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.