Kitchen and Home Making

Mushroom and Peas always a great combo, which tastes great when we add this combo in Biriyani’s, Pulao’s, Gravies and Curries. Mushroom Peas Masala / Dhingri Matar Masala / Mushroom Mutter Masala, Whatever it is called, all refers to the same thing, is a yummy and delicious gravy, which goes best with Roti’s, Naan’s, Phulka’s and Chapathis.

I always like to have my cup of Chai / Tea (a hot beverage) piping hot. I use to start my day daily with a cup of hot tea, which makes me brisk and bright. Masala Chai is a blend of aromatic spices with our normal tea. Masala Chai gives a warmth feeling, when we have it during rainy days or at winter time. Combination of spices and the amount of spices added in preparing masala chai powder depends upon individual taste. People who love the flavor of ginger in tea can add more ginger while preparing masala powder and who love cardamom flavor can add more number of cardamoms. So, everything is at their own discretion. When you have cold and congestion in nose, Masala Chai really gives a good relief and soothing feel.

I can’t believe till now that I have tried Rava Kichadi in my kitchen. Because, when I hear, Rava Kichadi, I simply say “No” and I don’t like it most. But, it is my SH’s favorite dish. He use to ask me to prepare kichadi for him, most of the times. But, I haven’t tried for him. And he use to have it restaurants we go for. After and almost 8 years of my marriage life, I prepared Rava Kichadi for him and he was so amazed of it, not b’coz f my preparation but because of its taste. It came out too good and I too tried it and wondered why I have said NO to this recipe without even tasting once itself. I promise everyone will like this simple dish. It was really too good and so light. Hereafter, I will try it in my kitchen frequently. And, will not say no to any dish without tasting it.

Garam Masala, a flavorful masala powder, a blend of most of our Indian spices, used in lot of variety rices, biriyani’s, and gravies. So, we can say it is a must to have ingredient in our Indian kitchen. If you start google for this recipe, you will have a lot and lot of recipes, and Here, I have shared my version of preparing Garam Masala, which I believe it, as a strong, flavorful one. Whenever I prepare this garam masala at home, its nice aroma, fill my home, a whole and whole day. The secret ingredient of most of all my recipes is this “Homemade Garam Masala”.  

Ginger Garlic Paste recipe doesn’t require much introduction since everyone knows that it is very simple to do.It is purely and purely for beginners who has just now stepped into kitchen for cooking.  But, it is an essential ingredient in every home and most of our Indian dishes has Ginger Garlic Paste in it. Ginger Garlic Paste is cheaper in stores too. But, what made me to prepare Ginger Garlic Paste at home is, Preservatives and Adulteration, which is in most of the items we buy today from stores, which is unhealthy too. When I started to prepare Ginger Garlic Paste at home, I found the fresh flavor in it, which we cannot see in store bought bottles. Ginger and Garlic aids in digestion when we add in our food.

Peas Pulao is an easy-to-do recipe but a flavorful and tasty one. Pulao’s, generally, will be mild and delicious. Similarly, Green Peas Pulao, can be done in minutes, tastefully. It’s an easy meal to pack for lunchbox. When I prepared Peas Pulao, this time, especially, my Kiddo Amii loved it much.

Dum Aloo is a famous North Indian Gravy, which goes well with Pulao’s, chapathis, rotis and naan. I watched this recipe, a year back, in a television show.  At that moment itself, I was tempted to prepare the dish. But, unfortunately, when I tried Dum Aloo, a few months back, I can say that it did not come up to the mark and I felt very bad. Then I dropped the idea of preparing dum aloo at home. Last week, when I purchased baby potatoes, I thought of preparing dum aloo again, with few variations in the recipe I already had from the show. Really, I can say, it came out too good and I was so happy of it and even SH too enjoyed it. I prepared it along with Peas Pulao and the combination was really really excellent and I packed it for my kiddo’s and SH’s lunch.

Most of you may think what is “Tiffin Sambar”? Is it different from usual sambar? yeah, of course, tiffin sambar is different from usual one, we prepare for rice. It will be little thicker in consistency, less spicy and has a hint of sweetness in it. It goes well with all our South Indian breakfast items like Idly , Dosa, Pongal, Upma, Vada and surprisingly even with Lemon Rice , Jeera Rice and so on.

Jeera Rice is a simple and a flavorful rice, which is easy to cook and tastes awesome with simple ingredients in it. When I run out of vegetables in refrigerator, I simply cook it and we can pack for lunch too. Any gravy will match with Jeera Rice. I use to make tiffin sambhar along with Jeera Rice. Everyone can think sambhar with Jeera rice? But you will accept that it’s a great combo, when you give a try. I use to prepare it regularly in my home and especially during Pongal festival, along with lemon rice , curd rice and sweet jaggery rice.

Gooseberry is a fruit which has high source of Vitamin C. It has lot of health benefits and so why it is used in our Indian Ayurvedic medicines since many years. Such a healthy fruit is available only in particular season. So, I use to prepare it as pickle, in large quantity and refrigerate it for a period of 6 to 8 months. Pickles, usually calls for lot of oil and salt in its recipe and that’s why most of the people dare to take it. But, the recipe herein, doesn’t contains even a drop of oil and less amount of salt too! So, we can take it without any fear. During our childhood days, we use to eat gooseberry, though it is sour in taste, in large quantity, with salt and chilly powder mixed in one hand, and use to dip gooseberry in that spice powder and eat it. It tastes really divine! once we finish off eating it, immediately we drink a glass of water and it gives a sweet taste, while drinking. Those are really memorable sweet days…

Summer has already started to take its step slowly towards South India, particularly here in Chennai. The weather is hot now itself and hey….  its time for…. “PICKLES”. Yeah, summer is the right time to prepare pickles and store it throughout the year. Pickles…. makes my mouth water now itself. Generally, we use to prepare different type of pickles in different methods, how their mom’s and grand mom's were used to do. For the past one week, am seeing lot of lemons heaped in vegetable stores, which is also for nominal rates. The Fresh Yellow color was so inviting and I set my mind to buy it a lot. But, what can I do with such a large number? Yes, I prepared my mindset to prepare Lemon Pickle, after a lot of mood swings, since my SH, won’t even touch it, because of doctor’s advice.  But for me, I always have a special craze for pickles, not just lemon alone but for mango and gooseberries too.

Idly or Idli and Dosa’s are the most common breakfast / dinner items for people in South India. Dosas will however turn good, in most of the times we prepare it. But, preparing soft Idly, is a little tricky job, where the secret lies behind the batter we prepare for it. Most of us know how to prepare idly batter and soft idlis. But, few may not know how to prepare the idli batter. And few, know how to make idli batter but it will not yield soft idly’s. For the beginners and for who think why the batter is not yielding soft idli, the post comes here.

Sometimes, simple and less amount of ingredients, with less work, makes magic tastewise and even we too stick to its taste and use frequently and repeatedly ( Hope everyone agrees with me).  Such one recipe is Idly Milagai Podi. “Idly Podi” or “Dosa / Dosai Podi” or “Ennai Podi” or “Idly Milagai Podi”, called out with varied names and with varied recipes, from home to home, state to state, is a spicy dry powder, made with a main combination of Black Gram and Dry Red Chilly,  which is mixed with sesame oil, and used as a side dish (sometimes Ennai Podi becomes main dish for me and my son, we both love that much, mmmm….mouthwatering for me now itself!) , for Idli’s and Dosa’s (Hhhmmmm….. whooo…. completed the very long sentence anyhow!(LOL!) ).

Homemade sambar powder always have a nice aroma and fresh flavor infused in it, when compared to store bought ones. I never use store bought sambhar powder for preparing sambar in my home, since am not compromised with the taste. I always and always love homemade ones. The ingredients included in sambar powder may vary from home to home and everyone of them has  different taste. My mom use to make sambar powder in her own way and we all love the Sambhar made out of it. Am also following the same recipe of my mom and always prepare in large quantity and store it in air tight containers. This sambhar powder, if prepared and stored as mentioned here, shelf life will be about 6 months with its fresh aroma.

Curd Rice, can be done fatafat and a good lunch box recipe for upcoming summer. Curd rice and simply mango pickle sounds yummy and mouthwatering combo whenever we see it. Yet summer has not started but scorching heat outside the home here in Chennai is threatening us now itself. Curd, buttermilk and fruits like watermelon is must to take to prevent us from this heat. My lovely kiddo Amii loves this curd rice, especially the seasoned curd rice. Since curd rice will be cooked until it is mushy, kids love and prefer it to take for their lunch box, so that they can finish it off soon .  It digests easily too. Seasoning ingredients for this curd rice recipe varies from home to home and restaurant to restaurants.

Lemon rice is my family’s all time favorite recipe. Whenever I ask my son Amii, what variety rice you need for your lunch, he without any hesitation says, “Lemon Rice”. Even for breakfast too, he eat the same and ask for some more too . Lemon rice with sambhar is such a nice combination, as am concerned and will be a perfect lunch combo. Lemon rice stays good for a whole day too and so people prefer it take for their one day travel.  It is prepared during festivals as Neivdhyams for God. Usually, during pongal time, I use to prepare Sakkarai pongal (Jaggery Rice), Jeera Rice, Lemon Rice and Curd Rice.  Lemon Rice recipe is here and Sambhar Recipe is UPCOMING SOON!

Poondu Kuzhambu, I use to prepare, is different from other kulambus / gravies. It is little thick in consistency, with the oil floating on top and with added tanginess and really it tastes yummy . Garlic has lot of medicinal properties and so adding it in our daily food is good for our health. Ingredients: Garlic Pods one handful Kuzhambu Podi 6 tsp Tamarind one big marble size / one small lemon size Salt to taste Cooking Oil 1/4 cup

Tomato rice is one of my favorite variety rice recipes. I use to prepare it in different ways sometimes as an one pot meal in pressure cooker , when am in hurry and sometimes, I  cook rice and masala separately and mix them both as we usually do for other types of variety rice (which I have mentioned here in this recipe). But the pressure cooker method is the one I love most. My kiddo Amii loves tomato rice more and even has named it as “ Tomato Biryani”, because of the flavor of spices infused in it.

Cauliflower kuzhambu is really a very good combination with rice and chapathi and it tastes heavenly. Whenever, I buy cauliflower, I reserve half of the cauliflower to prepare  Kuzhambu . Cauliflower florets soaked in this kulambu gravy will be tangy and very tasty. I finish most of the florets in the gravy . Tastes simply superb and the fact is, it is a super easy recipe!  Rice, Cauliflower kuzhambu and simply a papad will make a good lunch combo.

Kuzhambu Podi is a ready mix powder use to prepare all types of kulambu varieties / South Indian gravies and we can prepare even North Indian gravies too with this powder since it has all basic ingredients like coriander, red chilly, urad dhal, and fenugreek.  Kulambu podi is prepared in different methods but we (sourashtra people) use to prepare this in such a way to suit our taste and needs. We use to  prepare it in large quantity and store for more than 6 months or a year. It stays good for a long time since we fry all the ingredients and dry it in sunshade well, which increases the life shelf of the powder. The aroma of the powder stays good when it is stored in an air tight container.

Everyone loves all kind of legumes and particularly when it comes in the form of  sundal varieties ! They are rich in protein and fiber and so good for our health too. It can prepared for evening time snacks and can be packed for children’s snacks box also, instead of giving them usual biscuits and chips. Sundal is very easy to prepare and we usually cook it for Nivedhanams i.e., to provide for God.

Puliyodharai, alias Ambat Bhath , how we call it in my mother tongue, is my favorite rice . My SH, though, he likes it, he takes only a lil amount, since the recipe has more salt in it. My son is similar to me and he is an ardent fan of “Imali Bhuva”, how he call it. Preparing the tamarind paste (pulikaychal) for this recipe is little tricky and somewhat a time consuming process for me. I learnt the recipe from my mom and the measurement she uses for it will be exact and turns out too good in taste. Though I haven’t reached her height, am trying to do it.

Avarakkai Poriyal I am not a great fan of Avarakkai Poriyal, though it is rich in fiber. And there is a nice story behind it too, which I like to share it here. To be true and frank, before marriage, I don’t know how avarakkai will be . My mom won’t use to make it, since my dad doesn’t too like it.   After my marriage, SH asked me to prepare avarakkai poriyal one day for his lunch. We use to call avarakkai as “Vonno”, in my mother tongue, sourashtra. I told him that I have not tasted that veggie even once and don’t know how the taste will be. He got shocked of hearing it. But I promised him to prepare it for the next day lunch. Then, I called my mom and told her that SH has asked me to prepare Avarakkai poriyal. You please tell me how to prepare it. She laughed at me and told me that it is very easy and simple to prepare that dish and told me how to cook it. The other day, I prepared it and my SH  was happy with it. Because of him only, am now buying avarakkai regularly.  And n

  Paruppu Rasam is a must to be done in our daily lunch. We use to have it daily with steamed white rice. We would have heard people telling that rasam is good for digestion and some use to drink the rasam in a glass also during indigestion. During my childhood, my mom  suggest to take rasam rice when we are sick, since it improves our taste buds. Now-a-days my son Amiit, has started loving rasam rice, and has become a great fan of rasam. Happy that he has transformed from curd rice. Paruppu Rasam

 Since am a sourashtrian from south of Tamilnadu, our recipes and cooking methods will be little different from other people of South Tamilnadu.  Such one recipe is "Rasam Powder". We use to make rasam with this powder only.Though making of this powder needs little experience and patience, it is easy to prepare. Once you stuck up with the taste of the rasam made with this powder, you never mind the time taking process behind it. An one day tiresome job, will help you to prepare tasty  rasam daily for years. Let me come to the recipe straight, without building my story. Rasam Powder Ingredients: Black Peppercorns - 2 cups ( I used my measuring cup) Dry Red                 - 250 gms Cumin Seeds         - 25  gms Asafoetida            - 50 gms Method:                           First of all, divide the peppercorns into four equal amount of batches and red chillies into three equal portions. Heat a wide fry pan and fry the first batch of peppercorns in