New Year Greetings

Hi everyone! I know all of you are getting ready to welcome 2014 and the countdown has already started. I wanted to try out a cake recipe for Christmas itself.  But I was a little bit busy and couldn’t make it happen. For this New Year, I wanted to post something that I made myself instead of posting some image from elsewhere to convey my greetings. All my efforts made me happy today. Yes,  for the first time I tried my hands in making cake and it came out really well. The sponginess and softness of my Chocolate Pista Cake can be visualized in the pic! I know everyone...

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Chettinad Crab Masala | Chettinadu Nandu Masala | செட்டிநாடு நண்டு மசாலா | Nandu Pepper Masala

Chettinad Crab Masala | Chettinadu Nandu Masala | செட்டிநாடு நண்டு மசாலா | Nandu Pepper Masala is a peppery gravy and is very good for those suffering from cold. This spicy gravy can be served with steamed rice, idli or dosa. Ofcourse, eating a crab with its shell needs some skills and those with experience can win the show. But if you haven’t eaten crabs this way before, you need not  panic on seeing the hard shells as it will be easy to break. The yummy flesh inside is worth all the trouble. Whenever we eat  non-vegetarian dishes, we feel full for the entire day but crab dishes will...

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Easy Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu | Lentil Balls Gravy

Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu | Chettinad Style Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu | Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu is an interesting gravy with tangy, spicy taste suits the best for hot steamed rice. Everybody will go away on seeing “Paruppu urundai kuzhambu” recipe b’cos it involves so many steps. But I will come out with my secret recipe so that you can prepare this dish as simple as Kara Kuzhambu. The method I follow here does not require the paruppu urundai to be steamed or fried.  Since we don’t fry these balls, we can say this is a low calorie version of making paruppu urundai kuzhambu. With little patience...

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X-mas Greetings

Hi everyone! There’s no you and me on Christmas Day, It’s just us! Merry Christmas!!! ...

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Winner in Millet Mania Contest

This post is to share the happiest moment with you all! My  recipe for Ragi Sweet Crispies has got selected in the Millet Mania e-Recipe contest conducted by Chips to Cherries. At this moment, I want to convey my heartiest thanks to Mrs. Uma Raghavan of Chips to Cherries for providing this wonderful opportunity to participate in "Millet Mania contest". I am very much happy and delighted to be selected as the winner in this contest for my Ragi Crispies recipe. It is a great inspiration for me to come out with more nutritious recipes. I truly appreciate the efforts of the organizers...

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Mixed Vegetable Chutney | Cabbage-Capsicum-Spring Onion Chutney

Mixed vegetable chutney can be prepared very easily with leftover veggies. But the secret in making yummy chutney lies in selecting specific combination of  vegetables in  specific  proportions. We can add those vegetables which our kids normally don’t like to eat but the challenge is to hide those flavours so that your kids don’t find out the ingredients you have added. So it is purely in our hands to prepare either a  chutney or a medicine! It is always better to follow some tested proportions while making vegetable chutney. Today, I have tested the chutney with capsicum,...

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Thiruvathirai Kali | Thiruvathira Kali

Thiruvathirai is a festival of Lord Shiva and is celebrated in the Tamil month “Markazhi” which spans from mid-December to mid-January, on the day of Thiruvathira Nakshathra.  It is also known as Arudhra Dharshan. It is believed that on this day, Lord Shiva is incarnated in the form of Lord Nataraja and  celebrated for a week in the famous Natarajar temple in Chidambaram, Tamilnadu. In kerala also, they celebrate this festival one among their traditional festivals, like Vishu and Onam. On this day, the women in Kerala perform a dance called “Thiruvathira Kali” for the folk songs...

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Finger Millet Sweet Crispies | Ragi Sweet Crispies | Kezhvaragu Inippu Thattai

Finger Millet Sweet Crispies |Ragi sweet crispies | Kezhvaragu Inippu Thattai is a crispy sweet made with finger millet | ragi flour. I have coined this recipe with a motive to encourage kids to eat  ragi. I have sent this recipe  to  Malligai Magal   and already  got  published in the magazine. The ingredients used in this recipe are  (a) fried gram powder – rich in protein, (b)sesame seeds  – rich in vitamins & minerals and (c)jaggery –rich in iron which are naturally good for everyone. When these healthy ingredients combined with calcium & iron...

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Chicken Pulao | Easy Chicken Pulao Recipe

Chicken pulao is a delicious rice variety made with chicken. It  needs less ingredients compared to regular biryani  and is aromatic enough to attract everybody at home to your kitchen. Instead of making regular chicken biryani everytime, we can try this pulao once in a while for a change – particularly when we are bored of adding regular masala stuffs. This chicken pulao  when combined with spicy gravy and raita is surely no way inferior to our regular biryani. This chicken flavoured pulao  will definitely be loved by the kids and is a treat to foodaholics! Try this...

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Chola Adai | Millet Adai Dosa | Adai Dosa Crepes with Sorghum

From the very first post of my Paruppu Adai  itself, you  might have judged me  that  I am a great fan of Adai! So I try varieties of adai once in a while even though my son doesn’t  like it. I have a long list to share with you in Adai dosa category itself and hence I created a separate category for this variety.   Today  I prepared the dish with the grain called “Sorghum | Jowar | Cholam”.   The cholam  has its ancient roots in India and in villages where  cholam was a regular staple food. They prepared  many dishes  using...

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Poori Masala | Potato Masala for Poori | Poori Kizhangu Masala

Potato masala prepared with potato and onion  is the perfect accompaniment for Poori and hence it got the name “Poori Masala”. It is also called as Poori Kizhangu  or Poori Kizhangu Masala. We can relish the taste of Poori  to the core,  only when it is combined with this dish. The other side dishes will come only next to this. Whenever  I make Poori,  I  prepare this side dish. Sometimes I even drop the idea of making Poori, if  the ingredients for preparing Poori Masala are not on hand. Ingredients: Potato – 2 Nos. (Medium) Big onion (chopped) ...

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Pomfret Fry | Chettinad Style Pomfret Fish Fry | Avoli Pollichathu

Pomfret Fish Fry | Vaaval Meen Fry | Avoli Pollichathu is an all time favourite for everyone at home. As Pomfret fish is versatile, we can add any masala we like and the fish fry will turn out accordingly. Normally in restaurants, I didn’t taste  any variations in fish fry masala except at GRT Grand where they prepared excellent  Pomfret fry. In Tamil pomfret is known as “Vaaval Meen” and in Malayalam, “Avoli”. There are many varieties available in the market. I usually buy  silver pomfret or  white pomfret. Black pomfrets are also available. Here I have used Chettinad...

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