Kitchen and Home Making

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.

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…

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.

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 reg...

  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

Join with us in the EFM - Parathas and Gravies/ Curries Series and for further details, click HERE ! Ingredients: Chicken - 1/2 kg (clean and cut into cubes) Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp Coriander Powder - 2 tsp Chilly Powder - 4 tsp Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp Lemon Juice - 5 tsp Curd - 2 tsp Red Food Color - a pinch Salt - 1 tsp Cooking Oil Cooking Instructions: Mix Ginger Garlic Paste, Coriander Powder, Chilly Powder, Turmeric Powder, Garam Masala, Lemon Juice, Curd, Red Food Color and salt in a bowl and make a thick paste. Add chicken pieces to it and mix well and let it marinate in the refrigerator for an hour. After an hour, heat oil in a pan and deep fry the chicken in batches until it turns golden brown in color. Chicken 65 is ready to serve! Side Dish: Goes well with Lemon Rice, Tomato Rice, Biryani, White Rice Recipe adopted from here ! Thanks Mullai!

Join with us in the EFM- Mutton Series and deadline for the event is 15th of Febuary! Send in your entries soon! Ingredients: Chicken - 1/2 kg Egg - 1 Onion - 1 (finely chopped) Yellow Bell Pepper - 1/2 (cut into wedges) Green Bell Pepper - 1/2 (cut into wedges) Chopped Ginger and Garlic - 3 tsp Soy Sauce - 4 tbsp Chilli Sauce - 2 tbsp Tomato sauce - 3 tbsp Corn Flour - 4 tbsp Rice Flour - 1 tsp Maida /All Purpose Flour - 1 tsp Chilli Powder - 2 tsp Orange Food Color - a pinch Spring Onion and Coriander Leaves - few to garnish (finely chopped) Salt - to taste Cooking Oil Cooking Instructions: Wash and clean the chicken and cut into small cubes. Drain the excess water well. Add 2 tbsp corn flour, rice flour, maida, 1 tbsp soy sauce, egg, food color, chilli powder and 1/2 tsp of salt in a bowl and mix well without any lumps. Add chicken pieces to it and let it marinate for about 1/2 hour in refrigerator. After half an hour, deep fry the chicken pieces in oil to ...

Wish You All A Very Happy Republic Day! Join with us in the EFM - MUTTON SERIES and for more details about the event, click  HERE ! Ingredients :   Mutton - 1/2 kg (clean and cut into cubes) Pepper Powder - 2 tsp Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp Chilly Powder - 1/2 tsp Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tsp Salt - to taste Cooking Oil - 5 tbsp Cooking Instructions : Add mutton pieces and enough amount of water in a pressure cooker and cook until the mutton is soft and well done. Do not drain off the excess water (which we call as soup) since you can use it while frying the mutton which gives an added taste. Heat oil in a pan and fry the pepper powder, chilly powder, cumin powder and garam masala and ginger garlic paste for a while until the raw smell leaves off. But do not burn it off and so take care while u fry the dry powders. Add the cooked mutton along with the soup and required amount of salt to it now and cook until the gravy becomes dry. ...

Join with us in the EFM - MUTTON SERIES and for more details about the event, click  HERE ! Ingredients: Grated Coconut - 4  tbsp Cumin Seeds - ½ tsp Green Chillies - 3 Curd - 1/4 cup (beat well) Potato - 1 Brinjal - 1 Carrot - 1 Beans - 6 Drumstick - 1 Raw banana - 1/2 Curry Leaves -  few Salt - to taste Coconut Oil- 3 tsp   Cooking Instructions: Grind coconut, chilly and cumin seeds to a smooth paste and keep it aside. Cut all the vegetables lengthwise for about 1 inch. Its not necessary that you should use the vegetables specified here. The choice of vegetable is entirely yours. Add all the vegetables and 1/4 cup of water in a pressure cooker and cook for about 2 whistles in high flame. Now add the grinded paste and salt to it and cook in simmer flame until water in the dish evaporates. Add curd to it now and let it cook for few minutes and switch off the flame. Heat oil in a pan and saute it with curry leaves and add it in the cooked d...

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 the EFM - MUTTON SERIES and for more details about the event, click  HERE ! Ingredients for Marination: Chicken -1/2 kg Lime Juice - 2 tsp Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Marination Instructions: In a large bowl, mix chicken, lime juice, turmeric powder and salt and let it marinate for about 1/2 hour. Ingredients for Grinding: Coriander Seeds - 4 tbsp Dessicated Coconut - 5 tsp Poppy Seeds - 3 tsp Split Roasted Gram / Pottukadalai - 2 tsp Peppercorns - 2 tsp Fennel Seeds - 2 tsp Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp Red Chilli - 5 Cardamom - 3 Cloves - 3 Cinnamon - 2 Mace - 2 Star Anise -2  petals Instructions for Grinding: Dry roast all the ingredients specified above for about 3 minutes until it smells good. Let it cool for few minutes and grind it to a smooth powder without adding water. Ingredients for Frying: Onion (Medium Size) - 2 (finely chopped) Tomato - 2 (finely chopped) Green Chilly - 1 (slit lengthwise) Gi...

 Ingredients : Chicken - 1/2 kg (clean and cut into cubes) Pepper Powder - 2 tsp Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp Chilly Powder - 1/2 tsp Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tsp Salt - to taste Cooking Oil - 5 tbsp Service For : 2 People Cooking Time : 20 minutes   Cooking Instructions : Add chicken pieces and enough amount of water in a pressure cooker and cook until the Chicken is soft and well done. Do not drain off the excess water (which we call as soup) since you can use it while frying the chicken which gives an added taste. Heat oil in a pan and fry the pepper powder, chilly powder, cumin powder and garam masala and ginger garlic paste for a while until the raw smell leaves off. But do not burn it off and so take care while u fry the dry powders. Add the cooked chicken along with the soup and required amount of salt to it now and cook until the gravy becomes dry. It can be served with rice, rotis, naan and briyani. Join with us in the EFM...

Join with us in EFM - Oats SERIES! Rush up to send in your entries. For more details about the event, click HERE! Ingredients: Baby potatoes –1/4 kg Onion - 2 (finely chopped) Sambhar Powder - 1 1/2 tsp ( i used Aachi Brand) Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Garlic - 5 pods (finely minced) Curry leaves –A sprig Water - 2 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Salt - to taste Cooking Oil - 2 tbsp Cooking Instructions: Wash the potatoes and pressure cook it for 2-3 whistles. Once it is cooled down, peel off the skin and keep it aside. Let the potatoes be rightly cooked not too hard, not too soft. Add sambhar powder, turmeric powder aand salt to the potatoes and sprinkle a very little of water and mix it well so the masala coats evenly on all the potatoes. Let it marinate for at least half an hour.  Heat oil in a pan and saute it with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Now add onion and garlic to it and fry until onions become soft. Now add the potatoes to it and fry well. Sprinkle s...

A few clicks that i happened to take last week when i prepared Pepper Chicken , which was already posted by me in my blog, a very long ago and those clicks are here once again for you, my friends!!! Click HERE for the RECIPE ! Like this article? Subscribe to the RSS feed!