Last year I shared traditional Kerala Varutharacha sambar recipe during Onam. Recently I came across this easy Onam sadya sambar without coconut using a pressure cooker in Anu’s kitchen YouTube Video. Its the simplified version of varutharacha sambar using Kerala sambar powder. I loved the idea and tried it with some modifications to make it even more easy. As I don’t have Kerala sambar powder, I used my homemade sambar powder, red chilli powder and coriander seeds powder. Still it tasted great with a nice flavor.
For Onam sadya, you may need to cook so many recipes for the feast. I am sure this easy sambar recipe will help you save lots of time when compared with varutharacha sambar with spices and coconut.
Ofcourse taste may not be equal to the traditional Kerala sambar still you can give a try. This sambar would be useful especially for bachelors and working women to make a quick & healthy recipe with the goodness of all the vegetables. You don’t need to make any side dish like thoran or mezhukupuratti if you add lots of vegetables.
Friends, do try this easy Kerala style Onam sadya sambar and share your feedback with me. Lets see how to make Onam sadya sambar recipe without coconut easily in a pressure cooker with step by step pictures and video !
Do check out my Kerala Ulli Sambar For Idli, Dosa.
Temper mustard, red chilli, spice powders in low flame.
Add to sambar, boil for a minute. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Kerala sambar recipe - Step by step photos
Soak tamarind in 1 cup water and take the extract. Take 1/2 cup of toor dal, small onion and slit green chilli in a cooker base. Add 2 cups of water, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and 1/4 tsp cooking oil in water.
Wash and chop the vegetables( I used yam, raw banana, carrot, ash gourd, broad beans, cluster beans, beans, lady's finger, drumstick - 5 pieces each). Chop tomato finely. Transfer the vegetables and tomato to a small bowl that fit inside the cooker. Add 1/4 cup water to it.
Place the bowl with vegetables inside the pressure cooker. Close and cook for 2 whistles in low flame.
Open the lid after the steam is released. Dal and vegetables would be cooked soft. Remove the veggies bowl and mash the dal nicely.
Add the cooked vegetables, tamarind extract, sambar powder, salt. Check for thickness and add 1/2 to 1 cup water if needed. Boil well for 5 minutes till nice aroma arises.
Heat 2 tbsp coconut oil in a kadai. Temper mustard seeds, red chilli, curry leaves. When the mustard seeds start to crackle, lower the flame completely. Add sambar powder, red chilli powder, dhania powder, methi powder and hing. Mix quickly without burning. Add to the boiling sambar. Boil for a minute and switch off the flame. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with plain rice adding ghee. You can also have with idli,dosa if you like.
Notes
Adjust the quantity of chillies as per your taste.
For variations, you can saute finely chopped onion, tomato and add to vegetables inside the cooker.
Sambar powder gives nice aroma to this sambar. To replace it, you should use 1 tbsp dhania powder, 1/4 tsp methi powder and 1.5 tbsp red chilli powder.
You can use any number of vegetables or you can make this sambar only with onions.
Easy Onam Sadya Sambar is ready ! I had with nendran chips !
Pappu unta in Telugu is nothing but our paruppu urundai recipe ( steamed lentil balls in English) made of toor dal and urad dal.In Telugu, it is called as Kandi pappu unta i.e toor dal balls. My friend Shalini told me to try this recipe during last year Varalakshmi Vratham. Some people in Tamilnadu and Andhra have the tradition of offering this paruppu urundai for Varalakshmi pooja. They offer 9 balls to God and add the remaining to more kuzhambu( Pappu unta majjiga pulusu).
Shalini shared her mom’s recipe with me which is different from Tamilnadu style paruppu urudai recipe. In this recipe, I have used toor dal and urad dal. Shalini gave some tips to make soft balls. I followed her instructions to the dot. The result was great. Paruppu urundai was very soft and tasty. I am yet to try majjige pulusu recipe. This time I had it as snack. Its also a good side dish for curd rice. Friends, Do try this paruppu urundai recipe for this Varalakshmi vratham festival and share your feedback with me. Lets see how to make Andhra style paruppu urundai recipe with step by step pictures.
Do check out my Chettinad style paruppu urundai kuzhambu recipe, Varalakshmi vratham pooja procedure.
Pappu unta recipe / Paruppu urundai recipe
How to make Andhra style Pappu unta / Paruppu urundai recipe
Wash and soak toor dal and urad dal in a bowl adding enough water. Soak for 4 hours.
Drain the water completely. Take the dal, grated coconut, green chilli, cumin seeds, ginger, hing and salt. Grind to a thick coarse paste without adding water.
Collect the batter in a bowl. If the batter is slightly watery, add 2 tsp of gram flour/besan flour and mix well to make it thick. To the batter, add finely chopped coriander and curry leaves.Add 1 tsp oil, a pinch of cooking soda and mix well.
Make small balls out of the batter and arrange them in a greased idli plate.
Steam in an idli pot for 10 minutes. Remove after it becomes warm else balls may break while you remove them. If the balls goes flat after cooking, water content is more in the batter.So add some besan flour and make it thick for next batch. For trouble shooting, take the warm balls and shape it round. If the batter is too thick and dry, balls may come out slightly hard. So batter should be thick yet moist just like masala vada batter.This is the key to make soft paruppu urundai.
Pappu unta/ Paruppu urundai is ready. Take 9 balls in a plate and offer to God. If you are adding these balls to more kuzhambu/ Majjige pulusu, you can add finely chopped onion, garlic to the batter if you like.
Notes
For Tamil nadu style paruppu urundai, add chana dal instead of urad dal. Use red chillies instead of green chilli while grinding.
If you are .
For variations, you can soak the urad dal separately. Grind to a smooth paste, remove in a bowl.Then grind the soaked rice+ poha + methi seeds to a smooth batter. Mix both the batter and ferment it.
South Indian style Sambar rice / Sambar sadam using a pressure cooker is an yummy, healthy one pot recipe for vegetarians that is packed with the nutrients of rice, dal and mixed vegetables. Usually I make my hotel style sambar sadam at least once in a week for Sendhil’s lunch box. I prepare it by adding sambar powder made of freshly roasted & ground spices. Recently I saw this easy, bachelors style sambar sadam video in Tamil. Its so easy to make, absolutely no grinding job, no pre-cooking of dals & no tamarind too.
Yes, Its 100% a bachelors kind of recipe and it would be helpful for students, working women and busy moms to cook easily in the weekday mornings. I loved the idea and tried it the next day. It was so quick to make and tasted really good.I made few changes in the original recipe by adding mixed vegetables & spice powders to make it more healthy and flavorful. Sendhil love it a lot with rice papad or vadam as side dish. I loved it with pickle. It tastes good even if cools down. So we can pack this for lunch box as well.
You can skip onion to make a no onion no garlic version on festival days. You can use almost all the vegetables except beetroot and bitter gourd as they dominate the taste. Friends, do try this easy, sambar sadam in pressure cooker and let me know your feedback. I am sure you will love its simplicity and taste. Lets check out how to prepare South Indian style Sambar rice with step by step photos and video !
If you like to make Hotel style sambar sadam recipe, please check this link. For Karnataka style Bisi bele bath, check outthis link .
Easy Sambar Sadam - Bacehlors Style Sambar Rice Recipe
How to make Sambar Rice Recipe easily in a pressure cooker - One pot rice variety
**Mixed Vegetables - 1 cup ( 1 small carrot, 1/2 radish, 1 brinjal, Beans 3 nos, broad beans 5 nosl)
To saute in pressure cooker
Cooking oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Methi seeds - 5 nos
Curry leaves - Few
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp ( finely chopped)
Green chilli - 1 no ( Slit )
Big onion - 1 no ( sliced)
Ripe Tomato - 3 nos ( finely chopped, I used 2 big tomato)
Sambar Powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Dhania powder -1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Hing/Asafetida – 1/8 tsp
Salt - as needed
To Garnish
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp ( finely chopped)
Ghee - 1 tbsp
HOW TO MAKE SAMBAR RICE IN COOKER - METHOD
Wash rice & toor dal.Drain the water & Set aside. Wash & chop all the required vegetables.
In a pressure cooker base, heat oil and splutter mustard seeds, methi seeds,curry leaves and coriander leaves. Saute for a second. Add sliced onion, slit green chilli and saute till onion turns transparent.
Add finely chopped tomato, mix well.Add turmeric powder, hing, sambar powder, red chilli powder, dhania powder and salt. Saute in medium flame till tomato turns mushy. Do not burn the masala.( Tamarind extract is not needed for this recipe)
Lastly add the chopped vegetables.Saute for a minute. Add the washed rice, dal and 5 cups of water. Mix well and check for taste.Add more salt, chilli powder or sambar powder if needed.
Close the cooker and pressure cook for 2 whistles in very low flame.Open the cooker after steam is released. Mix well. ( If you want to add tamarind extract, add it now, boil for a minute till its raw smell goes off).Don't forget to garnish with chopped coriander leaves and add 1 tbsp of ghee. Serve hot with chips, papad or pickle if you like !
Enjoy !
Note
Red chilli powder and coriander powder are not given in the original recipe. So if you don’t have in hand, just add 2 tsp of sambar powder instead of 1 tsp.
Tamarind is not used in this recipe. If needed, you should add tamarind extract only after opening the cooker at the end because rice & dal won’t cook mushy in tamarind extract.
Adding coriander leaves and ghee is a must. It gives a nice flavor.
The quantity of water depends on the texture you like. I like it mushy,so I added 6 cups of water.
Try this easy, one pot sambar rice recipe and have a quick, hassle free lunch !
Ugadi festival is around the corner. This year for Ugadi, I am sharing a Karnataka special delicacy Mavinakayi Chitranna recipe. Its nothing but raw mango rice recipe ( Mangai sadam) prepared in Karnataka style. I learnt this recipe from my School momsfriend Archana.
When I was asking her about Ugadi special recipes of Karnataka other than holige/Obbattu, she told me that they make Mavinakayi chitranna , Mavinakayi chutney, kosambari, obbattu saaru and some palya for the festival. As I had already shared Holige recipe and easy obbattu saaru recipe,I wanted to try Kosambari and mango chitranna this year.
Actually our friend Tara told me another recipe for Mavinakayi chitranna adding onion and roasted methi seeds powder. I will post that version later. I found many variations for this particular recipe on net. As I am sharing a festival recipe, I wanted to make a simple no onion, no garlic green mango rice and I followed my friend's recipe blindly :) So here you go, Ugadi special Karnataka style mango rice recipe – Mavinakayi chitranna with step by step photos and a video !
Cooked rice – 2 cups ( Raw rice or steamed rice – 1/2 cup)
Grated raw mango – 1/2 to 3/4 cup ( Based on sourness of mango)
Grated coconut - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - as needed
To temper
Cooking oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 1.5 tsp
Raw Peanut - 1 tbsp
Green chillies - 3 nos ( Slit)
Curry leaves - Few
Coriander leaves - 1.5 tbsp
METHOD
Wash and pressure cook 1/2 cup of rice ( you can use raw rice or steamed rice) adding 1.25 cups of water and few drops of cooking oil. I used steamed rice/ Boiled rice. I used 1:3 ratio of rice and water. After the rice is cooked, spread it in a plate and add a tsp of oil around. Let it cool down. Measure 1.5 cups of cooked rice and keep aside.
Wash and grated a medium sized raw mango. Taste it to check its sourness. After grating measure 3/4th cup of it and set aside. Pls refer the pic above. Adjust the quantity of raw mango based on its tanginess.
Heat oil in a kadai.Splutter mustard seeds.Add urad dal, chana dal and peanuts. Roast till peanuts are done and dal turns golden brown in color. Roast it in medium flame. Now add the slit green chillies, curry leaves and half of the chopped coriander leaves. Saute for a minute.
Now add the required salt and turmeric powder.Mix well. Some people add raw mango,saute for a minute and then add the rice. But I added the cooked rice first and tossed well for a minute then added the raw mango as the sourness of my mango was less. My friend also told me to do the same. You can saute the raw mango before adding the rice if its too sour. It can be done in either ways.
Lastly add the grated mango and mix well for a minute. Check for taste. If the taste is too sour, add some more cooked rice, some red chilli powder or slit green chillies to balance the sour taste. You can add more rice or grated mango based on your taste. Mix well and cook for a minute.Switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves and grated coconut. Serve hot or warm as u wish.
Enjoy !
Note
For variations, you can make the raw mango paste without coconut seperately, refrigerate it for a week and then mix with cooked rice whenever needed.For this, add the grated raw mango after the tempering is done. Allow it to cook for a minute and switch off the flame. Let it cool down and then store in a box. Use clean spoon to handle.
Adjust the quantity of green chillies based on the sourness of mango.
I have used steamed rice ( Puzhungal arisi). Generally raw rice is used. You can add basmati rice as well.
The quantity of rice may vary based on the sourness of raw mango. My mango was not too sour.
It is optional to peel the skin of mango. As we are grating the mango, it is not necessary to peel the skin.
Some recipes call for grinding mango, coconut, green chillies and add to cooked rice. You can try this method for variation.
Do not avoid coriander leaves. It lends a nice flavor to the rice. Add half of the coriander leave while tempering and the remaining to garnish.
Try this simple and yummy raw mango rice at home, enjoy your lunch !
I got this Keerai masiyal recipewithout dal (also known as keerai kadayal) from my reader Priyadarshini. She shared some of her mom’s specialty recipes with me. This Arai Keerai masiyal is one among them. Last week, I tried it for our lunch along with Raw mango, drumstick vatha kuzhambu and shared a picture in my Instagram page too. In our family, we feedKeerai kadaiyal to one year old babies by making in a simple way adding garlic. But this recipe is entirely different from ours. So I was happy that I learnt and tried a new keerai recipe for lunch apart from my usual Keerai kootu, poriyal and sambar. Thank you so much Priyadarshini ! You can try this recipe if you want to consume more quantity of keerai in your diet. I guess this recipe works for mulai keerai and siru keerai too. Do include this healthy keerai recipe in your lunch menu and enjoy. Lets see how to make Keerai masiyal recipe with tomato, onion and tamarind.
Last week we had a trip to Valparai near Pollachi,Tamil nadu for summer vacation in our car. We packed few rice varieties for lunch and had it during our road trip in Attakatti. Usually we make Tamarind rice/Puli sadam and Curd rice for travel. But this time, Sendhil told us to prepare some other rice varieties for a change. So my MIL made this yummy, easy, comforting and a healthy South Indian meal for our travel.I thought of sharing this easy travel food recipes idea with you all. It would be helpful for you to plan and prepare food for your short trip/Picnic during this Summer holidays. My MIL made Milagu jeeraga sadam/ Pepper cumin rice, Ellu sadam/ Sesame seeds rice, Lemon rice and Curd rice along with vadam/Vathal. We also carried some store bought sweets and snacks to munch during our travel. Lets see how we prepared this simple and yummy travel lunch menu.
Here is a collage of Valparai-Athirapally Pictures. Check THIS LINK for more pictures.
On the previous day night of travel, prepare the lemon rice paste.Make sesame seeds powder by dry roasting the sesame seeds, red chilli and then powder it adding salt.Make pepper cumin seeds powder. Refrigerate the lemon rice paste alone. Keep the powders in an air tight box and store it.
The next day morning as soon as u get up, wash and soak the rice in required water for 20 minutes. Use two cookers. One for curd rice and other one for rice varieties. Soak the rice separately in 2 cookers. Rice will be well soaked by the time u take bath.
Pressure cook the rice for one whistle in low flame and switch off the flame. Remove the lid after the steam is released.
NEVER USE YOUR HANDS FOR MIXING THE RICE. USE LADLE FOR HANDLING THE RICE.
Spread the rice in a plate and add some gingely oil. Take the rice in curd rice cooker and mash it well adding salt and milk. Do not curd when the rice is hot. Add curd after the rice becomes lukewarm. Add the seasoning ingredients for curd rice. Mix well. Add curd and mix well.Check for taste. Do not make the curd rice too thick or too watery. Make it like a creamy consistency so that it won’t become too hard in the afternoon.Check for taste and add more salt if needed. By the time, u mix the curd rice, the rice spread in the plate would have become warm.
Divide the rice into 2 portions. Take one portion of the rice and make lemon rice adding the lemon rice paste.Add gingely oil generously. Check for taste and add more salt & paste if needed. Take the other portion of rice and divide into 2. Use one portion for making ellu sadam and the other one for milagu jeeraga sadam. Add gingely oil for ellu sadam and ghee for milagu jeeraga sadam generously.Do not forget. NEVER USE YOUR HANDS FOR MIXING THE RICE. USE LADLE.
Prepare all the rice varieties and stack in the boxes. Make Neer mor/Spiced buttermilk (Thalicha more) and store in a bottle. Deep fry Koozh Vadam/Vathal or papad and mormilagai.Store the vadam in a polythene bag or ziplock covers after it cools down. Pack some pickle in a small container. Arrange everything for travel in a bag. Take the sweets, snacks and fruits if any for travel.
Enjoy !
Note
I have shared some general point to remember while preparing food for travel.
Never put your hands to mix the rice varieties, use a spoon or ladle instead. If you mix the rice with your hands, it won’t stay good for more than 2 hours in summer.
Add gingely oil generously while mixing the rice. It helps to prevent the rice from drying.
Make sure you don’t use raw coconut in the dishes. If you use coconut, roast it well or saute the coconut based dish in oil till all the moisture content is completely gone.
If you are making curd rice, add less curd and more milk while mixing. It helps the curd rice to set well while eating.Never add curd in hot rice. Carry a bottle of spiced buttermilk or diluted curd to add in the rice while eating. Suppose if the curd rice becomes too thick, you can add buttermilk and bring it to proper consistency.In the buttermilk bottle, put some slitted green chillies, ginger and few curry leaves with mustard seeds seasoning ( make thaalicha neer mor). It helps to keep the buttermilk fresh and tastes less tangy.
We packed the rice in our steel travelling set. If you don’t have a travelling set, you can pack them in use & throw silver foil packs or plastic boxes. It is better to use banana leaf for packing the food. It gives a nice flavor and a healthy choice as well.
Is it not a happy and comforting meal for your travel ?? Prepare & Enjoy it !!
Its been a year since I shared a North Indian lunch menu here. After I had tried & posted my Punjabi & Gujarati Lunch Thali, I was looking forward to try Rajasthani and Bengali Lunch platters. Based on the suggestions I received from Facebook’s Chef at large group ( one of my favorite groups in facebook ) foodies, I tried this menu list for a Sunday lunch.Thanks everyone for flooding your ideas. Most of them are everyday Bengali recipes. Being a vegetarian, I tried some typical, authentic recipes to make an yummy lunch menu. I prepared Bengali Chaler payesh, Mishti Doi, Mishti pulao, Begun bhaja, Kalai er dal, aloo posto, Doodh Shukto, Bengali tomato Khejur chutney and pickle.I have shared the links for all these recipe below. I am yet to post mishti doi, Doodh shukto and tomato chutney recipes. But I have given the link for the source of these recipes. I thoroughly enjoyed cooking and tasting all these dishes.When I cooked all these recipes, I found Bengali Gobhido bhog rice, Panch phoron – 5 spice mix plays a major role in Bengali cooking. Cooking procedures were very simple yet delicious. It took nearly 1.5 hours to make this entire plattter.Sendhil & Myself enjoyed this thali very much. I loved chaler Payesh , Begun bhaja the most whereas Sendhil’s choice was Chanar dalna and tomato chutney. Over all Iam very happy that I tried & tasted this authentic Bengali Vegetarian Lunch Menu.Lets check out the menu list with some pictures below.
In this week’s Sunday lunch recipe series, I am sharing an easy yet interesting biryani recipe using coriander leaves. Generally we all make Green rice/Pulao using mint and coriander leaves for lunch box. But when I came across this biryani recipe in Aval Vikatan’s Kalyana Samayal Supplementary edition, I got tempted to try it immediately. It was titled as “Kovai Kothamalli Biryani”. This recipe was given by a marriage caterer. I had already triedEnnai Kathirikai Poriyaland Mixed Vegetable Poriyal from that book and both of them were super hit in my home. So I tried this biryani confidently. It came out well and satisfactory. You can make this biryani when you run short of vegetables in hand. It’s an easy and good lunch box recipe too. Lets see how to make this simple Coriander leaves biryani in detail.
Kothamalli Biryani Recipe
Coriander leaves biryani recipe - Coimbatore special
Cuisine:Indian
Category:Lunch
Serves:2
Prep time:30 Minutes
Cook time:20 Minutes
Total time:50 Minutes
INGREDIENTS
Basmati rice - 1 cup ( India Gate)
Water - 1.5 cups
Salt - as needed
To grind
Coriander leaves - a handful small bunch
To saute
Cooking oil + ghee - 1 tbsp+1 tbsp
Cinnamon- 1 inch piece
Cloves – 3 nos
Cardamom – 1 no
Black stone flower – 1 no
Fennel seeds – 1/2 tsp
Big onion - 1 no
Small onions - 10 nos
Green chilli - 2 no ( slitted)
G&G paste - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 3/4 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Curd - 1/2 cup
Green peas - a handful ( optional)
Cashewnuts - few
HOW TO MAKE CORIANDER LEAVES BIRYANI - METHOD
Wash and soak the basmati rice for minimum 30 minutes. Grind the coriander leaves to a smooth paste adding little water.Set aside. Chop the onions and slit green chilli. Crush the small onions slightly and keep aside.
Heat a pressure cooker adding oil+ghee. Put cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bayleaf, fennel seeds and black stone flower. Add the onions and green chillies. Saute well. Now add the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt, garam masala powder and mix well. Now add the ground coriander leaves paste and saute well. Lastly add the curd and mix well.
Add the basmati rice, water and let it come to a boil. Close the cooker and cook for one whistle in very low flame.
Open the cooker and fluff the rice with a fork after the steam is released. Enjoy with Raita!
Note
For variations, you can grind mint+coriander leaves and add to masala.
You can also powder the whole garam masala+fennel seeds and add to the oil instead of adding it as such.
Add lemon juice at the end before closing the cooker for more tanginess.
Try this simple coriander flavored biryani. Enjoy !
. Lets see how we prepared this simple and yummy travel lunch menu. 
Prepare & Enjoy it !!
