Vendakai/ Okra Mor Kuzhambu (without coconut)

Vendakai mor kuzhambu with step by step pictures.

This kuzhambu is simple to make and taste delicious for hot steamed rice. The temperature here in Chennai is soaring high day by day and it becomes unbearable to cook in the heat. So I am opting for quick and easy lunch recipes like curd rice, lemon rice, rasam, etc. This mor curry comes in this category which can be prepared quickly. Here coconut is not used instead soaked dal is used to make the paste. Pair some papad or any fries to have a filling and satisfying meal.

Cabbage thoran | Onam sadya recipe

Cabbage thoran with step by step pictures.

Every day we use to have different vegetables as a side dish for rice and this is one such. It tastes good and also easy to make. You will find this humble vegetable is almost in meals across all hotels.

Kiwi Lemonade | Summer drink

Kiwi lemonade is an excellent summer drink to quech your thirst. It tasted best when servved chilled or with ice cold water and ice cubes. Just blending all the ingredients in a mixer/blender and serving it. no need to filter after blending the fruit. For more variation you can blend 2 mint leaves and dilute with club soda.

Cauliflower pepper stir fry | Easy side dish for rice/roti

Cauliflower pepper stir fry with step by step pictures.

When I decided to follow low carbo diet I started liking this cauliflower , until then I rarely buy it and not much interested to cook it. The only dish we often make before was cauliflower fry. But I started liking it I make soups, kurma,etc. with it. This pepper stir fry recipe with is is any easy and simple side dish. Just boiling the florests aand pany roasting with spices.

Karadaiyan Noombu adai- sweet &savory version

Karadaiyan nombu adai with step by step pictures.

Even since I started blogging and whenever I see co-bloggers post recipe regarding any particular festival I'm will be so much tempted by it. All though we don't celebrate nombu means fasting I wish to try to justify my role as a food blogger. This recipe happened to be the same one which I  longed to try for many years and tried it yesterday for our evening snack.

Fresh Red Chili Sauce

Red chili sauce with step by step pictures.

When I saw this bright red colored fresh red chili in the market I immediately grabbed some to make few recipes. Apart from this sauce, I didn't do any recipe and the remaining just went into curries and sabzis. This is one of the winter recipes and I bought this along with fresh turmeric in December. This post was lying in my draft. This sauce can be used to the side for momos, crackers and can even use in making any masala. Recently I used it to make potato masala for roti which turned out yummy.

Betel Leaves Chutney/ Thogayal

Easy betel leaves chutney that goes well with hot steamed rice. I got this recipe idea from nee's kitchen and slightly adjusted to my taste. My kids don't like them but I liked it. The betel leaves itself have little spice hence add green chili according to it. This thokku/thogayal can be kept for a long time if the ground paste is sauteed again in oil till all water evaporates. But I didn't do that as I finished off that day itself.

Strawberry yogurt popsicle

Strawberry yogurt popsicle with step by step pictures.

A simple popsicle with strawberry, yogurt, and sugar. As the temperature is shooting up in Chennai we all look for some chilled drink/juice. When I had some strawberry I decided to make this simple yogurt popsicle to cool yourself. Just blend it, pour into mold, freeze it set then enjoy it.

Raw mango Rice | Mango rice | Lunch Box

Raw mango rice with step by step pictures.

Mango rice is one of the lunch box rice recipes that can be made is a few minutes. It may look somewhat similar to lemon rice but here we don't add any spices except turmeric powder. The tanginess in the mango make this rice super delicious and yum.

Chicken Chukka | Chicken Roast

Chicken chukka with step by step pictures

This recipe is totally my daughter's recipe. She googled up gather ingredients, took pictures and made it completely. Last Sunday she made it and send me all these pictures to post in the blog and hence I am posing it. To say the truth it was good for the first try and I hope she will improve as she grows.

Homemade popcorn | how to make popcorn

Homemade popcorn with step by step pictures.

Popcorn is one snack which is liked by all age group of people. When going out for cinemas in the mall one thing for sure would be this popcorn. I had few failures making this popcorn a home hence I mostly by a brand popcorn which never fails and my kids loved it. To get good popcorn the popcorn kernels is the key one. If it is good quality then your popcorn will be the best. To check whether its a good one, first popout one kernels and check if it pops out well then that popcorn kernels are good and you can make popcorn with it. If it didn't pop out kindly ignore it than wasting resources in making it.

Plain tea | Sulaimani | How to make sulaimani

Sulaimani | Plain tea video recipe.

Sulaimani is nothing but plain tea. It is very famous in the state of Kerala. I am not a fan of this plain tea until last year. I started liking this tea and I don't know how it started till now. I even started liking plain green tea which I never use to drink before. I guess it all age factor and we started liking things which we don't like in a young age. To make this tea is a bit challenging for me with tea powder. When making It I always make it by adding more tea leaves making it unfit to drink. It is my husband who pointed out my mistake since he makes perfect Sulaimani. This drink he just made to me and I just clicked it.

Kadamba chutney | Side dish for idli/dosa

Kadamba chutney with step by step pictures.

Kadamba chutney is a made with a mix of many ingredients which goes well for idli/dosa or any millet dosa. Have you seen flower vendors selling kadambam flowers which have a mix of different color flowers and in the same way this chutney also have a mix of different ingredients and hence may be the name( I don't know the exact reason for this chutney and it's my wild guess.) I served this for instant ragi dosa which I will share very soon. Let us see how to make this easy chutney.

Tomato rice | how to make tomato rice

Tomato rice with step by step pictures.

Tomato rice is a simple and easy recipe which is ideal for lunch box. If you have moreover leftover cooked rice try making this rice and have it with roasted papad or boiled egg. Mostly for dinner I make a new dish and if any cooked rice from lunch was too much we opt to make this rice and have it hot with papad.

Sweet Potato Gulab jamun | how to make gulab jamun

Sweet potato gulab jamun with step by step pictures.

Happy New year to all my readers and friends. May this new year fills you joy, happiness and my prayer for all your dreams come true.

Glazed cherry muffins | how to make muffins

Glazed cherry muffins with step by step pictures.

Another easy and simple muffins with the glazed cherry. As Christmas is nearing I thought of trying this muffin which was in my bucket list. Its a simple vanilla cake with glazed cherries on top. If you love cherries then I'm sure you will like this muffin also. I have used an egg in the recipe. If you opt of the eggless version then avoid egg and use curd + baking soda.

Walnut Cookies | Christmas Cookies | How to make eggless cookies

Walnut Cookies with step by step pictures.

Christmas is all about baking. You can all social media flooding with cookies, plum cakes, and cake recipes. If you are looking for rich plum cake, here are some easy fruit cake, Boil&bake fruit cake, rice plum cake in which I used alcohol to soak the dry fruits.

Dates- Choco Muffins | Breakfast Muffins

Dates-Choco muffins with step by step pictures.

Dates- choco muffins are healthy cupcakes with healthy ingredients in it. With dates, it tastes yummy and healthy too. I have used here a mix of wheat and maida in it. But you can make it either with anyone flour and a mix of both. Although I had choco chips I added broken dark choc bars as dark chocolate is a healthy option. Since dates are added I reduced the sugar amount. You can also make it sugar-free by adding more dates. I just smashed the dates to form a mass, but you can also just blend/grind in a mixer.

Thinnai Idli | Foxtail Millet Idli | Healthy Recipe

Thinnai/Foxtail millet idli with step by step pictures.

Foxtail millet idli is a healthy breakfast option in place of regular idli. I have tried idli with other millet, but in all, I have used some rice to make the batter. But in this millet idli I haven't used any rice and yet the idli turned soft. Some other idli recipes in my space include ragi instant idli, fermented ragi idli, kodo millet idli,  etc.

Sweet Potato Dinner Buns | Thanksgiving Recipe

Sweet potato dinner rolls with step by step pictures.

It had been a quite long time since I baked bread/buns at home. I remember, a month before I baked a mini-sized choco filled buns and posted on my Instagram page. I couldn't post that in my blog as I did n't take step by step pictures. So last week when I had a piece of sweet potato I decided to try dinner rolls with it and it came out well.

Rabri | How to make Rabri | Indian Dessert

Rabri is an Indian dessert made with milk, sugar, saffron, and nuts. The recipe will somewhat look similar to basundi which also have similar ingredients. In basundi, the sweetened milk is thickened and served with nuts. But here in rabri, it is thickened by scrapping the sides of the pan and the end product may look little grainy. In Basundi it will be smoothy when compared to rabri. In this festive make this easy dessert and relish with family.

Tamarind Rice | Lunch Box Recipe

Tamarind rice recipe with step by step pictures.

I have seen in many blogs about the tamarind rice in which they add some freshly ground masala powder. But in this recipe, no such fresh masala powder is added and quite easy and simple to make without many processes. Mostly we pack this rice for our long train travel as it never gets spoiled soon unlike other rice. Roasted red chilly-coconut thogayal is the best pair for this rice variety.

Paruppu Thogayal | How to make paruppu thogayal

Paruppu thogayal with step by step pictures.

Simple lentils thogayal is a easy dip which can be mixed with hot steaming rice along with ghee. One can make this dip with coconut also. But here I didn't use any coconut. Yesterday when I was lazy to make any kuzhambu for rice I made this thogayal , mixed up with rice and had my lunch. It was super tasty and easy to make. I tried to capture a quick video with my mobile.

Green Peas Kachori | Mattar Stuffed Kachori

Green peas kachori with step by step pictures.

Whenever I buy kachori from any chat shop my first thought that would come will be soon I must try and blog about it. But it never happened. Last month one day I decided to try this in spite of all laziness for snacks. Both my kids loved to have it along with green chutney and sauce. Give a try and I'm damn sure you will love it. This is somewhat similar to samosa except for the shape.

Quinoa Pidi Kozhukattai | Healthy Steamed Sweet

We all know the health benefits of quinoa and me too bought some whole quinoa and quinoa flour from Amazon. With a last batch of flour, I decided to make this pidi kozhukattai.While making this I added more water hence it becomes necessary to add some rice flour. So be careful while adding water.

Mint-Coriander Rice | Easy Lunch Box Ideas

Mint coriander rice with step by step pictures.
Packing lunch box for kids is quite challenging. Mostly I make lemon rice, simple fried rice, beetroot rice or mix cooked rice with the stir fry I make. Recently when I make this mint-coriander rice my kids loved them and hence decided to blog about it.

Ragi Pakoda | How to make ragi-onion pakora

Ragi pakora/pakoda with step by step pictures.

Ragi pakoda is a deep fried snack made with ragi flour, onions, and spices. When I came across this page, it explained to add powder of chutney dal & peanuts to make it light and protein-rich. Also without this two ingredients, the result pakoda will be hard and gummy. So if planning to make this snacks try adding these two or at least anyone.

Beetroot pachadi | Onam Sadya Recipe

Beetroot pachadi with step by step pictures.

A simple and comforting pachadi made with beetroot, coconut -spice mix , curd. It one of a recipe in Kerala onam sadya with its attracting color this pachadi tastes yummy.

Eggless Banana Bread | Video Recipe

An easy to make banana bread which can be served as breakfast for kids or as snacks for evening tea/coffee. If you have any over riped banana please don't discard it, you can make excellent bread with it.

Pepper Coriander Chicken | Green Chicken curry

Coriander chicken is a semi-thick gravy made with freshly prepared masala of coriander leaves, green chili. To make it richer and creamier I used some soaked cashews which enhanced the taste and flavor. There is definitely a difference in taste when the masalas are freshly prepared. Go ahead and try this and I'm damn sure you will love it. We paired it with fried rice. You can also serve it for Indian flatbread, appam, idiyappam or any rice variety.

Kovakai Poriyal | Tindora Stir fry

Kovakai/ Tindora is one vegetable which I got familiar only after we shifted to Chennai. I had tasted it in my sister in law's house in Andhra and she said it is good for the diabetic. I don't remember that I had about this vegetable before 2k. You can make many recipes with it and many time just I cut into round shaped, mix with spices and pan fry in just a tbsp of oil.

Pazham Pori | Ethakka Appam | Banana Fritters | Kerala Recipe

Pazham pori with step by step pictures.
Pazham Pori is one of the famous snack recipes of Kerala and I just love it.Whenever we use to our native we can see vendors selling them in our hometown station.I rarely make it at home because my daughter loves to eat the banana as such and nothing will be left to make this. One day got some and decided to make it.

Whole Wheat Choc Chips Cupcakes

Wheat choc hips cupcakes with step by step pictures.

Healthy cupcakes with wheat flour, oil, and sugar. It's an eggless version and it came out soft, moist and tasty. I packed them for my son's snacks box and he loved it to the core. Do give a try. instead of choc chips, you can also use any dry fruits or nuts.

Paruppu podi | Lentils -Spice Powder | How to make paruppu podi

Paruppu podi with step by step pictures and video.

The first time I tasted this podi was at a restaurant in pondy bazaar and was amazed by the taste of it with a generous amount of ghee dropped and mixed over it.From then I became a die-hard lover of this paruppu podi and search for this podi when I go to other restaurants. But many hotels don't give this podi in their lunch items.

Sago Cutlet | Javarisi Cutlet | Sago Tikki

Sago cutlet with step by step picture.
An easy quick snack with sago/javarisi to go well with evening chai/tea. Making this cutlet is so simple and only the time-consuming work is cooking of the potatoes else you can make them quickly. Sago, when soaked in water, will easily absorb it and will become glossy soon. If using nylon variety sago it will take more time. As this recipe is a no onion no garlic recipe people who are fasting can have it.

Batata Vada | Street Food of Maharastra

Batata Vada with step by step pictures.
Batata Vada is one of the most popular street food of Maharashtra. It is nothing but potato vada. 'Batata means potato. Cooked potato mixed up with spices and coated with besan flour mix which is then deep fried in oil. I adapted this recipe from MasterChef Sanjeev Kapoor's website. It is tasted best when served with tomato sauce and green chutney ( mint-coriander chutney).

Mango Popsicle | Mango Recipe

Mango popsicle, a treat for mango lover and a treat for kids.

In this mango season, I have not made any recipe with it except this mango-banana smoothie. Every time when I buy some mango keeping in mind to try a new recipe I just end up eating the fruit as such. Just to make a simple popsicle with it I bought two mangoes and immediately made it as I may get lazy later and may end up just eating it.

Dry Fruits Milkshake | Fruits & Nuts Milkshake

Dry fruits milkshake with step by step pictures. My kids refuse to eat dry fruits &nut. Though I lecture its benefits they never turn up. So I need to look upon any alternative to make them eat. Mostly I give them a cup of drink first in the evening when they return back from school. So I thought why not make a milkshake with it and feed them with the healthy nuts. Hence the recipe.

Mango Banana Smoothie | Healthy Breakfast Smoothie

Mango Banana smoothie is excellent breakfast smoothie. For people who generally find less time to make and consume breakfast, this smoothie comes in handy. Just add peeled banana & mango in a blender, whip it up and your smoothie is ready.

Mini Bundt Cake | Eggless Banana Bundt Cake

When my kids refuse to eat banana my next option would be to make either a baked goodie with it else make paniyaram. Every week I buy some banana as I like to eat a banana daily. My kids refuse to eat them when they spot any black color on its skin. So I force them to have it when the skin is fully yellow. At times some bananas will be left out fully over riped. So I make cakes/ cupcakes with it.

Dal Fry | Simple Masoor Dal Fry

Simple dal fry video recipe.
Masoor dal fry is another simple and easiest recipe. This can be used as gravy for hot steaming rice and as a side dish for Indian flatbread. It nearly takes less time to cook this recipe and here I have used open pot method to cook my dal other it would be even quicker if I use a pressure cooker. Just cook the dal, temper it and you are done.

Potato Masala | Simple Potato Stir Fry

Potato masala is an easy recipe which can be made in jiffy. Whenever I pack lunch box for my kids this masala would be definitely  there. This is so easy and simple to make and is so so versatile that you can pair it for any rice variety or even for any Indian flat breads.

White Pumpkin Halwa | Poosanikai Halwa with Natural Sweetner

White pumpkin halwa with step by step pictures.

Poosanikai halwa is also called as Kasi halwa and I don't know why they call so. The main ingredients in this halwa are grated pumpkin, sugar, and ghee. I have used natural organic sugar instead of white sugar. But you can use regular sugar if you don't have it. In both cases, it will taste good.

Jackfruit Appam | Jackfruit- Rice Sweet Friters

Jackfruit appam with step by step pictures. This is chef  Venkatesh Bhatt's recipe which he taught in Vijay Tv's " Samayal Samayal".I love watching his program due to the simplicity of the recipe.

Chocolate Ice Cream | No Churn Ice Cream

No churn chocolate ice cream with minimal ingredients to beat the heat.I have already posted chocolate ice cream on my blog which had some fancy ingredient like liquid glucose.Also here I have used nattu sarkarai/Palm sugar instead of white sugar and we didn't feel any taste difference.

Neem Flower-Tamarind Soup | Veppam Poo Rasam | How to make Neem Flower Rasam

Neem Flower is an edible flower with a more medicinal value which I realized later.After coming to this blogging world I have learned more good information regarding food from other blogger's page and I am keener nowadays to health-oriented food.Neem flower aids in digestion and also help to destroy worms in the stomach.

Choc Chip Pancakes | Quick Pancakes for Kids

Pancakes are one easy breakfast to make.As my children are on their summer vacation and we get up leisurely this pancakes is the best option for me to make.Another advantage of this is we don't need to make any side dish for it.Let us see how to make this pancake.

Mango Chutney | Mango-Coconut Thogayal/Thuvaiyal

As mangoes are in season it would be best to share this recipe now.This chutney tasted good only with rice and I found it that not tasty for south Indian breakfast.This thogayal so simple to make just fry the red chili and coconut for few minutes, cool and grind with mango and other ingredients.

Sago Kheer | Javarisi Payasam | Tamil New Year Recipe

Javarisi/sago/sabudhana payasam is a quick, easy to make a dessert which can be made in little time and without much effort. Unlike other pradhaman which needs coconut milk, jaggery syrup and all this kheer just need some milk and sugar and you are done with this dessert.

Fresh Pineapple Juice | Homemade Juice

Homemade fresh pineapple juice.
Making homemade juice is always economically and healthy as we don't add unwanted stuff into it.Some will get an irritating feeling after eating pineapple. To avoid such feeling sprinkle some pepper init and have.