Vella Seedai is a crunchy yet soft (yes, some things in life can be both crunchy and soft at the same time) sweet treat made with rice flour and butter. It is one of the various snacks prepared for Krishna Jayanthi festivities, a celebration of Lord Krishna’s birthday across India. […]
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Uppu Seedai
Uppu seedai is a crunchy, savory treat made with rice flour and butter. It is one of our all-time favorite snacks and vanishes in no time when a packet of these is opened. The previous generation was fortunate to grow up eating these tasty bites (and their sweet cousin – […]
Kozhakattai
Kozhakattai (Tamil) is a very unique sweet dumpling prepared with cooked rice flour dough and coconut and jaggery filling. Kozhakattai is also known as Modak (Hindi/Marathi), Modhaka or Kadubu (Kannada) and Kudumu (Telugu). This is a special offering made for Lord Ganesha (the Elephant God) on His birthday, celebrated as […]
Vella Aval – Sweet Rice Flakes
Vella aval means jaggery sweetened flattened rice flakes and that’s it…there’s not many more ingredients other than those mentioned – that’s how simple this recipe is. Aval (rice flakes in Tamil) was a humble breakfast cereal before we got flooded with today’s sugar-loaded monstrosities. It is also referred to as […]
Tomato Rasam
Tomato Rasam (Thakkaali Rasam in Tamil, Chaaru in Telugu, Saaru in Kannada) is the tomato soup of south India – and is so popular that many people consider it the ‘unofficial national soup of India’. It has even spawned recipes such as Mulligatawny that are known in the Western world. […]
Homemade Yogurt
Listen to your gut… isn’t that what we do for every important decision that we have to make? And when it comes to food for a healthy gut, probiotics are the best answer. Yogurt is one of the most common probiotic foods that we can to add to our diet. […]
Nei Appam
Nei appam (also neyyappam) is a spongy, sweet, ghee-fried snack from Kerala, India. A variant with ripe bananas, called unni appam, is equally popular and so too is its savory sibling, the paniyaram. These appams are made in a special moulded pan known as the appakaaral (appam pan / appe […]
Vendakkai Puli Pachadi
Okra (vendakkai in Tamil), the summer-fall vegetable that’s usually found in gumbo in Southern American cuisine is the main star of this traditional hot and sweet pickled side dish called Vendakkai Puli Pachadi. It’s a must-try gem from South India (especially Palakkad, Kerala) where it’s usually a part of the […]
Poricha Kootu with Pudalangai
Poricha kootu is a classic South Indian vegetable stew that’s served with rice, ghee and appalam / pappadam. Once you have learnt this recipe, there are a number of vegetables that can be cooked in this style in one pot to make your weekday meals a breeze. Let’s dive in… […]
Black Beans
Legumes are the only food group that can provide a strong fiber-protein combination. The black turtle bean is a small, shiny variety of the common legume which is popular in Mexican cuisine. It is native to both North and South America. It is commonly referred to as black bean (English) […]