Green Peas Poricha Kuzhambu Recipe

I wasn't really familar with poricha kozhambu varieties until my mom in law made it during their last visit. I had some fresh peas in the fridge and along with some drumstick, it made for a super simple and flavourful kozhambu for our lunch that day.

Poricha kozhambu literally means roasted kozhambu because the base has some roasted spices that are ground along with fresh coconut. The vegetables are flexible and the more common ones are chow chow, pumpkin, and snake gourd.

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Recipes for Onam Sadya | Onam Recipes

I did a similar list of Recipes for Onam Sadya 2010 but since I have a lot more Kerala sadya recipes in the site since then, thought of doing an updated list. Since Onam 2012 falls on a Wednesday, me cooking the entire sadya is slightly out of the question. Ok wait, I haven't yet cooked a complete sadya myself so far, weekend or weekday, so.. err.. let's not go there.

I know some of you are planning to cook up a feast, literally, and judging by the few emails I got asking for easy Onam recipes, I think this list will be useful to many of you.

Puli Inji / Inji Curry
Sweet Maanga (Mango) Pickle

Vendakka Thayir Pachadi

Beetroot Pachadi

Kerala Parippu Curry

Sambar

Pulissery

Moru Kachiyathu / Spiced Buttermilk (omit coriander leaves)

Kaalan

Olan

Erissery

Aviyal

Ethakka Thoran

Black Eyed Beans Thoran

Beans Mezhukkupuratti

Kadachakka Mezhukkupuratti

Kadala Parippu Payasam

Cherupayar Payasam

Paal Payasam

Semiya Payasam

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8 Easy Payasam Recipes for Onam | Onam Recipes

With Onam 2012 just around the corner, thought it may be useful if I shared a few easy payasam recipes you can make for Onam sadya. This collection is from me and my sis who blogs at Spicy Chilly.

1. Paal Payasam

2. Aval Payasam 

3. Kadala Parippu Payasam

4. Ada Pradhaman

5. Cherupayar Parippu Payasam (Split Moong Dal Payasam)

6. Cherupayar Payasam (Whole Green Gram Payasam)

7. Semiya Payasam (my version)

8. Semiya Payasam (my sis's version)

Paal Payasam Recipe | Milk & Rice Payasam | Onam Recipes

Paal Payasam is a special treat meant for special people. Not the express kind that we make these days, adding the 3-4 ingredients in a pressure cooker but the traditional, slow-cooked paal payasam made with the raw red rice that's quintessentially Keralan called unakkalari in Malayalam - but you can also use Rose Matta rice or any other non-sticky rice for the paal payasam.

Paal payasam made traditionally will have a pink hue from the rice used. Ok, don't look for the colour in my payasam picture because we used regular rice this time.

Onam is always a nostalgic time for me because Kerala is at its best then. There's the smell of fresh coconut oil being heated for all the banana chips, banana leaves gleaming in the sun, the rains just checked and the heat manageable, flowers everywhere and athappoo designs being planned, women walking around in the traditional Kerala set sari days before and after the day, school vacation after first term... I could go on.

So let me shut up for now and give you the Paal Payasam Recipe already!

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Kadala Parippu Payasam-Kadalai Paruppu-Channa Dal Payasam | Onam Recipes

I love payasam made with jaggery more than milk-based ones. I love the rich, dense sweetness jaggery gives to pretty much anything and the dark, unsalted mounds of jaggery you get in Kerala are quite a treat.

As we roll into yet another Onam that I am not home for, let me at least share a payasam recipe that reminds me of home - and Onam. Amma and I made this together when she was visiting me in May. She brought some jaggery back from Kerala and we used coconut milk powder to make the base of the payasam. She did wildly protest against using the powder and was all set to extract fresh coconut milk but I wanted her to spend more in the living room couch with me than with the coconut in the kitchen!

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Jeera Rice | Cumin Rice | Jeera Pulao | Rice Cooker Recipes

Jeera rice is probably the easiest thing to make in a rice cooker. I make it occasionally when I don't have the energy to cook up anything beyond a simple dal tadka and don't feel like rolling out rotis. The simple addition of fried jeera to cooking eliminates the need for a rasam or kozhambu. Win!

Jeera Rice with Malai Kofta

I got my rice cooker end of last year and have since cooked many things in it apart from plain 'ol rice. I have a Zojirushi Induction Rice Cooker and the consistency of rice cooked in this is unbelievably good.

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Aloo Bajji Recipe | Potato Bajji Recipe | Quick & Easy Snacks

TH loves bajjis of any kind. But then that guy likes pretty much anything that's deep fried, but bajjis do hold a particular soft spot in his heart.

I have no qualms deep frying now and then, especially if it's a rainy day and your mood and taste buds are screaming cardamom tea with bajjis.

I always eye ball my bajji batter mix so the proportions below are approximate. I always stock besan in my freezer because although it's a now-and-then type ingredient, it's the most handy to have around for any kind of bajjis or bondas or even for thickening gravies.

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Paneer Korma | Paneer Kuruma | Indian Paneer Recipes

To me, a kuruma or korma recipe would have coconut in it. I wanted to make a coconut-based paneer recipe to have with rotis and started searching for one. Chanced upon this super easy paneer korma recipe from Sanjeev Kapoor but surprisingly, it has no coconut, rather, the base is a delicious yogurt blend mildly spiced. TH would love that, and anyway I don't think I want to argue with Sanjeev Kapoor on what a paneer korma should have and shouldn't have!

The entire thing came together in less than 15 mins, probably the easiest and quickest paneer dish I have ever made. I used pre-fried paneer cubes which made it even quicker but don't let that deter you.

PS: This is the first picture in the gorgeous pink/orange bowl I got from Kappabashi Street in Tokyo.

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{Cooking Video} South Indian Filter Coffee Recipe

I am one of those people who have no strong preference towards coffee or tea. I have moods and one of these drinks usually fit in. Filter coffee to me is a luxury. One that usually happens when I have amma around and she is the one making it. I do own a filter and have some filter coffee powder too but rarely end up making it.

This video totally makes me want to make some. I am usually not very picky about my coffee (or tea) but if filter coffee is an option, that's definitely what I'd pick.

South Indian Filter Coffee

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Makes 4 cups

Ingredients:
2 cups of milk
2-3 tbsp of filter coffee powder
2 tsp of sugar (adjust to taste)
2 cups of boiling water

How It's Made:

1. Add the filter coffee powder to your coffee filter and pour the boiling water over it slowly. Allow the decoction to collect at the bottom.

2. Meanwhile, boil the milk. Add the required amount of coffee decoction to the milk and stir in sugar.

3. Serve in steel glass tumblers or any coffee mug. Tastes best piping hot with bajjis!

Check out more cooking videos!

Eggless Chocolate Sponge Cake Recipe (No Butter)

Learn how to make moist and soft eggless chocolate cake using this easy chocolate cake recipe using no butter. 

Sometimes readers leave me notes and tips on recipes they've tried from this site. Sometimes they leave recipes. An anonymous reader left a recipe on the Eggless Chocolate Yogurt Cake post (which they liked better than my recipe) and I recognized I had seen it somewhere. I couldn't find an exact match but the moist chocolate cake from Raks Kitchen seemed close to this recipe.

I decided to give it a shot when I had TH's cousins and aunts visiting for lunch. They don't eat egg and prefer to not eat it in the "hidden" form as cakes and cookies either.

There are a few ways you can bake a cake eggless and still make it taste great. Using banana is one way (check out the Chocolate Banana Pound Cake recipe) or yogurt (like in the Basic Vanilla Sponge Cake or the Chocolate Yogurt Cake). Flax seed meal is another option but one option I hadn't tried yet was vinegar.

I was doubtful for a long time what type of vinegar we can use for baking cakes. Asked a few fellow bloggers and finally figured out that white vinegar or apple cider vinegar works best. I usually have a bottle of white vinegar in the kitchen for making certain Indo-Chinese Recipes and pickles, so used the same for this cake too.

I baked it into a loaf cake but you can bake it in a cake/brownie pan or even into cupcakes. While we are on the topic, let me tell you how AMAZING this Chicago Metallic Loaf Pan is. Must buy if you bake bread and like loaf-shaped cakes.

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10 Easy Recipes for Krishna Jayanthi / Gokulashtami

My memories of us celebrating Krishna Jayanthi is back when I was 7 or 8. Amma would make the snacks for the day - unniyappam, seedai, murukku, thattai, payasam, those are the few I remember - and in the evening, we would draw tiny legs using rice flour mixture all the way from the front gate to the Pooja room. I especially liked Krishna Jayanthi because it seemed more kid-friendly. And oh, the freshly churned butter, let's not forget that.

I know many of you are celebrating this year and enjoying the day with your family and friends. Here's a list of 10 easy recipes you can follow for making your Krishna Jayanthi (Gokulashtami) stress-free and delicious.

1. Masala Vada / Masal Vade

2. Thattai

     

3. Murukku / Thenkuzhal - Step by Step

4. Aval Vadai

5. Vella Seedai - Step by Step

6. Maladu / Pottukadalai Urundai

7. Besan Ladoo

8. Paruppu Payasam

9. Semiya Payasam

10. Aval Sweetened with Jaggery and Coconut

Wishing all reader of Edible Garden a wonderful Krishna Jayanthi / Gokulashtami!

Paneer Cutlet Recipe - How to Make Paneer Cutlets at Home

Paneer is a hot favourite in the Edible Garden household and pretty much any recipe with Paneer is welcomed happily. August is a nice month for a number of reasons. It's my b'day month for one and although I am turning 30 this year and bidding farewell to my 20s, I am doing it cheerfully. The past decade has been mixed but at the end of it, I feel it was largely positive.

TH is planning a special day and while we will be staying put in Singapore, it's going to be spent outside, according to him. I have asked that I want to see a movie but apart from that, all other planning is his.

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Mango Lassi | Mango Lassi Drink Recipe | Mango Yogurt Smoothie

Mango Lassi is one of my favourite drinks even if they come super sweetened in styroform cups from Saravana Bhavan. That's probably my least favourite place to buy it from but I love even that mango lassi.

They are super easy to whip up and a great way to use up overly ripe mangoes that are all squishy and don't hold their shape.

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