Tomato Thokku (with onions)

This is one of my most favorite dishes that can be made with very simple ingredients. This dish consumes a littler more time for preparation but the wait is really worthy for this delicious dish. By using 6 to 7 tomatoes we would get 1/2 of the initial volume of ingredients as we cook it for a longer time. You can prepare this dish in a large quantity and refrigerate it and use for 3 to 4 days.

Preparation Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
1. Onion - 3 finely chopped
2. Tomato - 7 finely chopped
3. Garlic - 15
4. Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
5. Urud dhal - 2 teaspoon
6. Curry leaves - 6
7. Asafoetida - a pinch
8. Oil -  6 to 7 tablespoon
9. Sambhar powder - 2 tablespoon
10. Salt - to taste

Preparation:
1. Chop Onions and tomatoes into fine pieces. Peel the skin of garlic.
2. Heat oil in a pan, and when hot, add mustard seeds.
3. When it splutters, add urud dhal, asafoetida and fry until it turns golden brown.
4. Now add the onions, tomatoes, garlic and curry leaves and cook.
5. Add the sambhar powder and salt and mix well.
6. Now start cooking the mixture in a medium flame and stirring every 7 to 8 minutes until the tomatoes are completely smashed and cooked.
7. When the oil starts separating and the tomatoes and onions are perfectly cooked, thokku is ready to serve.
8. Garinsh with coriander leaves.

This mouth watery dish is a very good combination of idly/dosa/rotis/rice. This goes well with curd rice/lemon rice.

Tips:
1. Tomato rice can be made by mixing this tomato mixture with rice and serve with any curry.

Vaangi Bath (Brinjal Rice)

Brinjal rice often referred as Vaangi Bath is a very delicious rice variety made of brinjal and a spicy fresh powder. Vaangi bath ready mix powder is available these days in the grocery stores and makes the preparation very simple. But I prefer to make my own fresh powder to have the fresh taste.


Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1. Rice - 2 cups
2. Brinjal - 5
3. Onion - 1 medium sized
4. Slt - to taste
5. Oil - 1 tablespoon
6. Ghee - 2 tablespoon
7. Cashews - 10 to 15
8. Coriander leaves - for garnishing
9. Mustard seeds - 2 teaspoon

For Powder:
1. Urud dhal -1 tablespoon
2. Channa dhal - 2 tablespoon
3. Red chillies - 4
4. Coriander Seeds - 1 tablespoon
5. Fenugreek seeds - 1 teaspoon
6. Cloves - 2
7. Cinnamon - 1 small stick

Preparation:
1. Cook the rice with required water. Do not over cook the rice. Ensure that the rice grains are separate and cool it.
2. Finely chop the onion and brinjal into lengthy pieces.
3. Dry roast the ingredients given for powder and grind it into a coarse powder.
4. Heat oil in a pan and when hot add mustard seeds, when it splutters add onions and fry until it turns transparent.
5. Now add the brinjals and salt and cook for next 5 minutes.
6. Add the powder and little water and cook the mixture by closing the lid in a medium flame for next 10 minutes.
7. The brinjal would now be perfectly cooked and the water is completely drained.
8. Heat 2 tables of ghee in a separate pan and fry the cashews until it turns golden brown.
9. Add the brinjal mixture and cashews to the rice and mix it well without breaking the rice.
10. Garinsh with copped coriander leaves.
Hot and spicy vaangi bath is ready to serve. You can serve this with Raitha or appalam/papads.


Tips:
1. Use Basmathi rice to have a rich flavor.
2. You can also use 2 - 3 spoons of tamarind juice to add a sour taste to the rice.

Plantain Curry (வாழைக்காய் கறி)

There are many simple dishes that can be made with Plantain. Of course plantain bhajji is a very famous dish in Tamilnadu. This recipe is a spicy curry made with very minimum number of ingredients. It is very rare to get good plantain in my city. So after a long time when i happened to find fresh Plantain in Wal-mart, i was so excited to make this preparation and it came out yummy...

Preparation Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:
1. Raw Plantain - 2
3. Onion - 2
3. Garlic - 7 to 8 pods
4. Red chilly powder - 1 tablespoon
5. Coriander powder - 2 tablespoon
6. Salt - to taste
7. Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
8. Urud dhal - 1/2 tablespoon
9. Oil - 3 tablespoon
10. Curry leaves - 4 to 5
11. Coriander leaves for garnishing

Preparation:
1. Peel the skin of plantain and chop into medium sized cubes. Alternatively you can chop the plantains in a round shape.
2. Finely chop the onions and peel the skin of the garlic and crush it coarsely.
3. Heat oil in pan and when hot add mustard seeds and when it splutters add urud dhal and fry.
4. Add onions, curry leaves and garlic and fry until onions become golden brown.
5. Add plantain, red chilly powder, coriander powder and salt and mix it well.
6. Now add around 100 ml of water to the mixture and cook the plantain in a medium flame for another 15 to 20 minutes by stirring occasionally. Cover with a lid, to cook the plantain well.
7. When the water drains and plantain cooks completely, switch off the stove and garnish with coriander leaves.

Hot and spicy plantain curry is ready to serve. This is a very good combination with any rice, especially Rasam or Curd rice.

Tips:
1. If you do not like garlic, you can avoid. This is used to enrich the flavor of the dish.

Brinjal Gothsu

This is a very famous dish in Chidambaram in TamilNadu. Chidambaram has a very famous Natarajar temple and this dish is even known to be provided as offering to Lord Nataraj. This dish is made with brinjal and tamarind juice.

Preparation Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:
1. Brinjal - 6
2. Onion - 2 medium size
3. Tamarind juice - 300 ml  (you can make the juice from either a tamarind of small lemon size or from 2 spoons of tamarind paste).
4. Red chillies - 2
5. Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
6. Urud dhal - 2 teaspoon
7. Asafoetida - a pinch
8. Curry leaves - 4
9. Oil - 2 tablespoon
10. Salt - to taste
11. Coriander leaves - to garnish

To make Powder:
1. Channa dhal - 3 tablespoon
2. Red chillies - 4 (vary it according to your spice level)
3. Coriander seeds - 1 tablespoon
4. Methi seeds - 1 teaspoon

Preparation:
1. Chop brinjal into fine pieces and onions lengthwise.
2. Dry roas all ingredients given for powdering and make a coarse powder.
3. Heat oil in pan and when hot add mustard seeds.
4. When it splutters, add urud dhal, red chillies and asafoetida and fry until it turns golden brown.
5. Add the chopped onions and curry leaves and cook until onions turn transparent.
6. Now add the brinjals and salt and mix well for next 5 minutes
7. Add the tamarind juice and bring it to boil in a medium flame.
8. When it comes to boil, add the powder and keep it in a low flame and cook for another 15 minutes.

Garnish it with coriander leaves and tasty, yummy brinjal gothsu is ready to serve. This is a very good combination for Idly and Ven Pongal.

PS:
1. Based on the sourness of the tamarind you use, make sure to adjust the quantity.
2. You can also add a cup of cooked moong dhal to have an additional taste.

Mango Rice

Mango rice is one of the simplest lunch box dish that can be prepared quickly. As mango is a seasonal vegetable during the summer, it has its own specialty.


Preparation: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1. Rice - 2 cups
2. Raw Mango - 1
3. Red Chillies - 4
4. Mustard seed - 1 teaspoon
5. Urud dhal - 2 teaspoon
6. Asafoetida - a pinch
7. Turmeric powder - 1/5 teaspoon
8. Curry leaves - 5
9. Salt - to taste
10. Oil - 2 tablespoon

Preparation:
1. Peel the skin of the maango and grate the mango.
2. Cook the rice with required water in a cooker or oven. Ensure that the rice grains are separate and not overcooked. Drain any excess water and cool the rice.
3. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds when oil is hot.
4. When it splutters, add urud dhal and asafoetida and fry until it becomes golden brown.
5. Add red chillies, grated mangoes and curry leaves, turmeroc powder and saute well.
6. Cook in a medium flame for next 10 to 12 minutes until the mango is cooked and the raw smell goes off.
7. Remove it from the stove and add it to the rice with required amount of salt and mix it without breaking the rice.

Yummy, yellowish mango rice is ready to serve. Simple potato fry would be a very nice combination with the rice.

Capsicum Curry

I wanted to try a different recipe with Capsicum this time as I mostly use chilly powder in my preparation. So this recipe is based on a fresh prepare masala with Tomato, red chillies and cumin seeds. You can substitute capsicum with any other vegetable in this recipe.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1. Capsicum - 3
2. Onion - 2 medium sized
3. Tomato - 2 medium sized
4. Red Chillies - 4 (adjust it according to your spice level)
5. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
6. Ginger/garlic paste - 1/2 tablespoon
7. Salt - to taste
8. Oil - 2 tablespoon

Preparation:
1. Grind tomatoes, red chillies, ginger/garlic paste and cumin seeds into a paste. Dont add water as tomates will make the paste watery.
2. Chop onions into fine pieces and capsicum into medium dices.
3. Heat oil in a pan and when hot add onions and saute until it becomes golden brown.
4. Now add the ground paste and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Add Capsicum and little water and cook the capsicum in the mixture by closing a lid. Cook in a medium flme for 10 to 12 minutes.

Garnish it with coriander leaves and spicy capsicum curry is ready to eat. It can be serve with Rice/Rotis.

Tips:
1. To enrich the taste, you can add 3 to 4 strings of coriander leaves along with other ingredients to prepare the paste.
2. You can also add all colored capsicums to make the dish colorful and attractive.

Quick Pepper Rice

Pepper has enormous medicinal properties and is very good for health. But most of the times we use red chillies rather than pepper. Also many of us dont like to eat whole pepper. This is a very simple and quicker recipe with pepper. Since we powder pepper coarsely, it mixes with rice and we will be forced to eat pepper and absorb its medicinal values. This can be also made with left over rice and can serve as a good and quick lunch box food.

Preparation Time: 15 mins 

Ingredients:
1. Rice - 200 gms
2. Onion - 2 medium size
3. Green chillies - 2
4. Pepper (coarsely powdered)- 1 tablespoon
5. Salt - to taste
6. Ghee - 2 tablespoon
7. Cashew - 15
8. Coriander Leaves - for garnishing

Preparation:
1. Cook the rice, drain it and keep it separately.
2. Chop onions and green chillies into fine pieces.
3. Heat ghee in a pan and fry cashews untilit becomes golden brown and remove.
4. In the same pan, add onions and green chillies and fry until onion turns transparent.
5. Now add the rice and required salt and pepper powder and mix well and cook for another 5 minutes.
6. Garnish with coriander leaves and the fried cashews.

Spinach Dhal Curry (கீரை கூட்டு)

This is another simple and quick dish with Spinach and moong dhal. You can try this dish with any other green.
 
Preparation Time: 30 minutes


Ingredients:
1. Spinach - 1 bunch
2. Moong dhal - 150 gms
3. Onion - 1 medium size
4. Green chillies - 3 vertically split
5. Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
6. Urud dhal - 1/2 tablespoon
7. Asafoetida - a pinch
8. Oil - 1 tablespoon
9. Salt - to taste

Preparation:
1. Finely chop the spinach and wash it in water. Chop the onions finely lengthwise.
2. Boil moong dhal in enough water until it is half cooked and remove it from stove and drain the water
3. Heat oil in pan, add mustard seeds, urud dhal and Asafoetida when oil is hot.
4. Add onions and green chillies and saute well for 5 minutes.
5. Now add the spinach and the half cooked dhal and required amount of salt and mix well.
6. Add half a glass of water and cook the spinach with dhal for next 10 minutes by closing the pan with a lid in a medium flame.


Hot and tasty spinach curry is ready. This can be had with rice or rotis. You can garnish it with grated coconut for additional taste.

Yellow Pumpkin Halwa

This is my 50th recipe :) I never thought I would be able to make it here when i started, but now I am sure there is many more to come. I wanted to dedicate this recipe to my lovely husband who had been motivating me all through this. And guess what, it was also a special occasion that was coincidental... yes it is Valentine's day, and I decided to make a sweet.

I had always tried and tasted halwa made with white pumpkin, but this time I wanted to try it with yellow pumpkin and it came out well. 

Preparation time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1. Grated pumpkin - 1 cup

2. Milk - 2 1/2 cups

3. Sugar - 1 1/2 cups

4. Ghee - 4 tablespoon

5. Cashewnuts - 20 to 25

6. Cardamom powder - little.

Preparation:

1. Heat ghee in a pan and fry the cashews and remove it when golden brown.

2. Now add the grated pumpkin in the same ghee and fry for 5 minutes in a very low flame.

3. Add milk and cook the pumpkin well in the milk. This will take atleast 30 minutes, as the pumpkin has to cook in milk. Also you need to cook in a low flame.

4. When it is almost cooked, add sugar and mix well and cook for another 15 - 20 mins.

5. Add the roasted cashew nuts and powdered cardamom.

Tasty and sweety pumpkin halwa is ready. This halwa will have a pumpkinish flavor. Try hot halwa with cold vanilla ice cream. It tastes yummy yummy!!!

Spicy Egg Curry (முட்டை தொக்கு)

This is a very simple and tasty version of spicy egg curry. This can be alternatively tried as a vegetarian curry by using any other vegetables with the same masala paste. As the masala paste is freshly ground, this adds the taste to the dish and makes it yummy...

Preparation Time : 25 minutes

Ingredients:

1. Eggs - 4

2. Onions - 1 big size

3. Tomato - 1 big size

4. Red Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tablespoon
5. Coriander powder - 2 tablespoon
6. Salt - to taste
7. Coriander leaves 
8. Oil - 4 tablespoons
For Masala Paste: 
1. Onion - 1 big size
2. Tomato - 1 big size
3. Cinnamon - 2 small pieces
4. Cloves - 2
5. Fennel seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
6. Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tablespoon

Preparation:
1. Grind all the ingredients given for masala into a fine paste.
2. Boil the eggs in water until it is completely cooked.
3. Finely chop the onions and tomatoes.
4. Heat oil in a pan and when hot add chopped onions and fry until it turns golden brown.
5. Then add tomatoes and red chilli powder, coriander powder and salt and saute well for 2 minutes.
6. Add the ground paste and cook it nicely for another 10 to 15 minutes until oil gets separated.
7. Now cut the eggs into two pieces and add it to the masala and mix well. The masala should get mixed with the egg nicely.
8. Cook for another 5 minutes.
9. Garnish with coriander leaves.


Spicy and hot egg curry is ready. This can be served with rice/dosa/idly/rotis.

Mushroom Briyani

I wanted to try something different with Mushrooms, so this time got the recipe of Mushroom Briyani from my mother in law and it came out very well. Alternatively you can try this recipe with Cauliflower or any other vegetables of your choice if you don't like Mushroom.


Preparation Time: 30 minutes 
 
Ingredients:

1. Mushroom-2pkts

2. Rice-2 cup

3. Ginger/garlic paste - 2 tablespoon

4. Curd - 1 Cup

5. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon

6. Coriander Powder - 1 tablespoon

7. Cloves - 2

8. Cardamom - 2

9. Bay leaves - 2 

10. Cinnamon - 2 
12. Onion - 1

14.  Oil - 2 tablespoon

15. Ghee - 1 tablespoon

Paste:

1. Coriander leaves - handful

2. Mint leaves - 5 to 6

3. Green chillies - 4

Preparation:

1. Grind Coriander leaves, mint leaves and green chillies into a fine paste with very little water. Finely chop the onions. Soak the rice in water for 20 minutes
2. Pour oil to cooker.Add cloves,cardmon,cinnamon,bay leaves and fry it

3. Add sliced onion fry it.

4. Add ginger,garlic paste saute it for 1 minute

5. Add ground paste fry it for another 2 minutes.
7. Now add mushrooms, coriander powder, red chilli powder and curd and fry it.

8. Add soaked rice and salt.

9. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and allow to boil closing the lid until the rice is cooked. Make sure not to overcook the rice.
10. Garnish with pudina and coriander leaves.


You can serve with raitha. 


Tips:
1. Instead of using 1 1/2 cups of water, you can use 1/2 cup of coconut milk and 1 cup of water to have an additional flavor and taste.

Simple Spinach Curry (Keerai Poriyal)

Spinach is a very cheap green which has the power to supply same amount of protein that one can get from meat, fish, egg and chicken. It is a rich source of all Vitamins, Iron, Calcium, Protein etc., It is also a very good source of folic acid and good for pregnant and ladies and nursing mothers. It is definitely good for health to have spinach at least once or twice a week to gain all nutrients. This recipe made with Spinach can be done with any other greeny vegetables. This is quick and easy to prepare.

Preparation Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

1. Spinach - 1 packet or bunch

2. Onion - 1 medium sized

3. Red Chillies - 3

4. Mustard seeds - 2 teaspoon

5. Urud dhal - 1/2 tablespoon

6. Asafoetida - a pinch

7. Oil - 1 tablespoon

8. Salt - per taste

Preparation:

1. Finely chop the spinach leaves and wash it in water. Finely chop the onions.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds when it is hot.

3. When it splutters, add urud dhal and asafoetida and fry until golden brown.

4. Now add red chillies and onions and saute well.

5. Add required amount of salt and spinach and sprinkle 1/4 glass of water and cook it by closing the lid.

6. Cook for another 5 to 7 minutes.

Hot and healthy Spinach curry is ready to serve with rice/roti.

Simple Rasam

There are different varieties of rasam and most of them are prepared from dhal water. This version of rasam is prepared without dhal. Powder for this rasam can be prepared in large quantities and refrigerated and used as and when required.
Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1. Tamarind extract - 2 cups
2. Tomato - 1 medium size
3. Coriander leaves - for garnishing
4. Salt - to taste
5. Oil - 2 tablespoons
6. Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
For Powder:
1. Toor dhal - 1 tablespoon
2. Channa dhal - 1/2 tablespoon
3. Pepper - 1 tablespoon
4. Cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon
5. Red chillies - 3
6. Coriander seeds - 2 tablespoon
7. Oil - 2 tablespoon

Preparation:
1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and fry all ingredients given for powder, cool and grind it to a fine powder
2. Finely chop tomatoes and add it to the tamarind extract and bring it to boil with required amount of salt for 5 minutes.
3. Add the ground powder and boil for another 5 to 7 minutes and switch off the stove.
4. For seasoning, add 2 tablespoons of oil and add mustard seeds. When it splutters, transfer it to the rasam and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve it hot with rice.