Boondhi Kuruma | Kara Boondhi Kuruma | Side dish for Idli/Dosa

Are u looking for a different side dish or gravy recipe for idli and dosa? I have a new recipe to satisfy your need… I used the store bought boondhi which lessen my cooking time. You can even make ur own boondhi which needs much time to do. If u has excess of boondhi in home, try making this delicious recipe and serve with idli or dosa.

This is an apt combo for dosa especially than the idlis. I used coconut paste to get the thick version of gravy. Coconut milk can also be used or even kasa kasa (poppy seeds) or cashew pastes are sufficient to make this kuruma. Boondi which is added in the kuruma absorbs water and bulges in size. So make the gravy thinner than the usual kuruma recipe. Now, to the recipe… 

Preparation time: 5mins

Cooking time: 15-20 mins

Pudhina Chutney | Mint Chutney | Side-dish for Idli & Dosa

Though the recipe is very simple I wanted to share in my blog… this chutney has an exotic flavor of mint which I loved the most. If ur a mint lover, you would definitely nod ur head… am I right? This can be served with idlis and even with dosa. I like the same version of chutney with no coconut… it is the best combo with sambar and rice, like a thogayal/thuvayal. Try the same recipe without the coconut and serve for rice too. Since I like the flavor of green chillies more than the red ones I have used that in the recipe. It is optional and you can choose ur own variety of chillies. Serve with hot Idli. Yummm :) 

Prep & cooking time: 5-7 mins

Gobi Manchurian (DRY) Recipe

Preparation time: 15 minsCooking time: 10 mins

Chicken 65 Recipe

I was not a huge fan of deep fried items… and I rarely take this Chicken 65 whenever I visit a restaurant. On the other side TH, a chicken addictive always order this and makes me to taste. After marriage I came to see a street food shop which serves chicken 65 with Idyappam!!! Weird right… even I gave the same look to that… TH insisted me to taste that once, since he loves it… though it was full of oil and lots of red food colors in it, I loved the taste and also the combination of chicken with ldyappam. That weird combo makes to go drool… *slurp*

After coming to US, we miss the shop and the combinations of idyappam with that. TH started to crave for Chicken 65 these days and I tried at home. It was super soft inside and crisper on the outer. I dint add food color to make it more attractive, hence the color differences. I served it with Chicken Manchurian and with Chicken Fried Rice.

Preparation time: 1-2 hours

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Broccoli Rice Recipe | Easy One-pot Meal | Simple Lunch Box Recipe

I was not a fan of this broccolis and I hated it to the core and never tried or attempted to cook. After knowing the health benefits of it, I wanted to give a try. I tried making biryani with broccoli and it was not that great and TH doesn’t like the flavors. I don’t wanna give up trying again and again. When I saw this recipe in a cookery show, I got excited!!!

The technique I found from that show is, crushing the broccoli and adding to the rice gives a different taste and it neva make us to think that we are eating broccolis. I found it interesting and grabbed the idea and implemented with some of my thoughts. Adding mint leaves enhances the flavors and green peas give a crunchy feel in between. You can even try adding corns. Am damn sure this could be a one-pot meal and can be added to the lunch box menus. I served it with pappad and TH liked to have raitha for this. Let me know ur reviews about this recipes…

Preparation time: 5mins

Cooking time: 15-20mins

Methi Tepla Recipe | Gujarati Methi Tepla Recipe

I never failed to grab a bunch of methi leaves whenever I see it fresh in the market. Methi leaves or fenugreek leaves has a distinct taste than the other greens. I love the taste even if it is dried, which we call as kasoori methi. I prefer to add kasoori methi to most of my gravies. When I was in India, I had a cute little garden in my terrace which had mint, coriander, tomatoes, curry leaves and also methi leaves. I planted fenugreek seeds to get the methi leaves. In that way I had my own-grown fresh veggies. It is always fun to plant ur own veggies and the joy when u get ur first bud is enormous which can’t be expressed.

Whenever I think of methi tepla, I remember the Kashmir trip we went in my college. We went to Kashmir Vaishno Devi temple and also to Delhi and Punjab. It was a ten day trip and we had lots and lots of fun there. We used to travel in Air bus to visit the places and there won’t be time to spend for breakfast, since we ran out of it. So we need to skip our breakfast and sometimes even lunch. 

One of my Gujju friend had brought these teplas along with some pickle. Her mom made the best tepla I had in my lifetime and it was super delicious to have after a day of starving. Wen I made this tepla I remembered the good old days!!! Feeling nostalgic… the main reason in writing in this story is, you can store the teplas in room temperature for weeks… It never gets spoiled so easily. It can be a life savior in ur busy picnic schedules. 

Preparation time: 5-7 mins

Cooking time: 1-2 mins

South-Indian Style Pomfret Fish Fry | Vavval Meen Varuval

After a long search process I found an Asian store which sells all live fish. I got so excited to see the store which has most of the fishes from almost all the countries. Last Sunday I bought one pomfret along with one golden thread fish. Pomfret, here they also call it has Golden Pompano. In Tamil it is called vavval meen. It doesn't have much bone, so it is easy to make steaks. It needs just a sharp chef knife to make the job easier. TH does the job for me making thin steaks and I cleaned the fish later.

 In this recipe I just used spice powders and tamarind juice to make the fry. This is the easiest masala which also suits any other fish too. I personally like the flavor of onions and tomatoes along with this masala. You can do that by adding little of onions and tomatoes paste to the fish with the powders. TH doesn't like this flavor so I avoided using it.

I also have a fish fry recipe with the chettinad flavors. Checkout the recipe here. I served it with Meen Kuzhambu along with rasam.

Preparation time: 1-2 hours

Cooking time: 20-30mins