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Since so many of you asked sharing this quick Kadai Vegetable recipe that I put together with Paneer & available veggies in my fridge. If you have Cauliflower, broccoli, green peas…

Once in a week my school & college days’ lunchbox menu will definitely have Lemon Rice/Tomato Rice with a piece of Lemon Pickle as sidedish. Such a humble yet comforting meal. Even after eating it all these years am never bored or tired of SouthIndian variety rice ☺️ Maybe because of the gene I suppose. This tomato rice recipe is my own & have been following it for years. It is slightly different from my mom’s. Her recipe doesn’t include garlic & garam masala powder for flavor. The best side dish for this rice is obviously Potato fry but for…

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…

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…

If I have to prepare a lunchbox recipe within just 20 minutes, I always go for Fried Rice. A simple raita or tomato sauce would go well with that rice. So you don’t have to spend much time on thinking about side dishes. Also when the rice is cooking you could cut the vegetables finely. Once the rice is done, all you need to do is heat up the wok, add the veggies, saute it and finally add rice,sauces. It is as simple as that. But balancing the flavors, getting the right texture of rice is really really important for…

Couscous is one of my favorite ingredients and am incorporating it in many Indian based recipes too. This salad can be put together within few minutes and its vegan too. Instead of Tofu you could also add grilled halloumi or paneer too incase if you are not a vegan I have used only basic ingredients for preparing the marinade. The salad can be served cold as well. Hence you could prepare the Couscous mixture well in advance and can refrigerate for later use. Grill the Tofu just before serving

Pulikuzhambu, Kara Kuzhambu, Poondu Kuzhambu these are all various varieties of thick tamarind based curries that are most popular in Tamilnadu apart from the usual Sambar & Rasam. The consistency is the key to make a perfect poondu kuzhambu. Recently I brought around 1/4 kg of fresh garlic from farmer’s market nearby and was waiting for weekend to make the gravy. After painstakingly peeling 2 whole bulbs of garlic I looked around the pantry and realized there was no Tamarind. Tamarind pulp is an essential ingredient to this curry because it gives the right tanginess to the gravy. I blindly…

On a Friday night I was wondering what to make for dinner. Then this idea popped up. Prepared a quick tikki with Potatoes and paneer,served with a simple home made green chutney, store bought Imli(tamarind) Chutney and a salad. It was a satisfying meal and a perfect start for the weekend. Instead of Paneer you could add Tofu too. Since these tikkis are shallow fried they didn’t consume too much oil too. The following measurement yields upto 12-15 medium sized tikkis


Quinoa pronounced as ‘keen-wah’ is one of the most popular Health foods in recent days. Gluten free, rich in protein and incredibly nutritious are the reasons which makes this cereal grain the most wanted. White, Red and Black are the three main types of Quinoa and I have tried various recipes using this. However the Indo-Chinese version of Quinoa is our personal favorite. I was initially confused as what to name this dish 😉 Veg quinoa somehow sounded incomplete. Hence going by this name “Veg Quinoa Fried Rice” for the dish. The classic Chinese dish gets a makeover with quinoa….

Sandwiches are our go-to Breakfast. Its easy, less complicated and there is no chance of messing it up. I use different types of fillings for my sandwich. Avocados,leftover paneer or mushroom masala, sometimes I even use tomato gojju (southindian style onion+tomato based side dish) as a base for the sandwich. However this green chutney sandwich is our personal favorite. It takes just 10 minutes to prepare and then 5 minutes on the griller. Within 15 minutes you can make a filling breakfast. The sandwiches can be paired with a glass of fresh orange juice,smoothies or Tea to make it a wholesome meal. Sandwiches are perfect for kids lunch box and during travels too.