Layered vegetable biryani/ Hyderabadi vegetable biryani/ Vegetable biryani recipe/ Dum biryani

Biryani is one of the famous recipe in india. During sunday's lot of indian houses are filled with a  aroma of biryani.  As we all know hyderabad is famous for biryani. This layered biryani is also its kind.  I have dum cooked this biryani in pressure cooker. Traditionally it is cooked in clay pots. Layered  veg biryani is slightly different from regular veg biryani. It has lots of crunchy fried onions and fried nuts. making it richer and tastier. Cooking biryani really needs little bit patient.  You have to cook the grains soft and seperate. It should not be mushy.

kodo millet upma/ varagu upma/ kodra upma/ millet recipes/ healthy breakfast recipes

Hello friends and readers ... Its been long time since  i updated a recipe in my blog. Its because of my tight schedule. I was busy in packing a things for cargo and cleaning my entire home for past one month. Ya we are again relocating to India. It will take a month or two to reassemble the things here. Meanwhile we also planned a trip to our hometowns. So no cooking these days and will be pampered by my mom. (lucky girl!!!) But  without cooking, i feel like i lost something and  life is bland.  My husband also miss my food. But soon i ll spread aroma in our new home(kitchen).

Shahi tukda recipe / Shahi tukra recipe

Shahi tukda / Shahi tukra is a rich dessert of fried and sugar syrup coated bread slices soaked in rabri( thick milk with spices like cardamom and saffron). This rich dessert belongs to mughlai cusine. I didn't get a chance to taste this rich dessert in restaurants. So tried on my own and achieved great result. You can divide the recipe in to three parts :

1. Making rabri. (thick condensed milk with spices like cardamom and saffron)

2. Making sugar syrup.

3. Frying the bread slices and assembling.

Peas pulao / Matar pulao / Pattani sadam

Peas pulao is a flavourful one pot meal.  Its also simple and easy to prepare.  I have made it several times  and every time i got a  tasty pulao. My husband likes this  pulao very much. So usually  in sundays i prepare this pulao and pair it up with onion raita. 

     Peas pulao + onion raita and curd  rice + pickle  makes a hearty meal during weekends. Should i say to take a nap after this wholesome and hearty meal?  enjoy this weekend by having delicious and flavourful peas pulao.

Potato Curry/ Sidedish for rice

It has been a long time since i posted South indian recipe. So today its potato curry, simple but tasty one.  There are many variations in potato curry. Here is my version. I will post all variations in near future. It is a  suitable sidedish for  rice with sambar or rasam . Even with curd rice it tastes best. Potato is  universal  veggie liked by all. Also kid's favorite veggie. So try this spicy curry to relish all members of your family.

Strawberry milkshake

 Strawberry milkshake ia very refreshing drink during summer.  If you are making it for kids, you can add  scoop of vanilla icecream for more richer and creamier milkshake. But i didn't add icecream. I made it simple with milk alone. Still it tastes great. 

Eggless vanilla cup cake with choco chips/ Eggless vanilla muffins

Today i am with an interesting post. Ya its Eggless vanilla cup cake with choco chips. For past 4  days i was busy with preparations for my husband's birthday celebrations. Finally we celebrated yesterday with lot of  joy and fun. So as our  celebrations were over , I thought of blogging today. 

     Coming to the recipe, Baking is not a difficult if you follow some basics and some tips & tricks. You have to be accurate in measuring the ingredients and setting the temperature and timing of the oven.

Finger millet porridge (sweet version) / Ragi kanji/ Ragi malt

Here comes another millet recipe. Ragi porridge/ Ragi kanji.  Its very easy to prepare. This is sweet version. I will post savoury version in near future. Its perfect for breakfast or evening  time drink. Its suitable for all categories of people from infants to elders. 

  My mom asks me to take this porridge frequently as ragi has many health benefits. My mom prepares this daily to feed her loved ones. I have started drinking this porridge right from childhood. That days, My mom used to run behind me to feed  ragi porridge as i don't like sweet taste. Nowadays, Things changed, I understood the  health benefits of ragi  and moreover i like sweet taste.

Brown rice sweet pongal / Sivapu arisi sakkarai pongal /Sweet recipes

When i bought pot for making  sweet pongal for the tamil festival "Pongal" , i got a pack of   brown rice. I kept it idle for a long time. Then suddenly  idea strikes, why not to try sweet pongal with brown rice? Sweet pongal means sakkarai pongal in tamil.  

  Brown rice is more nutritious than white rice. Brown rice and white rice have similar amounts of calories and carbohydrates. The main differences between the two forms of rice lie in processing and nutritional content.

Kanda poha/ Breakfast recipes/ Evening snack recipe

Kanda poha... Its a popular dish in  Maharastra. Kanda means onion in Hindi. I have tasted kanda poha in pune. It has lots of crunchy onion and peanuts. It also have nice aroma of coriander leaves. It will not be too spicy , mild sweetness will be there. They will top with sev while serving . Me and my husband is a big fan of destination centre  poha. Our family also enjoyed poha when they visited us in pune.

    while eating poha, i guess the ingredients used in it and also watched my North indian friend preparing  poha. So i recreated in my home  and acheived great result.

Strawberry banana smoothie/ Summer recipes

I think Summer  already started in India. Here in Germany it starts only at the end of may. Now moderate climate with breeze and drizzling sometimes. Think how pleasent it would be?

       In summer, we need to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water and fresh juice. Don't opt carbonated drinks or readymade juice mixes as it is not good for health. Also it will not help us to stay hydrated.  So lets BEAT THE  HEAT with Strawberry Banana smoothie.

       So hereafter you will find some Summer recipes in my blog. Stay stuned.

Sorghum Dosa/ Chola dosa / Jowar dosa

 Sorghum is known as cholam in tamil and jowar in hindi. It is one of the millet. I had a special request from my  Sister in law to post millet recipes in my blog. Actually I make millet recipes once in a week.  But didn't get time to post. I think now  its a right time. 

   I learnt millet recipes from my mom and chiti (mom's sister) They make frequently and ask me to  prepare by telling the method.  Here in Germany i don't get millets. So whenever i visit india   I used to buy large packets. This time my father bought when he visited me.  A big thanks to my mom dad and chiti :)

Semiya payasam/ Semiya kheer / Vermicelli kheer

Semiya payasam , semiya kheer, vermicelli kheer ... Whatever the name be.  It is very delicious dessert. I usually make this during my friday pooja. Simple to prepare. Delicious and delighful to eat. You can make  many variations depending on your liking and family taste. Here i have  treated you with a basic recipe. Check my notes for variations you can make in this recipe.       In this recipe, i have loaded lots of images its because i can't control myself on clicking this delicious goodie. ( i really enjoyed clicking  the payasam rather than eating. Funny know?) So get ready for the virtual treat :)

Vegetable manchurian gravy / Indo Chinese recipe ( 蔬菜满洲肉汁 - Shūcài mǎnzhōu ròuzhī )

 Vegetable manchurian gravy recipe is a Indo chinese recipe. It goes well with Vegetable  Fried rice. I have tasted this recipe in various restaurants. In some restaurants it tastes good but in others its not up to the mark. So decided to prepare in home itself. The recipe needs soya sauce and chilli tomato sauce. First i doubted whether i can get that  here in Germany. But to my suprise  i found both. One fine day i bought soya sauce  and chilli tomato sauce and tried it.  It came very nice.  Since then whenever i crave for manchurian gravy, i prepare this along with fried rice and enjoy heartily. Now its your turn . Try it and relish you and your family.

Rice upma/ Arisi upma / Breakfast/ dinner recipe.

 Rice upma / Arisi upma is authentic South Indian breakfast/ dinner recipe. Traditionally it is made in bronze pot .( vengala panai in tamil) The brown crispy layer will be formed  in bottom when  this rice  upma  is made in bronze pot. That crispy part will be very tasty.I like that very much more than upma. Taking that crispy bottom layer from the pot is very tricky . My mom used to scrape the pot with a ladle in order to collect the crispy layer. Me and my sister will be patiently waiting  and watching my mom thinking "when she ll finish the process and give  it to us" ? ( Childhood memories... Greenish in my mind)

Dal fry/ Restaurant style dal fry recipe

Dal fry is a great side dish for plain rice, mild pulaos or even for rotis and naan.  Initially i followed many recipes and hooked to this  recipe finally. Its tastes similar to dal fry which is served in hotels.

    Many people confuses between dal fry and dal tadka. Here is the difference. 

Dal fry : Dal is cooked first until it gets soft then onion, tomato and spices are sauted in ghee/oil and added to the dal. Then simmered and served.

Dal tadka: Dal is cooked along with onion, tomato and spices until soft and spices like mustard, cumin seeds, redchillies, hing , etc are tempered. This tempering is added to the dal finally and served.

Instant chocolate peda/ No cook easy sweet

 This is a very easy sweet. You can make it , in just 10 - 15 mins and no  stove is required. Sounds interesting right?  I should say it tastes yummy.  Definetly a good treat for chocolate lovers.  Give a try and relish yourself and your family. Even beginners in cooking can try it confidently.

Gobi paratha/ Cauliflower paratha

I tasted  Gobi paratha in destination centre , pune for the very first time. It was very tasty. the texture was very nice. I never thought of trying at home. But  after coming  to germany, i craved for parathas and  tried on my own  . It was exceptionally good.  So finally i recreated the same at my home.( happy women now :))                Nowadays i am falling in love towards parathas. I like to have parathas  rather than chapathi for breakfast or dinner . So parathas appears frequently in my kitchen.

     

Aloo bhaji/ No onion no garlic recipe/ Sidedish for poori/ chapathi

Aloo bahji  can be made as a sidedish for poori / chapathi or even for pulaos. I searched sidedishes for poori/ chapathi in the net and found this one. Its very simple to prepare  with no onion and garlic .This tastes mild spicy and tangy. Give a try and relish your family.

Paneer pulao

 Paneer pulao is a simple and tasty one pot meal.

I had left over paneer after making a gravy. So i thought of preparing pulao  with paneer and made it. Here in this pulao i used peas along with paneer. But you can also add carrot to make it more appealing and tasty.   Try it out and have a flavourful, tasty and healthy meal. Check out my notes section for tips and tricks while making this pulao.

South indian lunch menu combo 2

Here comes another lunch menu.  I made brinjal poricha kuzhambu, Carrot beans poriyal  and rasam . To give extra spice to this menu  i added Coriander thogayal and cucucmber carrot salad.

Coriander thogayal can be replaced by curry leaves thogayal or thengai thogayal. Just toss the cucumber and carrot slices  in salt and pepper... our salad is ready!

Methi thepla/ Gujarathi Methi Thepla/ Methi roti

 Methi thepla is a  gujarathi recipe.  It is roti with Fenugreek leaves( methi leaves). As we are adding methi leaves , the roti is very soft  . So it is ideal for travel. The aroma of methi leaves is awesome  in  this thepla. As we are  adding spice powders in roti itself,  no  sidedish is required. Just with pickle and curd  you can enjoy thepla. Check my notes for making soft theplas

Jeera rice / Jeera pulao / Cumin rice

 Jeera rice is a flavourful one pot meal. Very simple to prepare. Usally once in a week i prepare one pot meal. If i want to make it simple and tasty , i go for this jeera rice. Any rich onion tomato based gravies or palak based gravies  will be  a suitable side dish for jeera rice. Even daltadka or dal fry will do. Bachelors or working women  can give a try and see. 

Poori masala/ Poori kizhangu/ Potato masala for poori

 Poori  and  potato masala is a classic combo!  I have tried many kurmas to be paired with poori but this is  the best combo  i would say. My husband is a great fan of poori masala. He enjoys every bite of poori with this masala. I sit near him and watch his happpy face :)  That gives me greatest joy in the  world. ok.. enough of my stories. lets go in to the recipe...

Palak paratha/ Spinach paratha

Palak paratha is a healthy and tasty paratha. Its very simple to prepare as it requires no stuffing.

Here in Germany, every week i get  a pack of fresh palak. So i make  palak dishes like dal palak , palak kootu, palak stirfry, palak kofta, and aloo palak very often and palak paratha is no exception. If you get a bunch of palak ,don't forget to try this paratha

Mint rice/ Mint Pulao /Pudina sadam/ Pudina pulao

Mint rice / Pudina pulao is simple and flavourful one pot meal. If you don't have time to spend in kitchen and worried  about what to prepare for your family?  then one pot meals are really life savers.  Within jiffy you can cook this wonderful and flavourful pulao. Even Bachelors can give a try.  

  A bunch of pudina is sitting in my pantry and i want to make a recipe out of it other than thogayal.  So i  googled and found the recipe of mint pulao. We liked it a lot. So now its your turn...

Ridge gourd gosthu/ Peerkangai gosthu/ Side dish for idly/ dosa

My Mom makes this ridge gourd gosthu as a sidedish  for Chola dosa , Kambu dosa and idly.

This is  just  a change to our regular chutneys and sambhars.  Its very easy to prepare . During busy mornings, within no time you can prepare this spicy gosthu.

Brinjal porichakuzhambu / Kathirikai Poricha kuzhambu

Brinjal poricha Kuzhambu is a South Indian recipe. I often make this Poricha kuzhambu  as this is my husband's favourite. Poricha kuzhambu  is tempered with fried "kari vadagam" hence the name poricha kuzhambu. 'poricha in Tamil language means fried. Since i run out of karivadagam i tempered with mustard and uraddal. Tastewise there is  no difference in both the methods, but karivadagam gives nice flavour to kuzhambu.

Chidambaram Gosthu/ Brinjal Gosthu/ Side dish for Idly/dosa

  This is  a gosthu made with brinjal, also known as Chidambaram gosthu. It is my Mom's version. It is a perfect sidedish for idly. It tastes tangy and spicy.  Even my sister who hate brinjals, likes this gosthu. So any brinjal haters in your family will love this for sure.  Try this and relish this gosthu with hot idlies.

Arachuvitta sambhar without coconut

Arachuvitta sambhar  is  sambhar ,made with freshly grounded spices. It is very flavourful sambhar as we are using  freshly grounded spices instead of our usual sambhar powder. Before marriage, me and my mom prepare arachuvitta sambar if we got  bored with our usual sambhar. But during that time my mom is concerned  about coconut used  in the sambhar. 

    Nowadays i hooked to this recipe, which doesn't uses coconut and passed this recipe to my mom also.  So without feeling guilty Iam enjoying this delicious sambhar . This is a best side dish for rice , idli,  and dosa.

Butter milk kuzhambu / Mor kuzhambu/ side dish for rice

Butter milk kuzhambu/ Mor kuzhambu is a yogurt based gravy. This recipe, i learnt it from my mom . Even now whenever  i want to make this Kuzhambu, I call my mom ( my forgetful ness ) so i wanted post this recipe thinking that it will be helpful for my future reference too.

  

Bottle gourd kootu/ Suraikai kootu /Sidedish for rice

This is my own version of making Bottlegourd kootu.  Bottle gourd is known as ' Suraikai ' in tamil and  ' lauki' in hindi. This goes well with plain rice and curd rice. I used combination of chana dal and moong dal to prepare this kootu.

Moong dal gosthu/ Pasi parupu gosthu /Side dish for idly /dosa

  Moong dal gosthu is often made by my   Mom as a side dish for idly / dosa. Hot idlies and this moong dal gosthu is definetly a filling  breakfast.

Vegetables can be added to this gosthu are: Carrot, Brinjal, Potato along with onion and tomato. You can skip one or two veggies except onion and tomato, if you dont have some veggies in stock.  Still it tastes great.  Try it and have a nourishing breakfast/ dinner.

Roasted Phool makhana / Puffed Lotus seed (fox nut) snack / Low calorie snack

 Phool makhana...  Are  you heard of it before? some might be familiar with this ...  For those who  aren't heard this  before, phool makhana is puffed lotus seed  called as fox nut . The lotous seed is puffed like popcorn and it is  widely used in North india especially during vrats. They usually prepare kheer ,and curry  with this makhana or simply roasting it  for snacks.

   Phool makhana has many health benefits and low in calorie too.  So Calorie conscious people can roast it and have  it as a snack. It taste similar to popcorn and health wise it is  much better than popcorn .

Coconut chutney/ Thengai chutney

Coconut chutney is a simple chutney. which can be made in a jiffy. Idly and coconut chutney is a classic combo. For preparing this chutney, fresh coconut or frozen coconut is used .  You can also use  desiccated coconut. But taste and texture wise fresh or frozen is best compared to desiccated  coconut.

Coriander leaves Thogayal

Coriander leaves thogayal (kothamalli  in tamil ) is one of the thogayal  i often make in home for accompaniment to rice. It has many health benfits such as lowering cholesterol , positively reducing blood pressure , controlling mouth ulcers , etc.. So try to include coriander leaves in the form of thogayal  in your day to day menu and make your  family healthy.

Onion tomato chutney/ Side dish for Idly / dosa

Onion tomato chutney is  a good sidedish for idly and dosa or you can have this  even with upma , pongal and curd rice . There are many variations in this chutney.  This is  a basic one.  I ll post other variations in future . This is a spicy chutney and perfect accompaniment for idly and dosa. 

Thandai

 Thandai is a popular drink  made in North India during holi.   As  I am South Indian, we don't have a custom of celebrating holi. But I adore this festival as Holi is festival of colours.  So my husband  and me  are planning  to celebrate this festival in pune next year. This year I made thandai and we  tasted it for a very first time

    Coming to thandai... It is  chilled milk with almonds and  some spices.  I love to have flavourful chilled milk. Spices used in thandai made me eager to taste and   i can't control myself  during chilling time.  I enjoyed every sip of thandai. It is so delicious. 

Rasam with freshly grounded spices

 This is  a South indian recipe.  Generally we prepare rasam in our everyday  lunch menu. We always  prepare rasam powder in large quantity  and store it in  a airtight container in advance . So it will be handy for us while preparing rasam during lunch. But here I am sharing rasam with freshly grounded spices. It can be prepared within minutes . All you need is some spices and few minutes to spare in kitchen. If you run out of Rasam powder. Dont worry .  Follow this simple recipe. It can be made in a  jiffy.  Enjoy  piping hot rasam with rice.

Ridge gourd Chutney

 My mom usally makes gravy with  Ridge gourd  as a side dish  for idly/ dosa. But this Ridge gourd chutney is new to me.  I am bored of usal chutneys and wanted to try a new one.  So searched the net and find this.   My husband who don't like Ridge gourd ate this  chutney without knowing it has ridge gourd in it and said " it is super" and asked the name of the chutney .  (Any guess ? what I have said to him )  So why  are u waiting? put your Aprons and make this chutney and please your family.

South Indian Lunch Menu 1

 Here, in this section I  will give some South Indian Lunch combos for  serve your family or guests during weekdays or weekends. This is very simple but healthy menu.  I usually include dal and one or two veggies in our day to day Lunch .  So in this menu  as  there is no Sambar or kootu   I combined moongdal and Snakegourd and made Stirfry. As this side dish is not so spicy, I made Rasam  to go well with Rice.I also made thogayal to go well with curd rice.

Curry Leaves Thogayal / Karuvepillai Thuvaiyal

 Curry leaves thogayal/ Karuvepillai  thogayal ( in Tamil language)  is Simple to prepare. Curryleaves are added to our day to day recipes such as gravies and curries  during tempering. Normally Many of us , without consuming it, will pick it up and keep aside while eating curries or gravies. But   I wanted to  Consume Curry leaves  as it is rich in Iron and Vitamin  A, B, C, E  which can help our heart to function better also  enliven  our hair. Coming to the recipe, It  goes well with  Rasam and curd rice. Or even you can simply mix this thogayal with rice and have a hearty meal.

Vegetable paratha

 Vegetable paratha  is made with Wheat flour and veggies like Carrot  and onion.  This receipe requires no stuffing and very simple to prepare. I learnt this dish from my mom. In  busy mornings,  when I have no time to prepare side dish for chapathi, my  choice will be this. Just with pickle and curd you can have  a healthy breakfast . Or you can have this for a dinner too.

Broccoli stir fry / Broccoli poriyal

 Brocolli is the vegetable which is rich in vitamin c and dietary  fiber also the source of folate . (Source - Wikipedia). Because of its health benefits  I try to include this veggie in our menu. I usually make this stir fry as a  sidedish along with sambar or kootu. My husband  doesn 't like broccoli and takes less amount of this poriyal during lunch.  But  I force him to take this goodness in more amount as  staying healthy is very important. Now coming to the recipe, its very easy to prepare. Prepare this and make your family nutritious.

Bread Gulab Jamun

 I made this Bread Gulab jamun during  our 1 st Anniversary along with Eggless vanila cake. I am bored of making gulab jamun with readymade mix  and wanted to try new one.  It is very simple and easy . For a change try this instead of  regular gulab jamuns.

Restaurant style dosa / Crisp dosa

We usually order dosa in restaurant only because of its crispiness. The dosas  made in our homes are not that much crispy. So  I wanted to try crispy dosa . I googled the recipe  and  made it . It was super success.   Nowadays we are enjoying crispy dosa in home itself  and    I am making twice  in a month .  Do try this and suprise your loved ones with this super crispy dosa.

Semiya Adai/ Vermicelli Adai

This semiya adai is best  for evening time snacks. I learnt this recipe from the cookbook. I did little modification to suit to our taste. When I made this first time in my home, everyone in my family enjoyed this. So whenever  my mom wants to make this snack, she will  leave the kitchen to me. After  marriage this is the first time I am making this.

This is simple recipe .  Give a try and rejoice your kids who are coming back to home tiredly...

Venpongal

 After a long gap...  I am with the new post.  Venpongal is the South indian breakfast recipe made  with  raw rice , moong dal and of course with some spices. During winters it is often made in our home as it contains pepper which is the best medicine for cold and cough.  The aroma of ghee in it will make divine feeling.  My father usally orders venpongal  when we dine out  at mornings.  The amount of ghee added in the pongal will be more in the hotels. So Calorie conscious me and my mom usually won't opt this in the hotels.

Vegetable fried rice / Indo Chinese recipe

 Before marriage   I have tried  fried rice on my own . My family was also comfortable with my very own style. That days... I am not familiar with spring onions. And it is very rare to find in market at my place. So  I avoided that veggie and  usually make with cabbage , capsicum and carrot. Nowadays I am following     this style... So without further delay, lets move to  the recipe...

Basundi

Basundi is the Indian dessert made with milk. I have tasted basundi in Aanandhabhavan restaurant in coimbatore. This is my mom's favorite dessert. Also for me and my sister. So whenever we visit there, we used to have basundi at the end of our feast. When i saw the recipe in the net , I surprised  because it is very  easy to prepare. The pictures tempted me to try that recipe  asap . Finally I    made... it so delicious... unable to express in words... I enjoyed every spoon of my Basundi. Its really  tastes heaven... comeon friends... give  a try and make your loved ones happy...