Senai Kizhangu Kai

 Below preparation method is suitable for Yam and Plantain vegetable. Eaten as side dish for rice.

Ingredients:

Diced Yam - 2 cups

salt - 1/2 spoon

For Tempering:

Mustard seeds - 1/4 spoon

Urud Dal - 1/4 spoon

Gingelly oil - 1/2 spoon

For Spice mix:

Grated cocount - 2 spoons

green chilli - 2

cumin seeds - 1/4 spoon

Fennel seeds - 1/4 tea spoon

For Seasoning:

Corriander leaves - 4 twigs

Preparation:

Boil the yam in 2 cups of water.

Add 1/2 spoon of salt and cook the yam until it becomes soft. Once its cooked, keep it aside.

Grind the ingredients given for spice mix. No need to add water while grinding.

Take a pan, temper mustard and urud dal. Add cooked yam and ground spice mix to it. 

Mix everything well and keep it in simmer for 5 mins.

Switch off the flame and Season it with corriander leaves.

Servings: 3

Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Roll is one of the most famous Pastry varieties in America. My husband's favorite too :)) 

This pastry is very easy to make. 

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: 12 - 15 mins

Ingredients:

All purpose Flour - 1 cup

Butter (at room temperature) < 1/4 cup

Curd - 2 small laddle

salt - 1/4 spoon

For Filling:

cinnamon powder - 1 spoon

Raw sugar (coarse powder) - 1/4 cup

Preparation:

Mix 3/4th of butter and other ingredients to make soft dough.

Roll the dough into 1 big roti. Make it little thick.

Spread remaining butter on top of the pressed dough. Add filling and spread evenly.

Roll it and cut it into 2 inch pieces. slightly shape the pieces into round.

Place a parchment paper in the baking tray. Keep the cinnamon rolls apart in the tray.

Preheat the oven for 375F and bake the rolls for 12-15 mins. When it is golden brown and slightly inflated, take it out.

Let the roll coll down for 20 mins

Servings: 8

Pumpkin Erissery

Pumpkin (Mathanga) Erissery is a kerala dish and it has a special place in Onam feast. In Kerala, they use more coconut and coconut milk to make this dish. 

This dish is made with yellow pumpkin, not the white one.

In autumn you will get more varieties of pumpkin to make this dish. Serene Orange color of the season matches this dish too..😎🌈

Ingredients:

Pumpkin - 1 small cup
Thoor dal - 4 spoons
chilli powder - 1 spoon
salt - 1 spoon

To Grind:

grated coconut - 1/4 cup

cumin seeds - 1/4 spoon

milk - 20 ml

To temper:

Mustard - 1/2 spoon

coconut oil - 1 spoon

grated coconut - 1 spoon

red chilli - 1

Curry leaves - 1/2 twig

Preparation:

Cook Pumpkin with water for 15 mins. Add 1/4 spoon of salt while its boiling.

Cook Thoor dal in pressure cooker and keep it aside.

Grind coconut and cumin. Add milk while grinding to make the mixture into paste.

In kadai, dilute the cooked dal with cup of water. Add chilli powder and 3/4 spoon of salt.

while its boiling, add the paste. Mix well and let it boil for few mins.

Once it reached curry consistency, temper the ingredients given and season the curry with it.

Servings: 2 - 4

Two Cheese Marinara Pasta

Two cheese Marinara Pasta is an easy to make Italian dinner, as long as you have all the ingredients handy.

I used organic Penne Pasta made of Lentils, Rice and Peas. If you are not fan of regular Pasta or health conscious, use organic / vegan varieties.

Ingredients:
Pasta - 200 g Penne
Tomato - 1
Cheddar cheese - 2 small cubes
Philadelphia cheese - 2 spoons
Garlic - 2 pods
Olive oil - 2 spoons
chilli powder - 1/2 spoon
salt - 1 spoon

Preparation:

Boil Pasta with salt for 20 mins or until its cooked. Drain the water. wash it with cold water and keep it aside.
Add olive in pan. Once it warms up, add garlic pods, saute it.
Add chilli powder. Once it starts turning brown, add diced tomatoes.
cook tomato until it becomes soft and raw smell goes off.
Add one variety of cheese. Once it melts and mixed up, add the other one.
Once tomato and cheese are mixed up, sauce is ready.
Now add the pasta and mix well.

gustosa pasta a casa tua  !! :))

Servings: 2

Tomato Basil Soup

Tomato Basil soup is very easy to make mild soup. You can make this for evening time or dinner.

Ingredients:

Tomato - 2 large
basil - 4 twigs
garlic - 1 pod
onion - 1/4
olive oil - 1 spoon
butter - 2 spoons
salt - 1 spoon
pepper - 1/2 spoon

raw sugar - 1/4 spoon

Preparation:

Blanch and puree the tomatoes
Pour olive oil in stockpot. Once it warms up, add butter
Once butter melts, add onion and garlic. saute until onion changes color.
Add tomato puree and basil. Let it cook for 10 mins
Add salt, pepper and sugar. let it cook for another 10 minutes or until the raw smell goes off. 
Soup starts to thicken. Now switch off the flame.


Toast the bread in olive oil and serve it with soup.

Servings:  2

French fries

Ingredients:
Potato - 2
chilli powder - 1/2 spoon
salt - 1/2 spoon or as needed
pepper powder - 1/4 spoon
oil - 1 spoon

Preparation:
Cut the potatoes into batons.
Mix it with salt, spices and oil
Take a baking tray. Spread oil in it. Place the batons evenly distributed
Bake it in oven at 450 deg F for 40 minutes. If needed turn the potatoes every 15 mins.

Servings: 2

Veg Kurma (quick version)

This Veg kuruma is a quick version. Its a mild side dish specially for kerala Parotta.

Ingredients:
Carrot - 1
peas - 1/4 cup
potato - 1
beans - 10
chayote / chow chow - 1/2
bay leaves - 2
salt - 2 spoons
oil - 2 spoons

To Soak:
cashewnut - 3
almond - 2
poppy seeds / kasakasa - 1/2 spoon
milk - 3 spoons

To Grind:
pepper corn - 2
cloves - 2
cardamom - 2
cinnamon stick - 1 inch
cumin seeds - 1/4 spoon
fennel seeds - 1/4 spoon
coconut - less than 1/4 cup
red chillies - 3
tomato - 3/4

Preparation:
Soak cashew, almond and poppy seeds in milk for an hour.
Chop the given vegetables. Pour water until vegetables submerge.
Boil the vegetables in water for 10 mins. Add a spoon of salt  and bay leaves while boiling
Grind all the ingredients given in "To grind" with the soaked ingredients, to a fine paste.
Dilute the paste with 2 cups of water.
In a saute pan / kadai, add 2 spoons of oil.
Pour the diluted mix and half a spoon of salt.
Now add the boiling vegetables and let the kurma cook until it starts to thicken or raw smell goes off

Servings: 4

Panchamirtham

Panchamirtham is mainly offered as "neivedhayam" to God. This is prepared for Lord Murugan during Thai Poosam occasion.

As the name indicates, its made of 5 elixir.

In my case, banana ripened well. so i made this sweet instead of wasting it.

Ingredients:
Banana - 2
Date syrup - 2 spoons ( i didn't have dates, so i used syrup. you can use 5 dates instead)
honey - 2 spoons
jaggery - 4 spoons (raw sugar can also be used)
Ghee - 1 spoon

Optional Ingredients:
Raisins - 1 spoon
cardamom powder - 1/2 spoon
sugar candy - 1 spoon

Preparation:
Smash the banana and mix it with all the ingredients given above.

Offer to God on auspicious days / occasions to get the blessings.

Quantity: 2 cups

Fenugreek coriander Thogaiyal

Ingredients:
Fenugreek leaves - 1/4 bunch
Cilantro leaves - 1/4 bunch
red chillies - 3
green chillies - 3
chana dal - 1/2 spoon
urud dal - 2 spoons
cumin seeds - 1/4 spoon
tamarind paste - 1/4 spoon
hing - a pinch
oil - 1 1/2 spoons
salt - 1 spoon or as needed

Preparation:
In 1/2 spoon of oil, roast dals, cumin, red chilli with pinch of hing until dals turn light brown.
take the spices out
in 1 spoon of oil, saute fenugreek leaves until leaves become soft and turn dark green.
Now add green chilli, tamarind paste to it and slightly saute it.
Add cilantro leaves and salt to it.
Grind all the ingredients. add water if needed that too less than a spoon.
you will get green thogaiyal with the consistency as shown in image.

Mix it with rice and pack it up for lunch !!

Servings: 4

Little millet laadu

Healthy snack for evening or when you are hungry ... This recipe is very simple and easy to make. This can be made for Diwali or any occasion.

This recipe is from Indira Patti :)

Ingredients:
Little millet - 1 cup
Jaggery - 2 cups
Ghee - 10 spoons

Preparation:
Roast Little millet with 1 spoon of ghee until aroma comes and millet changes color
After 15 mins, powder the millet. The powder will be slightly coarse.
Melt the ghee and keep it warm.
Now mix millet powder, jaggery and ghee. Quickly portion it into small balls
Then fine shape it

Servings: 18

Green Curry

This green curry is my customized version of "Thai Green Curry". I slightly changed to available Indian ingredients and avoided any fish / chicken items in original Thai curry.

Ingredients:
Snow peas - 1 cup
Thai green eggplant - 5
green capsicum - 1/4
lemon grass - 1 stalk
milk - 1/4 cup
salt - 1 spoon or as needed
water - 6 cups or as needed

For Dry roast:
cumin - 1/4 spoon
pepper corn - 1/4 spoon
coriander seeds - 1/2 spoon

For green paste:
green chillies - 6
ginger - 2 inches
onion - 1/4 large
coconut - < 1/2 cup
lemon peel - from 1/2 lemon
coriander stem - 10 twigs (if few leaves are there, thats fine too)

Preparation:
Cut the snow peas, eggplant and capsicum and boil them in water with little salt for 10 mins
Cut the lemon grass. Take out the usable portion. Add half of it to the boiling vegetables. Add remaining portion with the ingredients for green paste.
Dry roast cumin, pepper corn and coriander seeds for 30 sec and add it with ingredients to paste.
Take rest of the above ingredients given for green paste and grind. No need to water and fine grind the paste.
Add the paste and salt to the boiling vegetables. let it cook until the raw smell is gone.
Once the curry starts to thicken, add 1/4 cup of milk. Let it simmer for a min and take it out.

Serve the aromatic green curry with fried rice !!

Servings: 3

Capsicum Onion - Green chutney

Ingredients:
Green capsicum - 1/2
onion - 1/2 large
red chilli - 2 1/2
urud dal - 2 spoons
hing - a pinch
Tamarind - 1/4 tea spoon
salt - as needed
gingelly oil - 3 spoons

Preparation:
Heat oil in kadai. Add urud dal and fry until it turns into light brown.
Add red chilli and hing. Fry for few seconds and take it out
fry onion until it slight turns into golden color and take it out
Add green capsicum, salt and tamarind. Shallow fry for 2 mins.
Grind all the ingredients fried. Don't grind it too smooth.

Yummy green chutney with a tinge of sweetness is ready to serve with Hot Idlis / Ghee Dosas !!

Servings: 2 - 4