That’s a strange title – but that is exactly what this post is about. A curry make with curry leaves. I appreciate that curry leaves are not available in many parts of the world. But it is a hardy plant and can grow in most hot and/or humid climates. It will not survive only in…
Month: July 2022
Vendakkai Puli Pachadi (Okra In Tamarind Sauce)
You cannot imagine how good this tastes, especially when paired with a mulakootal (a bland wet dish to be mixed with rice). Some years ago, I ran a cooking class on behalf of Sharan. On the menu was a spinach mulakootal and this puli pachadi. All attendees were floored. They swore that they had never…
Tirunelveli Sodhi (Stew)
Two of my favourite breakfast dishes are idiappam (stringhoppers) and aapam (crepe). That’s because I love the stew that they are served with. This vegetable stew, in common parlance in India, is ishtew. It is also called sodhi. It’s an astounding dish with vegetables and spices all in a base of coconut milk. I have…
Tirunelveli (Or Nellai) Sambar
Concluding my recipes from Tirunelveli, I will post a sambar recipe that tastes different from both the ‘podi pota’ and ‘arachuvitta’ sambars. For the edification of my readers who are not familiar with these terms, let me explain. Sambar is a wet dish that is mixed with rice. Or it can be had as an…
Vazhakkai Kootu (Raw Banana Curry)
Another recipe from the Tirunelveli region of Thamizhnadu. This time, a curry using raw bananas. Raw banana is never used in North Indian cuisine. But I do buy it every week as it is one of my favourite vegetables. Since North India is bereft of it, there are no recipes from this region. So, I…
Tirunelveli Adai
Tirunelveli is a small town in the South Indian state of Thamizhnadu. While the town is small, it’s cuisine is not. It is a distinctive cuisine that is well known across the state and in many other parts of the country. I have been keen to try this cuisine since many people that I know…
Pulikachal (A Tamarind Dip)
For years, this was one of my favourite dishes. It’s a sour dip that is fantastic with steamed rice. It is also made into a puliyodharai (tamarind rice) and as an accompaniment with rice when the wet dish does not contain tamarind (like mor kootan, mulakootal…) I have always been fond of sour food ever…
Beans Usili (Stir Fried French Beans And Lentils)
Usili basically refers to a method of preparing vegetables. It’s Bengal gram and pigeon peas crumbled into a vegetable of choice. I have previously posted cabbage usili in this blog. The usili recipes are from the South Indian state of Thamizhnadu. These dishes are mildly spiced and pair well with steamed rice and a wet…
Vegetable Manchurian
This is a delicious Indo-Chinese dish. I am not even sure that such a dish exists in Chinese cuisine. But it is very popular in India. It contains various vegetables formed into dumplings and dropped into a sauce that is sweet, sour, hot and salty. An amazing dish. A meal at a Chinese restaurant in…
Bhendi Do Pyaaza (Okra And Onion Curry)
Summers means okra time. A vegetable that I really love. I prepare okra in several different ways. Often, I make a Punjabi style okra with sliced onions and it tastes marvellous. Similarly, I often make okra in this do pyaaza style – consisting of okra and onions. But this dish tastes vastly different from the…
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