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Most of my lunchbox (husband’s) recipes are super simple & can be put together in 20 minutes. Shiva leaves home by 8:15 and it is difficult to make elaborate lunches.…

This is very similar to the typical Tomato Rice prepared in SouthIndia but just the spices/drypowders used here are slightly different. In general when I make vegetable pulao, i only…

Idli & Dosai are the common breakfasts in my house. I always have batter stocked in my fridge.  Or else I feel stuck especially on busy weekday mornings. The husband…

In Karnataka, ‘Vaangi Bath’ (Brinjal Rice) is a popular rice recipe that is prepared from fresh spice powder instead of store bought Red Chilli Powder& Coriander Powder combination. This recipe is inspired from Vaangi Bath preparation however the spice powder I used is very simple with minimum ingredients and this rice can be prepared within 30 minutes. A great lunchbox meal that stays fresh, aromatic for a longer time. You can prepare this powder in a large batch and can use it while preparing dry subzi like potato fry, brinjal fry, cauliflower poriyal etc. They taste delicious. I served this…

Have never cooked Courgettes until I was in Chennai. If you give me any new vegetable all I can think of is how to cook a SouthIndian recipe using it. Courgette/Zucchini is a summer squash vegetable popular in UK.Its texture slightly similar to Cucumber & I have made Courgette Kuruma (thick stew using coconut paste), Koottu (lentil based gravy) before. Last weekend I thought of preparing Pakoda from it. Initially I wasn’t too sure how it will work so thought of adding some carrots along with courgette. Turned out so delicious and this is my own recipe. Instead of the usual Onion Pakoda/Pakora try this and am sure you will like it too. I bought this handy cheap spiralizer during a sale. I use it for salads mainly. Instead of grating Courgette & Carrot i used this spiralizer. In case if you don’t have it , use your knife & make thin strips. 

Sambar is an integral part of Tamil cuisine. Be it breakfast or be it lunch, Sambar has to be there. Whenever I prepare tiffen items like Idli,Dosai or pongal, I usually go for this one pot sambar. Its done in pressure cooker and all you need is just 20 minutes. Tamarind is not used in this recipe and hence to give that tangyness to Sambar, I have added more tomatoes Tastes so good with even Sevai (Rice Vermicelli), Appam, Idiyappam too. Also even if you have unexpected guests, you can prepare this quickly without any hassle. The below recipe can…

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…

Sambar Rice is like the ‘kichdi’ of SouthIndia. Perfect comfort food to have during elaborate weekend lunch or sometimes during dinner too. This recipe is based on Tamil Nadu style of cooking. It is prepared generally from Rice and Toor Dal. In recent days due to various health reasons people are trying to switch from White Rice to millets for day to day cooking. This sambar sadham recipe is made using Barnyard Millet(Kuthiraivali in Tamil) & Masoor Dal. Also this is the best way to sneak in the vegetables and even fuzzy eaters will love this dish.The millet version tastes…

I always have Dosai batter in stock and it comes handy while trying to make quick breakfast or dinner. But at times I do forget the bowl of batter lying in fridge and it does become a bit sour after two days. Instead of wasting the sour batter you can try making this ragi rava roast[Finger Millet flour + Semolina crepes] and am sure your family will enjoy this breakfast.I served coconut chutney and tomato chutney as side dishes. However you could serve it sambar or molagapodi [GunPowder] too The following measurement approximately yields 12 medium sized dosas. Unlike dosa batter, this ragi rava batter has to be watery like our regular rava roast. Also you need to pour batter on a hot Dosa Tawa. If the temperature is not correct then it will difficult for you to remove dosa from the pan

Rama Navami is a traditional Hindu Festival to celebrate the birth of Lord Shri Rama. Lord Rama is the sixth reincarnation of Lord Vishnu himself and in Tamil Nadu temples we celebrate “Shri Rama Navami Utsavam” for nine days. It is firmly believed that mere chanting of His name ‘Rama’ burns ignorance, passion and sin. With or without knowledge, correctly or incorrectly, when the word “Rama” is pronounced it showers a rain of good upon the devotees. My mom usually reads Samkshepa Ramayan and she performs a simple pooja by reciting Shri Rama Ashtothram and then finish the pooja with…