Suba's Recipes

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.

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.   

Neer mor is a refreshing drink usually made as a neivedhyam for Rama Navami festival along with panagam . My mother makes it for her poojai on Tuesday and Friday along with panagam. We also make it frequently during summer to quench our thirst on hot days.  I made this on the Sri Rama Navami day last week and managed to click as well.                                                                     

Panakam is a refreshing drink usually made as a neivedhyam for Rama Navami festival. I have had it regularly as my mother makes it for her poojai on Tuesday and Friday. She makes this along with neer mor . It is such an easy and healthy drink to prepare and can be made even on regular days as a simple neivedhyam. Though different people make it in different ways, given here is a simple recipe -  the way my mother makes. I made this on the Sri Rama Navami day last week and managed to click as well.                                                               

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.

Vella dosai is a very healthy dish made with wheat flour and jaggery. It can be prepared instantly and can satisfy our sudden sweet cravings. This has been my favourite from childhood as it has jaggery in it. In my home, they usually make this to pair up with the regular instant wheat dosa . You can make this as a quick after school snack for kids, as it doesn't require any pre-planning.

Paruppu urundai kuzhambu is a tangy and spicy traditional kuzhambu variety which is a variation to the regular sambar. This is one of the trademark recipes of my mother-in-law. In this recipe, dals are soaked and ground to a coarse paste and made as balls and cooked in tamarind based gravy. This is a perfect accompaniment for rice and does not require any side dish. There are many variations to this recipe in terms of the ingredients. The recipe given below is the simplest one with minimal ingredients and effort.

This is my mother-in-law's signature dish. Any dish prepared with this powder tastes great. My mother-in-law says coriander seeds and red chillies are the 2 key ingredients for this powder.

Idli Upma is an easy to prepare snack/tiffin variety with leftover idlis. There are many variations to this upma, which I have mentioned under the "Notes" section. This can be prepared as an after school snack for kids.

Poondu Milagu Kuzhambu - Garlic Pepper Kuzhambu is a very flavourful kuzhambu variety which has the goodness of garlic, pepper and curry leaves. My aunty makes this so well. Unlike other kuzhambu varieties this kuzhambu uses freshly ground spice paste and does not require sambar powder. This kuzhambu pairs well with any kootu variety or it can also be had as a side dish for curd rice.

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.

I prepare brinjal gothsu in the same way as the simple onion tomato gothsu . There are various recipes for this dish with different ingredients and methods. I have shared the recipe based on how I usually prepare at home. This goes well with idli, dosa, pongal and arisi upma.

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.

This is a simple post to explain the preparation of homemade processed rice flour using raw rice. This flour is especially used during festivals to prepare the traditional indian sweets and snacks like  nombu adai, thenkuzhal, kozhukattai, seedai, thattai etc.  and also idiyappam. Preparing snacks and sweets with this rice flour yields better results than the store bought ones. If preparing in large quantities, it is better to get it ground in the flour mills. But here I have used only mixie for grinding but the only tedious job with this method is to sieve finely.

Gothsu is a traditional south indian side dish prepared for tiffin items. It differs from sambar as the consistency and the ingredients vary. There are many variations to this gothsu recipe - we can add vegetables or make it simply with onion and tomato. Similarly we also make a version without dal. Each variation has its unique taste, yet pair well with most of the tiffin items like idli, dosa, pongal, upma etc. This onion tomato gothsu is an easy to prepare side dish which I regularly make for idli, dosa, pongal and arisi upma.

Paruppu rasam also known as tomato rasam is an easy to prepare rasam variety which has the goodness of toor dal. It is the most commonly prepared rasam variety and is a healthy lunch recipe for babies and kids. We can add plain dal with rice and mix this rasam topped with ghee, when giving for babies and kids.

Rasavangi is an authentic tamil recipe which is similar to arachuvitta sambar . It is usually prepared with brinjal, white pumpkin and cluster beans. When made with white pumpkin or cluster beans, we call it as "puli kootu" and with brinjal it is termed as "rasavangi". This is a no onion no garlic recipe and the addition of black channa makes it more flavourful and healthy. When mixed with hot rice topped with gingelly oil, it tastes great. We can prepare a simple stir fry as a side dish for this. I am a big fan of this dish and my aunty makes it so well.