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I heard my Mom say she made idli upma because she was bored with the regular idlis & it turned to be super delicious with some lemon juice squeezed over it. A few years ago I made some extra Idlis only to try my Mom’s Idli upma recipe and yes it turned out super delicious. Since then I have been making this often. About Idli Upma For the uninitiated, Idli Upma is a South Indian tiffin made by crumbling Idlis (steamed lentil cakes) & tempering it with whole spices & curry leaves....

Lamb Korma Korma is a popular Mughlai dish, from the Indian Sub-continent where meat is slow cooked with spices, onions, yogurt, nut or seed paste. The word “korma” is derived from the Urdu word “qorma” meaning “braise”. Though the name suggests “braised”, there are numerous versions of making it across the Indian Sub-Continent. North Indian and Pakistani recipes use brown onions and yogurt to make a korma, while the South Indian kurma is made with coconut milk....

About Masala Vada Masala means a mixture of spices & vada is a fried lentil snack. So masala vada translates to a fried snack made with lentils and spices. These are made by coarsely grinding soaked chana dal or bengal gram. Then spices, onions & herbs are added to the dough. This dough is then shaped to small disc or patties & deep fried. Massala vada is also known as chana dal vada in some parts of India....

In India you are likely to find, a zillion versions of Kheer and Payasam dishes. For the uninitiated, Kheer and Payasam are traditional Indian puddings mostly cooked with milk. They can be made with grains, flour, lentils, semolina and even with Semiya/Vermicelli. These are the simplest dishes that can be made with little effort. The South Indian version of these puddings are known by the name “Payasam” and are mostly made with jaggery, an unrefined sugarcane sweetener....

It’s no secret that there a lot of delicious Indian street foods like Aloo tikki, Dahi vada, Bhel puri, vada pav and Batata vada, but Pav Bhaji is particularly unique for its intoxicating aroma. Probably, it’s hard for a lot of Indians to cross a Pav Bhaji place without surrendering to the temptation. Undeniably, it is the most loved street foods from Mumbai, India!! If you are new to Indian cuisine and wondering...

Each region makes curry in a different style with different locally grown or available ingredients. Different ingredients like coconut, coconut milk, kokum, tamarind, red chilies, whole spices, poppy seeds etc are used depending on the region. This prawn curry is made with the most basic ingredients that most of us have in the pantry. It never fails to surprise me & my guests at how superb it tastes every time....

In this ragi modak recipe, for the outer covering I have used ragi flour, milk and very little jaggery. However you can just cook the flour in water and make a dough like we make for any kozhukattai, but the method I followed below yielded me very tasty ragi modak. I followed the ragi halwa recipe for the covering. For the stuffing I used coconut, jaggery and sesame seeds, but can also be made with chana dal purnam....

I know most of us now are back to our normal schedules, looking for ideas to pack office and school lunches. Some of these also go well in the snack and lunch boxes. While anything with cheese, eggs or meat is best consumed within 2 hours of preparing (or advised to refrigerate), other kind of sandwiches keep good longer till noon. To make these sandwiches, you can use any kind of bread – plain white bread, whole grain bread or multi grain bread all go well....

This spicy bread masala is different in flavor since ground spices are used here. This makes for a good evening snack during the monsoons. I made this sometime ago to use up the surplus bread. I have used regular bread slices. You can also use pav buns, french baguette or kind of bread. I have used pav bhaji masala and garam masala to spice up the dish. However you can use any one of them....

The ready made tamarind paste had stones, sand or mud with a rusty, oily smell. Few years ago I started to make my own, by just soaking little tamarind in boiling water, cool it and then bottle it along with water and pulp, refrigerate it. The pulp absorbs water and becomes soft. Whenever needed I just dilute it with more clean water, squeeze and then filter to the dish directly while cooking....

In this post I share how to make a good turmeric latte at home which you can also customize it to your preference. What is a Turmeric Latte? The term latte comes from cafe latte, or “coffee and milk.” It was originally an Italian drink of espresso and steamed milk. Nowadays there are many versions that either add on flavors, such as the mocha latte with its chocolate syrup, or don’t use any kind of coffee at all, such as the green tea based matcha latte....

Recipe 1 – I usually pack this for the lunch box with jeera rice, pudina rice, coconut rice, lemon rice or lemon pudina rice You can also use potatoes, beetroot or cauliflower to make this stir fry. An addition of very little good garam masala and kasuri methi is all that is needed to make this flavorful. If you have this vepudu karam, you can use it instead of garam masala....

Dahi Kabab Dahi kabab translates to yogurt kababs where “Dahi” is a Hindi word for “Curd” (Indian yogurt) and “Kabab” here means a “Patty”. Also known as Dahi ke kabab, these are vegetarian patties made with curd as the primary ingredient. Various ingredients like spices, herbs & gram flour are used to flavor them. You will find numerous ways to make dahi kabab. Bread crumbs, onions, nuts, paneer and even cheese can be tasted in some versions....

Ivy gourd is commonly used in Indian cuisine to make various dishes like stir fry, curry or chutney. This veggie is believed to be good for digestion and keeps stomach gases suppressed. We usually make a simple dondakaya vepudu or this dondakaya curry to go with plain rice and ghee. This dondakaya pachadi is another dish that I make when I am left with some ivy gourds. There are not many different ways to make this pachadi....

Dosakaya Pachadi Dosakaya is the Telugu word for “Cucumber” and Pachadi means “chutney”. Hence the name. There are few different ways this chutney is made. In this post I share my Mom’s traditional recipe where raw cucumber is crushed with salt, cumin seeds, garlic and green chilies. A lot of people do not temper the chutney and finish off with some chopped coriander leaves garnish. But tempering makes a difference as it enhances the flavors and keeps the chutney fresher for longer....

In this post I share a simple recipe to make a delicious & flavorful drumstick curry that you can serve with plain rice. Simple everyday curries from South Indian cuisine, have a chunky curry base with a thin runny or watery gravy/sauce. They are much different from the restaurant dishes but yet taste good & healthy. This Indian vegetable drumstick curry is one of the kinds, made with pantry ingredients, easy to cook and makes for a comforting meal....

About Kadai Mushroom Kadai Mushroom is a hot, spicy, flavorful and delicious North Indian dish made primarily with button mushrooms, bell peppers and fresh ground spice blend known as Kadai Masala. Other basic ingredients like onions, tomatoes and herbs also are used. As the name suggests, the dish is cooked in a basic Indian wok known as Kadai. There are a lot of North Indian dishes made in a kadai. So they are named after it, like Kadai Paneer, kadai chicken etc....

All of these are super quick to make and can be served for breakfast. These can also be carried to school or work. Here are the 3 variations: Mushroom sandwiches with hot garlic mushrooms, mayo or hung curd & veggies. Sometimes I make these for dinner with Tomato soup or Vegetable soup. 2. The second recipe is a grilled cheese mushroom sandwich.3. Third one is sauteed bell pepper & mushrooms with spice powders....

About Nei Choru Ney choru is a traditional Kerala rice dish made with kaima rice (jeerakasala rice), whole spices, ghee, nuts, raisins and onions. Jeerakasala rice also known as kaima rice is widely used in Malabar region to make ghee rice and biryani. This short grain rice has a unique aroma and is a quick cook rice that gets cooked in a short time. If you do not have Jeerakasala rice, you can also make this using any other rice variety....

Ragi mudde & ragi rotti are the staples in rural karnataka and are eaten during the beginning of the day especially by the farmers. These roti are nutrient dense and keeps hunger pangs away. The high fiber in the grain keep us full and also helps in weight loss. What are ragi roti? Ragi roti are gluten free unleavened flat breads from Karnataka cuisine. These rotti are often eaten for breakfast or lunch along with a chutney, dal & pudi....