I learnt this recipe in a TV show which was done by one of my favourite Culinary expert Mrs. Mallika Badrinath. Usually we all prepare oats porridge, But kids wont like oats, when we add besan to this it gives a nice taste and kids like this. Ingredients Milk - 3 cupsoats - 1/4 cupBesan/ chickpea flour - 1/4 cupSugar - 1 cupGhee - 3 tbspCashews for garnishing Method  Heat ghee in a kadai and roast the cashews. Take out the cashew and fry the besan in the same ghee. In the other

Sometimes, when I am in no mood to make anything elaborate or to eat out, this tiffin comes to the rescue. The ingredients are almost always available in any South Indian home and the time taken to make this is minimal.What you need:Vermicelli/semiya - 1 cupTamarind - a lemon sized ball, soaked in hot water for 15-20 minutesRed chillies - 2 or 3Urad dal - 1 tspChana dal - 1 tspMustard seeds - 3/4 tspTurmeric powder - 1/2 tspCurry leaves - a fewSaltPeanuts - a fewGingely oil - 5 tspHeat oil in a

This is another easy stir fry which is a favourite at home. What you need:Ladies finger/okra - washed well, dried and cut into thin roundsSalt Oil Sambar powder/red chilli powderRice flour - 1 tspMustard seedsUrad dalHeat some oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and urad dal. When the seeds pop, add the chopped ladies finger, salt and sambar powder. Stir well, lower heat and cook until it turns soft and is no longer slimy. Sprinkle the rice flour over it. Stir well. Heat for another minute or two. T

Vazhathandu or unni pindi (banana stem) is known for its health benefits. Rich in fibre, it is said to have stomach cleansing properties. I usually use it to make either pachadi or thoran. Thoran is nothing but a stir fry which is topped off with grated coconut. What you need:Banana stem - 1 medium sizedRed cow peas - 1/4 cup soaked in water overnight (optional)Coconut - 1/4 cup, gratedGreen chillies - 2 or 3SaltTurmeric powder - 1/4 tspFor seasoning:Oil - 1 tspMustard seeds - 1 tspUrad dal - 1

I recently attended my school reunion. It has been 15 years since I passed out of school and though I am in touch with most of my friends through email,phone or facebook, I have not seen some of them for this entire period of 15 years. It was a lot of fun to see how much people have changed. One thing I noticed is that most of the girls seem to be pretty much the same except for weight gain, but the guys have changed in ways that have made them unrecognizable. Guys who once had a full crop of th

I have always loved the puliyodharai that is handed out as prasadam in the temples of Tamilnadu. In fact, when we moved to Chennai, one of the things I really looked forward to is good puliyodharai. Unfortunately, most of the restaurants in Chennai don't serve this rice. They have it in their lunch menu, but if you ask for it, you'll find a sheepishly grinning waiter informing you that they only have sambar rice or some other variety rice. MTR ready mix puliyodharai powder does satisfy the cravi

A very happy 2011 to all of you, my dear readers. I am going to start this year off by running a blogging marathon along with Valli. Let's kick start the marathon with Kadai Vegetable, a popular restaurant dish. This recipe,from a professional chef, was featured on a TV show.What you need:Carrot - 2, choppedPotato - 1, large, peeled and dicedBeans - a few, choppedCapsicum - 1, chopped fineOnion - 1, chopped fine & 2 cut into large chunksTomato - 3, dicedCardamom - a few podsCinnamon - a small pi

I was really excited when I found this recipe in an old cookbook.  The original recipe calls for butter, but I substitute dairy-free margarine. There are only five ingredients.  The dough isn't very sticky.  You can roll it out right away and you don't need much flour.  I was extra excited about it being egg-free, which meant our 3-year-old could roll out the dough and help with the cookie cutters.  Overall, the taste is okay, but with frosting -- yummy!!Chocolate Shortb

I made these from leftover oatmeal rava idli batter and it was totally yum. You can add grated carrots to it too.Here is the recipe recap :Ingredients :Toasted Oats - 1 cupRava (Sooji) - 1 cupYogurt - 1 cupWater - as requiredSalt - as requiredMustard seeds, urad daal, channa daal, hing for seasoningEno salt - 2 spoonsGrated carrots - as desiredMethod :Mix oats with rava, salt and yogurt.Add

I read somewhere that idli is one of the top ten healthy breakfasts in the world. I decided to make it healthier by replacing a part of the rice with oats and after few experiments i found out that 1/3rd of rice replaced with oats produces almost the same result. You can taste the oats and if you dont like oats you may not like this. It is soft and fluffy, but regular idlis are fluffier and