There are several dishes that I am very familiar with, but do not often prepare. Mainly because these dishes, delightful as they are, are not top-of-mind. This potato in a spice powder is one such dish. It tastes heavenly, but I tend to rarely make it. A mistake that I must correct. I love potatoes…
Category: Main Dishes
Pudalangai Kootu (Snake Gourd, Chichinda Curry)
Snake gourd is a summer vegetable. There are several varieties that are available, some very tasty, others rather tasteless. I do remember a time when this vegetable used to grow up to 6 feet long! But the varieties that are now available in the market are about a foot long. I had grown this in…
Stuffed Peerkangai (Ridge Gourd, Tori)
I get so much of ridge gourd every summer. It is a challenge to make this bland vegetable in different ways – that are tasty and tickles the palate. I often spend many evenings during summer researching this. It was on one such evening that I came across this very interesting recipe. And it tasted…
Vazhaithandu Thoran (Banana Stem Stir Fry)
The banana tree is a wonderful one. All it’s parts are edible, including flowers, raw banana, ripe banana and stem, Cleaning the flowers or stem, however, is a cumbersome process. In the case of the banana stem, the outer layers must be removed to reach the tender inner stem. These are then chopped into thin…
Kolmi Shaker Ghonto (Water Spinach Mixed Vegetables)
Water spinach (known as kalmi saag in Hindi and kolmi shaak in Bengali) is a very tasty green. I was introduced to this green during my early days in Singapore where it was plentifully available. In those regions, it is called kangkong. It is also widely used in oriental cuisine. I was pleasantly surprised to…
Muttaigose Kootu (Cabbage, Bandh Gobi Curry)
This is a popular dish in Thamizhnadu where it is often paired with rasam. It is an extremely tasty curry that is quite easy to prepare. Some years ago, I had an Iyengar friend staying with me. Hari had made a rasam and this cabbage kootu. He went into raptures and I was quite surprised….
Pargarkkai Varuval (‘Fried’ Bittergourd, Karela)
Bitter gourd was not one of my favourite vegetables. I used to intensely dislike the bitter taste. Things did not get much better whenever my father used to visit me. He was a great fan of bitter gourd. The more bitter, the better. He therefore used to request Hari to make just bitter gourd stir…
Karamani Katharikai (Eggplant and Cowpeas, Baingan Lobia Curry)
This is one of my favourite eggplant dishes. Though a typical Palakkad dish, not very many people know about it. Several people have told me that they have never heard of this dish or tried this. Goes to prove that there are variations in recipes from household to household. This dish is not spicy at…
Parwal Masala (Pointed Gourd Curry)
I do not know the name of pointed gourd in Tamil or Malayalam. I understand it is simply called parwal. This vegetable is plentifully available in the region where I stay. Parwal (pronounced padwal) is a summer vegetable. It is a local vegetable and very inexpensive in season. I hated this vegetable, but used to…
Arai Keerai Kootu (Amaranth, Chowlai Curry)
Amaranth is one of the tastiest greens. I like both forms, the green and the red. I use this regularly in my cooking. Since it is widely used all over India, I find organic amaranth easily available. This green was a little bit of luxury when I was growing up in Singapore in the 60’s….
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