Punjabi Mango Pickle recipe | Indian Pickle recipes

Punjabi mango pickle | aam ka achar is a popular pickle recipe of North India, usually made in summer season and stored for a year. I have posted mango thokku, avakkai mango pickle recipe . This aam ka achaar is a north indian style of mango pickle, which i have tasted in many Indian restaurants here. Generally it is served with parathas. But it goes well with our south indian curd rice too. One my friend's mother in law passed on this recipe to me and it turned out so nice and tasted the same as we get in restaurants.

Tandoori tofu recipe | Tofu recipes

Tandoori tofu is a vegan version of paneer tikka, marinated in flavourful spices and cooked on the tawa. Already i have posted paneer tikka and hariyali paneer tikka. Last week , a friend of mine visited us for dinner. I planned the menu for the dinner but was struck with what to make for starter. I didn't have paneer cubes at home , but i had a block of tofu which i had bought for making a sweet and sour gravy(recipe coming up soon). So decided to make this tandoori tofu and it turned out very well too. Everyone liked it and compared to paneer tofu is quite healthy too. I wanted to post this easy starter recipe of  bite sized tandoori tofu and made it again yesterday. Check out my Tandoori gobi recipe and sweet and sour tofu recipe too.

Grape popsicle recipe | Summer cooler recipes

From my childhood i love black grapes very much. During my childhood days we get the black grapes which has seeds in it. My sister doesn't like that and so i always get a big portion for me. Also i generally do not discad the seed while eating, i just carefully bite it and swallow woth the seed. My sister used to tease me, that I will get a grapes tree from my tummy as i am swallowing the seeds. Later we started gettign the seedless varitey. Even after coming to Singapore, i buy the grapes regularly. I have posted a grape orange juice recipe too few years back. When i was casaully waiting for a friend near a shop, i happened to see these umbrella shaped ice lolly moulds in a small shop nearby. So picked this up and made thsi grape popsicle. Varsha wanted to post some summer cooler recipes, but she is bit busy with her studies as she is in 10th grade now. Anyways, stay tuned for her summer recipe post soon. Check out my moong bean popsicle, rose falooda popsicle,

Sambar Vadai Recipe | With hotel sambar recipe

Sambar vadai is one my all time favorite, in fact i can say it is the entire family's favorite one. I have very fond memories associated with this vadai. I have been postponing to post this sambar vadai post here for such a long time. During my childhood days, my dad used to take us to hotels and those days, eating out is a rare thing in many houses. But in our house, appa takes us out almost every weekend. And those days we get only South Indian food varieties at hotels.  Sambar vadai is one among our favorite and also rava dosa too. Appa loves sambar vadai and he always says that it should be soft and and slip into the throat while eating it. Many restaurants when we order samabr vadai, they will just put medu vadai in hot sambar and immediately serve. Though it taste good, it will not be so soft and it will be difficult to cut with the spoon. I vividly remember when i was studying in 9th grade, we went to Trichy for a wedding. That time appa took us to a market place and there we had an evening tiffin as we all felt hungry. I still couldn't forget the taste of sambar vada which we had there. It was a very small eating outlet and the sambar vada was out of the world. After that, whenever we eat sambar vadai outside, we both recall the sambar vadai which we had in Trichy. So somehow when i see or hear or eat it will bring back all the memories of my childhood associated with my dad.
Today i finally managed to write this post and i missed my dad very much while eating the delicious sambar vadai. It has been 21 years since now, he left us, but the memories are still greenish and will always be cherished.

Paneer Lababdar recipe | Side dish for roti

Paneer lebabdar is a rich onion tomato based ,restaurant style paneer gravy. I have come across this name in Kailash parbat menu card here in Singapore. They have Paneer tikka lababdar in their menu. As i planned to post paneer tikka masala soon, i thought i will try Paneer lababdar and post the recipe. I don't know the exact recipe but i have noted down a recipe of a paneer gravy from a Cookery show which i watched in Delhi long time back during a holiday. Everyone at home loved the paneer gravy and we had it with peas pulao for a weekend lunch. You can serve this with roti|kulcha too. Though the recipe may look it has many steps but it is quite easy and worth trying too.

Orange Slushie recipe | Summer cooler recipes

Slush | Slushie is a crushed ice drink, combined with any fruit juice and soda. We get slurpy ( a brand of slush) available in all 7- 11 stores here. Though i don't buy that for kids always but rarely i get it for them. Last sumer itself i wanted to try this at home but some how i missed. Yesterday when i saw akid holding the slurpee in hands in the super market, i thought i will make slush at home and surprise the kids. I picked up fresh oranges and soda from the super market and made it for kids. It was a huge hit at home. Instead of buying the ones at store atleast once in a while i can make it for them at home. Of course as a mother i know fresh fruits are good for the health, i do give them a lot but once in a while pamper them with these types of juices. See the notes section below for healthy variations.
Check out my

• Orange soda recipe
• Orange barley water

Soft dosa for Travel | Easy picnic recipes

This is the recipe of Soft dosa which is the best suitable one for travels and picnics.  You can prepare it a day in advance and the dosa will remain super soft the next day. During our childhood days, we used to travel to Trichy from Madurai during our summer holidays to visit our uncle's place. Also sometimes we go to Chennai to visit our aunt's family too. During those days, whether the distance is short or long we pack food for our travel. As the entire family is a great fan of dosa  we mostly pack dosa for our journey. My grandmother makes this special soft dosa for the travel, which will stay soft even the next day too. When i asked my mom about this recipe some time back she couldn't recall it. Recently my perimma, aged 80, visited my mom's place and she sent me a voice note in what's app for the recipe of the dosa. She calls this as "Kattu dosa", kattu means parcel.
  We a group of friends were practising for a half marathon(21 km).  Every Sunday morning we go to the nearby walking track and practise jogging there. During one of our long running practise sessions we decided to take breakfast and have it after the run. Since we start early in the morning for practise, it will be difficult for to make any breakfast and pack and go. When we are discussing about this, i told them i will make this Dosa and bring it. It tasted very nice and stayed super soft the next day.  Pack this dosa the before day night and have it the next day for breakfast, even if handled properly it will stay good till the next day evening too.

Ripe Mango pachadi | Tamil new year recipes

Tamil new year is celebrated on 14th April every year. Generally we do raw mango pachadi, neem flower rasam for Tamil new year. While casually talking with my friend's mom few weeks back, she was telling about this ripe mango pachadi, and when she was telling about that itself i was so tempted to try it out. When i saw the ripe alphonso mangoes in the nearby Indian shop few days back, i immediately picked it up and tried it today at home. It tasted very well . For a change from the usual mango pachadi with raw maanga, try this ripe mango pachadi for this Tamil new year. Wishing all my readers a very Happy Tamil new year.  Check out my tamil new year recipes collection.

Kara poondu chutney recipe | Spicy Garlic chutney

Kara poondu chutney, is  a side dish for idli | dosa, made with few easily available ingredients. I have already posted a garlic chutney, this kara poondu chutney, is also similar to that. I was introduced to this chutney by a friend few days back, and i immediately tried it at home. It tasted very good with idli and dosa.  Check out my collection  of side dish for idli and dosa.

Maharastrian style puran poli| Indian Festival recipes

Poli with Wheat flour

Maharastrian puran poli is a traditional festive sweet made using wheat flour and chana dal stuffing. I have already posted the south indian Poli recipe. As i have many Maharastrian friends around, i have tasted this many times, but never attempted to make it at home. Since today is Ugadi and Gudi padva, i thought i will try and post the recipe of maharastrian style puran poli. It is similar to a sweet paratha but the stuffing inside tasted so well. Since the outer cover is made with wheat flour, it is healthy to give this to kids too. Wish all readers a Happy Ugadi and Gudi padwa.
Traditionally Maharastrians make using channa dal for stuffing and gujaratis use toor dal for stuffing. I used both the dals in this recipe.

Hara bhara pulao recipe | Pulav recipes

Hara bhara pulao | Chutney pulav | Hariyali paneer pulao, is a aromatic pulao which i tried recently and it was a super hit too. Two weeks back , i did a cookery show in  a Community center nearby for 25 people. It was my first experience to do a cookery show and i was super excited and bit nervous too. I planned ot make this hara bhara pulao and it turned out very well and  every one who came for the show enjoyed it a lot. I also gained much confidence to face the crowd after this show. This hara bhara pulao is a must try one, i actually planned to make a paneer tikka pulao but finally ended up in making this hara bara pulao.

Nellikaai sadam recipe| Gooseberry Rice

Nellikaai sadam | Gooseberry rice | nellikaai chitranna  called as usirikaya pulihora, made usually during ugadi, Telugu New year. Telugu New year | Ugadi 2016 is on April 8 . This can be packed in lunch box too.  This nellikaai rice can be made in a jiffy and it tasted very well.  I have added coconut to the rice, If you do not like to add coconut feel free to skip it. Stay tuned for more interesting recipes coming up this week.

Elai Vadam recipe | இலை வடாம் | How to make elai vadam

Elai vada| Ilai vadam, is a variety of vadam which is generally made in summer season and stored for a year. I have already posted the recipe of  javarisi vadam, karuvadam and arisi appalam . Though amma doesn't make elai vadam, i love it very much. I got introduced by this vadam,through one of my friend some years back. She sent me some store bought elai vadams and they tasted the same as the Delhi appalams we get in exhibitons. This year i wanted to try elai vadams on my own and finally our tenant aunty India who hails from palakad, told me the recipe and i tried at home 2 days back. It turned out very well. This can be done in places where you don't have terrace and get sunlight only through windows. This vadam doesn't require direct hot sunlight.