Tiffin Sambar

 This can be easily one of the best tiffin sambar recipes I’ve tasted. I get so happy when I find these kind of gems(aka recipes) online(link given below). Savor this with some steaming hot idlis in this cold weather. 

Enjoy! 

Dhaba style Aloo-Gobhi

 Nothing beats winter blues like comfort food like aloo gobhi..  

This recipe is supposedly Dhaba style. Here aloo and gobi is shallow fried before making the curry. I was not doing this before. I loved the fried taste of aloo and gobhi. 

Spinach TambLi

 This is one of my favorite tambLis. I love the flavor and color of this particular tambli. To recap (for people who don’t know what tambLi is) - tambli is a buttermilk based south indian dish, which is both cooling and medicinal. You can find other tambLi recipes here. 

Curry leaf tambLi

Pomegranate rind tambLi 

Enjoy spinach tambLi in these hot summer days to beat the heat.

Bottle gourd(Sorekayi) masala curry

 I always look for new ways of cooking Sorekayi(bottle gourd). Sorekayi sambar is something I don’t want to make. I don’t like the bland taste of it. So this recipe I tried is from a blog I follow on FB(link given below). The uniqueness of this recipe is bottle gourd is marinated before cooking. This gives bottle gourd so much flavor. 

This curry tasted and looked more like Andhra/ Tamil Nadu cuisine, then there’s garam masala too. It has a strong coriander flavor. I added more tomatoes to the curry which complimented the flavors very nicely. It is similar to dal-less gojjus from Karnataka. And most important thing - this  gets done in less than 30 min. Do try!

Don’t throw away peels and pulp. Make sorekayi chutney with it(link below).

Some other ways of cooking sorekayi -

• Bottle gourd chana curry
• Bottle gourd dal
• Bottle gourd peel chutney
• Bottle gourd Barta 
• Bottle gourd majjige saaru 

Dhaba Style Capsicum curry

 Capsicum curry - another dhaba style curry that everybody simply loved in my family. I  added potato extra which was not in the original recipe. Here is the link for Dhaba style bhindi masala. 

Looks like dhaba style curries use gram flour to get the thickness. I personally liked this feature of adding gram flour as it doesn’t affect the taste of the curry while giving it the creamy texture, secondly you get quite an amount of curry for couple of tbsp of flour. Do try! 

Lauki Barta/ Bottle gourd Barta

Presenting another extremely flavorful sabji/ curry made from bottle gourd. Everyone in my family just loved this. It goes really well with chapathi. Cooking procedure is similar to baingan barta. And it gets done quickly too. 

I got this recipe from a blog I follow on FB named Yum(link given below). Do try!

Aloo-Gajar-Matar Sabzi

Generally when you make North Indian dals or curries like chana/ rajma, you need a vegetable accompaniment to make it a complete meal. South Indian style sabzis(palyas) don’t go well with this theme, you need north Indian style sabzis. Aloo-gajar-matar fits the bill perfectly. My cousin Archana suggested me to try this particular recipe for its simple taste and easy execution. There is actually no masala in this except for tadka + ginger + green chilies, but this is sufficient to bring out all the vegetable flavors in the dish. My daughter just loved this and kept asking for more and more. 

Do try!   

SihigumbaLakayi HuLitovve/ Sweet Pumpkin sambar

I grew up eating only Mangalore/Udupi style sambar/rasam/tambli/saasime. Hence I love Bangalore/Mysore based curries. Especially their kootus and sambars served in weddings.

When I was looking for recipes for Sweet pumpkin(cheenikaayi) I came across this recipe from my favorite blog “Swayampaaka”(link given below). The blogger mentioned that this is served in weddings as well.

Very tasty. Do try!

Happy Ganesha Chaturthi!!

Bhindi masala

Tried this bhindi masala from a new blog that I browse these days[link given below]. Curry came out to be extremely tasty and creamy. Goes well with both rice and chapathi. This apparently is made in dhaba style. 

Do try!

Drumstick Leaves Dal

I love love love Andhra food. I was exposed to Andhra food much later in life in my early 20s. I loved going to this one Andhra restaurant in BengaLuru which served vegetarian lunch menu on a banana leaf. Their pickles, chutneys and pappus were out of this world. I was frequenting that restaurant quite often. After a while my body just couldn’t handle the heat and I had to forcefully stop myself from going there. Once in a while I crave that kind of food, but how much ever I try I can’t bring myself to make it that spicy at home.   

Coming to the recipe, Drumstick leaves(moringa leaves) is considered super potent and healthy. I find separating leaves from the stalks painful, but I still get it for its health benefits. This dal is very flavorful and made in Andra style. Do try! 

Tomato saasime/ Raita

Tomato saasime/mosarubajji/raita - continuing with another simple recipe which can be made easily with only few ingredients on hand. One of my favorites. This is how raitas(saasime) are generally made in Kota region. This is had with plain rice. Just like tamblis in my previous posts, this is also served more like a second gravy along with a main dish like rasam/sambar. Savor it with hot rice and some sandige(fryums).. yum! 

Curry leaves Tambli/ Karibevu soppina tambLi

Kota cuisine is filled with easy dishes like tamblis, chutneys/gojjus, saasimes(yogurt based gravy) which can be made with very less ingredients, mostly from readily available kitchen garden greens/vegetables or locally grown fruits and pulses. These are had mostly like a second dish along with another main dish like sambar/rasam. I prefer eating these any day over regular sambar and rasam. 

Presenting another tambli made with curry leaf. Quick and easy, and can be made with just handful of ingredients. Make this and reduce your trip to grocery stores in chaotic times like these :) Stay safe and stay home everybody!

DaLimbe Sippe TambLi/ Pomegranate Rind TambLi

TambLi is a buttermilk based dish, popular in South Canara. TambLi is not only tasty but has immense health benefits too. You can make tambLi out of anything. Homegrown greens like doddpatre(ajwain), kaaki soppu(don’t know the English names), and then ginger and garlic are some of the popular choices.    

TambLi can be made from pomegranate rind/peels too. My friend Veena and her mother(who are also from Kota region) often re-introduce/teach me these kind of native dishes.

This has an astringent(ogaru) taste. This is good for stomach related issues. This is eaten with rice.

Do try! 

Pineapple Mudduli(gojju)

I love my mom’s mudduli/pineapple gojju. Mudduli is basically a sweet and tangy curry made with pineapple or capsicum. This is her recipe. Here goes - 

Chana Dal with Lauki(Bottle gourd)

Dals/ tovve are my favorite. I never knew that dal can be made with chana dal also. I’m also not too fond of bottle gourd in traditional south Indian sambars. This recipe is an amalgam of both, in good ways. Extremely tasty and easy. Have it with rice, ghee and pickle and some fryums(sandige) and enjoy your winter break! 

Do try!

Happy holidays! Happy New Year!!

Zucchini stir fry

My cousin, a novice gardener, started growing crazy big zucchinis and gave some to me :) I hardly use zucchini in my everyday cooking. So I got creative and googled for recipes… [that’s the creative best I can get :D]. I found this recipe in one of my favorite blogs. I was sure it is going to turn out great. Basically you just toss sliced zucchini in spiced besan flour and pan roast it. I might’ve used more besan than necessary, hence mine tasted more like zunka. Tasted exceptional nevertheless. Do try and include zucchini in your everyday cooking. 

Instant Sambar mix

Ladies….… hold on! This one is too good to pass. 

Imagine you are traveling away from home and want to prep something that your husband can easily cook, or you come back from work or in general are too tired/ bored to cook anything, or you want to send something with your kids when they are going away for college.. you can make sambar in matter of minutes! yes, it is possible with this Instant sambar mix. All you have to do is boil some vegetables and add this mix, sambar is ready! So easy! Keep this mix handy in your pantry and you can whip up a simple lunch/dinner in no time. Do try! 

Nellikayi(Amla) mosarabajji/ gooseberry raita

This is one healthy raita. Easiest of all, I must say. This was shown in oggarane dabbi cooking show long time back. 

This raita was claimed to clear all mouth ulcers... and it works!! I tried it on myself and there was instant relief. Do try! 

AvarekaaLu saagu/ Hyacinth beans saagu

Growing up my mother never made anything from avarekaaLu. Probably that’s why I always liked eating anything made with avarekaaLu. AvarekaaLu mixture is my all time favorite. One day I’ll learn how to make it! 

This versatile saagu makes for a healthy side dish for dose, chapathi, poori or rice. I used dry avarekaaLu and soaked it overnight. You can also use frozen or even fresh, if available. Healthy, tasty and easy. 

Do try! 

Majjige saaru with sorekaayi/ Bottle gourd curd based curry

Majjige huLi, I know, majjige saaru, no. The only difference I see in the recipe is Majjige huLi generally doesn’t have onion or garlic, Majjige Saaru does. I found this recipe online and I wanted to try out this new method. Taste was really good. Tasted more like a curried version of majjige huLi. If you like majjige huLi and don’t mind onion-garlic flavor, you will definitely enjoy this. 

Do try!