The Idli Diaries #3

Tags

bangalore Idli, Bangalore idlies, cheatmeals, easy recipes, Food, food food, Homemade goodness, Idli, India, Indian cuisine, indian culture, indianfood, Musings, oldendays, recipes of India, Thoughts, traditional

Hey everyone🙋

Continuing my never ending love for the humble Idlies..

The Idli Diaries #1

The Idli Diaries #2

So taking you all down memory line…

• 

During my Internship, we were posted in a government hospital for about 2 months, so the routine was that all friends would meet up for breakfast at this awesome place called Halli manne ( literally translated as village house, it’s still there in Bangalore) where they used to dole out fluffy idlis and other yummy breakfast items, they had a huge variety to offer..

• 

My friends used to try out every item on the menu..I was determined to do the same but god knows why I used to end up ordering one Idli and one vada with sizzling hot sambhar and this continued for the whole two months we were posted there, everyday breakfast was the same, yummy hot Idlis and I never tired of it..

• 

The Idli family😉

This trend continued even  during my post grad days, when my friends used to order Pooris, Dosas and Poha,  I used to stick to my staple of one Idli one vada again and again,so that’s when I realised I have an never ending connection with the humble idli..humble Nee..humble idli..😉 given the fact that idlis is also a diet food so my calorie count was in check( remember I am on an eternal never ending diet)

• 

So much for my love for idlis..

Oh and even the day after I delivered, I was given Idli and milk so now you know, Idli rocks!!
Annnddd I am hungry typing soo much about idlis,  I want one plate right now!! 🤤

• 

So if ever you come across this humble everyday staple in the South of India, grab a hot plate with sambhar and let the magic work…have a great weekend all..🤗🤗🤗

The Idli Diaries #2

Tags

Bangalore idlies, cheatmeals, easy recipes, Food, food food, golden memories, Homemade goodness, Idli, India, Indian cuisine, indian culture, indianfood, Just thoughts, Musings, recipes of India, Short stories, southindianfood, traditional

Hey Everyone🙋

So continuing my love for idlis..

The Idli Diaries #1

When  I graduated to medical college, I used to take all my friends especially the North Indians to this awesome place in Bangalore, street food of course.. Idlies are served in posh restaurants to the humble thela wala ( street vendor)

• 

Idli vadas

The chutneys are something to die for..ahh the endless number of times I have visited this place in bangalore, Commercial street, an elderly couple doling out the most delicious, soft, mouth watering idlis paired with chutneys of two colours, a white one made of lentils and a red one made of fiery hot red chillies and tomatoes..

• 

Vadas and the typical chutneys served at Bangalore.. We have a red tomato chilli chutney…white peanut chutney and green mint chutney…the missing Idlies were gobbled up by me.. 🙈

Chutneys itself need an entire post to be described..you have soo many to choose from!!
We have restaurants serving  small small lemon sized idlis to huge ones called “Thatte Idlis” with different chutneys..

• 

Minature Idlies.. Pics courtesy: Hebbars kitchen

• 

Huge “Thatte” Idlies..Thatte means plate in kannada language Pics courtesy: Hebbars kitchen

So I am imagining myself standing in front of this cart waiting for my turn for steaming idlis, served really hot hot hottttt with the chutneys in tow..ahh I have lost track of the innumerable visits to that place !!!

Speaking of idli love let me share with you another personal story..

It dates back to med school, me and my husband who was “Just a Friend” back then!!
As usual I was craving for Idlis from the cart, so he took me there, rather I forced him to come along..
Being the hygiene freak that he is, he was cringing when I insisted on having a plate of Idlis, he let me have my fill though..

So the story goes like this wherein I am blabbering away something and the vendor passes the plate of hot idlis!! Too hot for me to hold and my husband ( who was still just a friend) took out his handkerchief and placed the plate on it and held it for me till it was cool enough for me to eat and I literally ended up eating it out of his hands while still chatting away!! Awww that made me melt indeed..(soo kiddish you might say but yup that’s me Nee and what do you expect I would do??!!  All of 21 and experiencing this  ha ha ha so that was a sign of love blossoming..) Poor hubby still tags along cribbing and grumbling when I tell him I wanto eat idlis from the vendors..

As I was searching for images I got to know there is a world idli fay too.. Every year, March 30 is observed as World Idli Day, a day dedicated to this delicious, fermented healthy food.. Now that’s also news to me.. Wow!!!

• 

Home made goodness with coconut chutney

More about the Idli love in the next post…Until next time drool away, grab a hot plate of Idli sambhar and let the magic work…have a great week ahead all..

The Idli Diaries!!! #1

Tags

bangalore Idli, cheatmeals, easy recipes, Food, food food, golden memories, halli mane, Homemade goodness, Idli, India, Indian cuisine, indian culture, indianfood, Musings, oldendays, schooldays, southindianfood, Thoughts, traditional

Hey everyone🙋

Today post is a very hungry one..Yes my hunger for the staple food in South of India..The Humble Idli!!!😋😋
Why humble??🤔Cause it is the cheapest food!!!

Easiest to make ( I guess only South Indians consider it easy to make) Like rajma chawal is a delicacy for us Southies, Idli is a delicacy in the North..( Speaking entirely and purely based on my experience)

So what is an Idli??!!💁 For my Non Indian friends, here is a link to the description about one of the awesome food South India has to offer.. 

Idli

My love story with idlis dates back to my childhood, when my mum used to give me and my brother 1 rupee on Saturdays ( somedays even she needed a break from cooking and we, a chance to gorge on outside food) So, those were the days when idlis used to cost us just 25 paise each, so 4 Idlis for a ruppee was an awesome deal, shared between me and my bro with the most amazing and tastiest chutneys!!🤤

Ohhh soo in love with Idlis!!!

Idlis in India is available at breakfast and dinner in high end restaurants and as street food too..
The taste of the Idlis sold in the carts is totally awesome and entirely different compared to the once sold at restaurants and hotels which boast of it as a rice dumpling steamed and simmered in spiced broth and blah blah blah, it’s a basic rice ball that’s it!!! 🤨😱😳😩

Coming back to my story, my mom used to pack 2 idlis with mint chutney for school..ahhh a memory I still can’t forget!!😍
A friend of mine amused me by having it with ghee and sugar, so you see, idli can be eaten with groundnut,coconut,mint chutneys..sugar..soaked in milk..with spicy lentil powder mixtures..with vegetable sambhar and the list is endless..

Have Idli with sambhar

Have it with variety of chutneys!!

The next memory I have as I progressed to high school is of buying it from a small eateries called Sandarshinis for 1 rupee, the prices had increased by then..
My brother’s love for idli sambhar and vada surpasses mine!!
Every Saturday after the routine NCC drill in his school he used to treat himself to 2 plates of Idli Vada sambhar!!

💸The prices kept increasing from 25 paise in the 1990s to 1 ruppee in 1994 to 5 ruppees in 1998 to the current 30 ruppees for 4 idlis.. (street food prices) The hotels charge anywhere from 50 to 150 ruppees for a plate..
Idlis are mostly served in pairs cause no one can eat just one😋

In short, Idlis are the most basic and the most easily available and loved breakfast item that has ever been discovered to us South Indians!! More about my idli love in the next post.. Until next time… Enjoy hot Idli sambhar with cool cool chutney!! 🤗🤗🤗

Lemon rice

Tags

cheatmeals, easy recipes, Food, food food, Homemade goodness, India, Indian cuisine, indian culture, indianfood, recipes of India, southindianfood, traditional

Hey everyone🙋

I am soo obsessed with cuisines from across the world so felt that what may seem a daily routine, normal food to me might be a delicacy to someone in another part of the world..
Hence sharing with you a very simple, humble if I may call it so, a staple everyday meal kind of a dish..Lemon Rice! !

Lemon rice straight from my kitchen!!

Give me lemon rice every single day and I can have it for ages…trust me I seriously can..
Traditionally a South indian dish it has evolved along the way with additions and twists in various states of India to suit each ones palate..
It can be had as a breakfast item made from leftover rice or as a starter dish at lunch or as an evening snack where rice is replaced by puffed rice and as a dinner item..( I am sure people all across the world don’t believe in wasting food hence rice is reused in some form to make it fresh again and consumed..)

Lemon rice is such an amazing dish that it is served as Prasadam in South indian temples… Along with its counter part, Tamarind rice called as Puliogare and curd rice..

Yes… Festivals are incomplete without these yummy  dishes..
In India on any festival or auspicious occasion, you will find these delicacies being prepared as pooja prasadams…
There is something about these prasadams distributed at The temples especially, The lemon rice / tamarind rice taste out of the world.. You just can’t get that taste when the same dishes are made at home I always wonder why??!!🤔

The elders say it’s the pooja/ God’s touch..as in food which is cooked as a prasadam is never tasted before offering,so it’s told that the divine grace goes with the cooks excellence in cooking the offering…I really till date don’t understand that cause I still can’t cook that way🤔🙄
Lemon rice is also a favourite for long distance travels..back in the days when train travel was the most convenient, large families used to pack up lemon rice for the long journey..

• 

I remember travelling from Bangalore to Mumbai..Bangalore to Shiridi and lemon rice accompanied me on every single journey…given the fact that it has lemon hence it prevents rice from getting spoilt..

The dish requires just Lemon and the usual spices found in a South Indian kitchen..
I love to eat mine with Papad..Potato fry..Chips.. Omlette.. Chicken ( fry and gravy form) and the list is endless..

• 

Lemon rice complete with Green Chillies..Curry leaves.. Jeera.. Mustard.. Groundnuts.. Turmeric gives it the typical yellow colour..

Here it is served with chicken kabab.. My daughter loves this combo.. The tangy taste mixed with spicy chicken is simply yum

Chicken kabab!!

Thus this amazing everyday staple food, rules the lives of every South Indian household..
Do let me know if you have tried this dish..

🥭Aam ka Murabba/ Mango preserve🥭

Tags

easy recipes, Food, food food, Homemade goodness, India, Indian cuisine, indian culture, indianfood, Just thoughts, recipes of India, Thoughts, traditional

Hey everyone🙋

Summers are almost coming to and end in India..

King of Fruits!!

Mangoes the king of fruits and the national fruit of India is a priced treasure during this period!!
So I try and make all recipes with mango..
Ranging from mango pickles, sweet/ sour to mango rice..mango dal..mango juice/ milkshakes…it goes on…

Todays simple and easy recipe is one such dish which can be made before hand and it lasts long after summer is gone..

Being a savoury person getting into the habit of making sweets was a little difficult..Having a Bengali husband who loves all things sweets, I am  inclined to learn new sweet dishes..

There is a joke I always make…dip a blade of grass in  condensed milk and my hubby will enjoy it..🙄🤭

So today’s recipe is a simple two ingredient one..

Aam ka murabba/Sweetened mango fruit preserve..

Homemade Aam ka murabba!!

Goodness overload!!

Aam means mangoes in Hindi Murabba means sweetened fruit preserve

🥭So take some raw mangoes…
(I have used two)
🥭Rinse and wipe dry the mangoes..
🥭Peel the outer skin..
🥭Chop them into small pieces or one can grate them too..(Hubby likes biting into the crunchy pieces,so I chop them)

🥭In a pan add in the chopped angoes and sugar..1-1.5 cups of sugar according to the tartness of the mangoes..
(Add more or adjust according to the taste preference)
🥭On a low flame..keep stirring this mix nicely..
🥭The sugar will melt to a watery consistency..keep stirring..
🥭When it reaches a one string consistency switch it off and let it cool completely before transferring them to clean glass containers..
🥭Refrigerate them and they will last longer…
🥭This Can be had as an accompaniment with rotis and parathas or as an after meal sweet dish..

Until next time…

Always remember… 🤗

Cheatmeal Sundays!!!

Tags

cheatmeals, easy recipes, Food, food food, Homemade goodness, India, Indian cuisine, indian culture, indianfood, recipes of India, southindianfood, Thoughts, traditional

Hey everyone 🙋

Ever since I started my never ending diet.. I always keep and feel Sundays to be my cheat meal day.. Either you eat the whole day or just opt for one cheat meal.. I prefer the latter…

So today I made what we call as Gongura Mutton Curry in the southern states of India… Gongura is Sorrel leaves…a green leafy vegetable..with three triangle shaped leaflets.. It is kind of sour when you cook it.. Can be made into a paste..Chutney.. Pickles..mixed with pulses to make gongura dhal…mostly used in many non vegetarian dishes…

Sorrel leaves!!!

Today I used it along with mutton to make yummy mutton curry..

Gongura Mutton Curry

Clockwise… Gongura mutton… Vanjaram fish fry… Rice and curd!!!

To make sure I am still within my current weight, I compensate by having a very light dinner..

So…What’s your Sunday special dish??!! 😈

Onion pakodas(Onion Fritters)

Tags

beingnee, cheatmeals, easy recipes, Food, food food, golden memories, India, Indian cuisine, indian culture, indianfood, Just thoughts, recipes of India, southindianfood, Thoughts, traditional

Hey everyone🙋

So one sunny afternoon…just before serving lunch..I planned to make something to go with the lunch menu which had piping hot sambhar..rice and sabjis

Instead of the usual Papadums or Appalams/ Vadiyalu/ Vathal as we call them in Kannada…Telugu and Tamil..( Yes!!! Yours truly is a multilingual person hailing from the South of India..speaking 8 languages..so I tend to use words in different languages as and when my brain processes the images🙈)

So I decided to go with a Simple easy and instant recipe

Onion pakodas/ Onion fritters

Onion pakodas/ fritters
It is a staple on rainy days or those long tiring evenings when one craves something to go with Chai/ Tea

Ok so this recipe doesn’t need much of pre preps…

🧅Chop one onion in lengthy strips..
(Divide the onion strips individually..else they all get sticky and we will end up with a gunk of onion batter..)

🧅In a Mixing bowl..
Add 1 cup of Besan (Gram flour)
2-3 teaspsoons of Semolina..( Rava/ Semolina makes the fritters crispy)

🧅A bit of salt…a pinch of chilli powder…( Can also add chopped green chillies)
🧅A pinch of coriander powder,turmeric powder and garam masala and salt…

I also added a bit of dry mango powder( that’s completely optional)
So mix up these ingredients well..

🧅Add in water to the desired consistency…some prefer it a little dry, some all wet and gooey…works well both ways!!

🧅Heat a Kadai/ Pan with generous amounts of cooking oil..

🧅Let it warm up and add in the mixture in small quantities..

🧅Deep fry till nice soft and golden brown…keep the flame low as it tends to burn the besan real fast..

🧅Serve with tomato/ chilli sauce or with a side dish of green chillies and pickled onion ringlets or have it with sambhar rice..dal rice..even better make a kadhi out if it!!

( Kadhi is Onion pakodis/ fritters dunked in spiced buttermilk ) more about kadhi maybe in an another post!!

All in all a simple and easy recipe..do give it a try ..

🧅Pssstt…

🧅I have heard and seen on cookery shows the batter for the pakodis/ fritters  been made with Beer…
Heard they come out real crispy and yumm..never tried it though…maybe some time soon

🧅The same batter can be used to make a variety of fritters..instead of onions just add in roundly sliced potatoes..raw bananas…large green chillies…egg plant..boiled eggs..and even bread!!

Until next time…stay safe..🤗🤗🤗

🥘Biriyani Love!!!! 😍😍😍

Tags

beingnee, cheatmeals, doctorlife, easy recipes, Food, food food, golden memories, India, Indian cuisine, indian culture, indianfood, recipes of India, southindianfood, traditional

Sundays and Biriyani go hand in hand…
Ask any true blue South Indian  and the answer you get..biriyani is an emotion!!!!

Love can wait.. Life can wait… Everything can wait but binging on a plate of warm biriyani… Nahhhh… Can’t wait!!! 🤪

• 

Don’t you agree???

So when life gives you 1000 reasons to cry.. Smile and show that you have biriyani to make all things right!!!🤩

Mutton Biriyani with curd raita

So Who all agrees with me??!!!😜 🙌

Kolkata #1

Tags

Food, India, Indian cuisine, indian culture, indianfood

A visit to Kolkata is incomplete without tasting the famous  chicken rolls..

Finally got a chance to visit Nizams… the place of origin of kathi rolls!!

Nizams located at new Market area in Kolkata!!!

Located in Hoggs Street at Kolkata’s New Market area, it serves chicken/ mutton rolls filled with yummy kathi kebabs..

Back then Kolkata was known as Calcutta.
Nizam’s was the place for chicken/ mutton rolls and kebabs…
In colonial Calcutta, Indian natives and British expats devoured the palatable kebabs -which were grilled on iron skewers smoky and charred at Nizam’s alike.
But the British patrons found it somewhat messy and troublesome to dig into the greasy kebabs with their hands.
It was especially inconvenient for those on the go, including the babus and sahibs (the British bureaucrats) making the daily commute to the adjacent business district of Dalhousie Square.
To make their lives easier, someone at Nizam’s started wrapping the popular kebabs in crispy..flaky parathas and further wrapping the paratha roll in wax paper to make sure no gravy dripped from the kebabs.
This idea was a hit! Everyone was devouring the rolls happily..

A plate of succulent kathi kebabs!!!

It is impossible that one visits kolkata and doesn’t dig into these yumm rolls..now a staple street food it’s available all over the city but the one at Nizams is the traditional classy original kathi roll!!

Do give it a try when to visit the city of joy!!!

And while at it tasted the Dum biriyani with the classic alu ( Potato)..a typical in Biriyanis here…

Potato in biriyani

#nizamskolkata
#nizams
#nizamrolls
#kolkata
#hoggstreet

#newmarket

With inputs from Google wiki on the origin of nizams!!

Makar Sankranti!!!

Tags

India, Indian cuisine, indian culture, indianfood, Sweeteats, Thoughts

Hey everyone 🙋🏻‍♀️

January is all about new beginnings and welcoming the first festival of the year..Pongal/ Makar Sankranti!!!

It is a festival dedicated to the Surya (The Sun God) and hence marks the beginning of all things new!!!

In all southern states of India the first day is celebrated as Bhogi, the first day of the pongal festival..
The Bhogi Mantalu ( Fire in Telugu language) wherein a bonfire is lit with cow dung cakes and wood!!

The Bhogi Bonfire!!

Old items are discarded and sacrificed in this fire, heralding new beginnings!!

Beautiful rangolis adorn the frontyards and not to forget kite flying and sugarcanes!!!

Rangolis depicting a pot being cooked on fire wood filled and overflowing with sweet pongal marking abundance and prosperity!!!

Pongal is cooked in every household, a sweet one and a savoury version alongside Masala vadais, everything adding on to the festive fervor and hence making the new year truly special!!!

Happy Pongal/ Makar Sankranti everyone!!!