It is a 9-day festival celebrating Goddess Durga, Lakshmi & Saraswathi. The traditions & the way it is celebrated varies across the country. North Indians fast during the 9-days & women eat a special Upsvas diet without including certain veggies & grains. In TamilNadu (one of the 4 states of South India) though we don’t have the tradition of fasting, in each & every household we setup a “Bommai Kolu” (using dolls made out of clay which are collected through years), invite people to their homes, serve them yummy prasadhams, do some bhajans or chant shlokas together etc etc I…

In Karnataka, ‘Vaangi Bath’ (Brinjal Rice) is a popular rice recipe that is prepared from fresh spice powder instead of store bought Red Chilli Powder& Coriander Powder combination. This recipe is inspired from Vaangi Bath preparation however the spice powder I used is very simple with minimum ingredients and this rice can be prepared within 30 minutes. A great lunchbox meal that stays fresh, aromatic for a longer time. You can prepare this powder in a large batch and can use it while preparing dry subzi like potato fry, brinjal fry, cauliflower poriyal etc. They taste delicious. I served this…

As most of us say baking is therapeutic & all that jazz but at the same time it is stressful too atleast for me 😉 Each & every step is crucial from ingredient measurement to oven temperature etc.So many factors has to be right to get that perfect output. Be it baking a cake or any other savory bakes you need patience. I obviously lack it & its funny how much ever I try to control myself , I tend to open the oven door a million times to check if everything is baking fine Few months back I…

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…

I believe that ‘Love for food’ is beyond culture,region or language. Today on this series we have Linda – woman behind this wonderful blog LaPetitePanière which is popular among readers from all over the world. Her instagram feed is such a feast to your eyes. Have been a silent admirer of her account for the past two years. Everytime when she uploads a picture of bread/pie/cookie, I used to wonder how can someone achieve such perfection. Linda’s food photography is very clean with perfect lighting,minimal props and the is focus is mainly on food rather than styling. If you would…

This is my go-to recipe when I want to make a simple side dish for Rice/Roti/Poori. I usually mix these veggies together (Onion,Carrot,French Beans,Potato,Tomato,Capsicum,Cauliflower/Broccoli).They all make a fantastic combo. You can even add Cabbage,Spinach or any other greens too to make it even more healthier. Such a simple recipe but tastes absolutely delicious. Since I love crunch in the curry, I don’t add too much of water while cooking the vegetables. Since they will soften the texture. Just sprinkle few drops of water while cooking the veggies. The following measurement serves two. Adjust quantity accordingly
.

Have never cooked Courgettes until I was in Chennai. If you give me any new vegetable all I can think of is how to cook a SouthIndian recipe using it. Courgette/Zucchini is a summer squash vegetable popular in UK.Its texture slightly similar to Cucumber & I have made Courgette Kuruma (thick stew using coconut paste), Koottu (lentil based gravy) before. Last weekend I thought of preparing Pakoda from it. Initially I wasn’t too sure how it will work so thought of adding some carrots along with courgette. Turned out so delicious and this is my own recipe. Instead of the usual Onion Pakoda/Pakora try this and am sure you will like it too. I bought this handy cheap spiralizer during a sale. I use it for salads mainly. Instead of grating Courgette & Carrot i used this spiralizer. In case if you don’t have it , use your knife & make thin strips. 

Instagram is a platform where you discover passionate foodies everyday. Sangamithra is definitely one among them. She is a certified Nutritionist, blogs at MyEverydayKitchenRants and also for the love of fresh herbs, she has setup a beautiful balcony garden at her apartment. Her IG feed is a mix of traditional SouthIndian cuisine recipes along with other international cuisines as well. Also her food pictures gives you the essence of a typical hearty homecooked meal which we all can relate to. Also being a nutritionist herself, she never adds any fancy jargons or label her dishes like healthy, gluten free,diabetic friendly,low…

There are some moments in life that are unforgettable. Those moments will be cherished forever. Last Tuesday was very very special to me and that contented feeling after finishing my first ever cookery class cannot be explained in words. Few days back I received an email from Nerissa if I conduct cooking workshops/classes for South Indian vegetarian dishes. The reason (why she wanted to learn) she mentioned was really sweet and was more than happy to help her. For an ordinary person like me teaching someone is what I never ever imagined even in my dreams. However I decided to…

This is such a versatile healthy side dish that can be served with Rice ,Roti or even with Dosai too ☺️ The basic ‘koottu’ (கூட்டு) recipe contains 3 important components 1. Veggies – Pumpkin, Carrot,Eggplant,Drumstick, Snakegourd,Spinach,Chow Chow,Cabbage are the most commonly used vegetables. 2. Daal (lentils) – A cup of pressure cooked daal. It could be either a mix of moongdal and channa dal or just moongdal or toordal 3. Coconut Paste – This paste is essential. All you need is fresh coconut, green chilli & jeera. However if you want you can add peppercorns, ginger & garlic too Once…