Wednesday, December 11, 2013

SAMOSA RECIPE | HOW TO MAKE POTATO SAMOSA | TRIANGLE SAMOSA


Samosa -recipe Samosas, generally we order as a tea time snack or as a starter for birthday parties . I have never attempted to make this at home as i always felt it is time consuming. My friend's mom makes delicious Onion samosas , which she makes for all of us whenever she visits her daughter. when she came 2 weeks back to Singapore i have decided to go to her place and learn how to make samosa. I made the potato filling for samosa and made the dough too at home and took to her place. Aunty very patiently taught me how to make samosa and i clicked the step wise pictures and i too learnt the process of making samosas.  Though the process may seem bit laborious but actually it is not and you will end up getting super tasty samosas. Unlike the punjabi samosas this one is quite light and not too heavy to eat.
  Go ahead and make you own filling  for the samosa. I will post some samosa recipes with other filling too later. Will post a video also soon.

Monday, December 9, 2013

HOMEMADE GARAM MASALA RECIPE | GARAM MASALA POWDER

Garam -masala- recipe
Homemade garam masala , though i have heard from many of my friends that it smells so aromatic than the store bought garam masala. I have never tried on my own until recently i got a recipe of garam masala from my friend's mother in law.  when i tried it at home, it turned out so aromatic and i am sure i will never go back to store bought garam masala again. Go ahead to make your own garam masala and make the dish more flavourful.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

COOKING FOR GUEST SERIES 1 |SOUTH INDIAN VEGETARIAN LUNCH MEAL

South-indian-vegetarian-mealAtithi Devo Bhavah - which in sanskrit means "The Guest is God". I have grown up seeing my mom and patti treating guests coming to our house very nicely and my house is always filled with guests and my native place Madurai , city of Temple and our relatives and friends visit our place so often and stay for a day or a week to see nearby temples. My mom being a working women always pampered guests and never cooked a simple menu when guests are around. Those days we don't have maid at home too. As grown up in that situation i never missed a chance to invite people to home whenever i have time and cook elaborately for them. In fact i started this blog upon the sweet condition of Rak's as i have to send an entry for her event Cooking for Guests which she hosted on my request. 
Though now a days due to kids studies, my own personal work and hubby's office work weekends i never get time to call people to home but if i time permits and i call any of my friend's here i never miss to cook an elaborate meal for them . Though it is a big effort when they happily eat and say they enjoyed the food , that gives me a lot of happiness. 
Every time when i invite i break my head what to cook for them and so i started this Cooking for guest series. I will be posting the menu plans and it will be a mix of Lunch, dinner , breakfast or evening Tiffin. Even you can alter few items and can cook the menu for your family too if you don't have guests at home.   
Whatever you cook, cook with happiness and serve with lot of love, even though the menu is simple and not very hot , the love will make the guest feel completely satisfied. I think all of you agree with this . Happy cooking and happy hosting.
So my dear readers, be my Guest and join this journey for a visual treat. With your all your support i hope we all will enjoy this journey. Let me start with the South Indian lunch meal today. 

Friday, December 6, 2013

BABY CORN PULAO RECIPE| BABY CORN RECIPES

baby corn pulao


Baby Corn pulao is the one of the easiest one pot meal and can be packed  for lunchbox too. Last week during the kids exam time, for a weeknight dinner i made this baby corn puloa as i find it very easy and it took less than 30 minutes to make this easy and super tasty pulao. the recipe was suggested by my friend few weeks back and kids enjoyed it so well and even we too. So lets move on the recipe of how to make baby corn pulao.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

CORN CHEESE BALLS RECIPE | PARTY SNACKS RECIPES

Corn cheese balls
Corn and cheese a wonderful combo , which i never knew until i have tasted this last year in Cream centre Chennai. After that i wanted to try it at home but some how forgot. Few weeks back i got two requests from readers to post the recipe of Corn cheese balls i suddenly remembered this and made it at home last week and it turned out super perfect. Though i made it in the noon, when the kids came in the evening it was not soggy and they enjoyed it very much. Without boring you much  let me move on the recipe of how to make corn cheese balls.

Monday, December 2, 2013

BREAD CHANNA RECIPE| EASY SNACKS RECIPES

Bread -channa
Bread channa is an easy snack which i generally make for myself on the days which i make chole | channa masala in the morning for lunch box and bored to make rotis for me in the noon!. Few days back when i made this for my kids when they returned back from school , they loved it and from that time i wanted to post this super simple recipe. I have already posted two versions of channa masala in the blog. So just make the channa and go ahead with this Easy bread channa recipe. Even if you have guests coming for evening tiffin , you can make chole in advance and make bread channa for them . Just keep the channa masala a bit thick for this bread channa.
Scroll down for more variations.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

KIDS FRIENDLY SNACKS RECIPES | INDIAN SNACKS RECIPES FOR KIDS

Chilli parotta 1
I have compiled 15 popular kids friendly indian snacks recipes. As we parents always break our head what to make for kids after they come from school. Click on the pictures for the recipes. For detailed Kids friendly recipes, visit the Kids-friendly snack page. More recipes coming soon in the blog.

Friday, November 29, 2013

TOMATO PANIYARAM RECIPE|SOUTH INDIAN BREAKFAST RECIPES


Tomato - paniyaram
Kuzhi paniyarams we generally make with left over Idli| dosa batter. I have already posted the recipe of Chettinad kuzhi paniyaram. Very recently my mom was telling me to try the Thakkali dosai | tomato dosai and with the same recipe given by her i just made thakkali kuzhi paniyaram instead of thakkali dosai.  It turned out super soft and you can even try out with the left over idli |dosa batter too.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

CORIANDER AND LEMON VEGETABLE SOUP| SOUP RECIPES

Coriander and lemon soup i recently tasted during my trip to Hyderabad and was tasted very nice. The cold weather there and this piping hot coriander and lemon flavoured soup was totally out of the world. I just gave this soup a try yesterday and it tasted almost the same. The recipe of this soup is very simple with easily available ingredients at home.

coriander-lemon-soup

PREPARATION TIME:10 MINUTES. COOKING TIME: 30 MINUTES. SERVES:2-3

INGREDIENTS:

CORIANDER LEAVES A BUNCH
LEMON ZEST 1 TBLSP
WATER 5 CUPS
MIXED VEGETABLES* 1 CUP
PEPPER POWDER TO TASTE
SALT TOTASTE
GREEN CHILLI 1-2
LEMON JUICE 1-2 TSP

*I used baby corn, beans, corn kernels,carrots,green peas,cabbage

Coriander-lemon-soup

METHOD:

  • Wash the coriander leaves and chop them roughly . Add the lemon zest(the skin of the lemon) and green chili (slit the green chilli) in a pan and add 4 cups of water. Let this boil for 15 minutes in a low flame.This is for making the vegetable stock.
  • Boiling the lemon zest will not taste bitter.
  • Switch off the flame and strain the water . Discard the cooked coriander leaves.
coriander-lemon stock coriander lemon stock
  • Meanwhile cut the veggies finely. I added more veggies. It is purely your choice.
  • In a pan add 1 cup of water and add the veggies to this. Let this boil for 2 minutes.
vegetables vegetables in stock
  • Add the coriander lemon stock. Let this boil for 5 minutes in a low flame.
  • Add pepper and salt to taste. Switch off the flame.
soup soup
  • Just before serving squeeze in the lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves.
  • Enjoy this flavourful and filling soup.

Coriander -lemon-Soup

NOTE:

  • You can skip the veggies and just add lemon juice, pepper powder and salt to the stock and can have this as a clear soup. 

Monday, November 25, 2013

CAPSICUM DRY CURRY | CAPSICUM BESAN SUBZI

Capsicum |Bell pepper ,so far i have used in sambar, paneer curries and other north Indian side dish but never tried a recipe only with capsicum and especially a dry curry. This recipe i learnt from my friend who taught me the Spring onion curry and this capsicum curry was enjoyed by everyone at home even the  little one who hates capsicum. I served this curry with Jeera rice and dal tadka (recipe coming next) . Now let’s see how to make this capsicum besan subzi.
capsicum-dry-curry
PREPARATION TIME:10 MINUTES. COOKING TIME:15 MINUTES. SERVES:3-4
INGREDIENTS:
CAPSICUM 2 BIG
ONION 1-2
REDCHILLI POWDER 3/4 TSP
CORIANDER POWDER 1/2 TSP
JEERA POWDER 1/4 TSP
CUMIN SEEDS 1/4 TSP
OIL 2 TSP
BESAN (KADALAIMAAVU) 4 TBLSP
SALT TO TASTE
GARAM MASALA 2 PINCHES(OPTIONAL)
CURRY LEAVES FEW (OPTIONAL)
capsicum curry
METHOD:
  • Wash the capsicum and chop them into small cubes. discard the seeds.
  • Finley chop the onions. In a non stick pan add oil and add the cumin seeds. Add the finely chopped onions and cook till they becomes translucent.
capsicum onion
  • Add the besan (kadalaimaavu) and dry roast it in a low flame for 7-9 minutes.
  • Now add in the chopped capsicums and add the red chilli powder, coriander powder, jeera powder, salt and garam masala.
Besan with spices
  • Let this cook in a medium low flame. Stir in between without getting burnt.
  • Saute well till the besan gets cooked and leaves a nice aroma.
  • Do not cover and cook as it will leave water and make the curry soggy.
dry-capsicum-curry curry
  • Switch off the flame. Capsicum Besan subzi is ready to serve. Serve hot with roti or rice .
capsicum-curry
Note:
  • You can add Sambar powder instead of redchilli powder and coriander powder.
  • Tri colour capsicum can be used to make the subzi more colourful.