Egg Free Crust Free Mini Veg Quiche From Scratch!

When I posted the egg based quiches in HBG (Home Bakers Guild) Facebook group few has been asking for eggless version of it thru personal message and in the post comment section. I tried the eggless version this week and it came out too good but for a moment I thought of

Creamy Veg Pasta with Homemade White Sauce Recipe

This is my kind of making pasta in white sauce with few kids favorite veggies incorporated in it. Little one just showing his taste over pasta and this is a fusion mix of mac and cheese and white sauce recipe I would say. I am not completely using white sauce with flour, also usually add some

Kuchi Kilangu (Maravalli Kilangu) Varuval | Kappa Masala Recipe | Yuca (Yucca) Stir Fry

This Kuchi Kilangu Varuval aka Yuca Stir Fry aka Kappa Masala is an easy and heathy snack to have during tea time or have it as poriyal/stir fry along with sambar and rice for meal. It’s my childhood favorite, my mom pressure cooks and keeps some plain version for us and with the remaining she make this varuval. Both tastes good, with the plain cooked kilangu (without salt) we add ghee and sugar, mix it well and take it as it is. I don't have stepwise pictures today, hope to add yuca pictures in future. But i have referred few another posts for the stepwise pictures, do check them if you want. So the same ghee and sugar method I have mentioned it in Sarkarai Valli Kilangu post (you can check it HERE). Here we won't

Perfect Cheese Bread Sticks From Scratch | Egg Free Kids Party Appetizer Recipe

It’s quite longtime dream to make bread sticks at home. I didn’t know this is such an easy to make appetizer for parties when you make the dough in bulk. This is such a wonderful finger food which I realized after the first bake. My kids like it very much, it’s better to serve warm and they even love to take them to school. Coming to cheese part you can reduce or add more and the quantity mentioned here

Ammini Kaara Kozhukattai | Seasoned Mini Rice Balls Recipe

Here comes another easy to make recipe for Ganesh Chaturti festival.  Kozhukattais are very famous in south India, especially we make it during Vinayagar/Ganesh Chaturthi Festival. I have lot of sweet and savory kozhukattai recipes in my blog, also today I am sharing a savory mini or ammini kozhukattai recipe. Even beginners can try this recipe without hesitation. Don’t forget to check

Vallarai Keerai Thuvaiyal | Water Cress Chutney

I heard from my friend that Water Crest is similar to our south indian Vallarai Keerai, so I gave a try when I got a bunch of water crest from Asian supermarket here…It is healthy and the taste was delicious as well. If I get it again I would love to try different dishes with it. Today let’s see the

How to make Sundakkai Vathal | Sundried Turkey Berry At Home from scratch

This is my mom’s way of making sundakkai vathal/sundried turkey berry at home. Last year when I was there she made the vathal for us and so I clicked the pictures of her making. Hope this post helps you to learn how to make the vathal in traditional way. Also you can use minimal salt unlike

Kongunadu Palakottai Kathirikkai Kaara Kuzhambu | Jack Fruit Seeds Kulambu For Rice and Tiffin Varieties

Palakottai/jack fruit seeds kuzhambu is an authentic recipe from kongu cuisine. Apart from eating the cooked jack fruit seeds as it is, this is the curry my mom usually makes with the mix of vegetables like brinjal and drumstick. Also I know my relatives add these seeds in non veg curry like fish kuzhambu or dry fish/karuvaadu kulambu which tastes so good. My mom usually says the taste of jack fruit seeds goes well with tangy curries. So here comes a vegetarian tangy curry / puli kuzhambu using it….

Hara Moong Dal Tadka | Green Moong Dal Fry

I have a South Indian version of green moong dal curry/pasi paruppu kuzhambu using sambar powder that goes well with rice and tiffin varieties and here comes the North Indian style green moong dal curry/Hara Moong Dal Tadka that’s suits well for chapatti/roti and rice varieties. It has lot of names like Hari dal fry or Sabut moong dal or Akha mung dal in North side. However this green moong dal

Vazhaipoo Paruppu Usili | Vazhai Poo Usili Recipe

Paruppu Usili is an authentic dish from Tamilnadu cuisine, this Vazhaipoo Paruppu usili reminds me the old days… I came to know and tasted it for the first time in Chennai through my neighbor aunty. I definitely want to mention her in this post. She is a very caring person and helped me in all ways. I love their oonjal, remembering the days I did relax in it. Sometimes she comes home and prepares

South Indian Vegetarian Lunch Menu Idea 1

Weekly Saturday is most probably the vegetarian lunch at home and on that day either I make puli kulambu or rasam (one dish with tamarind) and coming to dal, daily one dal variety is must at home and on special days or on weekend either uppu paruppu or paruppu keerai (something close to uppu paruppu but with spinach in it) is a mandatory dish I make it without fail. Also whenever I get time I click the lunch I make. So here comes the first menu idea from South India (Its just a menu idea and I won't say

Crispy Shredded Potato Hash Browns From Scratch | Easy Snack with minimal Oil

Today’s recipe is quite simple and easy to make snack using Russet potatoes. Also they are made with minimal oil.  I rarely buy potatoes but whenever I have them in stock I make these Hash Browns, which is a default thing that I make it especially for my daughter. Hash browns or hashed browns are a simple preparation in which potato pieces are pan-fried after being shredded, julienne, diced, or riced. In some cultures, hash browns or hashed browns can refer to any of the above preparations

Varagu Arisi (Kodo Millet) and Samai (Little Millet) Idli Dosa Batter | Millet Idli Dosa Batter

 Kids mostly like idli/dosa kind of foods, you can mix millets in your regular idli dosa batter that reaches them well in their daily food. I have several versions of idli dosa batter using millets do check the link HERE to find more recipes of mine. I usually go with the below two versions to grind Idli Dosa batter when i have Varagu Arisi (Kodo Millet) and Samai Arisi (Little Millet) millet at home. I mix these two millets but you can use any one available at least to make these healthy idli dosas. Both looks more or less

Pachai Mochai Payaru Pulikuzhambu | Mochai Kottai Pongal Puli Kulambu Recipe

Every year I usually make a long write up for the Pongal special post. Today’s Pongal special post is also not exceptional; it’s going to be little long write up… Kottai Puli Kuzhambu/Mochai Payaru Puli Kulambu is a very authentic and traditional recipe from our place, which we usually make it on Pongal festive time, also this kuzhambu pairs well with paal pongal/white or plain pongal. Whenever I see this picture or taste this kuzhambu, I do remember the childhood Pongal celebrations…where appa usually takes off on Mattu Pongal day, make the arrangements like cleaning the cows and sheep, painting their horn, tying new bells (it’s all like decorating your favorite pet :-) ) and finally at the end of the day

Pachai Mochai Paruppu Kuzhambu | Kongunadu Pidhuku Paruppu Kuzhambu

Happy New Year to all, this is my first post for this year, I thought of posting a sweet dish, since kids were at home and we had several trips during the vacation I have no time to draft any other post. I took almost a week break, so I am posting traditional kongunadu mochai paruppu kuzhambu which I drafted a long back. This dal is healthy and an authentic recipe from my mom, also it's very apt for this upcoming Pongal/Thai thirunaal. Friends don’t think that I am in hometown right now :-), luckily we

Green Tomato Veg Biryani | Pachai Thakkali Biriyani Recipe

Green tomatoes are in season, few days back I have tried this tomato biryani using green tomatoes. The one I used exactly here in the recipe is Tomatillo/Mexican green tomato which looks attractive with husk and they are tangy on taste. Some website says they belong to gooseberry family, anyways regular

Pirandai Thuvaiyal | Pirandai (Adamant Creeper) Chutney

Cissus quadrangularis/Pirandai(Tamil)/Hadjod(Hindi) is a medicinal plant of the grape family. It is also known as Veldt Grape, Devil's Backbone, Adamant Creeper, Asthisamharaka. Pirandai needs some support to grow that's why it got the name creeper/kodi in tamil. This plant is commonly used to treat gastric ulcers, indigestion problem and heart burn so and so. Luckily we got a chance to taste it one time when we were at my native. Amma prepares the thuvaiyal/chutney this way and I recorded while she

Pani Varagu Jaggery Payasam | Proso Millet Kheer

Today being an auspicious day (Saraswati Pooja/Vasant Panchami), I am posting a healthy millet kheer recipe. The ninth day of Navratri is celebrated as Saraswati Pooja, Saraswathi is revered as a goddess for Knowledge, Music and art. I keep on saying about my India trip in most of the posts. Today I have to say this again :-), I have bought all kinds of millets during my trip, my mom and grandma, they both were cleaned all those millets and packed for me. So I have loads of millets right now and using daily in my cooking. I will post the recipes one by one after the Diwali celebration. So coming to this millet, this is very rare or unknown millet, it looks like thinai but little big in size. I totally forgot the name, Me and my MIL only went to the store and purchased all the millets, so i asked her she too doesn't remember

Mushroom Tikka Masala | Spicy Kalan Kuzhambu Recipe

Mushroom Tikka Masala --> Mushrooms are marinated with Indian masala powders and yogurt mixture. Later skewered and grilled in oven or fried in stove top(i did so) then finally added in simmering tomato sauce+ onion paste + Indian spice mixture. Here I have added generous red chili powder

Paruppu Keerai Masiyal | Keerai Masiyal

After wonderful vacation kids are back to school and I am back to blogging. Today I am sharing a traditional keerai masiyal/gravy recipe, which was done by my maternal grandma (Pictures below). Also this masiyal tastes great when you mash it by hand using mathu/masher instead of grinding it in mixie/food processor. This green leaf is called as Pacha Keerai (பாச்சா) or Kaatu Keerai (காட்டு கீரை)  in Tamil and it usually grows in or near the farm fields or in wet lands (Pictures below). It's hard to get