Monthly Indian Grocery list planner

Monthly grocery list planner| Indian Pantry essentials, i have been planning to share this for a long time. I have seen my mom who always meticulously plan everything. Not only the grocery but be it the veggies shopping, budget planning, wedding planning.. she does everything so well. And she maintains a record of everything for her own reference. I always order Monthly grocery for my family. Only vegetables i buy weekly once. But how much ever i plan i somehow miss few items and finally go to the shop for the missed items. Last time when i was talking to my mom i was telling her this and she told, keep a list of all grocery items and then check your pantry every month and place the order. The idea sounded brilliant and thought i will share with you all the list of Grocery items. Of course the quantity depends on the number of family members and the usage. This list contains the grocery list for a South Indian family, any things if i had missed out please mention in the comments section.
Also my Instagram friend Arch shared her list of Grocery in our common group few days back. I added few items to my list after seeing her list.

For my friends in Singapore, i order my Monthly grocery from Sri Murugan stores Singapore. Though they have the convenient option of ordering over phone, i still love to go to the shop and select my own grocery. I will make the bill and they will do the home delivery. We can order through Sri Murugan  iOs app and android app too. All the items mentioned in the list are available in Sri Murugan stores.

Samosa chutney recipe, Sweet chutney

Samosa chutney recipe, the sweet chutney| meethi chutney recipe made using jaggery and tamarind pulp pairs well with Samosa, dhoklas and cutlets too. This chutney can be used in other chaats too. I have posted the Sweet chutney using dates, but somehow i like the thin chutneys they serve in the chaat shops when we order samosa. Recently one of our friend got this chutney for a potluck party. She brought this to accompany Dhokla. From that day i was thinking to try this out. I adapted the recipe from her and made some modifications to suit my taste. It turned out so yum and tasted, smelled the same way as we get in street side chaat houses. This can be stored for 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator. For samosa recipe with video click here. 

Green chutney with raw mango recipe

Green chutney for chaat and sandwiches, addition of raw mango in green chutney enhances the taste. I have posted few varieties for chaat chutney. A small variation in the ingredient, makes the taste so different and nice. We always add lemon juice to the green chutney to get the tanginess. This green chutney recipe with raw mango i learnt from Chef Venkatesh bhat recipe, which i wanted to try for a long time. As raw mango is in season now, i thought i will try and share it in this season. It turned out so well and i loved it for sandwich. I tried a street style sandwich recipe using the chaat chutneys and it was a super hit at home. I will share the recipe soon in jeyashris kitchen.
Check out my chaat chutney recipes

1. Green chutney
2. Kebab chutney
3. Sweet chutney
4. Red chutney

Mor milagai recipe, Sun dried chillies

Mor milagai, Sund dried chillies, also called as Sandige Menasu in karnataka, is a popular sun dried thing made in summer time, using chillies and sour butter milk. My mom regularly makes mor milagai at home during summer season and stores it for a year. Mor milgai is a perfect accompaniment for Curd rice, also we use it for making Puli upma, puli pongal and the raw mango rasam. The chillies are soaked in sour curd and sun dried till they becomes crispy and stored in air tight bottles.  Whenever needed, we fry them in oil and use it.  So why are we soaking the chillies in sour curd, sour curd balances the spiciness of the chillis. I always buy and keep a pack of store bought Mor Milagai from shops. Last month when i went to chennai, i saw a cart full of bright, green Thanjavur milagais, which are used to make this mor milagais, in West mambalam market. Though i don't have terrace or balcony at home, i still got some chillies and packed it carefully and brought it home. Two years back i have attempted making mor milgais at home, when my mom was here, but couldn't dry it completely due to lack of direct sunlight.

I have a friend, who moved to our apartment last year and she lives in a house which has a huge terrace. So kept it at my house for 3 days and later passed it to my friend, and my friend's mother in law took the complete responsibility of drying it to perfect crispiness and returned back to me after a week. Many thanks to her initiative of doing this for me. Here in Singapore we get rains often and so it took a week. For the summer in Chennai it generally gets dried in 3 days. Let's see how to make mor milagai at home.

How to season iron tawa, Dosa kallu seasoning

How to season iron tawa, procedure to season iron tawa, with detailed video. This method does not require the usage of rice kanji, seasoning made with simple ingredients. I always have a mind block that seasoning iron pan is a difficult and time consuming thing. Two years back when i bought an iron dosa tawa in Srirangam temple shop, Trichy, the shop keeper told me few easy tips for seasoning it. This method  of seasoning the dosa tawa does not need any arisi kanji. But after i came back to Singapore, i got a Lodge pre seasoned Cast iron tawa from my friend in US. Since it was a pre seasoned one, i started using that from that time and completely forgot about this iron tawa which i bought from Srirangam. Recently, when i met a friend, he was telling that he was looking for iron tawa and it flashed me of the one which i had. I told him that i will do the seasoning and give that iron tawa. Also i planned that i will take a video of How to season iron tawa to document my work. So let's go into the detailed post on How to season iron tawa. Scroll down to see the notes section to find the tips.

Sambar Podi recipe, Home made sambar masala

Sambar powder recipe| How to make sambar masala at home, South Indian style Sambar masala made using coriander seeds, red chili and other spices used for making sambar, rasam and curries too. Usually we make Sambar powder in bulk and it is grind in mill back in India. I have posted the bulk version of Sambar powder recipe long back, but  is used to get mails for the recipe in small quantity, which can be made at home in small quantity. It was too difficult for me to work on the ratio and proportions and later i forgot. Last 2 weeks i got few messages in social media regarding the same. So i called my mom and we both discussed on the ratio for making sambar podi in small quantity and finally concluded with the measurements. I tried the same at home and it was quite flavourful too. For many readers who live in abroad, we run out of stock, those times this recipe will be handy. You can use the same podi for sambar, rasam, and curries like potato, cauliflower, ladies finger..

How to cook Kerala Matta Rice, Pressure cooker method

Kerala matta rice, how to cook Palakadan matta rice, pressure cooker method, with video and step by step pictures. Though i know Kerala matta rice has loads of health benefits, somehow i never attempted to cook it as i am not very comfortable in changing my main course food. I am a hard core white rice eater but can be eat millets to some extent now. Recently one of my friend was telling about this Kerala rice and she told that her kids are quite comfortable eating the same. This was an eye opener for me, when small kids can eat this comfortably, i wanted to give it a try. She told me the procedure to cook the Kerala rice too.
I picked up a pack of Kerala Matta rice from Sri Murugan stores, Simei and tried the same. Surprisingly we all loved it and even the kids too didn't fuss much. Sri Murugan has 1 kg of palakadan Matta rice and also it is available in 5 kgs packet too.
For my readers in Singapore, Sri Murugan Stores offers a wide range of grocery and fresh vegetables. They have few outlets in Singapore and they do home delivery too. Sri Murugan has their android and iOs app too, where you can order through app.

Red Chutney for chaat, Red garlic chutney

Red chutney for chaat, Red garlic chutney, recipe with 2 version of chutney with 2 versions of red garlic chutney. The usual method that we all follow by soaking dried red chilis and another is using red chili powder. I have tried the second version of using red chili powder few times and it is a super hit recipe too. I learnt this from a gujarati friend, who shared with me the recipe of Bajra vadi. Once i have tasted Bhel puri chaat in her house and she added red chutney in that and it was totally awesome. I am planning to post Dahi batata puri recipe, so i thought i will share this recipe of red chutney for chaat first, before i post the chaat recipe.
Check out my

• Green chutney for chaat 
• Sweet chutney for chaat

There is an exciting event coming up for my dear friends in Singapore. World of kidz is organizing a cookery competition of kids. World of kidz is an event management company, organises kidz' event for the past 3 years. The cookery competition is a really a wonderful platform for the kids to showcase their talent. Kids from the age group of 4-18 can participate in the competition. The kids who are selected in the first round of auditions, planned to be held on September 30 at Buzz Myras, will be trained by Chef of Myras. Even if you can't make it for the auditions, you can make and send a video too. The 3 round training session is totally free and i am sure it is a great platform for the kids to learn exotic recipe from the restaurant chef. The grand finalae will be held on October 27 and the entire event will be aired on Zee tv asia pacific which includes 18 countries. My dear friends in Singapore it is a great opportunity to bring out your kid's talent to the world. Do register for the event through World of kidz.  For details, Contact Ms Nupur 92712936 or visit https://www.worldofkidz.com/ 

Home made cardamom powder, How to make elachi powder

Cardamom powder recipe with video, how to make elachi powder.
Cardamom powder, elakkai powder recipe using whole green cardamoms. My mom used to make cardamom powder and home and keep it in the refrigerator, which always is handy while making payasam, kheers and even for tea. Many years she was grinding cardamom along with little sugar and store it. Later she started doing this with raw rice and it gives nice volume to the cardamom powder. I have heated the cardamom in a pan as i don't get direct sunlight like how we get in the terrace or balcony. If you have access to terrace keep the cardamom and rice for 2 hours and then grind into a fine powder. Else you can microwave this for a minute and then cool and grind into a powder.
If you have kept the cardamoms in the fridge or freezer, take them out and bring it to the room temperature and then proceed.
Though i don't prefer elachi in my sweets but still add it as it enhances the taste. This cardamom powder is always handy when you are making sweets in a hurry. I have seen few of my friends take out the seeds inside and make a powder and they use the skin of the cardamom in tea. I feel the skin is flavourful too, so don't want them to be discarded. This can be kept in the refrigerator for 6-8 months in a airtight container. Also check out my

• Milk masala powder

How to make Ghee | Kitchen basics

Ghee | Clarified butter is a staple ingredient in Indian kitchen. We use Ghee for making sweets and mix with rice and use to cook parathas too. At South Indian homes, mixing up dal, hot rice and ghee and having this as a first meal is a common one. During my childhood days i remember my mom and grandmother takes out malai from curd and makes home made butter. From that big ball of home made butter, she makes ghee and i could still recollect that aroma of the ghee. After i got married, one day when i mother in law told me to melt the butter for ghee and she went out. I never know what is the right stage to switch it off. With total confusion i just started the process but somehow felt that i will be able to do it right. When it was almost done, my co sister came and she taught me how to switch it off at the right stage. After coming to Singapore,most of the time i used to buy store bought ghee. But on and off i make ghee at home. Some time back, when a friend in our apartment, was explaining the details of making ghee from the scratch, i thought i will share the process of making ghee at home, in Jeyashri's kitchen. Yesterday i made ghee with butter and took the video of how to make ghee. Share any interesting tips if you follow at your home, while making ghee, in the comments section.
P.S: This Post is just for basic beginners. Experts please excuse me😀

Mint tea recipe , Mint chai

Mint tea | pudina chai | mint chai is a milk based tea with the addition of fresh mint leaves in it. Generally we add ginger or cardamom or tea masala for making chai | tea. When i did Women's day Live on Jeyashri's kitchen facebook, after the session Radhika made this mint chai for me. It was so refreshing and i enjoyed every sip of the tea. Later at home i tried this few times and also served for a friend who visited us directly from the office. The feedback for the mint tea made me to post the recipe of how to make mint tea. Try this simple refreshing tea with easy ingredients.
I am back after 3 weeks of vacation to India, for our son's poonal(thread ceremony). The event went off very well and we are slowly coming back to routine. Stay tuned for new recipes. Thanks for your support always.

Milk masala powder | Home made milk masala

Milk masala is a blend of nuts and aromatic spices, we used to get Everest Milk masala in mustafa center here in Singapore. I have used this in many of my sweet recipes like rasmalai, motichoor ladoo, malpua.. But last time when i went and checked in mustafa it was not there. So i decided to do it at home. I know from the package the ingredients they used so it is quite easy for me to do it. I have made this in one of my cookery class which i did at my home here in Singapore. I wanted to share this recipe of milk masala with you all. You can also add this to milk and drink it as masala milk too.
Stay tuned for few sweet recipes coming up using milk masala powder.

How to make Kozhukattai maavu - 4 ways | Ganesh chaturthi recipes

Vinayagar chaturthi | Ganesh chaturthi | pillayar chaturthi, the main prasadh made for this ganesha festival for neivedyam is modak | modakam. Though we make different varities of modakam | kozhukattai, the base for making all kozhukattai is the outer cover made with rice flour. Traditionally the rice flour is processed at home for this festival. I have given the recipe of home made rice flour. Few readers asked me as how to avoid cracks while making the outer cover. When i was explaining them, i felt like making a detailed post on the same. So took the step wise pictures of making the outer cover of the kozhakattai. While i finished making the pictures, suddenly remembered of my very close friend Mythili, she is an expert in making in the outer cover of the modakam. I called her up to add up any tips from her side. Then only she shared her way of making the outer cover for kozhukattai. That was totally different and i never heard about that too. So i added up in this post too.  Check out my modakam recipe 

How to freeze legumes | Frozen beans

Salads always find a place in my everyday meal. I just take a little portion of some salad into my food daily. After registering into this Bluetiful world, almost all days my dinner will be salads. That doesn't mean i am crash dieting. I eat rice for lunch but everything in moderate quantity. The salad is quite filling one. I add a portion of legumes into the salad to make it more filling. Also for vegetarians, dals and legumes are good source of protein. So to make your salad filling and healthy legumes such as chickpeas, rajma, black channa etc. But the main problem with me is i keep on forgetting to soak the legumes overnight. Once a friend of mine told me she always soak in bulk and freeze it so that whenever kids ask her for chole, rajma masala or kala channa masala it will be easy for her to do. From that day i am using the same technique for my salads. Later i started telling to my friends who are registered to this bluetiful world. Then thought i can post this here, so that many of you can be benefited by this.  Check out my post on  salad dressing ideas. Also check the other salad recipes in jeyashris kitchen. 

Khoya recipe | Home made khoya | Instant khoya recipe

Khoya | Mawa is solidified form of milk. Khoya is widely used in many Indian sweets. Though i get khoya here in Singapore all the time, this post will be useful for many readers, who do not have access to khoya in their places. I have already posted Khoya jamun, mawa cake , chocolate peda , Khoya burfi using khoya. Since diwali and navaratri are coming up i thought i will post this recipe of how to make khoya at home. I have adapted this home made khoya recipe from here.Stay tuned for interesting recipes using Khoya.

HOW TO MAKE CROUTONS | HOME MADE BREAD CROUTONS

Bread Croutons generally we put in soups and salads. When i relocated to Singapore, i was looking for this croutons here as my little on loves this a lot. Somehow i couldn't find this croutons in stores here also i don't know how to make croutons at home too. Also those days i don't have oven at home and somehow i didn't try further too. Today i saw a few slices of bread lying down and it was 3 days old too. Suddenly this croutons idea flashed me and made it successfully. Check out my Soup recipes. 

PRESSURE COOKER CAKE | HOW TO MAKE CAKE IN PRESSURE COOKER

It has been my long due to try the cake in pressure cooker. Though i have read in so many websites but still i don't have the guts to try it at home. Always my readers say, recipes from jeyshris kitchen gives us confidence to cook. But this post is the other way round. Few of my readers who tried cake in pressure cooker tempted me to try this cake. One of my friend sent me step wise picture for this cake and it gave me more confidence to try it. Also She tried it few times and every time it turned out perfect. So finally i tried my hands on pressure cooker cake taking all tips from readers and friends who tried it. so for all my readers who do not have an oven can enjoy home made cakes.

HOW TO MAKE IDLI BATTER IN MIXIE | INDIAN KITCHEN BASICS

This is the first time i attempted idli batter recipe using a mixie. After the super hit of my idli batter recipe using grinder, many readers were asking me to post idli batter recipe using mixie. Though idli is a staple south indian breakfast , my kids are not much fond of that. But i make it once a week and pack it for them in the lunch box. My mom sometimes makes the batter in mixie,personally i have never tried it at home. Yesterday i attempted it and it was a super hit too. The idlis were very soft and fluffy. If it is for small quantity, you can surely try the batter using mixie. It turns out well for dosa too. Refer to the tips given at the end of the post. Check my idli recipe using idli rava.

MICROWAVE ROASTED MOONG DAL | INDIAN MICROWAVE RECIPES

 Haldirams style roasted moong dal 

How many of you are a big fan of Haldiram style roasted moong dal? We all love this very much but since it is deep fried i buy it very rarely. Recently i came tasted this in a friend's house and it tasted pretty nice. She told she didn't fry and instead did in a microwave. I tried this at home the next week and it turned out quite well. Of course i agree deep fried one will be so awesome but this one was equally good. Try this guilt free snack for your cup of tea this evening.

SATHU MAAVU KANJI RECIPE | MULTI GRAIN PORRIDGE RECIPE

Sathu maaavu kanji is one we used to have everyday during our childhood days. Amma used to make an awesome kanji maavu . Also she makes a semi solid khoozl out of it smeared with ghee ,and me and my sister sitting on the stair case used to lick this with this fingers. Whenever amma returns from office and was in a confusion on what to make for us to satisfy our hunger cravings, this will be the handy one for her. Also ragi puttu is one more which  she used to make for us and we love the most. Will blog that soon.
   This process of making kanji can be done in Microwave too. Use a wide microwave safe bowl for this.