Appa Kadai taking the honours of making appams from scratch and does make people lazy to prepare them at home. Nevertheless a good excuse to step up for a meal ;-)

Today I will sharing with you the Tamil kind of appams that are soft and tender on the inside and crisp on the outside, they go well with stews, kurma, coconut milk and any non veg curry. At home we make appams for breakfast and rarely for dinner unless we intend to indulge. The batter is used upto 3 times and if you are planning to try this recipe for the first time. I suggest that you half the proportions.

Vegetable Stew for Appam | Kerala mixed vegetable stew

Mixed vegetable stew for appam

Vegetable stew with appam a perfect Mallu combination that no one must miss. I still remember one of my friend's mum who used to market this combo to invite me home for breakfast. And her tricks always worked :-). Years have passed and here I am making appam and stew at home and I must say this recipe works perfect every time I plan to make appams for breakfast/ dinner. Stew is a light thin curry made with vegetables/ chicken using coconut milk. I always prefer using fresh coconut milk but making it with canned coconut milk won't hurt. Make this delicious combo for your family and be ready to be flooded with praises.

Kerala Chicken Stew for Appam | Nadan Kozhi Stew Recipe

Kerala Chicken Stew for Appam

Last week when I posted the Vegetable stew recipe on my blog, I got a request for Chicken stew recipe and since my husband's birthday was nearing I wanted to make Chicken stew and appam for his breakfast. I love mallu food and I have already posted many delicious mallu recipes on my blog like the aviyal, mango fish curry, ragi puttu with kadala curry, appam and so on. There are many more kerala recipe that are our family favourite but yet to be blogged. When Amma was a newly wed she had a lovely mallu chechi who thought her many kerala recipes that Amma graciously passed on to me. Although we love our Tamil food can never say no to Kerala recipes for their flavour and coconut indulgence. I am sure each household has their own recipe for a chicken stew this one is my own version. It totally depends on how rich or mild you want this curry to be. My version is mild and not rich but is perfect with appams/ idiyappams. My husband was one happy man to enjoy this breakfast combo on his birthday :-) who ever said a way to a man's heart is through his stomach was so right ;-).

Chettinad Pakkoda Kuzhambu | Chettinad Lentil Curry | Pakoda Kuzhambhu Recipe

Chettinad Pakkoda Kuzhambhu

Husband and I are on a vegetarian diet and that's one reason why you would be not find non-vegetarian recipes off late. When we decided to go on this approach, my husband said no sambar and rasams try something different. Being a South Indian we almost live in our staples of sambar and rasam, we tend to cook them up atleast once a week. So I had to take this as a challenge and cook different vegeterian recipes to serve my picky eater. I had bookmarked this Chettinad Pakkoda Kuzhambhu for long and got to try this today. It turned out so good, by tasting it I can say it would go great with rice, dosa, idly or appam. The Curry is not spicy and mild in spice buy packed in flavour. Do give this a try if you want to try something different apart from the routine recipes.

Mutton Coconut milk Curry | South Indian Mutton/ Goat/ Lamb Curry

Mutton Coconut milk curry

There has never been a Sunday without hot piping idlies and mutton curry for Sunday breakfast. I had already posted Mutton curry using coconut which Amma makes. This curry is almost similar but the taste is quite unique and light since I have used coconut milk. This curry goes well with appam, idiyappam, idly, chappathi, parotta, poori white rice and so on. I have heard that there is a Kerala Mutton curry using coconut milk, the same recipe can be done but with the addition of coconut oil instead of refined. 

Boiled Egg Kurma Recipe | Restaurant Style Egg Kurma | Egg Side dish for Chappati

Egg Kurma Recipe

Egg to us falls under the vegetarian category. Although both husband and me are not big fans for eggs, once in a while I do cook eggs as part of meals. Mostly omelettes and egg fried rice takes dominance, I do make an exception of boiled egg kurma (the below recipe) or kerala egg roast which are equally enjoyed. Boiled Egg Kurma is made with the usual spices blended with coconut and cashew paste that makes this curry thick yet creamy. You can follow the same recipe to make any basic veg or non veg kurma.

VadaKari | Vada Curry Recipe | South Indian breakfast Special

Vadakari and Idly is one of Appa's favorite breakfast and like him I also have inherited the taste for this yummy and satisfying combination. Mind you this will make you full and may be your might have a late lunch ;-) Although this breakfast is available in most restaurants and tiffen centers in Tamil Nadu I still love only the one done at home. Amma makes the best vadakari according to me, if its poori's and masala dosa I agree that eating out is fine but for this particular recipe it has to be one made at home. Usually done with left over masala vadas, the taste is quite exquisite, but need to make a confession here Amma makes them with fresh vadas. Come on how can there be left over vadas in the first place ? :P

Banana Kuzhi Paniyaram | Sweet Paniyaram Recipe | Banana Coconut Paniyaram

Banana Bajji, Banana Chips, Banana cake anything bananas I go bananas ;-) I love every cooked variety of banana recipe but somehow I do not enjoy eating this one fruit as a fruit. Note I never said I hate it, I simply do not enjoy it. Being a fruit lover and a blogger, I do try to cook with fruits often. But this banana paniyaram is something I have been hooked onto as a teenager. Amma usually fried this batter in oil, they are called Pazha Appam but I love this paniyaram version better since it is less calories. R on the other hand has never tried any kind of banana recipes other than the bakes that I do now and then. This version of paniyaram he loved it so much. I served it alongside tea on a sunday evening. 

Banana Paniyaram is a quick to do snack when you are craving for something sweet. It is spongy, sweet and light to bite. I have sweetened the batter with jaggery syrup, you can even use palm jaggery syrup for a more healthy alternative. For diabetics you can make it with sugarfree.

Kerala Chicken Roast | Indian Chicken Roast

My love for Chicken has no limits :-) every fortnight we have a dish with Chicken and trust me I usually love make Chicken Masala / Thokku rather than a plain Chicken Curry. This Kerala Chicken Roast is a family favourite and is great as a side for white rice / appam/ dosa / idly. I would call this a quick marination recipe and also one that is slow cooked to get its flavours. So make sure you take time to do this curry but I promise it tastes better than it looks :P. I had to serve husband his lunch and then click pictures and hence I could not do much justice with the captures. 

Kerala Chicken Roast is marinated with spices and floured, fried to hold its flavours and then cooked with a masala/ thokku in a slow flame to develop flavours. Its a great and satisfying side to any main and is not very spicy in my opinion. You can adjust the spices according to your taste and liking but do follow the same method of cooking for a great tasting Chicken Roast.

Mixed Vegetable Kurma | Hotel Style Chappati Kurma | South Indian Vegetable Kurma

Mixed Vegetable Kurma

Yay I am back again with one tasty recipe. Its brings me great joy to get back to blog often. Life has been busy but I am keeping up with my promises to post often. Vegetable Kurma is a constant occurrence in our household, its one way that vegetable goes inside which otherwise is difficult. Its simple, easy to make and only with practice does one get the perfect kurma and of course a perfect recipe. The coconut based curry is made with cooked vegetable of your choice and it tastes amazing with chapathi/ idiyappam/ appam. Each person has a different version to this tasty curry, but here goes my version to the age old dish.

Chicken Ghee Roast | Spicy Chicken Side Recipe | Mangalorean Chicken Recipe

Its been a while since I posted a Chicken Recipe in my blog. Not like I am not including Chicken into my diet, its just that sometimes I am not into a blog mood to plate and capture what I cook, does this happen to you? So after a long halt I am back with one finger licking chicken recipe that was a super hit at home over the weekend. The aroma of ghee and the freshly ground spices gives a natural lift in flavor. Don't panic when you hear the word ghee in this recipe, well that's the main ingredient for this one so may be you can adjust the amount of ghee to the recipe but still you are sure to fall in love with the flavors. Also one important thing to note is that this recipe does not call for any onions and tomato, can you believe that? well you sure have to... I made this curry to go with the usual South Indian staples Sambar and Rasam. Although I surely recommend to make it along with Jeera rice or any kind of Pulao or Rice recipe.

Chicken Ghee Roast is a famous chicken side from Mangalore. Its spicy and tangy, although you can adjust the spice level to suit you. Another important thing to note is that I used dry red chilli and mind you the color of the dish does really vary depending on the kind of red chilli you use. In case you are someone who does not like too much spice to the dish just reduce the number of dry red chilli and add 1 tsp of kashmiri red chilli powder, it gives a lovely color and the spice is moderate too.

Chicken Kurma | Chicken Curry for Chappathi | South Indian Chicken kurma

South Indian Chicken Kurma

My kind of lunch/ dinner is a lovely chicken kurma paired with rice/ chappathi. This curry never fails to impress anyone, simple, delicious and just perfect in all aspects. Mild yet flavourful is how I would tag this curry. Don't we all look for such delicious recipes? I didn't have to search a lot for this curry as it has been a staple in our home. Although Amma's version is ultimate I still have found an easier route to this curry with my own variations. I usually use tender chicken thigh pieces to make this curry instead of whole chicken pieces. The simple reason being chicken thigh are more tender and easy to eat whereas the whole chicken would have pieces that are hard too. You can even use chicken with skin if that's what you love. To avoid fat I usually skin chicken with skin. 

Kerala Ragi Puttu & Kadala curry | Kerala Breakfast Recipe

Ragi/ Fingermillet Flour Puttu Recipe

Last month when I was home I asked Amma to make Ragi/ fingermillet Puttu with kadala curry not like I am a big fan of puttu but because i was seriously craving for puttu. Something not the usual Tamil breakfasts like idly, dosa, poori, pongal types. And my craving for puttu was totally satisfied with this delicious combo. Although the white puttu beats the brown/ ragi one, I prefereed to have the ragi puttu for its health benefits. A perfect platter of puttu is filled with nutrition, protein, oil-free steam cooked for a healthy breakfast. Kerala puttus are incomplete without the dose of coconut but you can always skip it if your curry has coconut. Now lets move on to the recipe of kadala curry and ragi puttu.

Kerala Egg Roast | Nadan Mutta Roast | Egg Masala Indian | Step by Step

Everyday I hop into my blog, write a few lines put the post into draft to sleep and wind-away. Sheesh these past 3-4 days this the only activity in my blog. I want to post everyday and somehow I just keep postponing. Sometimes I just need a big boost to keep the blogging mojo. I have so many requests from my readers on various recipes, as promised will keep posting them as and when I find time. After a good rest I am back with a lip smacking post of Kerala Egg Roast, a recent favourite among the family. I must tell you that my husband is a picky eater and someone who does not enjoy eggs, can you believe it? I mean he would eat bakes with eggs but its the hardboiled, scrambled and eggy curries that he purely does not enjoy. But me being me does cook with eggs every now and them, not like I am a big fan of them but I do love egg based recipes. This is purely a reason why you would not find many egg based recipes in this space. Long long ago I had posted this recipe of Egg Mint Curry, so lets move on to the recipe now.

Kerala Mutta Roast is a famous Mallu recipe that goes well with appams, parottas and rice. A simple yet delicious curry that is less spicy and easy to make. The curry/ masala base can be used to make chicken, beef or pork alternatives. If you don't like boiled eggs simple make the thokku as a side for rice or chappati it is still delicious.

Verdict ~ My husband said that this was the best tasting egg curry he has ever tasted, asked me to do this once a week ;-)

Kodi Kura | Andhra Style Chicken Recipe | Spicy Andhra Chicken Curry

I always love to try new recipes using chicken this time around I was curious to try a Spicy curry and was looking out for a great recipe. I bumped into my friend Preeti's Blog and was so excited to see a curry that was too inviting and at the same time called for no coconut. Her pictures made me drool and hence  I was overconfident,  I cooked them for some guests for the first time and a big batch. Nevertheless everyone loved it so much and at last we kept scraping the pot. If you are chicken lover this is one hot curry to drool over.

I was in a super hurry to click pics. I found the color of the curry a little different from Preeti's I guess it was the dry red chili that made the difference but I am sure the taste is equally great. Thank you Preeti for this awesome curry, which for sure is one of my favorite now.

Soya Kheema Masala | Meal Maker Kheema Curry | Soya Kheema Aloo Subzi

Soya Kheema Masala

Soya Kheema Masala / Meal maker kheema Subzi is a tasty side that will go with dosas or with chappati or rotis. As we all know soya is a way to add protein into our daily diet, especially if you are a pure vegetarian. I find myself cooking with soya whenever we go on a vegetarian diet. Like I mentioned in my earlier post husband and I are on a veg diet. I made this kheema masala to go with soft chappatis for our lunch. To give more flavour and filling I added cubed potatoes just as the way we add potatoes/ green peas to meat kheema masala. Its always great to enjoy what your cook and eat. I truly believe that I cannot eat something that is not tasty and definitely not something that I don'e enjoy cooking. I have couple of recipes with meal maker or soya which I have posted earlier in my blog. You can find them listed at the end of the post.

Chettinad Style Vada Kari | Steamed Low fat Vada Curry | Step by Step Recipe

Chettinad Vadai Kari

Chettinad cuisine is truly special in their use of fresh spices and I am a big fan of this cuisine. I have re- created many chettinad preparations like - Raw banana Kofta, Chettinad pakkoda curry, Chettinad Pavakkai Kuzhambhu, Chettinad mutton sukka varuval & Chettinad Chicken. Vadai Kari/ Vada Curry is a dumpling curry that is famous in South India usually served in hotels and tiffen joints along with hot idlies or dosas. I already posted Amma's version of Vada Curry but today I wanted to do a twist and make it in a chettinad style using fresh roasted spices. The result was an excellent curry, also I have made the vadas/ vadai using a steaming method, its low fat version and can be enjoyed for a filling breakfast.

Madurai Chicken Roast | Chicken Thokku Fry | Restaurant Style Chicken Masala

Madurai Chicken Roast

Madurai being the third largest city in Tamil Nadu is famous for many historical places and for their unique culinary style. Few of their famous recipes include Paruthi paal, jigarthanda, panangkarkandu paal and chettinadu varieties like appam, kuzhi paniyaram, etc. Tasty, lip smacking food with a sure droolworthy eyecatching platters are not for the faint hearted. You will find many aromatic recipes that are sure to tickle your tastebuds. Today I am sharing one such recipe that will keep your tastebuds asking for more- a spicy Madurai Chicken Roast/ Chicken Thokku Fry. A simple dish but filled with tons of flavours, the secret is in the method of cooking and using small onion/ shallots & gingelly oil. Now lets move on to the recipe.