Suba's Recipes

                                        This post explains the preparation of an easy and addictive vazhakkai fry which I have been making for the past few years. Frying in a dosa tawa gives the crispness and texture to the vazhakkai.

                                       This post explains the preparation of a quick and easy one pot meal - dal khichdi made with rice and moong dal. This can be done in less than 30 to 45 minutes including soaking, chopping and cooking. It is a perfect choice for lazy days or when you want to make something quick and nutritious. This can also be given to younger kids without the spices as it has both rice and dal.

                                    This post explains the preparation of a simple and easy aloo gravy - a no onion no garlic recipe with mild flavors. This gravy goes well with roti, poori or even mild pulao varieties. I have made this many times on days when we cannot include onion, garlic or any masalas. It is also perfect for people who don't prefer overpowering spices in the dish.

This post explains the preparation of sweet and salt adai which are offered as neivedhyam during the karadaiyan nombu function. For more details on this function, check my post about the festival.                                                   This year the festival falls on  Wednesday, March 14th 2018 .

Mor Kuzhambu is an easy to prepare kuzhambu variety using yoghurt/curd.  I have already posted the traditional mor kuzhambu recipe using vegetables. But this particular recipe doesn't require any vegetables and has the main flavour from Oman/Ajwain. Also unlike the regular mor kuzhambu, this doesn't require coconut and instead besan/gram flour is added for thickness.

Coriander thogayal is an easy to make thogayal variety. When you have a bunch of coriander leaves which is about to get dry, you can use it to make this dish. Even the stalks of the coriander leaves can be used. I have already shared a thogayal recipe made with mint leaves. This is just another variation, but I have added coconut in this.                 

Wheat Rava Upma Kozhukattai - steamed kozhukattais made with godhuma rava. Godhuma Rava is known by different names like broken wheat rava/samba godhuma rava/dalia/lapsi. This recipe is an easy to prepare tiffin item or as an after school snack for kids. I usually make upma with wheat rava by adding onions and other veggies. But came across this idea of making kozhukattai through other food blogs. We usually make upma kozhukattai using raw rice but that involves an elaborate procedure of soaking and grinding rice to rava like consistency and adding soaked and ground channa dal. But this godhuma rava upma kozhukattai is made using a simple tempering with just the addition of coconut.                   It is a a no onion no garlic dish which is also healthy as it is steamed and has the goodness of wheat rava. As it requires very minimal ingredients, it can make for a quick breakfast or dinner option. Also it tastes gr...

Rava pongal is a flavourful pongal variety which is an alternative to the regular pongal made with rice. I learnt this recipe from my cousin who makes this so well. This recipe uses a method similar to the rava idli preparation where rava is roasted along with the tempering. Also unlike the regular pongal, this recipe uses mustard, urad dal and channa dal in the tempering along with the other standard ingredients.                                                       Though the recipe calls for quite a number of ingredients, the pongal tastes so flavourful and yum. It is best for days which call for a no onion no garlic dishes. You can pair with sambar or chutney or even with a simple pickle. Try this recipe for a change to the regular pongal.

Ammini Kozhukattai also called as Mani Kozhukattai, is generally prepared on the day of Vinayakar Chathurthi festival. It is usually made with the left over kozhukattai dough. We just roll small balls out of the dough, steam them and do a simple tempering. But this dish can easily be prepared any day as a simple snack or even as a tiffin item. Only effort required will be in rolling the tiny balls😉. This is a very healthy snack as we steam the dish and hence is a good choice for kids too. My daughter loves this snack and hence I prepare it once in a while. Hence thought of sharing here in the blog.                                I have given here a simple version of the dish. You can make variations to this by adding idli milagai podi if you prefer a spicy version. You can also use the filling used for ulundu kozhukattai( urad dal stuffing) and add to this. Also it is suggested to use o...

Kootu is a traditional South Indian side dish served for rice. It is prepared with the goodness of dal and hence goes well with any kuzhambu, rasam and thogayal varieties. I have already shared chow chow kootu and carrot chow chow kootu recipes. This time I have prepared kootu with another healthy vegetable - bottle gourd(lauki). I started using this vegetable very recently only. It has lot of nutritive values and is perfect for summer time because of its water content.                                                  We usually make kootu with moong dal. But I replaced moong dal with channa dal in this recipe and it turned out good.  Also the dal is cooked just soft and not mushy.  We can serve this kootu as a side dish for rice or even mix with hot rice and ghee and feed for kids or serve it as a side dish for roti.   

Mor Kuzhambu is an easy to prepare kuzhambu variety using yoghurt/curd. This is a welcome change to the regularly made sambar and other  kuzhambu varieties. It can be prepared in a short period of time and can be served with any spicy curries like potato /raw banana/colocasia fry. We also make paruppu usili as a side dish for this. This is a no onion no garlic recipe and hence usually made on festival days. Though it is an easy recipe, there are few tips and instructions to follow while preparing this. I have given them in the notes section. I learnt this recipe from my periamma who is an expert in cooking traditional dishes.

Savoury diamond cuts - maida salt biscuits is an easy to prepare snack item.  We prepare both sweet and salt versions of this biscuit. We can have it as a separate snack item or add it as part of the South Indian style Mixture. I shall try and post the sweet version soon.

Sweet corn sundal is an easy to make dish which is healthy too. I had made this during the Navaratri festival, hence wanted to publish it here. This can be made on regular days too for kids as school snacks or after school snacks in the evening. Unlike most sundal varieties which require prior soaking, this can be done instantly.

Mango thokku is an easy to make pickle variety using raw mangoes. This can be used as a side dish for curd rice or even as an accompaniment for tiffin varieties. This is healthier when compared to store bought pickles, as it is homemade without any preservatives. Also check my easy to prepare  tomato thokku  recipe.

Thokku is nothing but a thicker version of chutney which is mainly meant for travel and storage purposes. The recipe here uses tomatoes as the main ingredient. This is an easy to prepare thokku variety which goes well with all tiffin items and also curd rice. Since it is a no onion no garlic recipe, it can be used for festival days. We can prepare in bulk in advance and use it for travel purposes too.

Spinach paratha is a healthy roti variety prepared using spinach, which is a rich source of iron. This paratha is an alternative for kids who do not like to eat spinach dal or kootu. This paratha is ideal for travel and lunch boxes as it stays soft.

Mango pachadi is a traditional sweet prepared during festivals in south indian households especially on tamil new year day. It has multiple tastes like sweetness, sourness, spiciness and bitterness. When prepared on tamil new year day we also include little neem flowers fried in ghee. Here I have given the recipe without neem flowers.

Rava dosa is an instant dosa variety which is very easy to prepare but requires more cooking time than the regular dosa. I used to follow a different method of preparing this dosa by soaking rava in buttermilk and then adding the remaining ingredients. When I came across this recipe in Vijay TV Venkatesh Bhat's cookery show, it was very easy and simple to make. I followed his recipe for the proportions of the flour and modified to include few other ingredients like ginger, pepper etc. I have tried this many times and it comes out perfectly every time.

This post explains the simple preparation of pepper jeera powder. This powder is a versatile powder which can be used for basic rasam varieties, ven pongal or can even be mixed with hot rice. I use this for all my rasam varieties. We can also add it as a spice ingredient for pasta.

Aapam is a traditional kerala dish which is soft and spongy in the centre and has a crispy outer layer. The recipe I have given here does not use yeast. This is the way my mother prepares and I have also followed the same. It comes out perfect both in texture and taste. Since I don't have the aapam pan specifically meant to prepare this, I used my normal iron kadai to prepare it. You can use any pan/kadai with an appropriate lid to prepare this.