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Then, for the next month or two, the supply was replenished and every day after lunch and sometimes after dinner too, we’d have freshly peeled and chopped mangoes. Either Amma or my grand mom we fondly called Aatha would bring out the steel knives (no iron because it leaves a dark deposit on the mangoes and no peeler because too much fruit got wasted stuck to the skin) and carefully peel out the skin as close to the flesh of the mangoes as possible....

Basics of Baking - Part I - Getting Started with the Essentials of Baking Of course, the first thing you need to get is an oven. I have already done a lot of research and posted about it types of oven and how to choose an oven. The next thing is definitely baking trays and pans. There are lots of variety here in terms of what you can get and it can get confusing....

Cabbage poriyal recipe : learn how to make cabbage poriyal, a simple vegetarian (vegan, actually) South Indian dry curry with cabbage, coconut, and spices. Poriyal can be made with a variety of vegetables and goes great with rice and curry. I tend to make cabbage thoran more often than cabbage poriyal but the key advantage to a poriyal is that you don’t have to grind the coconut while for thoran, in my opinion, the coarse grinding of coconut with jeera and shallots and green chillies males all the difference in taste....

Easy Diwali sweets with condensed milk , a convenient list of Diwali sweets for you to refer to if you have a can of condensed milk and some time in hand. Pin Now, I don’t know about you but I am a firm believer that delicious things start with a can, or even half a can, of condensed milk. Yes, it’s sugary, yes it’s fattening, yes it may be considered unhealthy but I say let’s use Diwali to live a little, shall we?...

Recipe for eggless no bake mango biscuit pudding with graham crackers, fresh mango pieces and condensed milk. Learn how to make an easy mango biscuit pudding that’s eggless and needs no baking or oven. Since mangoes are in peak season now, I am buying batches of them happily and chomping away. Mango desserts are a favourite for TH and I so I was looking for a recipe that would be easy to prepare and delicious, like this no-bake mango cheesecake that’s one of the most successful recipes on this blog....

Ellu chutney or sesame coconut chutney is a healthy and delicious chutney recipe, or thogayal really, that is usually served with rice. During summer breaks, we would go to Salem to my aunt’s house. That train ride with aunts and cousins and nieces and nephews was one of my happiest memories and of course, no train ride in India is complete without the mention of food. Lemon rice packs really well and when it’s placed in warmed banana leaves with this ellu chutney on the side, that’s pure deliciousness right there....

Pin There’s a small twist to this recipe - I added fresh coriander leaves to the coconut paste. The flavour is distinct and very enjoyable. A great idea if you have coriander-indifferent people in the house. Mor Kozhambu Recipe Serves 2-4 Ingredients : 2 cups buttermilk + 1 cup water Salt to taste Grind Together: ½ cup grated coconut ½ teaspoon jeera A pinch of turmeric powder ½ cup coriander leaves, loosely packed...

Instant oats idli recipe with rava, yogurt, eno salt, and spices . Oats Idli is an easy Indian breakfast recipe with rava or semolina and oats. Instant oats idli, much like the popular rava idli recipe , is fast gaining popularity as we try to use oats more in our daily diets. Learn how to make instant oats idli at home - they come out super spongy and delicious. Tips for making successful instant oats idli: Instant Oats Idli Recipe with Rava Ingredients Instructions Step by Step Instant Oats Idli Recipe Indian breakfast recipes with oats (Quaker oats in particular) have been gaining a lot of popularity over the last couple of years....

Kara Kuzhambu with Paruppu Usili - a Tamil brahmin lunch menu.I was shamelessly out of touch with the food blogosphere all of last month. Had major plans to send in entries to most of the events in November, but again, am alarmingly behind schedule. Was out over most of the weekends and that’s when I actually cook. Anyway, while we are checking out this kara kuzhambu recipe I wanted to point you guys to this vengaya kara kuzhambu , the Andhra onion pulusu , and a Kerala-special ulli theeyal ....

There are certain dishes I like to leave to restaurants simply because they are better equipped to do the job. Most tandoori dishes fall into this category because nothing really beats a tandoori naan or a chicken kabab or paneer tikkas that are made in a tandoor. So these paneer tikkas are not really restaurant-style but they do make a great paneer starter, are relatively quick to make, and for a great base for Paneer Tikka Masala, which is one of my absolute favourite paneer dishes....

Anyway, the other way we came across this restaurant called Salivation, tucked away in the far corner after Murugan Idli Kadai, Raj Restaurant and that Thai massage place. It was small and caught our attention because it was a vegetarian cafe that had burgers, pizza, and even some Mexican fare. We had already eaten on that day so postponed the visit. Yesterday we went again and when a couple of our friends who live close by agreed to join us, we zeroed in on Salivation cafe....

I have many different chocolate cake recipes in this blog but this one is really the best chocolate cake recipe ever, which I discovered a few months ago has been a staple and it’s hard to go back to any other recipe now. A few things I love about this best chocolate cake recipe: The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe Ingredients Instructions Notes This recipe uses no butter. So no setting it out, softening it, melting it, etc....

Pin Toblerone Candy Bar Shortbread Makes about 15 -18 bars Adapted from: A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman Ingredients: 1 cup butter, at room temperature (I used salted butter. If using unsalted, then add a pinch of salt to the flour) ⅔ cup sugar 2 ¼ cups flour 100gm Toblerone chocolate bar, at room temperature Pin Drop me a line if you do try this! Would love to hear from you 🙂...

Vangi bhath recipe or brinjal rice recipe - I love anything with vangi (kathirikai or brinjal) in it. Roasted, grilled, fried, sautéed, curried, you name it! I don’t remember liking kathirikai so much as a kid but now, I pick it up every week during vegetable shopping. In Singapore, the more common variety is the longer purple ones that are called Japanese brinjal. The good part is, they usually don’t have worms or bugs in it and stay fresh in the fridge for a longer time....

When I started off food blogging, I used powerpoint to add watermarks, borders and banners to my pictures. It was simple and I used powerpoint so much at work that it didn’t seem like much of an extra effort to me. As soon as Picasa came up with the feature to add text to pictures, I slowly moved away from powerpoint. But, I still use it to jazz up my pics a bit, add a border and make it look a bit different, maybe like a cookbook cover which is what a lot of you said after seeing this picture of mine 🙂...

Pin Aloo Tindora Dry Curry Recipe Ingredients for Aloo Dry Curry: Tindora / Gerkins / Ivy Gourd / Kovakka - 1 cup, chopped Aloo / Potatoes - 2, cubed Grated coconut - 2 tbsp Dried red chillies - 4 Jeera - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - a pinch Urad dal - ½ tsp Mustard seeds - ¼ tsp Coconut oil - 2 tsp How to Make Tindora Aloo Dry Curry:...

Avarakkai Paruppu Curry Recipe Ingredients: Broad beans / avarakka - 12 Toor dal - ½ cup, soaked in water for 30 mins Chopped garlic - 6 pods Red chillies - 4, broken into 1" pieces Jeera powder - one pinch How I Made It: Boil the beans in some water till tender. Leave aside. Temper mustard seeds in little oil and fry the chopped garlic till brown. Add the chillies and jeera powder....

Thoran is an everyday recipe in Kerala often made with pretty much any vegetable that comes our way. Freshly grated coconut is coarsely ground with jeera, ulli or shallots, green chillies or red chilli powder, and added to the par-boiled vegetables of choice. While cabbage thoran is the most popular thoran I believe, using a mix of carrots and beans can make a great-tasting Kerala thoran too. Beans Carrot Thoran Recipe Serves 4 Ingredients: 2 carrots 10-12 French beans ½ cup grated coconut 1 teaspoon jeerakam or cumin seeds 2-3 shallots or ulli 2 green chillies ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder ¼ teaspoon split urad dal (uzhunnu parippu), optional 2 teaspoon coconut oil ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds A few curry leaves Salt...

Chettinad cuisine is fabulously adapted to cook meat and fish and this Chettinad fish fry recipe is no exception. Learn how to make Chettinad-style fish fry using simple masala and fresh fish steaks. Pin Growing up in Kerala, fish was almost a staple. Although we didn’t buy it every day like most families do, fish was still served at least 1-2 times a week. It was always a treat no matter which way Amma decides to prepare it....