Homemade South Indian Vegetarian Foods - Indiram

Yesterday, on 25th March Indiram turned a month old.  And today the fourth delivery was successfully completed. Spicy Sambhar podi, Chutney podi, Paruppu podi, Karuvepillai podi and Karamuthu podi, Yummmmmyyyyy!! Tomorrow I will be taking you through the preparation of The Pulikachal -  a hot, spicy, tamarind paste that could be mixed with rice and gingelly oil to make the south indian iyengar 's favorite food - The Puliyodarai. Its often a favorite of the Gods as well and is offered in temples too. 

Hello there, Today was great. It was production day at Indiram. I prepared some amazing podis - sambhar podi, rasam podi, dosai milagai podi and  karuvepillai podi. It took me almost 5 hours.  I picked my ingredients, laid it out , measured quanitites used and then finely ground the podi. Once it was prepared ,I measured it and stored it in an airtight container , ready for packing tomorrow. It was a happy tiring day and I think I will hit the bed now:)  Tomorrow is another day and maybe I will share some recipes with you. :)) 

I told  you a few days ago that I was awaiting my murukku press. It arrived today.  It is an ingenious device out of which you can create amazing vethal, murukku, thenkuzhal  and other snacks. The new design makes your work easy and you don't have to use too much pressure  - the machine does most of it for you.   Once I have my raw materials in, I shall begin work with it so look out for some crispy snacks, light and crunchy that melts in your mouth.  Ideal for a rainy day, to munch during tea time or as an afternoon snack. Basically, whenever you feel the hunger pangs:)  Let me see if I can add a video of  how to use the press and make one of these yummicious snack!

Today I prepared the tasty and nutritious Paruppu Podi or what can be called Toor Dal and Pepper Mix.  It's very easy to make and calls for very little ingredients. Its protein-rich in content and has an amazing flavour when mixed with hot rice and ghee. It can be eaten with appalams or chips. Paruppu Podi Ingredients: Toor dal  - 600 gms Pepper - 16 gms (around 2 teaspoons) Red chillies - 6 gms (3-4 chillies) Salt - 8 gms (around 2 teaspoons) Dry fry all ingredients except salt in a tava till it turns golden brown. Transfer it to another vessel or plate to cool. In the same tava, add the salt and fry it for a couple of seconds and then mix it with the dal mixture. This is how it looks now. Toor Dal, Pepper , Chillies and Salt Once it cools dry grind it into a fine powder and store it in an airtight container.  It has a peppery aromatic flavour and can be eaten with rice and ghee or rice and edible oil.  It has great protein conte...

You might have heard about this drink/medicine/treatment - call it what you will. But have you actually attempted it. I have, and the results are simply astounding. Ingredients needed: Fenugreek seeds: 250 gms Ohmam or Ajwain: 100 gms Kali Jeera or Black jeera: 50 gms. Clean and lightly dry roast each of the above separately in a kadai till they turn slightly brown. Mix them together, finely powder them and store in an airtight container. Every night, just before going to bed,  add a teaspoonful of the powder to a glass of warm water and drink the same . Do this for a period of atleast 3 months.  You will notice an amazing difference. Most of the toxins in your body will be flushed out, excess fat will be burnt and your blood circulation will improve enormously. Your body will become strong, active and glowing with new energy. According to medical research, there are a multitude of additional benefits like relief from constipation, improvement in eye...

Today some of the stuff I had ordered online, arrived. I was very excited because I have never used any of these before - have seen them only in shops.  Ha ha ...now I have my own little digital weighing scales which can weigh stuff upto 25 kg . It looked sleek and smart and could be operated with batteries or with electricity.   And I also had a heat sealer with which I could seal plastic bags neatly and quickly. This is very important to keep foods intact and fresh.  I have also ordered a murukku maker ( murukku is a crisp  south indian snack made of rice flour, butter and black gram flour with added spices) which is expected to arrive tomorrow. Now I am all set to deliver this month's orders😀

Keep the Thippili Rasam Powder ready. Take some tamarind the size of a small lemon and soak it in warm water for a few minutes.Squeeze the juice from it into a vessel, add two cups of water, some turmeric powder and salt and let the whole thing boil for a few minutes till the raw smell disappears. When it is boiling add the Thippili Rasam powder and let it boil for a few more minutes. Then remove from stove and season it with mustard and curry leaves. Thippli rasam is extremely good for body ache, coughs and cold and for lactating mothers.

Many vegetarian home-cooked food recipes has been lost in the mists of mass-produced restaurant food. This is what my friends were lamenting today.  For example, milagu rasam, poritha rasam, jeera-milagu rasam, thippili rasasm, killu milagai rasam, poondu rasam and vepampoo rasam are no longer prepared in most households. These rasams are extremely aromatic and spicy and also kill flatulence, bad cholestrol and helps relieve colds and coughs, throat and body pain and aids digestion.  They can be eaten with rice or as a stand alone soup.  In my next post I will lead you through some rasam preparations. 

Indiram Logo and Label The Logo has Shirdi Saibaba s outline right on top  and the design emphasizes the three Masterchefs whose names are contained in the name Indiram. It also indicates home, stability, preservation,hygiene  and storage .. The green and brown are earth and plant colours - the colours of the earth where all foods are grown. The central yellow represents the sun, the center of the universe and the energy of life.

Many of my friends wanted to know the list of products being prepared at Indiram. Here it is: Paruppu Podi - Toor dal and pepper powder  Rasam Podi - For preparing rasam or soup. Milagu Rasam Podi - for preparing pepper rasam or soup.  Sambhar Podi (Tamilnadu style) - Sambhar powder (a mixture of spices powder) is used to make sambhar which is a wholesome protein-rich vegetarian delicacy made of toor dal, tamarind extract and vegetables. Sambhar is best with rice, idlis, dosas and vadas.  Udupi Sambhar powder /Sweet sambhar powder /Tiffin Sambhar powder : The ingredients here are different and the taste as well.  Karuvepillai podi - Curry leaf powder is made by powdering lightly fried curry leaves with spices. Can be eaten with rice and aids digestion. Dosai/Idli Milagai podi or Chutney powder - a spicy powder that is eaten along with idlis and dosas and is a cholesterol breaker, a tasty treat. Poritha Kootu Podi - This is  a powder us...

I got new orders today from friends - for Rasam powder, Karamuthu powder, Paruppu podi, Dosa/idli podi and Pulikachal mix.  And funds for some new investment.   I also got packing material for the podis (spicy powders).  Hey , my family helps me ok? My dream is for Indiram to be a huge family and community movement for simple, clean, nutritious food, that can be prepared and eaten without hurting ourselves and our environment.  And last of all I redesigned my blog and made it interactive. Added a few gadgets and image . Hope you like it. Ta ta for now.   Will write in detail tomorrow. 

Ingredients required Raw mangoes - 10 (really sour ones) Fenugreek seeds - 2 teaspoons Turmeric stick - 1 Asafoetida - a small piece Chilli powder -2 ladles (chillies ground at home only) Salt - 1 1/2 ladles Cooking oil - 1 ladle Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon Preparation Chop mangoes into fairly large pieces.Fry the fenugreek, asafoetida and turmeric in a little oil, powder it and keep aside separately. In a kadai (pan) add a little oil and heat it on the stove. Now add mustard steeds, chilli powder and the fenugreek powder that you had just made. Stir it a bit and take it off the stove and let it cool. Once its a little cool, add the mango pieces and salt toss it a bit to mix all the ingredients. Do not use your hands or a ladle or spoon. Store it in a ceramic jar. You can use it for atleast 30-40 days and for longer if you keep it in the sun and toss it periodically. Uses Pickles can be eaten with rice (especially the south indian curd rice), bread, rotis , dosa ,idlis an...

My neighbour came over today to tell me that the Vendiya Manga (Fenugreek Raw Mango pickle) that I had prepared for her were the best. I was relieved and thrilled at the same time.  When I launched Indiram one of my first orders that came in was from this neighbour and it was for Raw mango pickle.  Raw mango can be pickled in several ways. I chose to do it with Fenugreek to balance the hot , spicy nature of mango with fenugreek seeds whose innate nature is to cool the system.All my three Masterchefs (Indira, Rajalakshmi and Ambujam) had been experts at making pickles and I had not been sure that I could do this as well as them. But I was glad that I hadn't let them down.  The pickle process requires extreme care to ensure that only wooden ladles are used and the fingers are never used to dip into the pickle or taste it. While marinating the Mango you have to ensure that the right amount of salt is added. The sane goes for the chilli powder and the fenugreek powder....

Have you ever abstained from food before ? What is generally termed 'fasting?' Fasting was a custom prevalent in Indian households from Vedic times. It was presented as a religious ritual so that people actually took it seriously and made it part of their everyday life.  Ekadasi was supposed to be the day for fasting and it appeared twice in a month. On this day people abstained from eating any solid food and drank just plain water. The next morning they broke the fast with Dwadasi (a feast of rice,various vegetables,lentils and spinach).  Fasting helped them keep a nice balance. Any excess of food eaten or any lack of exercise or any illness was all evened out during these days when the stored food inside the body was used for all metabolic activities. Fasting was thus a common practice in many households. But of course, as time went by, religion became unfashionable and was seen as divisive. So out went the rituals through the window.  But religion apart, for ...

Indiram stands for simple, nutritious and tasty Indian food. The kind that was prepared with great care, devotion and attention by my very own master chefs - Indi ra my talented, darling mother , Ra jalakshmi my kind and enthusiastic mother in law and Am bujam my wise, loving and all-knowing paati (tamil lingo for grandmom). All three of them have passed on but the legacy they have left behind holds strong sway over the entire family . Each of them was a legend in her own right. The three of them together would have fed thousands of people during their lifetimes. They loved to cook and they loved to feed. They could cook with the simplest of ingredients or use the most rare and expensive ones. They could churn up a simple meal or a grand feast fit for a king!!  Indiram is a humble tribute to these great women and the largesse of their hearts. 

Hi everyone, Today I made something very aromatic - a podi called kootu podi.  Now whats kootu and what's podi ? Kootu is a very tasty vegetable and moong dal gravy to be eaten with rice or rotis.  Podi  means powder. To make a kootu , all you need to do is pressure cook 2-3 cups of vegetables or a single vegetable (carrot, beans, peas, potatoes, banana stem, brinjals, tomatoes,pumpkin or spinach) along with a handful of moong dal, a pinch of turmeric and some salt to taste.  Once the vegetables are done, add 3 teaspoons of the aromatic kootu podi,  some grated coconut (optional)and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Remove from fire,add chopped coriander leaves. Fry some mustard seeds and curry leaves , in a teaspoon of oil, along with half a teaspoon or asafoetida powder and sprinkle over the kootu .  And yummyy, your healthy, instant, nutritious kootu is ready to eat with rice or rotis.  Wanna try it ?

Hi everyone out there, This is my third blog.  The first one, created a few years ago,was all about my music, my poetry and me. It's still active somewhere but there have been no new posts for almost ten years now. The second ? Well it was about "Usability". Usability in everyday life. This topic had interested me very much to the exclusion of all else and I started writing about it, but I could not keep up. The subject still interests me a lot though. But of course, both blogs got neglected  because ...hmmm.. I think its because I stopped associating with these activities and got absorbed in others. Then why the blog now, yet again ? And  a Cooking//Foods/Traditional recipes/ my foods biz blog? There are already so many of them all over the internet..!!! Be fore i tell you more,I have to share TWO happenings with you. On Feb 25th, I  launched Indiram, a traditional foods line, vegeterian, south indian cooking sauces, powders, sweets and more. The foods ...