Beetroot Halwa Recipe | Diwali Special Recipes

This is one of the easiest sweet u can make in just half an hour. It is delicious and the beets are healthy too… beets has its own color, so there is no need for an artificial ones. Grated beets would be much better than the chopped ones. The laze me, used the chopper to make it fine. But no one finds out…

You can also use milk for cooking the beets. Add some milk to the beets while cooking, say 1-3 tsp for a cup of beets. This induces the taste much more. Ghee is the important person for making any kind of halwa. Play with that… if ur so much concerned about the calories and all that, restrict it to some level.

I like to have lotsa cashews in my halwa (u can see that in the pics below) … the crunchiness it gives make the halwa much more delicious. I like the halwas to be hot. You can even serve hot depends on their wish.

Try this simple recipe for this diwali… let all the happiness knocks ur door … Happy Diwali 

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 15-20mins

How to Make Soft Idli | Tips for Soft Idli | Idli Recipe

Idli and Dosa are the staple meal in all the South-Indian families most especially in Tamilnadu. Amma used to make the batter in the weekends which stays in the fridge always. She takes up a little for day-to-day use. These two are our daily breakfast for most of the days… and she makes a perfect combo chutneys to accompany the soft idlis… she uses Laxmi wet grinder which she bought during her marriage and it is working till now… almost twenty five years or so… and now she switched over to a table top grinder to make things easier…

My first preparation of making idli batter was a grand success. I just followed the instruction from amma, the idlis turned out super soft. After coming to US I bought a Mixer grinder which is very good for making idli batter for a people of two. Even I have the habit of grinding the batter in the weekend and it makes super soft idlis and dosai for the next entire week.

I came upon several queries in many groups and forums about idli batter and thought of posting in my blog. There are several important factors which makes ur idlis soft. I will be posting the tips and tricks along with pics below. Go through and enjoy “batter-ing” 

Preparation time: 6-7 hours (includes Soaking time)

Cooking time: 10 mins

Paneer Mattar Masala | Side-Dish for Roti/Pulao

I most of the times prefer taking chapathi for dinner. I already listed the side dish for chapathi column separately. (Click here tocheck) even though I make different side dish for roti, paneer is my favorite ones.  Paneer with green peas are the best combo forever. Try this recipe out and u ll know why am telling like that.

I served it with roti for dinner and had the left for the next day lunch along with brown rice pilaf (recipe coming soon)

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 10 mins

Ridge gourd Chutney | Peerkangai Chutney | Peerkangai Thogayal

You will never know to which u ll become addictive. I never used to taste this peerkangai in my life and don’t tried this before even. But when my mom told she made chutney using the outer skin of ridge gourd, I gave a thought of trying it at my home. I asked for the recipe from her and replicated it in my kitchen. Here in US it is very tough to get Indian vegetables at the local market. So I need to travel thirty miles to get the veggies. Once I went to the Indian market I purposefully got one and tried the next day. I just loved it when I had with the simple sambar. It will be a taste savior when had at the times of nausea. 

Preparation time: less than 5 mins

Cooking time: less than 5 mins

Chilli Chapathi Recipe - Recipe with Left over Chapathi

How many of you had tried the Chilli Parotta which we get in Saravana Bhavan? This dish is one of my favorite recipes in their menu. I knew about the extra calories am gonna get from that. But still I can’t even control myself from ordering it whenever I visit there. Amma always make this chilli chapathi instead of parotta with the left over chapathis. I sometimes prefer to have this as my lunch box special goody. Try the same recipe with Parotta for Chilli Parotta. 

 I got enough appreciation when I served it in a potluck. Do u need to get appreciation by making a delicious dish with the left over chapathis? Then, this is the “must try recipe”.

Check out my another recipe by using the “Left-Over Rice”.

Preparation time: 15 mins ( includes making chapathi)
Cooking time: 20-25 mins

Walnut Brownie Recipe

This post was sleeping in my list for more than a month and here the time comes to share this beautiful recipe. This is the first time am trying a brownie at home. We usually buy a box of brownie from Costco and it comes for the entire month for snacking. 

Suddenly I gave thought of trying a brownie at home and this was super delicious. Since am new to baking I just adapted the basic brownie recipe and added walnut to it. Check out more about Chocolate muffins and Eggless Vanilla Cake.

Paruppu Sadham | Toor Dal Pulao | Easy One-Pot Lunch Recipe

This is a one-pot lunch recipe which doesn’t need any side dish to compliment with. I like to have it plainly or with just pappad. You can get the satisfaction of getting carbohydrates and proteins together in a single scoop. I used to add green peas in this recipe which increases the taste and flavor. You can try with other veggies like carrots or beans or even soy chunks taste better along with this. I have given 2-3 green chillies which is spicy to my taste buds… adjust accordingly. Make sure u cook the rice into fine grains else the recipe will turn into a mess. Adjust the whistles ratio according to ur rice quality.

Check out other recipe for lunch box menu.

Preparation time: 15 mins (includes Soaking time)

Cooking time: 10 mins

Mushroom Peas Masala | Side Dish for Chapathi, Parathas, Roti & Naan

I was hitting my head to make some gravy with mushroom to complement the chapathi for dinner. I had some frozen green peas in the refrigerator and I thought of giving it a try to make gravy. This recipe is so simple with the usual ingredients. If u have no time to spend in the kitchen yet wanted to make some delicious side dish for the chapathi, u can definitely try this out.

Check out my other recipes with mushrooms.

Preparation time: around 5 minutes

Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

Rava Kesari | Sooji Kesari | Simple & Easy Indian Sweet Recipe

I don’t even know making a kesari is so simple than any other sweet. Since it’s a Friday and I wanted to make some sweet for poojai, I made it in just 15 minutes . I had some left sooji in my rack and am bored of doing the same upma and kichadi with that. Undoubtedly I took and made a kesari, but without food color. I felt it is not so important for a kesari to be in bright orange color. Why can’t we make a plain white colored kesari. Does it make any change in flavor or the taste?  No. then why we add it!!! And it is not good for health too…  I can give u many reasons for not using a color, but the major reason is I don’t have any colors at home  … I prefer not to use any food colors in my recipes.

Coming to the recipe… I used four cups of water for one cup of sooji. It depends basically on the brand and variety of sooji ur using. Generally 3-4 cups is more than enough to cook the sooji. The big trouble for most of us is rava forming lumps while adding to the water . The trick  to get rid of it is, add the roasted rava slowly to the heavily boiling water and constant stirring with the other hand. You need to be ambidextrous at sometimes, you see… 

 I learned another trick from my maid to get rid of this lumps while cooking rava. Heat water in a separate pan and roast the rava in another one. Once the water starts boiling, add the water to the roasted rava in the pan. This reduces the amount of lumps u get while cooking and this doesn’t need constant and quick stirring. Ok! Let’s move on to the recipe for kesari. 

Preparation and Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

Green Gram Sundal | Green Moong Dal Sundal | Pasi Payaru Sundal |Sundal Recipes for Navarathri

Navarathri is around the corner and it’s high time to make different varieties of sundal every day to serve ur guest. Sundal is actually a healthy dish that you can serve as an evening snack. Sundal will hot tea are the best snack ever. All the chennaities will know flavor of this hot sundal we get in Marina Beach and their Molaga Bajji will never compensate with others. Ahh!!!  Missing those badly… neva mind!!!  Coming to the recipe, Sundals are easy to make and healthy to have. You just have to spend 5 mins for making this awesome sundal.

I tried Sundal with green gram (since I had lots at home) and temper it with the usual items and mixed with a flavorful masala. It tasted delicious and fulfilled our evening… The same recipe can also be followed for other lentils too... Let’s move on to the recipe quickly…

Preparation time: 4-5 hours (soaking time)

Cooking time: less than 5 mins