Avial recipe (or Aviyal) is one of the first recipes I shared on Edible Garden but since then, I have perfect the technique to make avial just like we do back home in Kottayam and I wanted to revisit this Onam Sadya essential. Every Avial recipe has many variations since it’s a South Indian recipe and even within Kerala, it’s made in a few different ways. Personally, I prefer the semi-dry avial recipe that Amma uses without adding curd....

Pin I am sorry for not including the cup measurements. I was adding and subtracting ingredients on a hunch so my cup measurements all went out the window. You can use the culiverter tool on the bottom of the right sidebar to get measurements in cups in case you don’t own a kitchen balance. Please don’t let that deter the aspiring baker in you. I don’t have step by step pictures for this but its really not as complicated as a cake or a brownie....

The 3 eggs we had in the fridge were used up for breakfast with toast. What I did have in abundance is yogurt. I am nothing if not a good wife to a Tamil Brahmin, making sure his beloved thayir sadam is always just 5 mins away. Also check out this eggless chocolate sponge cake recipe . Eggless Chocolate Yogurt Cake Makes about 12 pieces What I Used: 1 cup flour ½ cup sugar (add ¼ cup more if not using frosting) ½ cup plain yogurt / curd ¼ cup butter 2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder ½ teaspoon vanilla extract ½ teaspoon baking powder A pinch of salt if using unsalted butter...

Learn how to make an eggless pull-apart bread with herb and cheese as optional fillings. Pull-apart bread is a welcome change to the usual breads we bake. Pull-apart bread is essentially bread that can be pulled apart in pieces rather than having to cut it. The advantage is that you can use different fillings between these layers and add tons of flavour to your bread. I have been meaning to bake a pull-apart bread for ages....

I had been using the MTR ready mix for making Vatha Kuzhambu since I came to Singapore but decided to make the authentic version. I wasn’t very confident since this is a very authentic recipe and may not come out well during the first try. It came out much better than I expected so this one is definitely a keeper. We have different versions of Vatha Kuzhambu in South India. Theeyal is the most common variation from Kerala and Reddiars make something called nalla pulusu which is very close in taste....

Okra fry made in an air fryer, making the whole process so much less messy and easy, not to mention crispy! We were once served okra fry or kurkuri bhindi at a friend’s dinner party and I got the recipe immediately, never looking back to making okra fry any other way. Ingredients Okra or bhindi - as always, when choosing okra for frying for cooking, choose the most tender ones you can find....

Learn how to make fresh Sambar Powder for your Sambar. Since we are freshly roasting the Sambar Powder just before making the Sambar, it turns out more fragrant and delicious. K. Athamma of the Unniyappam and Badusha fame also happens to possess the best Sambar recipe ever! Her Sambar is so famous that she makes it every time we visit her for a meal, planning the menu in such a way that she also makes something to serve with the Sambar....

Sandesh ( Sondesh , Shondesh ) is a Bengali sweet that’s made from fresh chenna . It’s absolutely delicious the best part about trying a sandesh recipe at home is that you can choose the type of flavours you want and more importantly, sweetness levels. I like my milk sweets mildly sweet if possible, so my sandesh recipe is a bit less on sweetness. I decided to flavour it with a hint of kesar (saffron) and some cardamom powder, that’s it....

Thanks Sham! Chicken Biriyani Recipe Serves 4-6 Ingredients: Basmati rice - 4 cups (soaked in water for 1 hour) Chicken pieces - 1 kg Onions - 3 large Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp Green chilies - 5 (or as per your requirement) Pepper powder - to taste Coriander powder - 3 tbsp Garam masala - 1 tbsp Cardamom - 4 Cinnamon - a 1" piece Cloves - 4 Salt to taste To Marinate Pepper powder -to taste Coriander powder - 3 tbsp Garam masala - ¼ tsp Salt to taste For Seasoning Ghee - 2 tbsp Cashew nuts - 15 or so Raisins - 10 or so 1 large onion...

But does that mean till then you end up with half baked or half cooked dishes? Not necessarily. There are really simple Indian dishes that anyone can try and make taste good with minimum effort. Here are some quick facts about Indian Cooking. Indian cuisine can be broadly divided into North Indian and South Indian cooking, each distinct in flavour, spices uses, cooking style and main ingredients. It’s always aimed at being healthy and well-balanced....

I must add that the cherry tomatoes you see in the pic were grown by her and the vethalai is also from our front yard. To say my mom has a green thumb would be an understatement. I could go on and on about that so I will save it for another post maybe. Betel leaves or vethalai are used traditionally in India for making paan. It’s widely used all over the country for this purpose and in the south, it’s also considered auspicious and makes it’s way into weddings and other ceremonies where you would use it to give dakshinai to your elders and take their blessings....

Easy Chicken Biryani made in a pressure cooker: when I posted the layered chicken biryani recipe , I had mentioned that Amma used to make this one pot, simple chicken biryani for me and often for my large groups of visiting friends during various stages of my college life. That biryani would forever remain my favourite kind, a reminder of my ‘interesting’ childhood and the days I didn’t need to bother with things like chopping and cooking....

Kerala-Style Chammathi Recipe Ingredients: Grated Coconut - 1 cup Dried red chillies - 4 Shallots - 4 Garlic - 2 cloves (optional) Coriander powder - 1 tsp Tamarind - half a lemon size Salt - to taste How to Make Chuttaracha Chammanthi Heat a non-stick pan and roast the red chillies dry (without oil) till it reaches the stage just before burning. Add the coconut, chopped shallots, garlic and coriander powder and roast for another 2 mins....

If you are a chocolate addict and love cookies, nothing should stop you from having what you like. That’s why these eggless chocolate chunk cookies work really well, they can be eaten by anyone, especially those who don’t eat eggs even in the “hidden” form. Eggless Chocolate Chip (or Chunk) Cookies Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies Adapted from: A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman Ingredients : 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar ½ cup white sugar 1....

Fruit custard recipe, learn how to make this super easy dessert recipe that’s chilled custard sauce served with a fruit salad that has a secret ingredient - dates. This delicious fruit custard recipe is another gem from K. Athamma who invariably makes it for dessert at all our family get-togethers. It may seem easy to just chop up some fruits, make a salad with it, and add some custard sauce to it but she has a definitive process she follows to make this fruit custard recipe....

GINGER COOKIES RECIPE Makes ~24 cookies Instructions: Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the ginger, water and molasses/brown sugar. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the brown sugar mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar....

Gobi Ka Kheema Recipe Ingredients: (serves 4) Cauliflower - 1 medium, cleaned and chopped fine Bay leaves - 1-2 Cumin seeds - ½ tsp Onions - 2 medium, chopped fine Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp Tomatoes - 3 big, pureed Peas - ¼ cup, boiled Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Garam masala - 2 tsp Salt - to taste Oil - 3 teaspoon + 2 tsp Instructions: Heat 3 teaspoon oil in a pan and fry the chopped cauliflower till its semi-fried and golden brown....

Anyway, this recipe has been flicked almost entirely from my friend Reema’s blog. I made them a while back with some minor adjustments - I didn’t have 4 eggs so I used the 3 I had and then added 2 tablespoon yogurt to replace the missing one - but was waiting for V-day to come nearer before I post. Although TH and I don’t really celebrate Valentines day, I know many out there do in case you are looking for a quick chocolate dessert to bake, here’s what you may find useful, not to mention yummy!...

I know it sounds silly that I write an entire post on this but check these stats out: So, how do we pre-heat an oven. Its really very simple, in fact too simple, which is probably why many people have questions about it. 2 Steps to Pre-Heat your Oven Step 1 : Remove everything from the oven except the oven racks. Position them in the middle (where I leave them by default unless the recipe specifies otherwise)....

Idiyappam is a typical Kerala breakfast cooked in the traditional method of steaming. Its one of the healthiest ways of cooking and still forms a staple in many households. I can’t imagine going through the trouble myself, what with my quick and fast recipes but amma always makes this when we go home on vacation. I had always wanted to document this so here we go. To make idiyappam, you need 2 cups rice flour, 2 teaspoon ghee/oil, 3 cups boiled water and a pinch of salt ....