Brahmi leaves is known as vallarai keerai in tamil. It is an excellent medicinal herb, which is widely used in India and all south east asian nations for centuries. It has the power to cure many diseases and try to include this in your diet atleast once in a week. I still remember during school examinations, my mom used to give me this vallarai thuvaiyal, as it boosts the memory power. For your reference, below i have posted the brahmi leaves plant from my garden.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup vallarai keerai (brahmi leaves)

½ tablespoon urad dhal

½ inch ginger

4 to 5 dry red chilly

½ lemon sized tamarind.

5 to 6 pearl onion (sliced)

2 tablespoons coconut (grated)

Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Pre heat the kadai and add 1 tablespoon of oil. When it is heated, add urad dhal, ginger and dry red chilly. Saute till the urad dhal turns brown.

Then onion, tamarind,salt goes in. Saute for a minute. Add coconut & vallarai keerai and saute for a min. Dont cook the leaves too much. Because the leaves may loose its nutrients.

Once it cools, grind it to little coarse form. Sprinkle little water if needed.

Vallarai thuvaiyal is ready to be served.

Serve with rice, idly or dosai and enjoy…

Thandu keerai or red amaranth greens are very attractive because of its catchy colour. It is available in two colours: full red in colour and red & green mix. Unlike other greens, you can also cook stems(stalks) too. As like any other greens, it has also very high nutrients and fully loaded with dietry fibers. In india, we usually make koottu with this thandu keerai. But for a change, here we make paal charu (soup) with thandu keerai.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups thandu keerai (tightly packed excluding stems)

1 onion sliced

3 to 4 garlic cloves (sliced)

3 to 4 dry red chilly

1 cup kazhani thanni (rise rinsed water)

½ cup coconut milk (2nd extract )

1 cup thick coconut milk

Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Pre heat the pan and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Then add in onion, garlic & red chilly and saute till the onion turns translucent.

Then add in kazhani thanni, second coconut milk and keerai. Boil it for few minutes till the greens(keerai) get cooked.

Lower the flame and add thick coconut milk & salt. Bring it to single boil and switch off the flame.

Healthy thandu keerai paal charu is ready to be served.

Potato is a versatile veggie and you can make any type of dishes with this. Here i have posted a super delicious potato stir fry with great flavor and taste, which is very easy to prepare,  and goes well with curd rice and rasam rice.

INGREDIENTS:

4 potatoes (boiled and cut into cubes)

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

½ tablespoon coriander seeds

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

3 garlic cloves (crushed with skin)

A pinch of hing

Few curry leaves

1 teaspoon red chilly powder

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

Salt to taste

2 tablespoons oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

Dry roast the cumin seeds and coriander seeds for a min and grind it into a coarse powder

In a pan, add 2 tablespoons of oil. When oil gets heated, add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutters, add crushed garlic, hing and curry leaves and saute for a min.

Then add in red chilly powder, turmeric powder and give it a quick stir. Don’t let the masala burn. Keep the flame low in this stage.

Add in potato cubes and saute till the masalas coat well. Then salt, crushed cumin, coriander mix goes in. Mix well and close the pan with lid. Cook it for 15 min in low flame. Stir occasionally.

Tasty potato fry is ready to be served.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Avocados add more flavour and fun to any sandwich. Along with buttery avocados, soft creamy sweet potatoes add richness to the sandwich.

INGREDIENTS:

4 bread slice

1 avocado medium sized

½ sweet potato mashed

1 egg scrambled

1 onion chopped

Chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

¼ teaspoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon black pepper powder

2 tablespoons thousand island salad dressing (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Steam the sweet potatoes for 6 to 7 min and keep it aside.

In a bowl, add avocado, onion, cilantro, lemon juice, salt and pepper and mix all these well. Then add egg, sweet potato and toss it gently.

Take one portion of filling and spread it on the buttered bread slices. Add “thousand island” salad dressing. (You can use any type of salad dressing or just leave it)

Cover the filling with remaining bread slices. Place the sandwiches in a preheated grill, cover and grill for 2 to 3 min or till the sandwiches are golden and crispy.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup or coriander mint chutney..

South Indian meals is incomplete without sambar. It can be made for breakfast, lunch and also for dinner. It  is an essential accompaniment to rice, idli, vada, doasai, upma. Sambar can be made with variety of vegetables or even a simple one with onions. Here i post the simple onion sambar.

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup toor dhal

1 tablespoons moong dhal (optional)

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds

¼ teaspoon asafoetida (hing)

20 pearl onion

5 to 6 garlic cloves

1 tomato chopped

4 green chilies

1 teaspoon red chilly powder

1 teaspoon sambar

Extract from a gooseberry sized tamarind

To temper:

¼ teaspoon mustard seeds

2 dry red chilly

¼ teaspoon cumin seeds

A pinch of hing

1 sprig of curry leaves

INSTRUCTIONS:

Wash toor dhal well and drain the water. Add turmeric powder, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and hing.

Add 2 cups of water to this and pressure cook it for 3 whistles. Switch off the flame and and allow it to cool down.

After the pressure has released, open the lid and transfer the contents to an earthen pot (but you can continue on the same cooker).

Now keep this pan on stove in medium flame and add 1½

cups water. Once it begins to boil, add onion, garlic, green chilly, tomato and salt.

When the onions are almost half done, add sambar powder and red chilly powder.

Allow it to boil well and add tamarind extract now. Reduce the flame to low and simmer the sambar for 5 min or until the raw smell of tamarind goes off. Switch off the flame.

In another small pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing, red chilly and curry leaves. Add this tempering to sambar.

Delicious pearl onion sambar is ready to be served.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

A super refreshing ice pops recipe of pomegranate and yogurt. It is a great energising treat in hot summer and it is not only for kids but for whole family.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup pomegranate seeds

½ cup yogurt

1 tablespoon sugar/ honey

INSTRUCTIONS:

Extract the juice from pomegranate seeds using a juicer jar. Strain the juice using strainer. You can also add lemon juice or sugar to this juice. Keep it aside.

In another bowl, take yogurt and sugar & mix well.

Pour the yogurt, sugar mix in popsicle mold & close and deep freeze it for 30 to 40 min.

Now remove the popsicle stick gently from the center and pour pomegranate juice. Close it and deep freeze it for few hours.

Demold the popsicles and serve chilled.

Enjoy licking !!!

Note:

Since it is a very simple recipe, i have not posted here the step by step procedures.

Gobi 65 is a yummy snack for winter season. This is a very dry version and also not too spicy, unlike normal 65 recipes. Serve this as a starter or as an evening snack with chutney or tomato ketchup.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups cauliflower florets

4 dry red chilies

3 to 4 garlic cloves

1 inch ginger

5 tablespoons besan

4 tablespoons rice flour

2 tablespoons corn starch

¼  teaspoon turmeric powder

½  teaspoon red chilly powder

½  teaspoon garam masala

½  teaspoon lemon juice

Salt to taste

To temper:

1 tablespoon oil

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

¼ cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger

2 dry red chilly

Few curry leaves

INSTRUCTIONS:

Rinse the cauliflower florets well and add enough hot water so that the florets are covered. Cover and blanch for 20min.

In a blender add ginger, garlic and dry red chilly and grind it to smooth paste by adding little water.

Drain the florets. Add the above paste to the florets and mix well. Then add besan, rice flour, corn starch, turmeric powder, garam masala, lemon juice and 1/3 cup water.

Add salt and mix well everything and marinate for 30min.

Heat enough oil to fry. When heated enough, add the florets and fry it until it becomes golden and crispy.

Remove and place them on kitchen paper towels to absorb the excess oil.

Now in another pan, add oil and all ingredients in “to temper” and saute till the onion turns translucent.

Now add fried florets and toss it twice and switch off the flame.

Crispy Gobi 65 is ready to be served.

Rava idly is a very famous south indian recipe which is very easy to prepare at home instantly. Though there are many ready made rava idly products are available, home made preservative free rava idly is very soft and delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup rava (suji/ semolina)

¼ cup semiya

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

A pinch of hing (asafoetida)

1 teaspoon channa dhal

1 teaspoon urad dhal

1 sprig curry leaves

3 to 4 dry red chilly (cut into small pieces)

6 to 7 cashew nuts (broken into pieces)

1/3 cup thick curd (yogurt)

3 tablespoons grated carrot

1 teaspoon grated ginger

1½ cup water

2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander leaves

Oil

Salt to taste.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, channa dhal, urad dhal and saute until the dhal turns brown. Now add curry leaves, dry red chilly,  cashew nuts and saute for 30 seconds.

Then add rava and semiya to this and roast it on medium flame until the rava turns light brown. Switch off the flame and let it cool.

In another bowl, take the mixture of curd, grated ginger, grated carrot, coriander leaves and salt. To this add roasted rava & water and mix well till no lumps appear.

Keep this batter aside for 20 to 30 min.

Pour this batter in greased idly molds and steam it for 10 to 15 min on medium flame.

Turn off the flame, take the molds out and allow it to cool down a bit, remove prepared idly by using wet spoon.

Instant rava idly is ready.

Serve hot with chutney and enjoy !!!

Note:

You can also add eno salt to the batter to make your idly more soft spongy. But after adding eno salt, pour the batter into molds immediately and steam it. Otherwise idly will not be spongy.

Potato masala sandwich is very to prepare and all you need are some boiled potatoes, spices, bread and butter. Here i have used wholemeal bread. But you can go with any bread of your choice. This potato masala sandwich can be served with tomato ketchup or spicy coriander chutney. It is a very good breakfast or snack option.

INGREDIENTS:

4 bread slices

2 medium potatoes (boiled & mashed)

1 onion chopped

2 green chilies finely chopped

¾ teaspoon sambar powder

½ teaspoon garam masala

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon amchur (dry mango)  powder. (optional)

Butter as required

Fresh coriander leaves

Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Boil or steam the potatoes till they are cooked very well. Peel and mash it well.

Pre heat a pan and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add in onion & green chilly and saute till the onion turns transparent.

Add in mashed potato,salt and masala powder and cook well. Sprinkle some water,if needed.  Add coriander leaves and switch off the flame.

Take some portion of potato stuffing and spread it on the buttered bread slices. Cover the bread with remaining bread slices.

Place the sandwiches in a preheated grill and cover & grill for 2 to 3 min or till the sandwiches are golden & crispy.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup or coriander chutney.

This is my most favorite chicken curry recipe, which is from Andhra cuisine.  I learned this recipe from my favorite youtube channel “rasoi smart”. I slightly modified this recipe to make it more flavourful. This chicken curry is extremely delicious and goes well with roti or rice.

INGREDIENTS:

½ kg chicken (cleaned)

1 cup sliced onion

1 cup curry leaves

8 to 10 garlic cloves

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

50 ml curd

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

2 cardamom

2 clove

1 small piece cinnamon

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 tablespoon peppercorn

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

Coriander to garnish

Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a pan, add cinnamon, cardamom, cumin seeds, pepper corns, fennel seeds, coriander seeds and dry roast them. Take out and add curry leaves. Dry roast it and blend it together with above items to coarse powder.

In a pan, add refined oil. When heated enough, add garlic and onion and saute till the onion turns transparent.

Then add in turmeric powder, chicken, curd and cook for 5 min.

Then the grounded powder and salt goes in.

Saute well and cook for 20 min.

Switch off the flame, Garnish and Serve hot !!!