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Bored of having sambar and rasam???… Here is something different for you, Appala poo kozhambu. When I got married my grandmother wrote all her recipes and gave it to me. When I wanted to try something different, this recipe came into my mind. I tried this and it’s now super hit. Everyone who .. read full article »

Some of you must be thinking, why am I posting so many rice preparations. My answer is – “that’s what I am cooking these days”. One time cooking for both lunch and dinner is working very well for me. Though both of us can eat out and survive, we don’t prefer to do it frequently. [...] read full article »

Bloggers who have been in this blog’o’sphere for long and readers who have been following my blogging experience for long would be aware of the time when I wrote few Food Riddles. That was for some event at Dining Hall which I did along with Siri. I thought it would be interesting to start .. read full article »

Ugadi, Telugu New Year, is on 16th March, 2010. I have complied few festival recipes that can be prepared for Ugadi, to make it convenient for my dear readers. Hope you enjoy preparing the recipes and relish the festive treats with family and friends. Ugadi Pachadi Paramannam, Bobbatu, Badam .. read full article »

Eggplant and potatoes make such a hit combination. If you love this combo, do try this Gujarati recipe.Ringna Bateta nu ShaakGujarati Eggplants-PotatoesIngredients6 small Indian eggplants, stem removed, each cut into 6 slices2 potatoes, peeled, cut into 6 slicessalt to taste1/4 tsp sugar2 tbsp .. read full article »

Even though other varieties of carbs / starches are slowly catching up, rice is still the staple food for most of South India. A South Indian at heart, that I am, I need my quota of rice at least every couple of days. My lunches are mostly rice with any gravy like sambar, rasam, erissery or some .. read full article »

Waking up to a morning with someone making you a hearty breakfast and strong coffee/tea!!! That’s bliss! But unfortunately since that’s clearly not happening in any foreseeable future of mine, I do the next best thing! I make it myself – better that than Starbucks mocha whose flavor .. read full article »

Laddu is an Indian sweet which is often prepared during festivals or any special occasions at home. You can also see Laddu at many temples kept as prasadham. There are different types of laddu such as Rava Laddu, Ragi laddu, Boondhi laddu, etc. I have given you the recipe for Boondhi Laddu. .. read full article »

“Teja main hoon, mark idhar hai.” The most memorable dialogue from what was possibly one of the funniest films to come out of Bombay and one that steered clear of the usual Bollywood formula. Never before had a Hindi movie so brilliantly paid homage to the fine art of buffoonery. One rarely .. read full article »

Sweet, soft, layers off goodness. That is what Malpuas are.I finally gave in and made Malpuas this past weekend. How could I let a festival pass by without the food ? And how could just a condensed Milk Cake compensate for "syrup dribbling down your elbows" sweets. Don't you get a kick of .. read full article »

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This dhokla is made from the green moong daal with skin.ChilkawaLa DhoklaIngredients1 cup green moong daal with skin,1/2 tsp asafoetida1/2 tsp turmeric powder1/2" ginger, peeld & chopped2-3 green chilies (or to taste)1 tsp Gujarati Sambhaar masala (pickle masala)3/4 cup sour yogurtsalt to taste .. read full article »

Papdi ChaatIndians love their favorite chaat wala and spend many a evening eating their favorite masala puri or pani puri, relishing its magical, addictive flavors like there’s no tomorrow. And why not? Its comforting food that warms the palate, delicious and economical on the wallet.Rolled .. read full article »

Sometimes, a little vegetable goes a long way. I bought a modest wedge of pumpkin last Saturday, and sweet and nutrition dense as it is, it fed us three times over- I used a third of the wedge for pumpkin kaap (made the same way as these but using pumpkin slices instead of eggplant), a third for .. read full article »

This type of vegetable preparation is called "Peeth perun bhaaji" at my maaher/mom's place. The same type with little changes here and there, is called "Loat vaLu shaak" at my saasar/MIL's place. I have come across many dishes with astonishing similarity in Maharashtra and Gujarat. But then they .. read full article »

I'm starting this new series on good food ideas from the week that was. The idea behind this being, it's tough to capture good pictures and write about every good meal, but this way, I can store away the ideas for later. This will also include links to some of the recipes tried from other food .. read full article »

As a kid I fondly remember looking forward to Ugadi every year. It was one festival when Amma would make Poli and she used to make so much to distribute to the entire neighborhood. It took us quite some time to convince her to make the Sweet Polis on other days too.  After marriage, I was .. read full article »

Finally we have started using salmon regularly. I have been cooking it with slight modifications every time. We love grilled salmon with different spices. This is one such recipe I tried recently. It tasted great. Ingredients: 18oz salmon fillet Olive oil Spinach paste (Make a paste of .. read full article »

About a month back, a dear reader Sudha asked me for a Potato recipe which is my all time fav. She said she loved roast potatoes and that which makes it often. She asked me if I had a twist to regular roast potatoes. This recipe “Patates sto Fourno” is a Greek recipe for Garlic and Lemon .. read full article »

Pasta is one of the easiest weekday dinners to make. So, I am constantly trying to make it in different ways incorporating different ingredients in it. I remember at one time, I used to ALWAYS make pasta with a tomato based sauce. Later I graduated to white sauce, which I wasn't too fond of, so .. read full article »

Bengali Cuisine is very subtle, understated and not really very popular outside Bengal. Most Indians outside of Bengal think Bengali food is all about fish and sweets. The moment you are introduced as a Bengali to any one who is not, they will tell you "Oh, we love Bengali sweets" and they will .. read full article »

Masala Puri ~ Ragda PuriChaat is the most fascinating culinary concoctions prepared in the street corners or gallis of every city/town of our country. Isn’t the smell of street food enticing? Isn’t it exciting to watch the street food vendor swiftly assemble a plate of Chaat with all its .. read full article »

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I learnt this Gujarati kofta curry from my MIL. Deep frying the koftas enhances the taste but I steam the koftas like muthiya or shallow fry them in the Appe pan.Dudhi Kofta nu ShaakBottlegourd Balls curryIngredientsFor Koftas -1 small bottlegourd/dudhi, peeled, seeded & grated; approx = 1 1/2 .. read full article »

Sometime back I thought I should redo things for better. Yes many times in life we think we should get another chance. Maybe not all times we are offered this opportunity but in a food blog you can right. I decided seeing the hasty pictures and what not, I should click better pictures and post .. read full article »

I picked those turnips because they looked very fresh. After coming home decided to toss them in a pan along with paneer and homemade garam masala. I do not know if this is the traditional way of cooking turnips or not. but we enjoyed every bit of it. Refreshingly delicious!Paneer ShalgamTurnip .. read full article »

I am just a week behind in posting!! Now that sunny weather is visiting us for this week,(please stay!!), this post seems out of place. We went to the park yesterday and the whole town seemed to be there! The swings and slides were teeming with kids as if they all crawled out of the woodwork!  .. read full article »

Amazon offer this J.A. Henckels International Fine Edge Synergy 17-Piece Knife Block Set for $70 shipped. I’ve already posted about this knife set. It’s a great Knife block set.  It has some very  good reviews in amazon. Product Description: The J.A. Henckels International Fine Edge .. read full article »

Wishing all my dear women readers and bloggers a Happy Women’s Day!Ragda PattiesMumbai’s popular fast food snack prepared with curried dried peas aka ragda that is spooned over Aloo Patties/Cutlets along with an assortment of chutneys and garnished with onion, tomatoes, sev and fresh .. read full article »

How about some fish and rice for lunch ? If there is a good fish curry, then there is nothing more i need with rice.When i got some fresh sraavu from market, i remembered the sraavu curry amma used to prepare.The gravy had a slight mustard flavor to it and made the taste quite unique for this .. read full article »

This is not any authentic dish of Mysore, but we all love it very much. A weekend dish I can say for us.  An awesome threesome combination. These days I am craving for all those dishes which we had stopped making for some unknown reason, perhaps we just forgot it! This is one among them. I .. read full article »

Coconut rice is one of the easiest variety rice dish in South Indian recipes.  Especially it’s an most famous lunch box dish.  I love all types of variety rices like lemon rice, tamarind rice, tomato rice and coconut rice. When we got married, my husband and I discovered that we had varied .. read full article »

I started using almonds in my cooking few days ago. I had used it to make pesto because I did not have the nuts required for it. So I thought I could use it in Indian dishes too. The first time I tried it in place of coconut, it worked very well. Unlike peanuts, [...] read full article »

I was weighing the pros and cons of buying a rice cooker and did the sensible thing- I asked my wise readers to weigh in. My tiny kitchen space necessitates that all appliances go through a lengthy vetting process before being allowed in. When I asked about rice cookers, I was rewarded with .. read full article »

Sev ~ OmapodiSev aka Omapodi/Karapusa is an essential savory item along with Sweet chutney and Green chutney, forming an integral part of most Indian street food snacks. Sev is prepared with chickpea flour (besan) and rice flour. Usually sev that is used to garnish chaats is much thinner than .. read full article »

Its been a long while since I made a jam last! We have started enjoying other breakfast items which don’t call for jam a lot hence I was not in a dire need to make some at home. For the rare occasion we needed Jam, a small store bought Jam seemed a better idea! But during one of my trips to .. read full article »

This masala is my interpretation. I am not claiming for its authenticity. But one thing is for sure, when you start grinding your own spices from scratch, you really wonder why it took you so long? You just can't compare the fragrance of freshly ground spices to the store bought packet.Punjabi .. read full article »

It has been forever since I had made banana muffins and I figured it was time to give them another go. Before I began to look around for recipes I knew exactly what I wanted. I envisioned a soft, delicate, lightly sweetened muffin with a crunchy streusel topping. I came across this recipe and it .. read full article »

This is one of my favorite ways to have a salad....with lots of Chickpeas and mixed greens, Spinach especially. I had this for lunch, and it kept me full for a long time, I didn't even need a snack! This is SO easy, and you can put just about anything in it to keep you satisfied until dinner .. read full article »

Okay, so there are people who don't like cauliflower and some who don't like me posting recipes with cauliflower in them ;) If you are reading this, you'll know this is for you! Winter is officially over in Hyd with temperatures raring to touch 40 C. At such times, I still find spotlessly white .. read full article »

Dried green peas are one of my favorite dried beans, they taste quite different than the fresh/frozen green peas. I like to sneak them in wherever possible. This time when I had a bunch of soaked peas, I thought of mixing them with rice to make a one pot dish. I added eggs to [...] read full article »

Sai Bhaji is a typical Sindhi food. The greens and veggies in it make it a healthy meal choice. I went to my cousin’s place for the vacation. She made this sai bhaji for me and it was very tasty… It is also very nutritious and it is easy to make. So I tried it and it has come out really .. read full article »

Green Chutney for ChaatApart from Sweet chutney, another essential item to assemble most Chaats is Green aka Hari Chutney, prepared with coriander leaves, pudina and lemon juice. Quick to make and can be refrigerated or frozen for many weeks. The chutney will retain its green color due to .. read full article »

Apart from Sweet chutney, another essential item required to assemble most Chaats is Green aka Hari Chutney, prepared with coriander leaves, mint and lemon juice. Read rest of the story at my blog, http://sailusfood.com. read full article »

This cold and flu season has certainly caught us its grip, and we are still dealing with these symptoms......it's been like that for the past little while. Its getting better though! None of the over the counter medicines were doing any good to us so I decided to go with the `gharelu`or home .. read full article »

Just the other day, I was browsing through my own MS Word cookbook. I had made this cookbook before I discovered blogging. I wrote down the recipes from my family, friends, acquaintances thinking this is going to be my final family cookbook. But still my recipe diary, notebooks, pages continued .. read full article »

Its funny when many people I know assume I have lots of time to burn, cos I sit and cook so much! Why funny? – you might ask. As long as someone has interest they would find ways and means to do it, is my explanation. Like for example, my husband has been behind me practically for 2 yrs now .. read full article »

Long recess ( lunch break) in school was something to look forward to. Books and pens were hastily shoved in the desk- drawers and lunch boxes whipped out. The group would gather  in a circle, some sitting at their desks, some standing  and an assortment of 'dabbas' (lunch-boxes), mostly .. read full article »

This zuNka is similar to the other ZuNka recipes I shared on this blog. However, the beet greens add a nice change to eyes and palette.Beet Greens ZuNkaIngredients1 bunch beet greens, shreddedsalt to taste1/2 tsp chili powder1/2 tsp sugar1/3 cup besan/chickpea flour (or as needed)1 tsp .. read full article »

I love penne and my husband loves spaghetti. Penne because, i like how the pasta gets the sauce inside the tubes - the ridges hold on to the sauce. Since I am the resident chef of our home, you'll find penne being the most-often cooked pasta. We love saucy sauces - well you know what I mean, .. read full article »