Pavakkai pitlai, eggplant fry, lunch menu 19

This week's lunch menu is loaded with veggies as i had to clean up my fridge before leaving for a short vacation. In the plate i have my favorites, yes i love pavakai pitlai a lot. I still remember the pavakkai pitlai, my grandmother makes. The magic touch of her hands makes this dish so yum. Even after many years, i could recall the taste and smell of the pitlai she makes. My mom also makes it so yum, but i got the exact recipe and the technique of making bitter gourd pitlai from my sister. She clearly explained me the difference between arachuvitta sambar and pitlai and the right amount of spices for both. And coming to the  pan fried eggplant, i am a huge fan of eggplant and this one i love it a lot. And incidentally this happened to be a no onion no garlic menu platter.

Ellu podi recipe

Ellu podi recipe, a simple south Indian podi recipe, perfect accompaniment for rice. I wanted to try this ellu podi recipe for a long time, recently while talking to amma, asked her for the recipe. This ellu podi recipe is a perfect bachelor recipe. Even you can mix this with hot rice and temper with mustard seeds and pack for lunch box too. I have posted some interesting podi recipes in Jeyashri's kitchen. Check out

1. Pavakkai podi
2. Puliyodarai podi

I used white sesame seeds for making this ellu podi, you can use black sesame seeds also.

Pastamania Style Agilo olio pasta

Agilo olio pasta, a simple pasta recipe without any sauce, tossed in olive oil, chilli and garlic.
Pastamania is a popular food joint here in Singapore. They have few vegetarian options and among them we love the agilo olio pasta very much. I have posted a agilo olio pasta during my initial days of blogging which has with bread crumbs. I personally love this spicy agilo olio as it does not involve any pasta sauce. So if you are looking for  pasta recipe without sauce, then this agilo olio is the best one. This is a perfect recipe for bachelors and students who stay in dorms. Do give it a try and let me know how it turned out. Generally agilo olio is made using spaghetti pasta, but i love it with penne pasta or fussili pasta.
If you are looking for quick fix recipes, then you must try this agilo olio pasta.
Do check out my other easy pasta recipes

• Spinach tomato pasta
• Indian style masala pasta

Dum Paneer kali mirch, ajwain paratha, lunch menu 18

It's almost 4 months now, i have started the lunch menu series. Thank you all for the support and motivation, which keeps me going. This week is a long weekend here in Singapore and i planned to make a meal with some paneer gravy. I planned to make Dum paneer kali mirch, a creamy delicious paneer recipe, which doesn't require the addition of tomatoes. Yes i had only one tomato when i started planning for the menu, so I decided to make this Dum paneer Kali mirch. Call me lazy, bit bored to make chapathi, decided to make Ajwain parathas and the entire menu was a super hit at home. They all polished off everything, before i finish my clicks. Check out my collection of Indian Lunch menu ideas.

Cabbage poricha kootu recipe

Cabbage poricha kootu recipe, with step by step pictures and video, a traditional South Indian kootu recipe made using veggies, dal and freshly ground masala. Poricha kootu is a very common item made in Tamil brahmin houses. We make it almost weekly once or twice. I personally prefer to have this with spicy Vatha kuzhambu. During our childhood days, especially when we have summer vacation, my athai used to make mixed veggies Poricha kootu in a large quantity and fry papads and keep. That combo will be so awesome and without bothering about the carbs intake we used to have 3-4 servings of rice for that poricha kootu appalam combo.
I have posted few varieties of kootu recipe in Jeyashri's kitchen. Do try this cabbage poricha kootu at home and share your feedback.
Also check out

• Raw banana kootu
• Pongal 7 kari kootu
• Drumstick kootu

Mushroom sandwich recipe

Easy to Mushroom sandwich recipe with step by step pictures and video, perfect for kids lunch box and back from school snack. Also this sandwich paired with a hot soup is a perfect one for a weeknight quick dinner too. I had some left over mushrooms after making Mushroom biryani. Last week one of my friend visited us home and she was talking about Mushroom Sandwich, then i decided to make this with my left over button mushrooms. It turned out so well. The most satisfying thing is the Mushroom sandwich was a super hit among kids. I added some cheese and they enjoyed a lot.
Check out other delicious kids friendly sandwich recipes

• Paneer sandwich
• Veg Mayonnaise sandwich
• Aloo chana chaat sandwich

Paneer Methi makhani, masala rice, lunch menu 17

Paneer gravies are our all time favorites, and i prefer to relish it during the weekends. The Paneer methi makhani is one among my favorites in my Paneer recipes collection. When i was planning for this week's lunch menu, i was thinking to make rotis only, but suddenly the idea of making plain paratha came in. It has been many years since i made it at home. We enjoyed the meal completely. We had some left over Millet curd rice and we had that in the last.

Avocado Taco chaat recipe

Avocado Taco chaat, yet another fusion recipe, with step by step pictures, a perfect party starter. We used to buy avocado rarely. As i am not a big fan of avocados and also feel it very heavy for tummy, i rarely buy them. But kids love Avocado milkshake. This time i bought the avocados to make an interesting toast. But the plan totally changed when the kids wanted Tacos. They tasted tacos in Chennai during our visit last month. But somehow they didn't like the outer shell and was asking to make it at home with the tacos available here. We decided to something using avocado and finally ended up in this Avocado Taco recipe. We all enjoyed the texture and taste of avocado in this fusion chaat recipe. I used the frozen red kidney beans and it will quite handy for us during such unplanned moments.
Check out

• Khakra chaat recipe
• Thai bhel puri  

Vella Sevai, Sweet idiyappam recipe

Vella sevai| sweet idiyappam, idiyappam with jaggery syrup, a traditional dish made using idiyappam or sevai, perfect for neivedyam for pooja. My mom always make sevai using traditional sevai nazhi, so whenever she makes that, apart from making he savory versions, she make this vella sevai too. I always love it but never tried it on my own. Last week when i posted a meal on Jeyashri's kitchen instagram along with this vella sevai, few of them messaged me to share the recipe. So made it today using store bought idiyapam. Do give it a try at home and you can make it for some festival days as a neivedyam.
Also check out some interesting Jaggery based traditional recipe

• Vella puttu recipe
• Vella aval
• Vella dosa

Pumpkin kuzhambu, Potato fry, lunch menu 16

This week's lunch menu is loaded with veggies. I have been experimenting with the Master chef jar of my new Preethi zodiac mixie. This week we have few of my favorits on the plate. Pumpkin is the veggie i used to hate during my childhood days, but later when i started cooking i developed a taste for it and now it is my favorite too. I love to add pumpkin in kuzhambu, Sambar and make soup out of it. I am yet to try the sweet version of the pumpkin curry which my mom makes quite often.