Thogayals are my husband’s favourite. He like all kinds of thogayal… karuvepillai, kothamalli (coriander), kathrikai (brinjal), paruppu (dal)… and the list can go on and on. Its a very simple and easy recipe made with very few ingredients. Tastes good with hot rice and ghee.
My husband is so fond of spice and green chilli that he often gets this big green chilli and likes it as a sabzi for roti and doesn’t take it like achar / pickle. Sometimes, I wonder how one can have so many green chillies at one go. I took this recipe from Nisha Mudhulika’s webside and didn’t make much changes since the ingredients and spices used by her were simple and minimal. So, without altering the ingredients, I made this sabzi and my hubby liked it so much that he finished about 12 chillies at one go.
Gotsu is a simple condiment / accompaniment that goes well with arisi upma (broken rice upma) or ven pongal. The smoky, spicy and tangy flavour of gotsu is so right for pain ven pongal which doesn’t have too much of flavour except pepper and cumin.
This pachchadi goes well with sambhar/kuzhambu/rasam rice and those who love aloo can never say no to this one. This pachchadi can be made with a very few ingredients in a jiffy.
I first heard about the Bombay Chutney from my Mother-in-Law. She, being born and brought up in Pune, cooks a lot of Maharashtrian dishes. Even, some of her South Indian recipes will have a tinge of Maharashtrian touch. This chutney goes well as a side dish for rotis and paranthas.
Meeholi Bhaji is an Assamese vegetable dish and has a wonderful confetti of colours and a fabulous mingling of flavours imparted by the different types of vegetable and the five-spice mix that is typical of this region. I took this recipe from a cook book by Mridula Baljekar.
This one is a very simple rasam made with few ingredients and without dal & tamarind yet it is very tasty. It can also be had like a soup especially in winters.
Methi is one of my husband’s favourite green vegetable. My daughter likes methi is form of parantha and my husband as sabzi. Here, is a simple methi sabzi which goes well with roti and/or rice.
I learnt this recipe from my mother-in-law which is very different from what my mom makes. I liked this kootu as it gives more of a sambhar look and taste, it can be had with paranthas as well. Katrikkai puti kootu can be made quickly as brinjal cooks in no time.
I simply like this pickle with my idli or dosa. The sweet and tangy flavour of tomato and the sourness of tamarind really go so well in this pickle that you can have with almost anything – idli, dosa, upma, rice, roti, parantha. It is my best travelling partner – pack some phulka and tomato pickle and you are ready to go. This pickle can be kept in the refrigerator for almost 10 days.
Amla is so rich in vitamin C and I really love this pachchadi. Well, my paternal granny would say nellikai should not be taken on sundays… I never bothered to ask why and till date I couldn’t find a logical answer for that. She would also say not to take amla at night may be for its cooling properties and one may catch cold if taken at night. Anyway, I like this stuff and wouldn’t bother much about the days it can be taken or not to be taken. I took the recipe from here and made few changes to suit my taste buds.
Once, my dietician told me that bottle guard is such a rich vegetable for weight watchers. It directly fights fat deposits in the body and there are so many weight reduction medicine in the market which have bottle guard extract as their main ingredients. I don’t know how much this is true and kind of believed her and try to include bottle guard in my diet at least twice a week – bottle guard payasam, soup, sabzi and kofta. Here, is kofta sabzi.
I had been to my relative’s house and my SIL was mentioning about poosanikai thayir pachchadi. I never heard of it because both my mother and my mother-in-law never made this pachchadi. It sounded so interesting and decided to try it out. It came out so tasty and without much effort.
I first tasted mor rasam at my in-laws’ place, I only heard of mor kuzhambu and kadhi.. never about mor rasam. My MIL makes this rasam so flavourful. She uses lots of ajwain / omam.. and she tells me this is good for cold just like jeera milagu rasam. So, here is my mor rasam recipe…
I made this once as a filling for Aloo sandwich and it became an instant hit with my husband and daughter. Now, they ask me to make this as a side dish for chappati / roti. Its a very simple, easy and quick recipe and can be used as a filling for parantha, sandwich and samosas. I make it really spicy and tangy.
Paneer Butter Masala is my daughter’s favourite side dish for roti. When ever we eat out… my little one would order for PBM and would make sure that the order is for spicy gravy and the gravy should be really red in colour as she thinks that pale yellow / orange gravy will be sweet in taste. I took this recipe from here and made very little changes and my daughter simply loved it. I make this recipe without cream.
Ginger, with its strong and spicy aroma, has its own place in Indian cuisine. It may be used fresh or dried, powdered or pickled or in the form of juice or oil. No, wonder ginger is the classic Indian household favourite. Ginger improves absorption and assimilation of essential nutrients and aids in digestion. It also helps break down the proteins in your food. Ginger protects the stomach against ulcers by promoting mucus secretion. Today, I made inji pachchadi and it tastes best with rice and any sambhar.
Dosa / idli milagai podi or molaga podi is a flavourful condiment for dosa and idli. It is also used as seasoning / flavouring for podi curry. Well, at my place it is used in so many recipes that sometimes I think of getting it ground in a mill in kilos. My husband can eat it just like that. Apart from being used as a substitute for chutney and sambhar, one can use it in kathrikai (brinjal), vazhakkai (raw banana) or cabbage podi curry as this milagai podi has loads of flavour. Generally, channa dal, urad dal, til, whole red chilli and salt are the main ingredients of this podi; but I also add kollu (horse gram), tamarind, jaggery and asafoetida to enhance the flavour – spicy, tangy and sweet. I was watching some cookery show in Podhigai and learnt about the benefits of kollu (horse gram) and decided to use it in my dosa milagai podi. Note: Kollu is not advisable to pregnant women.
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.