Bitter gourd is my husband’s one of favourite vegetables… though I don’t like it much but take it for its medicinal value. Bitter gourd can be make in a variety of ways… simple sabzi, barwan karela (north indian), pitlai (south indian), karela podi and more… Here, I am posting a simple sabzi recipe which can be taken with roti or rice and sambhar. Will try to post the other karela recipes soon… as karela is something I make almost very week.
Soya is a very good source of protein. It contains more protein than Egg, Meat, Wheat and Milk. Helps in prevention of blood pressure, controls hypertension and is also excellent as part of low-calorie diet for weight watchers.
I love pudina rice for its nice aroma and flavour. It fills the entire house with its nice minty smell and makes you feel fresh. My friend introduced me to veragu arisi / kodo millet as called in English. She told me the fiber content in veragu arisi is 10.5% as compared to wheat (1.5%) and rice (0.02%); may be that’s the reason why 1/2 cup of veragu arisi is enough for 2 adults. The method of cooking this millet is similar like rice – 1 : 2 (i.e., one portion of rice and 2 portions of water), cook it in pressure cooker for 3 whistles. It will be gooey in the beginning but after 4 – 5 hours, it will turn flowery and would be best for making pulao, vegetable rice, biryani etc. So, if you want to make pulao and all, cook it atleast 4- 5 hrs in advance. Its a healthy replacement for rice and dalia, good for weight watchers and tastes just like rice… you really can’t make out the difference except the size. Each grain of uncooked kodo millet is as small as mustard seeds and cooked grain as big as pepper corns.
My mother-in-law introduced me to Mysore Rasam and my mother never knew this rasam. I fell in love with this rasam instantly…. tastes so yummm. Then, I made it at my mom’s place and my appa, who prefers rasam over sambhar liked it so much that whenever I go to my parents house, they would ask me to make it the very day I land. The speciality of this rasam is its sour, spicy and sweet taste.
We always make mor kuzhambu during important festivals / pandigai (as called in Tamil). One of the easiest recipes of south india and one of my favourite too. Mor Kuzhambu is generally made with paruppu urundai or dried salty sundakkai with white pumpkin or okra (bhindi). My husband likes it with yellow pumpkin for the sweet, sour and salty taste.
Poha is a famous Maharashtrian recipe… its a healthy breakfast to start the day. I generally make it in the evening with lots of vegies in it.… a simple and easy recipe…. can be made in a jiffy…
Come winter… and vegetable market is so full of sarson and other greens… both me and my husband were born and brought up in Delhi… and we would eagerly wait for the winters (love Delhi winters) and my husband would go shopping sarson and methi greens every weekend and he would buy so many bundles that the look of it would make me go dizzy.. It is believed that saag should be prepared a day early, (infact, it can be kept in fridge for 2-3 days) and tadka should be given the next day… or the day you want to enjoy your saag.
This is a very simple, easy and quick lunch recipe. When I was a school going kid, my mom would give this as lunch once a week with papad or chips and I would exchange it with my north Indian friends. But now, I prefer to make this every week for my husband as it hardly takes any time.
Sakkarai Pongal is made on Pongal festival… traditionally in Vangalai panai (made with alloys of bronze and copper Pot) / or mann panai (earthen pot) on veraggu aduppu (wood fire). The pot is decorated with manjal kottu (turmeric plant), sugarcane piece, flower and banana.
Poli always remind me of my grandma, how patiently she would make these for the entire family as an evening snacks. She was so great… all grandmas are great. Well, Poli is made for Bhogi fesvital (falling a day before pongal fest) in Tamil Nadu. It tastes good and can be had as an evening snacks. It is typically made with maida dough… but I personally prefer Whole Wheat Flour for the same.
This is so simple to make that there won’t be a single soul who wouldn’t know how to make it. I like to keep it simple and easy without much masalas and I personally hate to put rajma masala. This is typically my weekend dish.
Well, my husband is a good cook. He never goes by books always follow his instincts. He has come up with lots of tasty dishes just by accident while experimenting. I won’t say this particular dish is new but he made this with eyes and nose (if I may say so)… I mean just looking at the colour he added ingredients … though basic. And I must admit it turned out good.
Khandvi is a famous Gujarati snacks. It is healthy, very simple to make and tastes good. I generally make this as a evening snacks. I always thought Khandvi is very difficult to make and what if it doesn’t taste well in the end and all my labour would go waste… but then I came across Nisha Mudhulika’s website… and decided to try it out. It was easy to make and turned out good.
I had these cookies at my friend Sowmya’s (www.nivedhanams.blogspot.in) place and my daughter liked it. She started pestering me to make them for her. For a very long time I could not get the coloured candies to bake this cookies. Finally, one day I found them and baked these cute, colourful looking cookies for my daughter.
