2016

If there is one memory that stays close to my heart when I think of my paati’s home (maternal grandmom’s house) is that the aroma of her kitchen. Freshly prepared Ghee, the different varieties of pickles that she stocks in ceramic jars carefully covered with white dhoti cloth (oorugai jaadi), that smell of tadka from homegrown curry leaves, the filter kaapi she makes from first decotion and the list goes on..She lived in that house for close to 55 years and she fondly refers to her place as MeenakshiAmma Chathiram in Tamizh.(‘Chathiram’ means resting place)Whoever in our family visits Trichy,…

Siri Pulipaka : The author of this popular blog Cooking With Siri and one of my absolute favorite bloggers. She is been constantly documenting her recipes for the past 9 years. This is definitely not an easy task unless and until you are truely passionate & focused on what you are doing. From her native Andhra Pradesh’s speciality dishes to homemade pasta & other baked goodies, Siri’s blog is a collection of hundreds of versatile recipes. She has hosted many blogging events that had participants all over the world, her recipes have been published in popular magazines. I guess in…

Weekends we mostly prefer hearty lunches. Food is the perfect way to unwind a stressful week. Yesterday we went to purchase groceries and came back home at around 11:00am..Both of us were damn hungry and I thought of putting together a quick meal yet delicious one. I zeroed in on Daal + Chawal (Rice with lentils) and for sides i initially planned a simple potato fry. The fresh capsicum I picked from the market was starring right into my eyes A simple potato fry became stuffed capsicum and to add some deliciousness (read calories) sprinkled cheddar cheese at the…

I stumbled upon Priya’s instagram account in the beginning of 2013 I guess. From then to till date her food pictures/recipes have always been amazing. There is not much of greasy or oily food in her feed. Though she occasionally indulge in fried snacks I love the way how her food emphasis on clean eating. If you look at her feed you will realize that eating healthy doesn’t necessarily have to be monotonous or boring. I always say that “You don’t have to be a blogger to be passionate about food” , Priya is another classic example of that. Priya…

Paniyaram (பணியாரம்) is a Chettinad Speciality dish (karaikudi region in TamilNadu) and it can be prepared in two ways either sweet or savory. The traditional savory paniyaram is served with Kara Chutney (spicy chutney prepared from onions,tomatoes). You can prepare a batter exclusively for paniyaram or if you are running out of time you can always use regular fermented dosa batter. In this recipe i have used leftover dosai batter and to add flavour i have added veggies & spices. This masala paniyaram is a perfect,guilt free evening snack and you can improvise it in million ways. You can try…

My mom makes this spicy,tangy ‘Milagu kuzhambu’ whenever we come back home from a trip or vacation. The reason behind this is that we used to be tired from travel & from all those restaurant foods, this ‘kuzhambu’ is considered as a cleansing food. There are no vegetables involved, no onion/garlic , no extra spices. A very simple south indian style ‘pachadi’ (similar to yogurt based Raita with a Tadka) & a pappad (preferrably sutta appalam) are served as side dishes. This kuzhambu is a very common recipe in Tamil Brahmin community. Especially for nursing mothers we serve this kuzhambu…

Radhika Subramanian : She is the one behind this fantastic vegetarian blog www.ticklingpalates.com. I had gazed upon her website several times, referred to her recipes but never got an opportunity to interact with her. Somewhere in mid 2014 I started following her on Instagram and got to know more about her personality. Apart from being a highly talented blogger, she is such a positive,warm & friendly person too. If you see her food pics you will be definitely tempted to lick that “sambar vadai” from your mobile screen Here is the fun Q&A with the dearest Rads (thats how…

This is an instant biryani version. With less spices & ingredients the biryani can be prepared within 25 minutes. Mushrooms need very less time to get cooked and hence this recipe comes handy on busy weekdays. I used button mushrooms. Also I added only onion,tomato along with mushrooms. Didn’t want to add too much of veggies. I truely wanted mushroom to be the hero of this dish. You can serve this biryani with raita or any other gravy of your choice. I prepared strawberry raita. It tasted delicious. The tangy,sour raita with spicy biryani made an awesome combo. Do try…

“Paruppusili” in Tamil is nothing but a stir fry of vegetables that are spiced with lentils & dried redchillies. In Tamil Brahmin households paruppusili is a traditional dish that is mandatory in Kalyana Sapadu & in any type of feast during special occasions. The ideal combination of Paruppusili is either vathakuzhambu (spicy tangy onion curry) or morkuzhambu (buttermilk based gravy). French Beans,Banana Flower,Cluster beans are the common vegetables that are used in preparing Paruppusili. However in recent years I have made it with other veggies like Cabbage,Tindora and even with spinach. Brussel sprouts is similar to cabbage and has a…

Our dinners are usually Roti with a simple sabzi or sometimes I go the South Indian way and prepare Upma/Dosai. Its June and is supposed to be the start of Summer season here in UK. But the weather has been crazily cold for the past few days. All we crave is spicy, greasy foods. Yesterday night I prepared this spicy Tawa Pulao for dinner and it turned about absolutely delicious. I served it with Yogurt and crisps. The authentic street food version is prepared directly on the hot Tawa and the addition of Pav Bhaji masala takes this Pulao to…