ONAM SADYA RECIPES - KERALA LUNCH MENU LIST

WISH U ALL A VERY HAPPY ONAM CELEBRATION !

Onam festival is the most anticipated day for me to express my passion for Kerala food. Basically Sendhil loves coconut based recipes a lot and I am a big fan of Kerala style dishes. Not just the food, I love Kerala sarees and their traditional ornaments too. So every year during Onam, I never fail to make sadya feast at home to treat Sendhil and myself with varieties of Kerala delicacies. For the past two years, I have been posting the same different sadya menu list. And this year too, I was eagerly waiting to post this sadya menu.

Every year I love to attempt some new sadya special items for the menu and I prepared Ada pradhaman & Palada Pradhaman recipes using homemade Ada. Pineapple payasam and Pineapple pachadi as suggested by my neighbour Mrs.Prema. Mathanga erissery and kaya mezhukkupuratti out of my own wish. I referred many of our Kerala bloggers websites and I have given the links as well. Thanks to one & all for sharing these wonderful recipes with us.

For other sadya recipes like Kerala sambar, Rasam,Thoran, Puli inji, Parippu curry and avial, I referred my previous sadya recipes. All the recipes came out very well and we enjoyed this Onam feast well in advance. Here you go, my Onam sadya recipes for you all. Hope I have followed the correct serving order too.. I Wish all my readers and friends a very happy Onam.”ONAM ASHAMSAKAL” !!

HOW TO MAKE ONAM SADYA EASILY

I couldn’t take stepwise pictures for this sadya but I have shared some pictures of how I made this sadya quickly. Last year when I made sadya, I noticed that most of my time was spent in pre preparatory works like grating coconut, extracting coconut milk, grinding masalas, chopping vegetables and for cooking dals & vegetables.

So this year I wanted to make all these works simple and easy. Instead of grating 2 coconuts, I made small slices of it using a ladle with thick edge and blunt handle as you see in the picture below. I did not use knife as I am afraid of using it. Use knife only if you are confident of handling it and make sure your mixie blades are in good condition else it may break. Then I dry ground all the coconut slices together and divided them into 2 parts. I used one part for taking coconut milk and the other part for masala. It saved lot of time for me.

Also I pressure cooked dals for parippu curry and sambar together in my big pressure cooker by placing moong dal in the bottom of cooker and toor dal for sambar in a tiffin box. Please refer the picture. U can even keep a plate of mixed vegetables required for sambar over the toor dal.

For cooking Vanpayar and vegetables for olan, kalan and erissery, I again used my big cooker and cooked them together by keeping one above the other in small bowls and plates. As all these veggies gets cooked in one go, you just have to add them in coconut mixture and boil it. For thoran, I cooked it in my small cooker by keeping in high flame for two whistles.

For pradhaman, I prepared homemade ada. So I made it in the previous night and stored in refrigerator. Also I cleaned & chopped pineapple pieces and kept in a zip lock cover and refrigerated it. When you have ada & pineapple cubes ready in hand, you can make these payasam recipes very quickly.

All these pre preparatory jobs got over in 30 minutes & cooking took nearly one hour. This entire sadya took 1.5 hours totally. Do follow these techniques and make your sadya feast quickly & easily. Do share your methods of quick cooking in the comment section so that others get benefitted.

Disclaimer: I know these are not the authentic method of cooking Kerala food but to make my job easier, I followed these steps and I hope it would help beginners. Friends, please excuse me.

Onam sadya menu

Sadya recipes for Onam festival !

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Lunch

Serves: Serves 2-3

Prep time: 30 Minutes

Cook time: 60 Minutes

Total time: 90 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Please click on the recipes   Kerala parippu curry Puli inji curry Avial Kerala varutharacha sambar OR Ulli sambar Kerala rasam Thoran ( I used carrot & beans instead of cabbage) Mezhukkupuratti ( I used raw banana instead of beans) Olan Moru curry Other sadya recipes in my blog Kerala paal payasam Unniappam Chakka pradhaman Ada Pradhaman Palada Payasam Semiya payasam Click on the recipes to see the blogs from which I tried these recipes. Thank u friends. Everything came out very well. Mathanga vanpayar erissery Pineapple payasam ( I din’t grind pineapple, I used small pieces instead)  Homemade ada

I have made separate posts for some of the above mentioned recipes with stepwise pictures. Please click on the link for the recipe.Thanks for visiting this page. Hope you will try all these recipes and like it. Once again, I wish you all a very happy Onam. Enjoy the feast!

WISH U ALL A VERY HAPPY ONAM CELEBRATION !!

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TIRUNELVELI SODHI KUZHAMBU LUNCH MENU RECIPE

In Tirunelveli (Nellai), Sodhi kuzhambu, Inji pachadi/Ginger pachadi, Potato poriyal with chips would be the special lunch menu for newly married couples when they are invited for feast.So it is also called as “Mappillai sodhi” as it is considered to be most special. Sodhi saapadu is a must and should in all Tirunelveli marriages. 

Usually our marriage function takes place for three days. First day evening would be reception/Maapillai azhaippu, Second day would be the marriage and third day is for maruveedu. This sodhi kulambu should be served on third day maruveedu function on behalf of maapilai veedu. Most of the relatives stay back all the three days of marriage function just to enjoy this sothi kuzhambu. Even though my marriage was held in Salem, my dad arranged sodhi saapadu for our Nellai relatives on the last day of my marriage function. It is very very special for our nellai people. 

Ginger pachadi / Inji pachadi, potato curry and chips are the best side dish for sodhi kuzhambu. As sodhi is completely made out of coconut milk, ginger pachadi helps for easy digestion . So If you prepare sodhi, make sure you keep inji pachadi as a side dish which is helpful for digestion too. It tastes very similar to kerala style puli inji. I usually make sodhi whenever I have lots of coconut in hand. Last time when I went to salem, my MIL gave me 3-4 coconuts. I made coconut burfi and sodhi with it.

 After a long time, I prepared and enjoyed a nice Tirunelveli lunch menu at home. U can find so many variations for this particular sodhi recipe on net. The one I have shared here is my mom’s authentic version which she has been following for more than 25 years. Lets see how to prepare sodhi saapadu easily at home.

Do check out my Nellai style ulutham paruppu sadham, ellu thogayal, avial lunch menu if interested.

Sodhi - lunch menu

Tirunelveli lunch menu- sodhi,inji pachadi,chips,potato curry

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Lunch

Serves: Serves 4

Prep time: 20 Minutes

Cook time: 60 Minutes

Total time: 80 Minutes

RECIPE LINKS

Sodhi kuzhambu Potato curry Ginger pachadi Potato chips or Raw banana chips

METHOD

Soak tamarind in water for pachadi.Wash the potatoes for poriyal. Pressure cook potatoes along with moong dal for sodhi.It would be done in 15 minutes. In another cooker,pressure cook rice adding required water. In the mean time, you can chop onions for poriyal and onion, garlic cloves, drumstick, green chillies & potato cubes for sodhi. Chop ginger into roundels for pachadi. Let the moong dal dal & potatoes pressure cook for one whistle in low flame. Switch off the stove and after the steam is released, open the cooker and remove the boiled potatoes with a tong. Let it cool. Peel the skin and cut into small cubes. Mash the dal with a ladle and set aside. Now grate coconut or slice the coconut with a back of ladle as shown in the picture. It makes your job easier. Grind it with water and take three milk. Set aside Next grind green chillies with salt and make a paste. Cook all the veggies in third milk in a big bowl. It takes nearly 10 minutes.In the mean time, heat oil in a pan, temper & saute onions for potato poriyal. Add the cubed potatoes, chilli powder, turmeric pwd & salt. Get it done. Remove in a plate. Poriyal is ready now! Wash the kadai and again heat with 1 tbsp of oil.Saute the onions, chillies, garlic cloves & ginger bits. By now vegetables will be cooked well in thrid coconut milk. Now you can add the second milk, mashed dal, sauteed veggies & green chilli paste. Let the gravy boil well for 5-8 minutes. In that 7 minutes, heat oil in a pan in another burner and saute ginger bits, dhania and red chilli for pachadi till you get nice aroma. Grind it to a smooth paste adding little water. Mix the paste with tamarind extract and set aside. By now, sodhi will be thickened. So add the third coconut milk and boil for 2-3 minutes. Adjust the salt . Switch off & let it become warm. Keep aside. Now heat oil in a pan and temper, saute onions for pachadi. Add the tamarind extract mixture, salt, jaggery & allow it to boil till it thickens a bit. Pachadi is ready ! Take raw banana or potato for chips. Wash it well & peel the skin. Keep a bowl full of water ready. Take the slicer & slice the veggie. Drop into the water bowl & let it soak till you deep fry. This is to avoid discoloration. Now pat them in a towel & deep fry in batches. Sprinkle salt and chilli pwd & toss well. Chips is ready to munch ! By this time, sodhi would be warm. So squeeze the lemon & mix well. Check for taste. Serve everything in a plate and enjoy this yummy Tirunelveli feast !!

Note

As I had prepared potato poriyal, I made raw banana chips. Usually potato chips is served with sodhi. So instead of potato poriyal, you can also make mixed vegetable poriyal. In that case, you can make potato chips.

Enjoy this yummy Tirunelveli style sodhi, ginger pachadi, potato curry and chips. Tastes divine !!

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TAMIL NEW YEAR LUNCH MENU RECIPES(VARUSHA PIRAPPU MENU)

Tamil Varusha pirappu /Tamil puthandu / Varuda pirappu is celebrated on the first day of Tamil month chithirai. Every year it falls on April 14th. Its a most important festival for Tamil people. We make a simple yet inviting lunch menu with sambar, poriyal or kootu, 2 pachadi varieties, vada, payasam and curd. Neer mor and Panakam should be prepared only when we keep panchangam in neivedyam otherwise it is not necessary. 

Among these recipes, Mango pacahdi, Payasam and Vada are mandatory. We don’t keep appalam as it is not homemade. But Mor milagai I have kept is homemade. I have shared that recipe in a separate post. I have shared how to prepare this Tamil new year special lunch menu under one hour at the the end of this post. Instead of making full meals, you can make Tamil new year thaligai with 5 rice varieties like lemon rice, tamarind rice, coconut rice, curd rice and sweet pongal. 

Actually I planned to post this lunch menu during last tamil new year but couldn’t as I was in Salem. Yesterday I asked my MIL and prepared this menu with the vegetables I had in hand. Sendhil loved the entire platter & especially he gave credits for Vendakkai sambar. He had the same for dinner too. I have posted sambar recipe separately as I want to have it as a dedicated post in my food book. Please check the link for sambar recipe below. 

Here, I have shared raw banana curry and carrot raita recipe. I have also shared other options for making this lunch menu. Do visit the links for other recipes. Try this No onion No Garlic lunch menu for Tamil New year / Tamil puthandu. Let this year be filled with happiness & fortune!!

அனைவருக்கும் எனது இனிய தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள் !!

Tamil New year lunch menu recipes

Tamil New year lunch menu recipes - Paruppu, Vendakkai sambar, Raw banana curry, Carrot pachadi, Raw mango pachadi, Rice payasam, Pepper vada, Instant Mango pickle

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Lunch menu

Serves: 2

Prep time: 30 Minutes

Cook time: 60 Minutes

Total time: 90 Minutes

RECIPE LINKS

Check out THIS POST for Tamil new year celebration procedure. 

Vendakkai sambar  Paruppu for rice Mango pachadi Carrot thayir pachadi ( recipe shared below) Raw banana poriyal (recipe shared below) Veppam poo rasam Rice payasam Pepper vada using mixie Instant mango pickle Panakam & Neer mor OTHER OPTIONS (Avoid onions) Arachuvitta sambar – Brahmin’s style Radish sambar Mixed vegetable kootu OR Avial Mixed vegetable poriyal Gooseberry curd pachadi Moong dal payasam or Thengai payasam OTHER LUNCH MENUS Tamilnadu lunch menu 1 Tamilnadu lunch menu 2 5 rice varieties

Instead of making full meals, you can also make 5 rice varieties like lemon rice, sesame seeds rice or tamarind rice, curd rice, sweet pongal, coconut rice. Please watch the video below on how to cook these rice varieties easily. 

RAW BANANA PORIYAL/CURRY RECIPE

Prep time-5 min | Cook time-10min | Total time-15mins Ingredients Raw banana -  1 no Sambar powder – 1 tsp Salt & water – as needed Moong dal – 1 tbsp Grated coconut – 3 tbsp Tamarind –  A very small piece(optional) Asafetida/hing – 2 pinches To temper Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp Urad dal – 1/2 tsp Finely chopped ginger – 1/2 tsp Curry leaves – few Coconut oil – 1 tbsp Method Wash and peel the skin of raw banana. Remove and cut the raw banana into slices. Keep immersed in water or rice washed water ( Kazhani thanni) till use to avoid discoloration. In a cooking bowl, take the moong dal, raw banana, sambar powder, salt and a small piece of tamarind with required water and salt. Cook until raw banana becomes tender. Make sure it is not over cooked. It should stay firm in shape. If you prick the cooked raw banana with a fork, it will go easily at the same time it will not break. Remove and drain all the excess water.. In a kadai, temper all the ingredients given above and add the cooked raw banana, moong dal mixture. Saute well in low flame for 5 minutes. Make sure you don’t break the veggie. Do it gently. Lastly add grated coconut, mix well and saute for 2 minutes. Switch off the stove. Serve with sambar sadam ! NOTE Adding tamarind is optional but it helps to reduce the slight bitterness from raw banana. Add very little tamarind otherwise poriyal will become too tangy. Adjust sambar powder as per your need. Sometimes I add red chilli powder + sambar powder half and half.

CARROT RAITA/THAYIR PACHADI

Prep time – 5 mins | Cook time-2 mins | Total time – 7 mins Ingredients Carrot – 1 no Curd – 1/2 cup Salt – as required Green chilli – 1 no (finely chopped) To temper Cooking oil – 1 tsp Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Urad dal – 1/2 tsp Curry leaves – few Method Wash and grate carrot. Take in a bowl with finely chopped green chillies , required salt. Just before serving, mix the curd and temper the above said ingredients. Serve with dal rice/paruppu sadam!

HOW TO MAKE TAMIL NEW YEAR LUNCH MENU 

• Wash and soak urad dal for vada and keep in refrigerator till you grind. It takes nearly 30 minutes to 1 hour for soaking. Wash and soak big gooseberry sized tamarind for sambar, small gooseberry size tamarind for rasam. Dry roast moong dal till golden and raw rice till puffy. This is for payasam. Set aside. Grate or slice one full coconut. You can use it for making pachadi, kootu and poriyal. 
• Take 2 pressure cookers ( 3 litre cooker is better). In first cooker bottom, add washed toor dal for sambar, turmeric powder, a drop of oil and required water. (If you are using broad beans, cluster beans for sambar, add to dal. I used lady's finger. So I made sambar in a different way).
• Take a small box with lid. Add moong dal, turmeric powder, hing, a drop of oil and water for paruppu. Keep it inside the pressure cooker. 
• Take another small box with lid. Wash and peel raw mango. Chop into big pieces and add to the box. Add chopped green chillies, little salt and water. Do not add more water. Keep in inside the first cooker. 
• Take a round plate suitable for first cooker. Spread chopped raw banana, moong dal, sambar powder, salt, turmeric powder and a pinch of tamarind. Sprinkle little water and place the plate covering the first cooker. Close the cooker lid.  
• In the second cooker bottom, add washed rice, required water. Take a small round box, add dry roasted moong dal and rice for arisi paruppu payasam. Add required water and keep in inside the rice. If you want to make kootu, add the chopped vegetable, moong dal, salt and water in another small box and keep that inside the cooker. Close the cooker with the lid. 
• Pressure cook both the cookers in low flame for one whistle. (i.e Keep the flame high till steam comes out. Put the weight valve and then lower the flame completely. Cook for one whistle in low flame. It takes nearly 10 to 12 minutes based on the cooker make.) Switch off the flame. Let the steam release naturally. 
• In the mean time, heat oil in a kadai. Temper mustard seeds, methi seeds, red chilli, curry leaves. Add chopped lady's finger till golden brown. Add chopped tomato and saute till mushy. Add tamarind extract from big gooseberry size. Add sambar powder, salt and hing. Boil till raw smell goes off and lady's finger cooks soft. 
• Grind chopped gooseberry, grated coconut, green chilli, salt and hing adding required water.  Add to curd and set aside. Do the tempering at the end. Pachadi is ready. ( I made carrot pachadi. For this grate carrot, finely chop one green chilli. Add to curd and temper with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves.)
• Grind coconut + rice flour for kootu and mango pachadi. Set aside. 
• Now both the cookers will be ready to open. Open the dal cooker first. Remove the plate and boxes kept inside. Mash the dal and add to sambar kadai. Boil and garnish with coriander leaves. Sambar is ready. 
• Open the paruppu/ moong dal box and mash well. Add tempering in ghee. Mix well and set aside. Paruppu is ready.
• Open the mango pachadi box. Heat oil in a kadai. Temper mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves. Add cooked mango pieces. Add jaggery and ground coconut paste. Mix well and boil till thick. Mango pachadi is ready. 
• Take the poriyal plate and drain excess water if any. Heat oil in a kadai, temper and add cooked raw banana mixture. Mix gently and add grated coconut. Mix and switch off the flame. Transfer to a bowl. Poriyal is also ready. 
• Now open the second cooker with cooked rice. Remove the payasam box and kootu box.
• Add ground coconut paste to the kootu box. Temper mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves in coconut oil. Add the kootu mixture. Boil for few minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Kootu is done. 
• Lastly open the payasam box. Mash the rice+dal. Take in a wide bowl. Add required water, powdered jaggery or jaggery syrup after removing impurities. Add crushed cardamom. Boil till raw smell of jaggery goes off . Roast cashews, cloves and a pinch of mace powder in ghee. Add to payasam. Lastly add boiled milk or coconut milk in room temperature. Boil in very low flame just for 30 seconds and switch off the flame else it may curdle. Payasam is ready now.
• Now take the soaked urad dal and grind to smooth paste adding green chilli, hing,  pepper and cumin seeds. Add water carefully. Make thick paste and transfer to a bowl. Beat the batter with your hanads for few minutes till fulffy. Add finely chopped curry leaves and salt.
• Mix well and deep fry vada in hot oil. Remove and fry the papad / appalam, more milagai. 
• If you want to make raw mango pickle, chop finely. Add salt, red chilli powder,  a pinch of roasted methi seeds powder, hing and mix well. Temper with mustard seeds with sesame oil. Mix well and serve. 
• Lastly make neer more and panakam. For this, take curd. Add water and salt to make buttermilk. Add crushed ginger + green chilli to the butter milk and finely chopped coriander leaves. Temper mustard seeds, curry leaves and hing. Add to buttermilk. Neer more is ready. 
• To make panakam, take one cup of water, add grated jaggery, lemon juice, a pinch of salt, crushed cardamom, cloves and mix well. Panakam is ready. 
• Rice, paruppu, 2 pachadi, poriyal, kootu (optional), payasam, vada , pickle, neer more and panakam are ready to serve for neivedyam. 
• This is how I make Tamil new year lunch menu every year under one hour. You too try this way and finish your work quickly. 

Make this yummy platter on Tamil New year day, Offer to God, Get his blessings and enjoy !

Wish you all a very happy Tamil new year / Tamil puthandu Vaazhthukkal !!

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HOLI LUNCH MENU RECIPES | NORTH INDIAN LUNCH MENU

Wish you all a very happy and colorful Holi celebration !!

I hope most of you have started Holi festival preparations. Actually I din’t have an idea of making Holi special lunch menu / North Indian lunch menu. But when I was going through holi images, I got tempted by a Holi special lunch menu plate and prepared this yesterday. Though there are wide number of choices for North Indian Lunch Menu recipes, I prepared some based on the recipes I have in my blog. Also I read Gujia  & thandai are mandatory for traditional Holi lunch. So I made sweet samosa, thandai and included in the menu. For spicy snacks, you can make some samosa, pakora or any chaat items. 

In the above picture, I have plated Jeera Rice, Poori, Gujia, Paneer Butter Masala, Aloo Methi, Dal tadka, Masala dahi, Roasted Masala Papad, Pickle, sweet lassi and Paneer kheer. I have shared the links for all the recipes below. I have also explained the step by step cooking of how I made this thali easily. Please go through them. Do try this simple yet inviting lunch menu on Holi Festival and enjoy with your family. Do check out my HOLI RECIPES LIST for more ideas !

Again wish you all a very happy and colorful Holi Celebration !! 

Holi Lunch Menu Recipes

 Holi special lunch menu - Jeera rice, Poori, Gujia, Dal tadka, Paneer butter masala, Aloo methi, Pickle, Lassi, Paneer kheer, Masala papad and Masala raita !

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Lunch Menu

Serves:2

Prep time: 15 Minutes

Cook time: 60 Minutes

Total time: 75 Minutes

RECIPE LINKS

• Jeera rice
• Poori
• Sweet samosa or Gujiya
• Dal tadka
• Paneer Butter Masala
• Masala dahi
• Salted lassi
• Aloo methi curry 
• Paneer Kheer 
• Thandai 
• Plain rice

HOW I PREPARED THIS MENU

For this menu,there is no soaking part and chopping is also very less.

• I chopped onion, tomato, green chillies and taken all the other ingredients required for making Dal tadka in a pressure cooker base. Added enough water, salt. To this, I washed and kept 3 big potatoes halved into two for making aloo methi. I pressure cooked both at the same time. It took nearly 15 minutes to get cooked.
• In another cooker, I prepared jeera rice. I din’t soak the rice and I used jeera rice with water ratio of 1:2.
• Then I made the dough for gujia. As the dough needs a standing time of 30-45 minutes, I prepared the stuffing in the mean time & kept them covered.
• While the dal and jeer rice cooker steam gets released, I removed methi leaves from the stem,washed and kept immersed in water adding salt and little sugar. I chopped onions and ginger bits and kept aside in a plate.
• By this time, dal with potatoes and jeera rice would be ready. I removed the jeera rice in a bowl and kept plain rice for mixing with dal tadka & curd.
• Then I took the potatoes out,washed & peeled the skin. I mashed the dal very well. I did seasoning for the dal, checked for salt and kept dal tadka ready.
• Then I prepared aloo methi. It took 10 minutes.
• Next I prepared paneer butter masala. I boiled tomatoes for blanching. In the mean time, I cut the required paneer and grated 1/4 cup for kheer and kept aside. PBM takes hardly 10 minutes to prepare.
• Then i prepared paneer kheer and kept in freezer to chill down quickly. It takes 5-10 minutes.
• I prepared masala dahi raita. It takes just 3 minutes to prepare. Whisk the curd for lassi adding salt or sugar. Set aside.
• Now Gujia outer cover would be ready to roll & fill the stuffing. I prepared & kept it covered till i rolled poori.
• Lastly i made the dough for poori. As you all know, poori dough should not be prepared earlier as it absorbs more oil. I rolled the poori, spreaded in a plate and covered with a lid to prevent drying.
• I kept oil in a kadai for deep frying and i deep fried gujias first. After you fry gujias, the heatness of oil will be more. So now you can deep fry the pooris. Drain everything in a tissue.
• Last but not the least, roast the store bought papad in direct flame.

By now all the dishes are ready. Remove the kheer from the freezer and keep in refrigerator till you serve !
In a plate, arrange all the dishes and and serve !

Enjoy this Holi Special Lunch Menu with your family !!

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Very good recipes Tags: Indian thali, Indian Lunch, Lunch menu, North Indian, Holi, Festival, Lunch recipes

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GUJARATI THALI RECIPES- Dal, Sev Tamatar Curry, Kadhi, Green Chilli Pickle

In the above Gujarati thali recipes picture, I have plated Rice, Methi thepla, Moong Dal khichdi, Dahi kadhi, Gujarati Sev Tameta nu Sak / Sev and Tomato Curry, Green chilli pickle, Masala chaas, Oven roasted papad & curd.

Gujarati recipes were in my try list for long time. As I had bookmarked Gujarati Kathiyawadi thali from Ezcookbook, I thought of trying them and share it for their event. 

Last weekend, I prepared all these recipes for the first time and everything came out very well. In this post, I have shared the recipes of few dishes. I have made a separate post for Sukhdi/Gud papdi, Khichdi and Masala chaas recipe. 

For this Gujarati thali, I chose simple and authentic Gujarati recipes that needs very less chopping, less oil and moreover all these are No onion No garlic No coconut recipes. I took nearly one hour 30 minutes to prepare them. I followed my own recipe for thepla. While cooking, I found Hing and Jaggery are widely used in all their dishes. Most of them are tomato based gravies. Thank you Ishita for these wonderful recipes. We thoroughly enjoyed Gujarati food in my home.

Do check out my other Gujarati recipes

Dabeli recipe

Batata poha

Shakkar para

Gujarati thali

Gujarati recipes - Methi thepla, Dal khichdi, Dahi kadhi, Gujarati Sev Tameta nu Sak / Sev and Tomato Curry, Green chilli pickle, Masala chaas and Oven roasted papad. 

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Lunch

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 20 Minutes

Cook time: 70 Minutes

Total time: 90 Minutes

Gujarati dal tasted mildly sweet. I have used peanuts in this recipe which was the highlight. The crunchy peanuts while eating gives a nice taste. So do not avoid Peanuts when you try this recipe. The consistency of dal should be slightly watery than punjabi dal as Ishita mentioned. But I made it thicker to suit my family’s taste. We loved it!

Tamatar sev curry was a nice combo for thepla. It was mildly tangy and addition of sev made it more tasty. I used MTR Sev, store bought ones. It was slightly thicker than the usual sev. We had this curry as an accompaniment for curd rice too..

I prepared Kadhi  as an accompaniment for moong dal khichdi. It was very nice. We also had this  mixing with plain rice and roasted papad.

Last but not the least, here comes my dish, Green chilli pickle. I made it specially for me as Sendhil is not fond of pickles. It had a very different taste. As I tasted it instantly, I felt it more spicy. I think it will take another 3-4 days to get soaked and for the flavour to get balanced. I had it with curd rice and thepla. It was yummy.

Enjoy making Gujarati thali in your home.U’ll love its taste . 

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Ulutham paruppu sadam, Ellu thuvaiyal, Avial recipe -TIRUNELVELI LUNCH MENU

உளுந்து சாதம் , எள்ளு துவையல் , அவியல் - Urad dal rice, Sesame seeds chutney and mixed vegetable curry is a famous lunch combo in my native place, Tirunelveli/ Nellai. We usually prepare this lunch menu for teen aged girls during their puberty. On those 5-7 days, these dishes will be in their menu for sure. I have used black urad dal here. You can use white urad dal or split ones too. 

Ulundhu paruppu sadam / Ulundu sadam is for strengthening the bones and nerves, Ellu thuvaiyal is to flush out the toxins from Ovaries giv,es a good amount of calcium and Avial/Aviyal to include the goodness of all vegetables. We never make this rice without this thogayal and avial. Its a very tasty and flavourful meal combo. 

My mom makes it at least twice in a month when we were teens. Mom usually makes this with split white urad dal. But I used whole black ones with skin as it is considered to be more healthy. I tried this menu last weekend for the first time. Sendhil loved it a lot. People from South ( Madurai, Tirunelveli) must have known about this lunch menu very well.

 
Girls, do try this authentic, healthy Nellai style lunch menu for your family. Everybody will love it.

Urad dal rice & Sesame seeds thuvaiyal

Urad dal rice/Ulundu sadam & Sesame seeds/Ellu thuvaiyal recipe

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Lunch menu

Serves: 2

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

URAD DAL RICE Rice - 1 cup Black or white urad dal - 1/2 cup Grated coconut - 1/4 cup Garlic cloves - 20 nos Salt - as needed Water – 4 cups SESAME SEEDS THUVAIYAL Black or white sesame seeds - 3 tbsp Red chillies - 5-6 nos Tamarind - Small gooseberry size Salt & water - as needed Oil - 2 drops

METHOD

URAD DAL RICE In a kadai or cooker base, add a tsp of oil and roast the urad dal for 3-4 minutes till you get a nice aroma. Add this to the rice and wash them. In a pressure cooker, take the washed rice and dal. To this, add garlic cloves, grated coconut, salt & the required water. Pressure cook for one whistle in low flame. It looks mushy initially but it turns fluffy as it cools down. So this water quantity should be added else urad dal won’t be cooked well. SESAME SEEDS/ELLU THUVAIYAL In a kadai, dry roast the sesame seeds till it splutters. Do in medium low flame. Make sure it don’t burn because thuvaiyal will taste bitter if you burn them. It takes nearly 3-4 minutes. Do it patiently. Remove in a plate. Wash the seeds through a sieve. Muds will settle down. (Washing is optional) To the hot kadai, heat a tsp of oil and roast the chillies. Soak tamarind in very little water. In a mixie jar, take the sesame seeds, tamarind, red chillies & salt. Grind it to a smooth, thick paste adding the soaked tamarind water. Remove and serve with rice. Please click this link for Tirunelveli style Avial recipe.

Note

Use white urad dal in place of black dal. Broken / split or whole variety, anything would be fine. Ellu thuvaiyal can be made using different methods. I’ll soon post the version with coconut & garlic which we make for idli, dosa.

Technorati Tags: Urad dal rice,Sesame seeds thuvaiyal,Ulundu sadam,Ellu thuvaiyal,Ulundu paruppu sadam,Ellu thogayal,Sesame seeds thogayal,Lunch menu,tirunelveli style,Tirunelveli lunch menu,Nellai recipes

Very good recipes Tags: Rice, lunch, Urad dal, Sesame seeds, Till, South Indian, Indian recipes, Indian

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SIMPLE BIRTHDAY PARTY RECIPES MENU FOR KIDS

In this post, I have shared a simple kids birthday party recipes menu idea. Recently I attended Raksha’s friend’s Birthday party. We moms are also good friends. It was like a fun filled get together for us, more than a birthday party. I loved the way my friend conducted the party. It was so fun and interesting for kids as well as parents. It was not  like a normal cake cutting party. Instead she conducted some events/Indoor games for everybody including parents with some attractive and useful prizes. 

Kids were so enthusiastic to participate in the events and so were us. Though the games were very simple like ball passing,placing caps etc by playing music, they were very interesting and all the kids thoroughly enjoyed it. Raksha and myself won three prizes. I have shown the picture of prizes in the below picture. In addition to these prizes, birthday caps, face masks and yoyo were given to all the kids.

We had our lunch over there and it was a simple menu but filling and attractive to kids and parents. Though the number of items were less, everything were very tasty. Usually I hesitate and scare a lot to conduct party in my home and I have never conducted any parties. Other than family members, I haven’t invited anybody for Raksha’s birthday so far. But after attending this party, I got some ideas and confidence of conducting a party in my home. Hope I‘ll do it for Raksha’s next birthday. I tried the same party menu at home last Sunday.

As I was so much attracted by that party, I wanted to blog it for my future reference and for some beginners who are looking for simple party menu ideas. Hope you’ll find it useful.

INGREDIENTS REQUIRED FOR SERVING FOOD

Disposable serving plates Small  sized cake plate Big snack and food plate Plastic Spoons & fork for cake Plastic Spoon for food Disposable paper cups for juice and water Small disposable bowls for salad Tissue paper/ Napkin paper, Big polythene bags with buckets/cartons for trash. (this is very important, keep in all corners) For decorations Colorful ribbons , Happy  birthday banner , Balloons , Birthday knife , Candles, party foam, Chocolates inside a big balloon. For kids return gift Party caps, chocolates, face mask, yoyo or small toys, some useful gifts like chess box set, ludo, brain games etc based on the age. Some small storage bowls for adults and gift wrappers for packing gifts.

In the recipe menu , I have mentioned the order in which the recipes were served to us. As all these recipes can be prepared in advance, you don’t need any helping hand to prepare them. U alone can do everything and take the credits. Here is how my friend conducted the party.

HOW TO CONDUCT THE BIRTHDAY PARTY

• As soon as all the friends and guests gathered, store bought aerated drinks like Frooti, Pepsi, Fanta, 7up were served. You can serve  fresh fruit juices which is a healthy option for kids. 
• She kept some events for kids and parents. U can plan some games like musical chair, passing a ball, placing a cap by playing a music and much more. Everything finished off in 30 minutes. After that cake cutting went on.
• After cake cutting, she conducted one more event for kids. In the mean time, her family members arranged all the recipes in a plate and kept ready for serving.
• In a disposable /Use & throw plate (like the one in the picture), they served a piece of cake, a sweet (I made gulab jamun with ready made mix), mixed veg salad, masala vada, vegetable pulao with raita and potato chips were served with a plastic spoon & fork.
• After we finished eating, they asked for second serving. Finally they served curd rice and pickle.
• Last but not the least, the lunch was finished with a small cup of ice cream. You can also serve fresh fruit cream instead of ice cream. Kids love this dessert as well.
• In the above recipes, pulao, raita, salad, masala vada and curd rice were prepared at home. Remaining were store bought.
• We parents enjoyed all the recipes but when I noticed most of the kids happily ate salad (as it had corn), cake (particularly cream, pastry cake is more preferred nowadays), pulao, chips and  ofcourse ice cream. Some kids had curd rice instead of pulao as it was mildly spicy. 

Please find the links for the recipes here

• Spicy vegetable pulao with raita
• Curd rice
• Masala vada (It was not in the actual menu. As I made keerai vada, I kept it in the plate)
• Easy vegetable salad

In addition to the above recipes, you can find

• Gulab jamun using ready made mix ( Recipe with video)
• Store bought potato chips (I forgot to keep)
• A welcome drink ( homemade or store bought juice)
• Birthday cake piece
• Ice cream 

HOW TO PREPARE RECIPES IN ADVANCE

• In general, Kids love any recipes made with potato, paneer and cauliflower. So you can choose the starter and main course gravies accordingly. 
• If you are preparing gulab jamun , make it the previous day and store in an air tight box. To me this is the easiest sweet, universally loved by all. U can also plan for other sweets like kaju katli, burfi or make carrot halwa and serve as a dessert along with ice cream. If you want to make the job most simple, buy some sweets from  sweet shop like my friend did in the party.
• Prepare the salad the previous day night and refrigerate by keeping in a box. On the party day, add freshly grated coconut, mix and serve.
• For veg pulao, chop the vegetables and refrigerate in a tupperware box the previous night. For about 10-12 people, you can make 4-5 cups of rice. As the number of recipes are more, adjust the quantity of rice accordingly. Prepare the rice 30 minutes before the guests arrive so that it would be warm while serving. ( If you make in rice cooker or instant pot, keep in warm mode)
• For curd rice, make 4 cups of rice. Prepare and refrigerate it in the early morning. As soon as you finish making the pulao, take the curd rice out and do the seasoning. Adjust the consistency and keep it ready. Do check out my curd rice post on how to make it creamy for parties.
• Prepare masala vada batter and refrigerate the previous day. Make vadas at the end and keep it open till it cools down. Make it slightly thinner to maintain its crispness. If you do not want to have masala vada in your menu, you can try making gobi 65 or simply stop with potato chips. 

To make a grand lunch, you can include any starter like cheese balls, Gobi 65, plain rice, rasam, papad, roti and a paneer gravy. 

Thanks for visiting this page. Hope you find it useful !

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Technorati Tags: Party menu,Party ideas,Party menu at home,Party menu vegetarian indian,party menu planning,parties,birthday party menu for india,birthday party menu for kids,birthday party menu ideas

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