IDLI USING IDLI RAVA | SOFT IDLI RECIPE - USING IDLI RAVA | IDLI MAAVU RECIPE

Idli is a popular south indian breakfast, generally made using idli rice . I have posted a detailed recipe of how to make idli batter. I always get mails or comments , to post the recipe of idli using idli rava. Long time i have been wanting to try out this, and finally i bought idli rava, 2 weeks back. Though i have personally not tried idli using idli rava, a friend of mine always makes idli in that way. So i called her up and clarified my doubts and made idli using idli rava. It turned out super soft. Scroll down to see the "notes"section for more tips , when you are grinding in the mixie.

BEACH STYLE PORI RECIPE | EASY SNACKS RECIPES

Beach style pori , a healthy and easy snack which you can make for kids , whom all the time wants something yummy , as they are at home on vacation. Instead of buying snacks from outside, which may not be good for them, you can make some healthy snacks at home. Check out my Sukka bhel recipe too, which is almost similar to this. You can serve this as a tea time snack too. Always make this masala pori just before serving, else it will become soggy. I have already posted the Beach style sundal .  There is no specific proportion for this recipe. I just gave mine and feel free to alter according to your taste buds. Generally in the beaches, they add more of pori and less of peanuts. But at home you can add more peanuts if you like.

MANGO KULFI RECIPE | MANGO RECIPES

MANGO KULFI ICE CREAM

After trying out the Kulfi ice cream, which was a super hit at home, i wanted to try out mango kulfi . As mango season is in full swing, we are enjoying all varieties of mango here. This year i am getting super yummy mangoes from Ministry of Mangoz and after heartily eating the mangoes i am made few recipes using mango. the mango kulfi turned out super creamy and awesome. The aluminum kulfi moulds my friend bought for me from mumbai. Try out this recipe and enjoy this mango season.Try out my Mango Ice cream recipe and Mango sago Pudding.

ALOO PALAK RECIPE | ALOO PALAK GRAVY | SIDE DISH FOR ROTI

Aloo palak is an easy  and rich gravy made with palak ( Indian spinach) and potatoes. i have first tasted this in a restaurant but after that i forgot about that. Last year during my India trip, i noted down few recipes from a handwritten book of my mom. Few weeks back when i saw fresh  palak leaves in the market , without any second thought i bought those palak and tried this aloo palak following the same recipe in the book.
I loved this aloo palak with jeera rice .

 Check out my Palak Paneer and Dal palak 

MICROWAVE COOKING ,KITCHEN BASICS AND BACHELOR COOKING RECIPES | INDIAN COOKING BASICS

First of all i thank all my readers for your great support towards the COOKING FOR GUESTS series. After successfully doing this for almost 5 months i thought i will move on to other series which i feel will be more useful for beginners in cooking. I am getting mails asking to post microwave cooking recipes and i thought i will combine the series with Indian Kitchen basics , Indian microwave cooking, and bachelor recipes too. Recently i got a full time helper at home and she is a not an Indian nationality. So teaching her the kitchen basics and introduction to spices and telling her to cook rice is a great challenge for me.
Though i never allow her to do any cooking, but i still want her to learn the basics and i thought i will record the same here and it will help the newly married and the bachelors too.
   Twice i had been to India for a wedding leaving hubby and kids at home. During those times my friends would send food for them. But rice my hubby will keep at home. For that, i need to give training for him as it is totally new to him.So considering the men who are like him , i hope this series will be more useful and make them learn the basic cooking.
    I hope you enjoy this series and continue to give a great support to me as you give always.
For today to start with i made Microwave Semiya payasam. My mom is an expert in microwave cooking i say, as she makes  so many dishes on microwave if there is a need. Especially when they go for holiday, if there is a microwave i the resort room, she full do the entire cooking in Microwave. I tried the semiya payasam in microwave and it turned out very nice.
Here is the recipe of semiya Kheer in microwave. Check out my stove top Vermicelli payasam. 
Time varies from microwave to microwave. So i have given the time according to my oven.

MUSHROOM PEPPER FRY | MUSHROOM PEPPER MASALA |MUSHROOM RECIPES

Now-a-days we started including mushrooms twice a month , as they say it is very good source of protein. Generally i make Mushroom Masala or Kadai Mushroom . So i wanted to try something different this time and made this mushroom pepper fry. For a change i made a dry subzi in chettinad style with freshly ground spices. The pepper fry was very nice and it tasted well with rasam rice.

TANDOORI GOBI | CAULIFLOWER RECIPES | EASY STARTER RECIPES

 Baked and Tawa method

Tandoori Gobi is a very easy starter recipe which i recently saw in TV show, but i have never tasted this Tandoori Gobi. Last weekend, i ordered  this easy starter recipe in a restaurant . Though we all liked the taste it was very spicy. On the way back, i bought one pack of cauliflower to try this at home following the recipe. I tweaked the recipe slightly, according to my preference.

This tandoori gobi, turned out very well and we all happily enjoyed this vegetarian starter.

MAAVADU RECIPE | VADU MANGO PICKLE | PICKLE RECIPES

Vadu mangai or maavadu , generally we get in summer season and i remember accompanying my mom to the central market in my town, to buy the tender mangoes . We make pickle out this vadu mangai . My mom always buy this vadu manga in bulk (10 padi) and she makes pickle in big jars and share with my athais who are all big fan of vadu manga pickle. Though i am not a big fan of maavadu i enjoy seeing this procedure of making maavadu. I love the maavadu water very much, a perfect combo for Curd rice. Make this easy maavadu pickle this summer and enjoy them with curd rice.

COOKING FOR GUESTS SERIES #20 |CHAAT RECIPES | EVENING SNACK MENU

Posting chaat recipes in cooking for guests series is my daughter's idea. Actually i made this for my kids as a snack when they came back from school. I made in small quantities and they finished all of them in few minutes . Generally they take some tiffin or variety rice  for lunch box and after coming back from school, they usually have full meal with rice, dal, curry and yogurt. So this will be filling for them as most of the days they go for some classes in the evening. If they have some snacks , both of them will feel hungry around 6 pm. But this snack was very filling for them and your guests can sure be pleased with this chaat menu for snack. They can easily have a light dinner after this filling chaat.
By the time i finished making, the kids reached home and i took the pictures in hurry.

MANGO PUDDING RECIPE | EGGLESS MANGO PUDDING RECIPE| MANGO RECIPES

Mango season started in full swing. My first order from Ministry of Mangoz has arrived last week. the alphonso mangoes were very tasty and they are organic too. We are really enjoying the mangoes and side by side i am trying out some mango recipes too. Mango pudding i wanted to make last year itself but some how missed it out during the mango season. I made this 2 days back and we all really enjoyed this mango pudding. I made this with agar-agar as i wanted to make the  vegetarian version of mango pudding.