PLAIN RICEMODAK

Plain rice modak is made with the rice flour, tempered with mustard seeds and urid dal, few curry leaves, green chilli etc.  It is very easy to make and serve as snacks too.  Since Ganesh festival is only a week away, I thought of sharing this simple recipe.

TOMATO OMLETTE

Tomato omlette is basically made out of gram flour or besan it is known as with onion, tomato, coriander  leaves etc.  It is a very tasty breakfast as it is or you can make it with bread as sandwich.  Since all the ingredients are available at home any time, this can be made so easily.

BILIMBI ACHAR, IRUMBAN PULI PICKLE, TREE SORREL PICKLE

Irumban puli  in English is known as  tree sorrel or cucumber tree.  In India, it is known as bilimbi, irumban puli, chemmeen puli, bimbul, orakkaapuli, bimblin etc.

The tree bears quite a lot of fruits.  It is very sour in taste.  It can be eaten raw with salt and chilli powder.  Since it is very tangy in nature, it is  added to some dishes substituting for tamarind or tomato.   It is used in sambar or fish curry or made into pickles.

Mostly, we used to make pickle out of it.  One of my colleague has got the tree in her building and she shared me with this fresh fruit.  I also made subzi out of this and was quite tasty.  irumban-puli-subzi

AJWAIN PATTA PARATHA

Parathas are altime favourite of our family members.  We love to eat paratha any time with curd and pickle is my choice and with tomato ketchup of our children.

Ajwain patta it is also known as pani koorka elai, kanni koorka, karpooravalli elai has got lot of medicinal value and I have planted the same in the balcony.  Hence, it is always available with me.  Whenever my children gets cough and cold, I make kada or kashayam in which I always used to put this.

Coming back to paratha, I have made several times, bhajia out of the leaves but never tried the paratha. Two days back I was bored of making subzi so thought of making paratha out of it as the Gardener came to trim the plants in the balcony, he had removed the leaves.  I had kept some in fridge which I used to make the paratha and was too good.  we can make puri also out of this dough

POHA COCONUT PAK

Poha coconut pak is a  simple and easy sweet dish for the neivedyam.  This can be prepared so quickly for your unexpected guests too as the ingredients are always available at home.  If you get the  naadan aval " brown colour one which is very tasty and healthy too, tastes heavenly.  You can make Poha  modak also out of this.

POHA MODAK

Ganesh Festival starts this year on 29th August.  I am pretty sure, everyone will be busy breaking their head to make some different kind of modak for welcoming the Lord Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles.  Here I am presenting for you a simple and easy modak recipe made out of poha and coconut which can be used for making poha coconut pak too.

PAPPADA VADA ll PAPAD VADA

Pappada vada is a snack item made in Kerala.  Actually, if you tell the Papad makers, they will make separate papad for this. In case you don't get that, you can use the normal papad for making this snack item. 

 

 In any of the small hotels and thattu kada (street shops), you will get this item to taste.  Papad is dipped in the rice flour batter and fried, it is a simple and easy dish, provided you have papad at home.

RICE BUTTERMILK DRINK (a healthy drink)

Rice butter milk drink is again reminds me of my childhood after posting   kanjivellam soup.  It is a quite healthy drink. My parents and grand parents used to drink this one or two glasses in the morning that is their breakfast.  It is quite healthy and filling too.  (IT IS KNOWN AS KARACHU KUDIKKAL), kARACHU means mashing it up KUDIKKAL means drinking)

This drink is made out of left over rice.  Water is put in the left over rice in the night and the drink is made in the morning.  It has got very cooling effect to the body.  If you make it with red puzhungalarisi (red boiled rice), it is much more tastier.

RICE SOUP (cold soup)

When I say Rice soup or kanji vellam in malayalam, it is known as is an energy drink, home remedy, hair care, plant food and cattle food.  I had a very very long hair.  My mother used to find it difficult to  apply oil and wash it every weekend.  Those days, shampoos are not known to us.  We use the rice soup, seekai podi, hibiscus leaves to make the hair wash in place of shampoo.  The kanji, after preparing the rice, the water is removed from the cooked rice and kept overnight.  Next day morning, the seekai podi, hibiscus leaves crushed on a rough stone to make the "Thali", the sticky liquid form mixed with the kanji is applied on hair to remove the oil.

salt and little ghee is mixed in the  hot kanji and drank as energy drink.  It is quite healthy.  The kanji diluted in water and cotton sarees, mudu etc. are dipped in it and put on the rope to dry and then it is sent for pressing (ironing).  Cow fodder (pinnaku - the remains after extracting the oil from coconut, til etc) are mixed in the kanji and given to the cattles.  The day old kanji is also put for the plants.

The above child hood memories reminded me when I today made rice and extracted the kanji from it.  I thought of making soup out of it.  I also had some vegetable stock after boiling some vegetables and beetroot for making some dish.

LAPSI PIDI KOZHUKKATTAI

Lapsi, the broken wheat rava is good for diabetic people.  we can make kichadi, upma, porridge out of it. Today I thought of trying the pidi kozhukkattai out of this and the result was yummy.  I loved it with kadala curry, moru kootan and sambar.

SUGAR CRUSH

When I say sugar crush, you must be wondering that I must have made something with sugar.  But it is not, it is a simple preparation of bread and children will like it in their tiffin box.  You can make and keep it in an airtight container for a day as it is not going to last for more than a day.

So let us find out the mystery ahead.

ONION RAITA

Raita is  a commonly made side dish for biryani, pulao.  You can also serve with dal roti, dal rice.  You do not need any special item for making raita.

Normally, the basic things like onion, tomato, cucumber etc. are always available with any of the Indian Household so preparing a raita makes the task very easy.  If not these are available at home, you can add some boondis  or sev to the curd along with some spices like chaat masala, chilli powder, roasted cumin powder etc.

BLACK PEPPER RICE

We can make various rice varieties and each one has its taste and aromas.  Since so many days, I was thinking of preparing Black Pepper Rice somehow I could not do that.  Today, as I had to go out for my daughter's orientation programme, I decided to cook rice and quickly made the black pepper rice and went way so that after coming from the college, I can just heat it up and have it.

It was a simple preparation yet very delicious along with onion raita and papad.  Loved it.

DATES KHEER

Today, I have invited my brothers and family for lunch.  Menu was decided by my daughter lauki partha, rice, sambar, payar thoran.  for dessert, mummy, I will leave it to you, she said.  I was bored of cooking the normal kheer viz. pal payasam, wheat payasam, ada pradhaman, semiya payasam  etc. etc.

I made dates chikoo milk shake and next day I tried the dates kheer too.  Somehow, I could not post the same as the photographs were lost due to fault in my camera.  Since I had the opportunity to make the dates kheer again, I thought I will post the same today itself.

RAJGIRA PARATHA

Rajgira paratha is made like we make the normal parathas viz. alloo, lauki etc. It is quite tasty and healthy too.

One thing you remember, serve it hot.  If it becomes cold, it does not taste as good as  the hot stuff.

RAJGIRA DOSA

Rajgira or Amaranth seeds it is known as is most pretein rich grain.  We can make porridge, laddu, chikki, uttappa etc with this.  It is also known as Ramdana in UP.  I always buy the chikki and laddu available in the market.  I was wondering what is this about and after browsing the net, I came to know that it is Amaranth seeds.

Today I made uttappa, dosa and partha out of it.  It was really awesome.  Here I am sharing with you now the dosa recipe.

Since I am making it for the first time, I tried with little quantity but came out so well.

BRINJAL GOTHSU, KATHRIKAI GOTHSU

Brinjal gothsu is prepared in tamarind gravy with some tomatoes and onions.  this can be served with idli, dosa, chapati too.  It is a simple preparation and will be loved by everyone. I made it slightly in a different way and it was too good to have with dosa and chapati.

Here I am sharing my version of gothsu.

BAJRA SPROUTS SUBZI

Bajra or Pearl Millet it is known as is very popular in Rajasthan.   This has been eaten in India since the pre-historic times.  Rotis and Kichadis are made out it normally, espcially in winters.  It is high in proteins with good amount of amino acids,  good source of iron, which helps in formation of hemoglobin thus prevents anaemia.  It is also a moderate source of vitamin B1 which is required for a healthy nervous system.

I had soaked the bajra for making kichadi but somehow, I could not complete the process.  So I removed the water and kept it for sprouting.  When I saw the sprouts, I thought of making subzi out of it.  

A healthy side dish for roti, chapati.

JACKFRUIT UTTAPPA

Jack fruit uttappa can be made with the batter made for jack fruit dosa.  For making uttappa, I made little masala for it to make it more richer and tastier.

JACKFRUIT DOSA

I got a jack fruit which was given by my brother as someone had given him.  When I cut it, you will  not believe there was only 4 bulbs in it.  We were quite surprise to see such a big jack fruit with only four bulbs in it.  Any way, I do not waste anything. So thought of making dosa, jack fruit  uttappa, cutlet out of the four bulbs I had.

Out of the four bulbs, I used two for making dosa and uttappa and another two for making cutlet.

BANANA SKIN THORAN, BANANA SKIN STIR FRY

Banana skin (nendrankaya) is used to  make thoran or stir fry subzi in Kerala. After peeling the same for making the chips, the skin is chopped very finely, along with vella payaru it is called (lal chowli or red chowli or karamani), this subzi is made.  I normally eat the same with Curd rice as I love the taste of it with curd rice apart from serving the same with rasam rice or sambar rice.  Banana skin can be used for making thogayal, chutney too.

IDLI

Idli is a traditional breakfast in South Indian households, especially in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala too where it is a popular breakfast.  It is a savory cake that is made out of rice and dehusked black gram i.e. urid dal famous in India and neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka. The batter  is fermented and is put into the mould, then steam cooked. Served along with sambhar and coconut chutney.  The fermentation process breaks down the starches so that they are more readily metabolised by the body.

This dish can be served as breakfast, and at dinner time too. In fact it is any time favourite of Indians.

You can grind the rice and dal once in a week and keep in fridge for 3 -  4  days consumption.

The first day, Idli is prepared and second day, it becomes dosa, third day if the batter is remaining, then it becomes uttappa or kuzhipaniyaram.  While preparing dosa, you can add little bit of rice flour and water  to adjust the consistency.

Since all are familiar with this dish, I am not explaining much about it and let us straight away look at the recipe now:

Other idli varieites:  Kanjeevaram Idli, tuvar dal idli, idli fry, chinese idli,
How to preserve idli batter in natural way:

JOWAR IDLI

Idlis are always good for health.  In South Indian Families,  breakfast is incomplete without Idli, dosa.  We can make varieites of Idlis viz.  Kanjeevaram Idli, tuvar dal idli, idli fry, chinese idli, Ragi Idli, Rava Idli etc.

Here I am presenting another variety with Jowar.  The humble ancient grain, Jowar (orghum) belongs to the millet family.  Sorghum is packed with iron, protein, fibre and  has a higher content of calcium.  It is antioxidant, helps in lowering cholesterol levels.

We can make porridge, kichadi, roti etc. with this grain  which  has got good health benefits.

MASALA PEANUT

Recently, we had been a restaurant and had Hungama Masala over there as starter. fried peanuts with some mild gravy, was wonderful.  We liked it very much and forgot to see the ingredients and masalas described in the menu.  Never mind, I thought I will try my own version and tried it today and could not believe, the same was really tasty.  I am sharing this recipe with you and sure will love it.

If you are having the basic ingredients at home, it can be made very quickly.

MUTTER PANEER

Mutter paneer is made  with Mutter and paneer cooked in a delicious tomato based gravy, served with rice, roti, naan, paratha etc.  It is a very delicious, simple and easy recipe to cook and tastes yummy.  The paneer can be made at home and keep in fridge.  Similarly, during the season, you can also buy fresh mutter in huge quantities, shell them and put in zip lock bag and put in freezer or you can use the dried green peas by soaking in water overnight.  I always store tomato paste or tomato masala in the fridge hence making tomato based subzi is easy for me.

Making paneer at home: Videos on Youtube:  Paneer 1 , Paneer 2, Paneer 3

FRUIT CHUTNEY

Like other chutneys, fruit chutney also goes well with idli, dosa.   Apart from eating fruits as it is and making juices, salads etc.  out of it, we can also make use of them for the preparation of chutney.   Today, I made the chutney with pomegranate and papaya and was really tasty with idli. It has become a habit for us to have anything and everything with liquid subzi or chutney hence compulsorily, I have to make something. Every time to make make something without coconut is really a difficult task.  Still I manage with something or the other and this chutney was invented by me today which I am sharing with you all.  Hope you will also like this.  This is my kind of version and there is another version of making this sweet chutney with fruits, tomato etc. which shall be posted soon.

CARROT ONION TOMATO CHUTNEY

Today I made rava dosa.  Now a days, for any item,  we prefer to  have some  liquid subzi or chutney or curd.  The dry items viz. dosa milagai podi or gun powder it is called or any dry subzi with chapati is not enjoyed by us as we earlier used to enjoy.  May be the age factor counts, I feel so.  Any way, for idli and dosa, it is always preferred with sambar or chutney.

Another biggest problem is that we cannot consume coconut much.  Hence, always a biggest task for me to make chutneys without  coconut.  Though I have posted various chutneys, here is an instant chutney with carrot, onion, tomato.   It is very easy to make as you have got all the ingredients at home any time. It goes well with chapati, roti, rice, idli and dosa too.

PULIKUTTHI UPMA

Pulikutthi upma is made out of broken rice.  During 70's when I was in my native place, we used to get rice from the ration shop which we used not only for cooking, but also for making, idli, dosa and karuvadams.  That rice was best for karuvadams.  This rice contained broken rice too which we used to separate through a sieve and used for making pulikutthi upma.

Puli means tamarind.  Yes this upma is made in tamarind sauce and served with sutta appalam or roasted papad.  My mother used to make this lovely upma which I still remember and the taste was awesome. Though I used to make it, I still prefers my mother's upma  as it was too good.

JACKFRUIT KOZHUKKATTAI

Seasonal dishes I never fail to make as they are only seasonal.  Jack fruit is available during March to June (prefer not to buy in June as the water seeps into it as a result does not taste good).  The sweet bulbs can be eaten as it is or can make chaka varati, elai adai, appam etc.

Since so many years, I never made this kozhukkatai as no one likes in my family. My children prefer to eat the fruit as it is.  This time, I  made it a point that I must make it atleast for the recipe purpose and the yield was only 5 kozhukkatai which I managed to distribute among my friends and finished it off.

This kozhukkatai is made with rice, jaggery and it is a very lovely dish if you like sweets.

PICKLED SEVAI

I have already posted three varieties of sevai.  One day, I was cleaning fridge, there was little lime pickle in a bottle.  For little amount of pickle, I have to keep one bottle in the fridge, so thought of emptying it.  Co-incidentally, I had made sevai for my daughter who likes to eat with sugar and milk.  I just mixed the pickle with the sevai, tempered with urid dal, mustard seeds and curry leaves, garnished with coriander leaves, loved it.  So the recipe is here.  very simple, tasty and easy to make.

You can use any kind of pickle.

other varieties of sevai:    limbu sevai,  amaranth sevai, coconut sevai, kothamalli sevai

KOTHAMALLI SEVAI

Kothamalli podi or kothamalli chutney (dry) is normally made by South Indians.  It goes along with  dal rice, curd rice.  I love to mix this podi with curd and have it along with any kind of dosa specially wheat flour dosa, idli, upma kozhukkattai.  Instead of having pickles, this podi is a nice accompaniment with molagootal too.  

I always try some thing which is very unique.  One day when I ran out of vegetables and nothing was there for making breakfast except some sevai with me, I tried this combination and was loved by everyone at home.  So thought of sharing with you all.  What you need is some kothamalli podi, sevai and some peanuts.  Your lovely breakfast is ready.

Other varieites of sevai:  limbu sevai,  amaranth sevai, coconut sevai, pickled sevai

COCONUT SEVAI

I have already posted Amaranth Sevai and Lime sevai.  Now the turn for the famous Coconut sevai or thenga sevai.  You will find this during the feast especially in weddings.  Coconut sevai is made with sevai and tempered with mustard seeds,urid dal and finally coconut is added.  It tastes yummy when you make it in coconut oil.

Lime sevai, Amaranth sevai, kothamalli sevai, pickled sevai

LIME SEVAI, LIMBU SEVAI

Lime sevai is made out of sevai readily available.  I used Anil Brand sevai.  You can use also Concord Brand.   This sevai is made for the breakfast.  We can serve it with Morukootan, chutney, sambar etc.  Variegates of  sevai is made apart from lime sevai viz. coconut sevai, amaranth sevai, pickled sevai, plain sevai etc.  If you buy the ready made packet, it is very easy to prepare.  If you opt for the home made one, then the process is bit lengthy but the end product is heavenly.

Lime sevai

Another variety of sevai: Amaranth sevai, coconut sevai,   kothamalli sevai watch youtube: lime sevai,  lime sevai, pickled sevai

AMARANTH SEVAI, RED SPINACH SEVAI

Leafy vegetables are good for health.  You can make stir fried subzi, dal,  etc. with the leafy vegetables.  this contains Vitamin A, C, E and dietary fiber.  Apart from making stir fry vegetables and curry, it can be used for making cutlets and breakfast.    Here I am sharing with you  Amaranth sevai.  

Amaranth sevai is prepared with amaranth leaves, red spinach or chuvanna keereai, lal maath, it is known as.  I have mixed this with rice sevai for making the lovely and tasty  breakfast.

watch video:  amaranth seva, red  spinach sevai.

Another variety of sevai: Lime sevai, coconut sevai, kothamalli sevai, pickled sevai

ONION RASAM KICHADI

Kichadi is very soft, tasty and good for health.  When you serve the same  hot with little cow ghee, it is heavenly.  Kichadi is prepared with rice and moongdal with the masalas of rasam.  Today when I made it and shared with my colleagues during lunch time, they were having no words to praise it as they loved it so much.

The idea of making rasam rice came to my mind when I made Onion rasam yesterday.  The onion rasam was awesome.  I am sharing this recipe with you and am pretty sure, you all will like it.

ONION RASAM

Rasam can be served with rice as well as an appetizer.  Yesterday I made the onion rasam as I was having a sour throat and did not want to eat.  I had this hot  rasam and was relieved a bit.  In fact, along with rice, it was very tasty.

Onion rasam is made with onion, tomato and no dal is used for this preparation.  Very easy to make and tasty too.  I am sharing this recipe with you and pretty sure that you all will like it. Try the onion rasam kichadi

SPONGE GOURD SUBZI

Luffa are best eaten when small (less than 12 cm) and still green.

In Karnataka's Western Ghats, it is known as tuppadahirekayi which means buttersquash.  It grows naturally in this region and consumed when it is very tender and green.  It can be used in curries, bhajji,  When it is dries out, it is used as a natural scrubber and washing sponge.

In Andhra, it is called Adavi beera means ridge gourd.  In Kerala, it is called Peechinga.  In Maharashtra it is known as dodka (ridge gourd luffa) and ghosavala (smooth luffa).  It is very easy to prepare, tasty too with chana dal, or can be made as stir fried subzi too.  Here I made this with peanuts.  You can use fresh or dried peanuts.

  

Sponge gourd subzi

JACKFRUIT SEED CUTLET

 

Season of Jackfruit will get over once the monsoon starts.  After the rain, it will not be as tasty as the one we get during the summer.  Now grab the opportunity to make the seasonal dishes before the monsoon starts.

Today, I prepared jack fruit seed cutlets which was very tasty.  The seeds are naturally sweet little bit and the cutlet was awesome.  We can use the seeds for making chips  (jack fruit seed  chips) and subzi too.  I had some seeds with me which I used for making the cutlet.

Let us look at the recipe now:   watch youtube:  jack fruit seed cutlet

PAPAYA HALVA ll HOW TO MAKE PAPAYA HALVA

Who will say no to sweet dishes, especially, halva.  Today I prepared papaya halva.  I have already posted raw papaya halva in the blog.  Here is the ripe papaya version halva which I am sharing.  I have also shared the same with www.simpleindianrecipes.com, but this recipe is with slight variation.

A nice sweet dish with dry fruits is heavenly.

watch Youtube: papaya halva,  papaya halva

KOTTU RASAM

Rasam is always served during feast.  When you are having very bad cough, cold, fever, especially  during rainy season, hot rasam is a boon.  One of my aunt used to prepare this rasam mostly during rainy season as myself and my brother used to love it with hot steaming rice.

It is a very simple rasam without involving much ingredients, vegetables or rasam powder.

Kottu rasam

watch youtube: kottu rasam

TAMARIND FLOWER MANGO PACHADI

Pachadi is made out of any kind of vegetables viz. mango, pumpkin, raw papaya etc.  Here I am sharing with you all an unusual recipe i.e. with tamarind flower.  The blend of mango, coconut with green chilli, mustard seed and cumin seeds make this pachadi more tasty.   Tamarind flower is also equally sour like the tamarinds.  I had made the chutney with   the tender leaves too  tender-tamarind-wild-lime-curry-leaves, tamarind flower chutney, tamarind flower rasam.     Also try the tamarind flower rasam, tamarind flower chutney.   This can be served with rice, chapati, upma etc.

Watch youtube: tamarind flower mango pachadi                  tamarind flower mango pachadi

TAMARIND FLOWER CHUTNEY

varieties of chutneys are made by us.  Here is an unusual recipe. Yes, the tamarind tree is filled with flowers and the tree looks so beautiful.   whenever, I see the flowers, I thought of making the chutney with it and got the opportunity to pluck it yesterday and the recipe is here to share with you.

It is very tasty can be served with dosa, idli and rasam rice.  I prepared the rasam too and pachadi with mango.  Here is the link for the tamarind flower rasam.  tender-tamarind-wild-lime-curry-leaves, tamarind-flower-mango-pachadi.

watch you tube:  tamarind flower chutney
Let us look at the recipe now:

Ingredients:

!/2 cup tamarind flower
2 tsp tuvar dal
1 tsp urid dal
1 tsp chana dal
1/4 coconut grated
3-4 red chilli
few curry leaves
hing powder
1 tsp jaggery
2 tsp oil
1 tsp jaggery
3-4 red chilli
salt

Method:

1.  Heat oil, fry the red chilli and curry leaves, remove from fire.

2.  in the same kadai, add the chana dal, tuvar dal, urid dal and fry them too

3.  add the tamarind flower, hing powder  and saute

4.  allow to cool.

5.  grind all the ingredients together to a coarse chutney.

6.  You can make it thick or semi solid form as you wish.

7.  Serve with idli, dosa, upma, rice etc.

TAMARIND FLOWER RASAM

Rasam is my favourite dish.  I prefer to drink it before having my meal always.  The hot rasam is an appetizer too for me.   When you are having cough, cold, fever, this is very good for tickling the taste bud.  Since last few days, when I saw the tamarind tree bloomed with full of flowers, I decided to pluck it and make some dishes out of it.  I made rasam, tamarind flower  chutney and  tamarind flower mango pachadi out of it and tell you do not miss the chance, if you get fresh flowers.

The flowers are also equally sour  like the tamarind.  so when you use it according to your taste buds, increase / decrease the quantity of the flowers in the recipe.  Since I cannot have much sour foods, I have reduced the quantity in the recipe.

watch youtube:  tamarind flower rasam,   neem-flower-rasam-vepampoo-rasam-rasam,  tomato rasam,  milagu rasam,  water melon rasam,  mango rasam, coriander rasam,  instant tomato rasam, kulith rasam, beetroot-tomato-saar

RIDGEGOURD SUBZI

I have heard about ridgegourd peel chutney.  To try this I bought ridgegourd otherwise, we never used to eat this vegetable.  Slowly, I started developing taste for this, but not my family members.  However, I tried subzi, paratha etc. and was a hit as my family members did not understand how I made parathas and never bothered to tell them.

Since it is very spongy, easy to cook and tasty too.  Before writing the recipe, would like you all to read the information, health benefits of this vegetable and  enjoy this delicious dish for chapati, roti and with rice too.

ridgegourd subzi, turai subzi

BITTERGOURD RICE, KARELA BHATH

Most of the people does not like bitter gourd because of the bitter taste.  But when you consider the health benefits of this vegetable, you will definitely include the same atleast once in a week in your diet.  It is very good for the people who are suffering from diabetes.

I have made few varieties of dishes with bitter gourd.  pavakka curry,  bitter gourd sweet pachadi ,   bitter gourd pickle,   bitter gourd fry, Today when I was making stuffed karela for my husband, his favourtie dish, I thought of making the rice with it and it was a hit among my office colleagues.  They did not feel that they are eating karela bhath, instead one said it is bisibela bhath.

Whatever form you consume this vegetable, it is quite healthy and I am sure, you will definitely try this.

Let us look at the recipe now:

VEG TREAT, a healthy breakfast

Presently, every one has become very health conscious as due to our hectic lifestyle, people are affected with diabetics, kidney stone problems, hypertension etc etc.  People are less concerned about their food habits and eat junk foods which is one of the main reason for the obesity and the present ill health and diseases we are facing.

A balanced diet is very very important for the present life style.  Considering the health issues, I have started taking boiled vegetables for my breakfast which is very easy to prepare, quite filling and healthy too.  I am sure, you will also agree with me after trying this for a period of one month atleast.

Veggie Treat, boiled vegetables 

OATS KHEER

I always crave for some sweets after my lunch and dinner.  I must atleast eat some sugar if I do not have any sweet items in store.  Today, while preparing oats porridge for my dear hubby, I thought I will make kheer out of oats.  There was a piece of red pumpkin after cutting  the veggies for Avial.  Hence made use of the pumpkin along with oats.  There was also a tablespoon of Pal theratipal (milk reduced).  everything mixed became a very tasty flavourful kheer which I am sharing with you. The addition of nuts make this kheer even more tasty.

oats kheer

TENDER TAMARIND, WILD LIME, CURRY LEAVES CHUTNEY

Chutneys are good accompaniment for mild curries as well as for idli, dosa, chapati, phulkas and with hot steamed rice along with pure ghee.  various kinds of chutneys are prepared but this chutney is quite different from any other chutney.  Tender tamarind leaves, wild lime leaves and curry leaves are used in this chutney which is quite unique and tasty too.  It goes well with rice, idli, dosa, chapati and phulka as it is quite spicy.  Now the tender tamarind leaves are available, make use of this and enjoy this chutney.  I have already posted one chutney of tender tamarind leaves chutney.

tender tamaridn, wild lime, curry leaves chutney

watch youtube: tender tamarind, wild lime, curry leaves chutney  1      tender tamarind, wild lime, curry leaves chutney

TENDER TAMARIND LEAVES CHUTNEY

Tender tamarind leaves (known as Chintachiguru or Chintakku in Andhra) chutney is the speciality of Andhra and it is very spicy.  It has to be spicy otherwise, you will not know the real taste of it.  I have been longing to post this recipe since long, but could do it today only as I came across the tender leaves of tamarind so took the opportunity to make it.  The tangy spicy chutney goes well with steamed rice, pure ghee and also with chapati, phulka and idli, dosa.  another recipe of tender tamarind, wild lime, curry leaves chutney

Tender tamarind leaves chutney

watch youtube: tender tamarind leaves chutney

METHI LEAVES UPMA

Normally we make upma with plain suji or with onion or with some vegetables.  My mother used to make the broken rice rava with tamarind pulp which is quite tasty with some papad, kurdais, ela vadams etc.  I tried the same method with little twist in it and was quite tasty.  I used methi leaves which has got medicinal properties as well as good for health.

Those who are suffering from digestive problems can eat methi leaves which is good.  It also helps in losing weight and reduces dullness, dizziness and drowsiness.  It is considered as a good appetizer too.  It is effective in combating diabetes.  It is highly beneficial in treating flatulence, indigestion and sluggish liver.  Heals mouth ulcers, good for blood formation which prevents anemia, cooling.

So when the season is on, make use of this great leafy vegetable by making thepla, muthia, subzi, paratha and get the benefit.

Some people try to reduce the bitterness by adding salt in it.  Please avoid this process as we are loosing the medicinal properties of it by doing this.  Same is with bitter gourd too.