Kitchen and Home Making

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

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.

Join with us in the EFM - MUTTON SERIES and for more details about the event, click  HERE ! Ingredients for Grinding: Baby Onion / Shallots - 1/2 cup Coriander Seeds - 4 tbsp Pepper - 1 tsp Cumin Seed - 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp Dry Red Chillies - 8 Garlic - 8 Curry Leaves - few Gingelly  Oil - 1 tsp Heat gingelly oil in a pan and consecutively add fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds and red chillies and fry in a simmer flame until you get nice smell out of it and switch off the flame. Immediately, add all the other remaining ingredients and fry it in the heat of the pan itself and no need for flame. Let these ingredients cool for a while and grind to a smooth paste by adding a little of water. Other Ingredients: Tamarind - a lemon size ball Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp Curry Leaves - few Gingelly Oil - 2 tbsp Salt - to taste Cooking Instructions: Soak tamarind in a cup of water and extract thick ...

Join with us in EFM - BREAKFAST SERIES! Rush up to send in your entries. For more details about the event, click HERE! Ingredients: Shallots / Small Onions - 1/2 cup (Peel off the skin and cut into halves) Garlic - 1/2 cup (Peel off the skin and slit it lengthwise) Coriander Powder - 1 tbsp Chilly Powder - 1 tbsp (can use Aachi brand Kulmbu milagai thool for Chettinad flavor) Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp Tamarind - a small lemon size ball (soak it in a cup of warm water and extract the juice) Dried Sundakkai or Manathakkali Vatral(optional)- A tbsp Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 tsp Curry Leaves - few Salt - to taste Gingelly Oil - 5 tbsp Cooking Instructions: Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and saute it with mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, dried sundakai and curry leaves and keep it aside. Heat 4 tbsp of oil in a pan and saute it with garlic and onions until they turn golden yellow color and soft. Now add coriander powder, chilly powder and turmeric powder and fry it until the...

Ingredients: Fish - 1/2 kg Shallots - 10 Ginger - 1 inch [finely chopped] Garlic - 8 pods [finely chopped] Coriander Powder - 1 tsp Chilly Powder - 2 tbsp Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp Tamarind - a lemon size (soak it in water and extract the pulp) Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp Curry Leaves - few Red Chilly - 3 Salt - to taste Cooking Oil Cooking Instructions: Wash and clean the fish and drain the excess water. Grind onion, ginger and garlic to a fine paste. Heat oil in a pan and saute it with mustard seeds, red chilly and curry leaves. Now add grinded paste to it and fry until the raw smell leaves off. Add coriander powder, chilly powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder and fry till the raw smell leaves off. Add tamarind pulp to it and bring it to boil and let the gravy to thicken a little. At last add fish pieces to it and wait until it is cooked well. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it! Side Dish: Goes well with hot rice Like this article? Subscribe to the RSS fe...

Ingredients : Chicken - 1/2 kg (cut into cubes) Kolambu Powder - 4 tbsp Tomato - 3 (finely chopped) Onion -1 (cut it lengthwise) Pepper Powder - 2 tsp Curry Leaves -few Salt - to taste Cooking Oil Cooking Time : 30 minutes Service For : 3 People Cooking Instructions : Heat oil in a pressure cooker and saute it with onions and tomatoes for a while. Add required water and kolambu powder to the cooker so that no lumps are found. Now add chicken pieces, pepper powder, curry leaves and salt. Close the lid and simmer the flame and let it cook for about 20 minutes or until chicken is well cooked. Serve the dish with hot rice.

Ingredients: Boiled Eggs – 4 (cut into two halves) Kolambu Podi – 5 tbsp Tamarind – gooseberry size(soak it in water and extract the juice) Pepper Corns – 2 tbsp Pepper Power – 2 tsp Cumin Powder – 2 tsp Salt – to taste Cooking oil Service For: 2 People Cooking Time: 15 minutes Cooking Instructions: Heat oil in a deep pan and sauté it with pepper corns. Add tamarind juice to it and bring it to boil. Add pepper power, cumin powder and kolambu podi to it and mix it well without forming any lumps. Add required salt and required amount of water to the dish and let it to cook well until the kolambu is thicken well. Switch off the stove and put the eggs in this kolambu and serve it with rice.

Ingredients: Bitter Gourd – 100gms Dry Green Beans – 50gms (soak in water overnight) Tomato – 2 (finely chopped) Onion – 1 (finely chopped) Kolambu Podi – 4 tbsp Asafoetodia – ½ tsp Garlic pods – 8 (peel off the skin) Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp Curry Leaves –few Salt – to taste Cooking Oil Cooking Instructions: Soak dry green beans in water overnight. The other day drain the excess water. Add dry green beans in a pressure cooker with enough amount of water and cook for 3 whistles in high flame. Open the lid and drain excess water. Cut bitter gourd into thin round slices. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and sauté it with mustards seeds. Now add chopped onions, tomatoes, garlic pods and curry leaves, and fry until the oil comes out of the dish and tomato is mashed well. Add asafoetodia and enough salt to it now. Add bitter gourd, boiled dry green beans and kolambu podi to the cooker. Add enough water to it and stir it well so that no lumps are found. Close the lid and let it to cook for 3 wh...

Ingredients: Garlic / Poondu – 20 pods Kolambu Podi – 6 tbsp Tamarind Juice – 10 tbsp (add as u require) Salt – to taste Cooking Oil – 10 to 15 tbsp (if u add more oil, we can preserve this kolkar for 3 days) Cooking Time: 10 minutes Service For: 3 People Cooking Instructions: Heat oil in a deep pan and when the oil starts to smoke, add garlic pods to it and fry well until it turns golden brown color and smells well. Add enough water, salt and kolambu podi to it and mix well without forming any lumps. Let it to boil in a simmer flame and should attain thick consistency. It should be thicker in consistency than usual kolambu we prepare. It tastes delicious when served with rice. Everybody will like to have some more rice.

Ingredients: Sigappu Mooku Kadalai / Red Channa / Large Red Gram – 150 gms Tomato – 2 (finely chopped) Onion – 1 (finely chopped) Kolambu Podi – 5 tbsp Tamarind Juice – 10 tbsp (add as u require) Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp Curry Leaves –few Salt – to taste Cooking Oil Cooking Time: 10 minutes Service For: 3 People Cooking Instructions: Soak MookuKadalai in water overnight. Otherwise if u forget to soak it, take a bowl of boiling water and soak mookukadalai in that and place this in a hot case. You will get well soaked mookukadalai within 1 to 1 ½ hours. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add mustards seeds and fry it a while. Now add chopped onions, tomatoes, and curry leaves, tamarind water and enough salt to it and fry until the oil comes out of the dish and tomato is mashed well. Add mookukadalai, and kolambu podi to the cooker. Add enough water to it and stir it well so that no lumps are found. Close the lid and let it to cook for 5 whistles (depends upon the efficiency of the cooker) o...

Ingredients: Seppankilangu – 10 pieces Tomato – 2 (finely chopped) Onion – 1 (finely chopped) Kolambu Podi – 4 tbsp Tamarind Juice – 15 tbsp (add as u require) Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp Curry Leaves –few Salt – to taste Cooking Oil Cooking Time: 15 minutes Service For: 3 People Cooking Instructions: Wash and clean the seppankilangu well. Add it in a pressure cooker and let it cook for 3 whistles or until the seppankilangu is cooked well. Once the pressure is released, open the cooker and drain the excess water and peel off the skin. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and fry it a while. Now add chopped onions, tomatoes, and curry leaves, tamarind water and enough salt to it and fry until the oil comes out of the dish and tomato is mashed well. Add cooked seppankilangu, and kolambu podi to the pan. Add enough water to it and stir it well so that no lumps are found. Let it cook until it attains kolambu consistency. Side dish: Rice Tomorrow lets meet with an interesting home made ice c...

Vathal kolambu is a delicious south Indian dish which everyone will like. Vathal is nothing but vegetables dried under sunlight for 2 or 3 days. You can use any type of vathal to prepare this dish. Sundakai, kathirikai (brinjal), papad and manathakkali vathal are commonly used one. I dedicate this recipe to my friend Laxmi,a keralite. She got married now and her husband loves to have Vathal Kolambu in our south Indian style. She remembered about me and my blog at that moment. But she hasn't find vathal kolambu recipe in my blog. Atonce she mailed me and asked to offer the recipe for her. I prepared this dish today especially for her and posted in blog. Try out it in your kitchen Laxmi! Ingredients: Sundakai Vathal – 15 pieces Kolambu Podi – 5 tbsp Tamarind Water – 15 tbsp or as u prefer Salt – to taste Cooking Oil – a small ladle Cooking Time: 10 minutes Service For: 3 People Cooking Instructions: Heat oil in a deep pan and add sundakai vathal to it. Let it fry well but do not bur...

Ingredients: Brinjal / Eggplant - 4 (cut brinjals lengthwise into four pieces) Drumstick – 1 (cut into 4 to 6 pieces) Onion – 1 (lengthwise chopped) Tomato - 2 (finely chopped) Kolambu Podi – 4 tbsp Tamarind Water – 15 tbsp or as u prefer Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp Salt – to taste Cooking Oil Cooking Time: 10 minutes Service For: 3 People Cooking Instructions: Heat oil in a deep pan and add mustard seeds to it. Add onions and tomatoes and enough salt to it and fry until the tomatoes are mashed well. Add kolambu podi and tamarind water to it and mix well so that no lumps are found. Add enough water to it and bring it to boil. Now add brinjals and drumstick to it. Let it to cook until it gets the kolambu consistency. You can simply do thi srecipe with kathirikai alone or else with murungaikai alone. Here is the one which i have done with kathirikai alone. Side Dish: Rice

Ingredients: Chopped Coriander Leaves – 15 tbsp Onion – 1 (finely chopped) Tomato - 2 (finely chopped) Kolambu Podi – 4 tbsp Tamarind Water – 10 tbsp Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp Salt – to taste Cooking Oil Cooking Time: 10 minutes Service For: 3 People Cooking Instructions: Heat oil in a deep pan and add mustard seeds to it. Add onions and tomatoes and enough salt to it and fry until the tomatoes are mashed well. Now add coriander leaves and fry for few minutes. Add kolambu podi and tamarind water to it and mix well so that no lumps are found. Add enough water to it and bring it to boil. Let it to cook until it gets the kolambu consistency. Side Dish: Rice and Chapati

Curd has 10 gms of proteins in it. So its a good dish having protein. Ingredients: Onion – 1/2 (finely chopped) Tomato – 1 (finely chopped) Bengal Gram – 1 tbsp Red Rice (Pacharisi) – 1 tbsp Grated Coconut – 8 tbsp Garam Masala – ½ tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 tbsp Fresh Curd – 50 ml (beat it with a spoon well) Mustard Seeds – 1 tbsp Dry Red Chilly – 4 Turmeric powder – ½ tsp Coriander Leaves – few Salt – to taste Cooking Oil Service For: 2 People Cooking Time: 15 minutes Cooking Instructions: Soak red rice and bengal gram in water for 15 minutes. Add grated coconut, soaked gram and rice, ginger garlic paste, and turmeric powder and garam masala to a mixie jar and grind it to a fine paste by adding enough water. Heat oil in a deep pan and sauté it with mustard seeds and red chilly. Add chopped onions and tomatoes to it and fry it till it is crushed well. Now add the grinded paste to it and keep frying until the raw small leaves off. Now add enough water and bring it to boil and let it...

Ingredients: Dry Green Beans / Kaanja Mochai – 100 gms Onion – 1 (finely chopped) Tomato – 2 (finely chopped or grind it coarsely) Tamarind – small lemon size (soak it in water and extract the juice) Garlic – 15 pods (peel off the skin and finely chop it) Coriander Powder – 3 tbsp Red Chilly Powder – 2 tbsp Cumin Powder – ½ tbsp Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp Mustard Seeds – 2 tsp Curry Leaves – few Salt – to taste Cooking Oil Service For: 2 People Cooking Time: 20 minutes Cooking Instructions: You can use either fresh green beans (pachai mochai) or dry beans (kaanja mochai) for this dish. If you are going to use dry beans, soak it in the previous night itself. If you forget to do so, here is an easy quick tip for you. Take a cup of boiling water and soak the dry beans in it and keep that bowl in a hot pack for about 2 hours. Otherwise, fill the vacuum flask with boiling water and soak the dry beans in it and close the lid and let it be for 2 hours. Add the soaked dry beans in a pressure cook...

Ingredients: Curry Leaves – 2 cup Tamarind – small lemon size (soak it in water and extract the juice) Bengal Gram – 2 tsp Red Gram – 2 tsp Split Black Gram – 2 tsp Red Chilly – 10 Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp Asafoetodia – 1 tsp Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp Fenugreek Seeds – 1 tsp Salt – to taste Cooking Oil Service For: 3 People Cooking Time: 20 minutes Cooking Instructions: Fry the curry leaves in a pan without adding oil till it becomes crispy. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and add red gram, Bengal gram, split black gram, cumin seeds, asafoetodia and red chilly to it and fry it for a while until all the grams become red in color. Grind all these items along with curry leaves to a fine powder. Heat oil in a pan and sauté it with mustard and fenugreek seeds. Add tamarind juice, grinded powder, turmeric powder and required salt and water to it and bring it to boil. Let it cook until it thickens well. Serve this dish with rice, dosa and idly.

Ingredients: Nookal – 2 (slice it into thin round pieces) Kolambu Podi – 4 tbsp Tamarind – small ball size (soak it in water and take juice of about 10 tbsp or as u need) Tomato – 2 (finely chop it) Onion – 1 (chop it lengthwise) Curry leaves – few Salt - to taste Mustard Seeds – 2 tsp Cooking Oil Service For: 3 People Cooking Time: 15 minutes Cooking Instructions: Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add onions to it and fry it till it turns golden brown. Add tomatoes and curry leaves to it and fry until tomato is cooked well. Now add tamarind water, required salt and Kolambu podi to it and stir it well without forming any lumps. Add nookal pieces to it and close the lid of the cooker. Let it cook until nookal boils well or wait for 6 whistles in a high flame. Open the cooker after pressure is completely released and serve it with hot rice.

Ingredients: Radish – 2 (slice it into thin round pieces) Kolambu Podi – 4 tbsp Tamarind – small ball size (soak it in water and take juice of about 10 tbsp or as u need) Tomato – 2 (finely chop it) Onion – 1 (chop it lengthwise) Curry leaves – few Salt - to taste Mustard Seeds – 2 tsp Cooking Oil Service For: 3 People Cooking Time: 10 minutes Cooking Instructions: Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add onions to it and fry it till it turns golden brown. Add tomatoes and curry leaves to it and fry until tomato is cooked well. Now add tamarind water, required salt and Kolambu podi to it and stir it well without forming any lumps. Add radish pieces to it and close the lid of the cooker. Let it cook until radish boils well or wait for 3 whistles in a high flame. Open the cooker after pressure is completely released and serve it with hot rice.

Ingredients: Black Gram / Karuppu Ulundhu – 50 gms Theyngai – ¼ (5 to 6 pieces) Kolambu Powder – 4 tbsp Tomato - 2 (finely chopped) Onion – 1 (cut it lengthwise) Tamarind – a small ball size (soak it in water and take juice from it) Curry Leaves – few Salt – to taste Mustard Seeds – 2 tsp Cooking Oil Service For: 3 People Cooking Time: 15 minutes Cooking Instructions: Soak black gram in water for about 5 hours and drain the water. Cut the coconut pieces into small thin slices. Slice the coconut as thin as possible in order to cook it soon. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and sauté it with mustard seeds. Add onions and curry leaves to it and wait until the onion turns to golden brown. Add tomatoes to it and wait until it is mashed well. Add about 10 tbsp of tamarind water (or as u require). Now add Kolambu powder and salt and stir it well without forming lumps. Now add soaked black gram and sliced coconut pieces and close the lid of the cooker. Wait until the black gram cooks well or else...