Do you like this recipe and picture? please leave me a line to make me smile, as it was a tough task to try these ladoos twice and click step wise pictures with one hand cooking and one hand clicking pictures to share with you all..

My favorite food for a picnic would be Idly with tomato thokku.  If we plan to eat our break fast on the way of travel, i prepare chinna vengaya thokku (small onion chutney) or tomato thokku to have with idlies. these two thokku varieties will perfectly go with idly.



This thokku is easy to prepare, the thing is it takes 30-45 minutes of slow cooking. it keeps well in room temperature for 2-3 days and can be stored in fridge for about a week.

Ingredients:

Ripe Red Bangalore Tomatoes - 10 (1.2 kg)
Sesame oil - 2 tbsp
Red chilly powder - 3 or 4 tsp's
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Split urad dal - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Garlic - 10

Method:

Wash and dry the tomatoes. cut them into quarters and set aside. peel the garlic pods and keep aside.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil and add in all the chopped tomatoes and saute for a minute or two. tomatoes turn soft and leave its juices. switch off the flame and cool the sauteed tomatoes.

Grind the cooled tomatoes along with its juice. you can grind it finely or little coarsely depending on how you like to eat. i grinded little coarsely.

Heat a pan, add a tbsp of sesame oil and add mustard and let it pop. now add fenugreek and split urad dal. add the garlic now. once they get roasted, pour the grounded tomato and give a mix.

Add salt to taste and 3 tsp's of red chilly powder. mix well and reduce the flame to medium low. cover the pan with its lid and let the thokku simmer for about 30 - 45 minutes. keep checking in middle, else thokku may stick to the bottom of the pan and get browned.

Once the thokku gets thickened, switch off the flame and let it cool. then transfer it to a clean glass jar.

My kiddo boy had  his quarterly leave for the past 2 weeks, which made me stay away from blogging. My boy suddenly got interested to learn cooking during this holidays. maybe it could be because of junior master chef. We both had fun time in kitchen, cutting veggies, cracking eggs, making half boils, etc. He tasted the food for salt and spiciness and gave a good verdict! did i tell you, he is very much interested in styling the food and clicking pictures.



Bitter gourd is one vegetable, which hubby buys quite often. i usually prepare pavakkai pitlai or pavakkai curry or fries with it. This stir fry recipe is so easy one and can be made without any fussy methods.

serves 2
prep time - 5 minutes
cooking time - under 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Bitter Gourd - 2
Onion - 1
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Split urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Red chilly powder / Sambhar powder - 2 tsp's

Method:

Trim the head and tail of bitter gourd. wash and dry the vegetable. Slit the vegetable into two. hold it tight without separating. chop the bitter gourd into thin slices.

Heat a pan, add oil and heat it. then add mustard and urad dal, let the mustard burst. then add the finely chopped onion and saute till it turns translucent.

Now add Chilly powder and salt to taste. then add finely chopped bitter gourd and stir fry it for about 7-10 minutes in medium flame.

It it sticks to the pan add a bit of oil or sprinkle water. let the bitter gourd get cooked and coat well with the onions.
Garnish with corriander leaves and remove the stir fry to serving bowl.

Tastes good with Sambhar rice.



Note:

Add more chilly powder as per your taste, as it balances the sourness of bitter gourd.

We frequently make brinjal Dal and this tomato Dal at home. This tomato Dal has pleasing color and its perfect in its looks and at taste. Me and Hubby love this Dal so much. Do try if you prefer slightly tangy dal.





Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 4 (medium sized red ripened)
Toor Dal / Tuvar dal - 1/2 cup (100gms)
Shallots - 5
Garlic - 5 pods
Green chilly - 4
Tamarind - one small lemon sized
Turmeric powder - a pinch

For Tempering:

Ghee - 2 tsp's
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Split urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Dry red chilly - 2
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Peel the shallots and garlic. crush the garlic and slit the green chilies.  Wash the tomatoes and slit each into four pieces.

In a vessel, add the toor dal, tomato pieces, shallots, green chilly, garlic and tamarind. add 1 and half cup's of water, a drop of oil and a pinch of turmeric powder.

Add 1 cup of water to pressure cooker and place the vessel. pressure cook up to 4 whistles. switch off the flame. wait till the pressure releases. Then cool the contents in vessel.

Now using your masher, mash the dal and tomatoes well. or you can give a grind for a second in your mixie.

For tempering, heat a pan, add ghee and heat it. then add mustard and let it pop. add split urad dal, dry red chilly, curry leaves and asafoetida powder. pour the mashed tomato dal to the pan and let it come for a boil.

Switch off the flame and garnish with corriander leaves.

Serve along with potato fry and rasam.

Today i prepared this Mushroom fried rice to pack for lunch. My son and hubby loves to take fried rice for lunch. even i find it easy to make. i also added vegetables along with mushroom, so that my son eats vegetables. Finding different variety rice to pack for lunch box is becoming difficult for me. hope to share more lunch box recipes here soon.


For me, spring onions is must for fried rice. spring onions add a good taste to this rice recipe. You can also add ajinomoto to make it taste just like restaurant served ones.

There are many ways to prepare greens. I remember my great grand mom cooking different types of kootu with keerai. I tried making mulai keerai poriyal along with its stem and added moong dal for a variation. we liked it a lot. It tasted good when mixed with rice and little ghee. The trick is to use only the tender part of the stem rather hard stem. Then you should first saute and cook the stem before adding the greens. this way, we can cook the greens and stem evenly. Do try this nutritious as well as healthy poriyal. You will like it for sure.



Ingredients:

Mulai Keerai - 1 bunch
Moong dal - 2 tsp's
Grated coconut - 2 tsp's
Onion - 1 finely chopped (optional)
Salt to taste

For tempering:

Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Split urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Dry red chilly - 2 (broken)

Method:

Soak moong dal in water for about 30 minutes. drain the water from moong dal and set the dal aside.

Clean and seperate the mulai keerai from its stem. discard the bottom part of the stem, which will be hard.
just select the tender stem, wash it thoroughly and chop them finely and set aside.

Wash the mulai keerai leaves seperately twice or thrice and chop it finely and set aside.

Heat a pan, add 1 tsp oil, add mustard. let it splutter. then add split urad dal and broken dry red chilly. saute and add finely chopped onion and saute it till it turns translucent.

Next add the finely chopped stem and mix well with the onions. let the stem get cooked for about 2-3 minutes. Then add the finely chopped greens and mix well. soon the greens get cooked in a minute or two.

Finally add the drained moong dal and the grated coconut. Mix well.

Remove from the flame and transfer the poriyal to a serving bowl.

Serve along with Rice and Sambhar.


Notes:

Adding onion and moong dal is optional.

Never cook the greens for more than 5 minutes. it may loose all the nutrition. so just let 2-3 minutes and remove from flame.