Recipe Fundas!-Simple,Tasty, Healthy Vegetarian recipes for a Vibrant Living!

Idiappam, also known as Puttu Mayam in Malaysia/Singapore side, is one of the oldest Indian Breakfast recipes. This is made with Rice flour only. In the olden days, women used to soak rice , dry it in the shade and make the flour, seive it and make it. and if the family size is a dozen, this can easily consume half a day to cook.  What I have tried is the modern variation of the same thing. Though instant idiappam is available these days, I did not prefer that route, as I wanted home cooked fresh food for my baby.  I took 1 cup of rice flour (bought from store), and mixed little salt in it. I poured boiling water little by little in the rice flour and mixed with the wooden ladle and added little sesame oil to this mixture. Then I made a ball with this rice flour mix (like chapathi dough) and used the idiappam maker (muruku maker) and made idiappam in the idli moulds and steamed in for 8 minutes. Tot. cooking time was less than 20 mins. Phew!.

Bored of cooking some lentils everytime, for Rotis?? This is a really nice variation that can nicely satisfy anyone. Here the ingredients I took: 1. Onion - 1 big (nicely chopped) 2. Green Peas/mixed vegetables- 1 cup 3. Bay leaf-1 4. Coriander powder-1/2 tbsp 5. Chilli powder-1 tbsp 6. Garam masala- 1 pinch 7. Nestle Pure cream- 1 small tin 8. Oil and salt- as needed 9. Turmeric powder-1/2 tbsp Take a wide bottom- pan and add oil and add the bay leaf first. Then, add onions and fry well. Add the Green peas, turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilli powder and garam masala. Mix well and cook this in slow flame adding lil water until the vegetables are nicely cooked. Now add salt and mix well. Then, add the cream and mix again and let this boil, when being cooked in slow flame. You will get a yellowish gravy with a thick consistency and this tastes good for chapathis and parattas.

Garlic has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties and its regular usage, helps to lower cholesterol levels in the body. This recipe, is adapted from an Indian cookery program and I tried this today and it was great and hence i am sharing it in my blog. To Grind: 1. Tomato- 1 big To saute: 1.Mustard seeds- 1/2 tbsp 2.Curry leaves - 1 handful Other ingredients 1. Brinjal- 2 - chopped as small cubes 2. Onion- 2- finely chopped 3. Garlic pods- 12 (peeled) 4. Coriander powder- 1/2 tbsp 5. Turmeric powder- 1/2 tbsp 6. Sambar powder or chilli powder- 1 tbsp 7. Tamarind- 1 lemon size (soaked in water) 8. Salt and Oil- as needed. 9. Jaggery- 2 tbsp (optional) and Sesame oil - 2 tbsp (optional) Take a big pan and add oil and add ingredients for sauting. Once mustard starts splattering, add brinjal, onion and garlic and add turmeric powder and let this cook. Then, add the tomato paste, coriander powder, sambar powder and let this cook as a gravy. Once it starts to ...

I made this vada, with leftover beetroot curry. Ingredients: 1. Channa dhal- 1 cup 2. Green chilli-2 3.Fennel seeds- 1 tbsp 4.curry leaves- 1 handful Soak the channa dhal for 1 cup and set aside 2 tbsp of soaked dhal and grind the remaining coarsely in blender, adding green chilli, fennel seeds and salt. Grate 1 beetroot finely and add to this mixture. Make small patties with this mixture and deep fry in oil. Serve hot with tomato sauce.

Ingredients: 1. Yellow Pumpkin- 1/2 kg (Peeled and cut into small cubes). 2. Grated coconut- 4 tbsp 3. Cumin seeds- 1 tbsp 4. Green chillies-4 5. Turmeric powder- 1/2 tbsp 6. Milk- 1/2 glass 7. Salt as required To saute: 1. Mustard seeds-1/2 tbsp 2. Channa dhal- 1/2 tbsp 3. Curry leaves- little. How to make this yummy curry? This is a Kerala dish and I learnt this from my mom. It tastes little Srilankan too. Boil, the pumpkin cubes, adding turmeric powder and 1/2 glass water and little salt. When the pumpkin has cooked, add the finely ground mixture of coconut, cumin seeds, green chillies and cook for another 5 minutes. Then, add milk and cook in slow flame until it becomes little thick. Add little oil to sauting pan, and add mustard, curry leaves and channa dhal. Add the sauted mixture to the pumpkin mixture. This is a side dish for rice.

There are a variety of nutricious snacks that can be instantly prepared. One such item is Spicy Puffed rice. Puffed rice is sold in most of the Indian grocery stores. Other ingredients: 1. Ground nuts- 1 cup 2. Channa dhal- 5 tbsp 3. Turmeric powder- 2 tbsp 4. Chilli powder- 4 tbsp 5. Curry leaves- 1 handful 6. Salt and oil- as needed. I took about 500g of puffed rice for this recipe. Heat oil in a wok, and add channa dhal, ground nuts, turmeric powder, chilli powder, curry leaves and salt. When the ground nuts, are fried nicely, add the puffed rice to the wok and sim for 2-3 minutes and store in an airtight container. This is an excellent tea time snack

I chose round brinjals for this stir fry and the brinjals melted like butter, in the mouth. This is a very simple recipe, but very tasty. I cut the brinjals into thin, long slices and i boiled them, adding 1/2 tbsp of turmeric powder and 2-3 spoons of water. (Water must be sprinkled occasionally while cooking brinjal, else taste will change). To grind: 1. Big onion- chopped (1) 2.Garlic pods- 6 3.Ginger- peeled and chopped - 1tbsp 4.Coriander powder- 1 tbsp 5. red chilli powder- 2 tbsp I prepared a fine paste of the above and added to the brinjal and let it cook in slow flame, turning occasionally. Once the brinjal cooked nicely, I added salt and served this with rice and paapad.