Homemade South Indian Vegetarian Foods - Indiram

Ahem!!  Are you guys out there ?  Wondering where I had  disappeared ?  Did you really think I had fallen from the cooking pot into the fire ? 😀or fallen off the edge of the counter ? or stewing in the sink ?  Not at all. I was savouring 😋  my own Inji Puli and could not get a second helping for myself  - it vanished within a few minutes, right under my reluctant eyes. My family wanted it all.  It all started when I left for a short trip to Chennai (btw that's one of the reasons I was absent from my blog ) . I met my sister and she asked me "hey malli, why don't you prepare Inji puli - its a hot favourite with my family and friends."   And when I returned to Bangalore, where I live, that's just what I did!! Inji puli is a mix of ginger, tamarind and garlic , mashed together in oil and serves as a paste to be eaten with rice, as a chutney to be eaten with idlis and dosas and as a spread to be eaten with Indian bread or chapathis. I...

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...

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.

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....

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 ?