Capsicum Masala Curry Recipe - Capsicum tomato curry recipe For Chapathi

Capsicum masala is a simple and tasty North Indian side dish for chapathi. It’s a very easy and quick recipe that can be made under 15 minutes with capsicum and tomato as major ingredients. Last week I packed roti/chapathi along with this capscium tomato curry and spicy buttermilk for Sendhil's lunch box. He loved it very much. For this recipe, I followed the basic North indian gravy recipe with tomatoes as base. So it resembled more like our South Indian Tomato thokku but tasted completely different.

The consistency of this masala can be varied from gravy to curry as per your wish. For variations, green capsicum (Bell pepper) can be paired with aloo/potato, paneer or sweet corn to make it even more healthy n tasty. So, lets see how to make this easy, no grinding, simple capsicum masala curry recipe. Try it for chapathi. U will love it. Stay tuned for some more easy side dish recipes for roti !

Check out my Capsicum kurma recipe if interested !

Capsicum masala curry recipe

Capsicum masala recipe - A simple side dish for chapathi

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Side dish

Serves: 2

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

Green capsicum – 1 small Ripe tomatoes– 2 nos(big) Big onion – 1 no Ginger&garlic paste- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp Coriander powder – 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder – 1/2 tsp Kasoori methi – 2 pinches Sugar – a pinch Ghee – 1 tsp Water & salt - as needed To temper Cooking oil – 1.5 tbsp Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds/Jeera – 1/2 tsp Curry leaves – few  Coriander leaves – to garnish

HOW TO MAKE TOMATO CAPSICUM CURRY - METHOD

Chop the capsicum into small chunks or as u wish.Chop the onions & tomatoes finely. Heat oil + ghee in a kadai and splutter mustard,jeera and onions.Add g&g paste and saute till raw smell goes off.Then add capsicum pieces.Saute for a minute in medium flame.Now add the finely chopped tomatoes and saute till mushy adding required salt and turmeric powder. Add chilli powder, dhania powder and garam masala powder and saute till the masala well. Add some water to cook the masala and capsicum and boil well till the mixture leaves oil. Adjust the consistency by adding more water to make a thick gravy or curry as you wish. Before switching off the flame, add kasoori methi and sugar. Switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with roti/Chapathi ! Enjoy !

Try this easy, yummy, colorful capsicum masala for roti ! Tastes great !

Technorati Tags: Capsicum masala,capsicum masala recipe,capsicum masala curry recipe,Capsicum masala gravy recipe,How to make capsicum masala,side dish for roti,easy side dish for chapathi

Very good recipes Tags: Capsicum masala, capsicum masala recipe, capsicum masala curry recipe, Capsicum masala gravy recipe, How to make capsicum masala, side dish for roti, easy side dish for chapathi

Continue Reading...

Dindigul Thalappakatti Veg Biryani-Mushroom,Soya Chunks Biryani Recipe--Sunday Lunch Recipes -1

In this New year, with all your support and blessings, I have planned to start biryani series from this week. I guess most of you make ( Both vegetarian & Non-vegetarian) make biryani in weekend especially on Sunday. Even I too make biryani mostly on Sundays, make myself free and enjoy my time with my family. To me, Biryani is an easy to make yet very rich & delicious one pot meal that make everyone drool over its smell & color. I love to try varieties of biryani recipes by watching TV shows, by referring blogs or cookbooks. I thought of blogging the same here as it might be useful to vegetarians who look for varieties of biriyani recipes. So every Sunday, you can expect some yummy biryani & pulao recipes in my blog. Actually I wanted to start this series with “How to cook Basmati rice” post. But I still have some work pending to bring that post here. As I am in Salem, I couldn’t do it. So I thought of starting this series with this most popular Dindigul thalappakatti biryani recipe in which I used jeera rice. Generally vegetarians have less options for biryani varieties. So I used to refer non-veg biryani recipe too & try it  by replacing chicken or mutton with vegetables like mushroom, Gobi/cauliflower and soya chunks. You can find one such example here.  Even today I have shared Dindigul thalapakatti biryani which is the most popular mutton biryani of Dindigul district. For this recipe, I referred so many sites and read readers comments to get some idea about its color, the rice used in it etc. Finally I landed upon here & tried this biryani by making small changes in the actual recipe to achieve its brown color. I used mushroom & soya chunks/meal maker in place of mutton ;). The taste was awesome. It came out super flavourful with minimum masala. Raksha & Sendhil loved it a lot. Raksha told me to make the same biryani next day too for her lunch box . So I made a minimum quantity for her using rice cooker. Now I can confidently try this biryani for my guests too. I served this biryani with simple onion raita as a side dish. I made fruit custard for dessert & curd rice as well. So last week we had this biryani, raita, fruit custard and curd rice for our lunch. It was simple yet divine ! I have updated this recipe with a full video. Do watch it !

I will try my level best to collect the best biryani recipes, try them in my kitchen and share it here.Wish me Good Luck. Leave your feedback or share the picture if you try any biryani recipes from this series. It will motivate me to try n post more. Check out my other biryani & pulao recipes that are popular in my blog.

• Ambur veg biryani

• Kuska biryani/Plain biryani

• Spicy vegetable pulao

• Vegetable biryani

• Paneer biryani

• Tomato rice using rice cooker

• Mushroom Biryani

I have updated this recipe with a video. Please check it !

Continue Reading...

15 CHUTNEY RECIPES FOR RICE - THOGAYAL RECIPES - THUVAIYAL VARIETIES

In this collection you can find thogayal recipes /chutney recipes for rice like Paruppu thogayal, Coriander leaves thogayal/Kothamalli thuvaiyal,pudina thogayal/Mint thogayal, Poondu thuvaiyal/Garlic thogayal, curry leaves thogayal/Karuvepilai thuvaiyal, Thengai thogayal/Coconut thuvaiyal, Pirandai thogayal, Karisilankanni thogayal, chow chow thogayal, radish thogayal & banana stem thogayal recipes for rice pepared by Tamil people.

 
Thogayals/ Thuvaiyals are very popular among South Indians especially for Tamil people. Some people like to mix with plain rice and eat and some loves to have it as a side dish for curd rice & sambar rice. In my family, everybody loves thogayal a lot. Everyday our lunch menu starts with a thogayal recipe. I came to know about varieties of thogayal recipes only after my marriage. Before marriage, my mom used to make thengai thogayal to mix with plain rice & pottukadalai thogayal as side dish for lemon rice and that too she makes it very rarely in weekends.

But after marriage, when I tasted few thogayal recipes prepared by my MIL,it was very new and tasted delicious for me. My MIL makes all the thogayals perfectly with well balanced taste. The ratio of tamarind,salt and chillies are very important to make a perfect thogayal otherwise it will taste spicy or tangy. So whenever my MIL visits me, I tell her to make varieties of thogayal recipes like paruppu thogayal, peerkangai/ridge gourd thogayal,coriander thogayal,pudina thogayal, Poondu thuvaiyal, curry leaves thogayal and many more. I refrigerate them in an air tight box and enjoy it for more than a week.

As Sendhil loves thogayal sadam a lot, I pack it for his lunch box too along with some stir fry/poriyal recipes. If I have few thogayals in hand, it is a big support for me as it makes the lunch box job much easier. In my blog, I have posted nearly 12 thogayal recipes for rice so far. It includes some healthy thogayal recipes like pirandai thogayal, Karisilankanni keerai thogayal as well. I wanted to have a collection of them in one post for my easy reference and for people who look for varieties of thogayal recipes for their daily lunch. I am yet to post few more like inji thogayal/ginger thogayal & peerkangai thogayal. I will share them in near future and add it here.

Most of the recipes are without coconut. So you can grind, saute in oil and store them in refrigerator for more than a week too. I hope these thogayals would be very handy and useful for bachelors & working women who wants quick lunch or dinner. Do try these thogayal varieties for your lunch & lunch box. It tastes yummy. Do leave your feedback if you try any of these. I would be more happy. Thanks for visiting this page.

Thogayal recipes

Collection of thogayal recipes / chutney for rice - Varieties of thogayal/ thuvaiyal / chutney recipes for rice !

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Thogayal

Serves: 3

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 25 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Coriander leaves/Kothamalli Mint leaves/Pudina Curry leaves Pirandai Karisilankanni leaves Banana stem Chow chow/Chayote Coconut Red chillies Toor dal,Moong dal Urad dal Brinjal Tamarind Jaggery Pepper corns Garlic cloves Cooking oil Mustard seeds

  

  

  

  

Technorati Tags: Thogayal recipes,Thogayal varieties for rice,thogayal for rice,thuvaiyal recipes,thuvaiyal varieties,thogayal with coconut,thogayal recipe south indian,thogayal recipe tamil,coriander thogayal.kothamalli thogayal,Pudina thogayal,mint thogayal,thengai thogayal,poondu thogayal,paruppu thogayal

Very good recipes Tags: Thogayal recipes, Thogayal varieties, thogayal for rice, thogayal recipe south indian, thogayal recipe tamil, coriander thogayal.kothamalli thogayal, Pudina thogayal, mint thogayal, thengai thogayal, poondu thogayal, paruppu thogayal

Continue Reading...

NARTHANGAI SADAM | CITRON RICE RECIPE

I am a big big fan of Narthangai(Citron fruits in English). Narthangai has amazing health benefits. My MIL used to say Narthangai helps to cure 108 diseases. I am not sure how far it is true. But I know its very helpful for pitha troubles & indigestion which I have experienced it.

Before marriage I used to get narthangai pickle from my Aachi in Tirunelveli. I can have a plateful of rice with it. I was thinking that pickle alone can be made with narthangai. But after marriage, when I tasted Narthangai pachadi from my MIL’s hands, I loved it more than pickle.

Recently we had a trip to Kumbakonam. Sendhil’s maami gave us a bag full of citron fruits/Narthangai from their backyard. We prepared pachadi with almost 3/4th of the quantity and made this rice with the remaining. It tastes very similar to lemon rice. Sendhil love this a lot. Its one of the yummiest Narthangai recipes. Today I made this rice for his lunch box. and now it has become my favourite too. You can serve this yummy rice variety with fryums, chips, vadam & pickle. I know all your eyes goes to those colorful fryums, right ??

I bought them in a small shop in Lee bazaar, Salem just by seeing its different shapes & color.

Ok, Lets see how to make this flavourful, yummy narthangai sadam. Here is a picture of narthangai/citron fruit for your reference.

Narthangai sadam recipe

Delicious rice variety using citron fruits/Narthangai - Tastes similar to lemon rice

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Lunch

Serves: Serves 3

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 25 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Rice - 1/2 cup ( I use steamed rice. You can use raw rice too) Water - 1.25 cups Gingely oil - 1 tsp Narthangai / citron fruit - 4 nos ( around 1/3 cup juice) Salt - as needed Asafetida/Hing - 1/8 tsp To temper Gingely oil - 1 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp Urad dal - 2 tsp Chana dal - 1 tbsp Red chillies  or Green chilli – 5-6 nos ( pinch into small pieces, use 6 if your chillies are less spicy) Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Asafetida/Hing - 1/8 tsp Curry leaves- few

METHOD

Wash & Pressure cook rice adding required water & a tsp of oil. Rice should be fluffy & separate. In a plate spread the rice adding little salt & a tsp of gingely oil. It helps the rice to separate when it cools down. Boil water in a pan & add the citron fruits/Narthangai( don’t cut it) to it. Let it boil for a minute. Then switch off the stove & remove the narthangai. It would become soft & now you can easily squeeze the juice using your hands. Take the juice from the fruit & strain the seeds. To this juice, add salt & hing. Set aside. In a kadai temper all the ingredients given under “ to temper” in the same order. Then add the extracted narthangai juice & switch off the flame immediately. Remove & keep in a bowl. Mix this juice with the cooked rice little by little. Add few tsp of gingely oil. Check for salt & adjust the taste.Yummy Narthangai sadam is ready to serve. I served with colorful fryums for my daughter & with narthangai pickle for us. It was yum!

Note

While squeezing the fruit, do not over do it because the juice will taste bitter if  you over squeeze it. Boiling narthangai in water is optional. But it helps to remove the bitterness on the skin & it helps for easy squeezing too. U can use combination of green chillies & red chillies while tempering. But my MIL used to say red chillies tastes the best for this rice. Here I used 2 byadgi chillies & 2 spicy chillies. U may not need all the juice for the rice. So add little by little & check for taste whenever needed.

Serve this yummy rice with fryums, vadam & pickle. 

Technorati Tags: Narthagai sadam,Narthangai sadam recipe,Narthangai recipes,citron rice,Citron fruit recipes,lunch box recipes,Lunch recipes,Rice varieties

Very good recipes Tags: Narthagai sadam, Narthangai sadam recipe, Narthangai recipes, citron rice, Citron fruit recipes, lunch box recipes, Lunch recipes, Rice varieties

Continue Reading...

CHEESY MINI UTTAPAM-KIDS LUNCH BOX RECIPES

Generally kids love colorful food.My daughter Raksha is no exception.She basically loves drawing & playing with colors.So she always demands me to pack some colorful food for her lunch box.But she doesn’t like to take chapathi rolls or bread sandwich.She is an ardent fan of idli,dosa just like me.So i made this cheesy tri color uttappam for her lunch box.After coming from school,she happily said all her friends asked by seeing the colors “Is that national flag dosa?? “.She had proudly told No, its my mom’s dosa.This dosa recipe was a huge success with my daughter and i am making it very often for her lunch box with some variations(Refer notes).I usually add more carrots & less cheese as she likes to eat carrot in dosas and i don’t want her to consume more cheese.So this dosa tastes little sweetish.She likes to have this dosa with idli podi.Adjust the quantity of cheese n carrot and replace coriander with capsicum & even tomatoes based on your kids wish.U can also make this dosa for your kids after they come back from school as an evening snack.They will love to have it hot hot.So here you go,easy and colorful kids lunch box recipe – Cheesy veg mini uttapam.I am happy in sending this recipe to Indus ladies “ Kids lunch box recipes-100”.Special thanks to Chitvish mam for suggesting me to participate in this event.Friends,do send in your entries and get a chance for your recipe being published in a E-book.Both Bloggers and non-bloggers can participate.Please click the logo for more details.

Cheesy veg uttapam recipe

Easy n colorful cheesy veg uttapam recipe for kids lunch box.

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Breakfast

Serves: 2

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 5 Minutes

Total time: 10 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Idli/dosa batter - 1/2 cup Grated carrot - 3 tbsp ( as needed) Grated cheese - as needed Finely chopped coriander leaves - 1 tbsp Finely chopped onions - 1/2 no ( optional) Oil.ghee - 1 tsp for each dosa

METHOD

Wash and Grate carrot.Chop onions(if using) and coriander leaves finely.Grate cheese n set aside OR u can grate it directly over the dosa.Heat dosa pan and pour a ladleful of batter.Do not spread it.Batter should not be too thick or too thin.After pouring the dosa batter,simmer the flame completely.Leave it for few seconds.Bubble will start to appear. Now spread the grated carrot as outer layer and put some coriander leaves towards the middle.Lastly put the finely chopped onions in the center.Drizzle a tsp of oil/ghee around the dosa.Keep the flame low always else dosa will get burnt. Flip the dosa and leave it for few seconds.Again flip the dosa and add the grated cheese or grate cheese all over the dosa.Leave till cheese melts. Remove and serve hot or allow it to become warm and pack in lunch box. U can make the same dosa for adults by sprinkling idli podi or pepper powder over the dosa.Reduce the quantity of carrot and add more onions.

Note

Adjust the quantity of carrots as per your wish. Adding more carrot make the dosa sweetish. For variations,u can add finely chopped tomatoes & capsicum too. Sprinkle half a tsp of idli powder or pepper powder if ur kids like spicy dosas. Add double cheese for more cheesy dosas.

Pack this colorful,cheesy dosa for your kids lunch box and make them happy !

Technorati Tags: Kids lunch box recipes.kids lunch box ideas,Kids lunch box.Lunch box recipes,Cheesy veg uttapam,min uttapam recipe,Easy kids recipes

Very good recipes Tags: Kids lunch box recipes.kids lunch box ideas, Kids lunch box.Lunch box recipes, Cheesy veg uttapam, min uttapam recipe, Easy kids recipes

Continue Reading...

HOTEL KUSKA BIRYANI RECIPE / KUSKA RICE-PLAIN BIRYANI RECIPE

I am a big fan of Tamilnadu hotel style kuska biryani. Before marriage we used to have this rice from a nearby restaurant at least twice in a month during weekends. My appa calls this as”pattai sadam”. Madurai is popular for Kuska rice. In hotels, they usually serve kuska with onion raita and salna or ennai kathirikai. I love that combo.

Kuska, this term might be new to some you.I will tell you what it is. Kuskha is nothing but the plain rice cooked n flavoured with masalas without adding vegetables or meat. You can call it as plain vegetarian biryani. Usually muslim people do this for all their marriages and festivals. In urdu,”Kushk”means plain. It is very famous in Hyderabad and Tamilnadu. Thanks to Spiceindiaonline from where I got these details. In Tamil nadu, you get kuska mostly in small hotels or mess. In some big hotels, they serve chicken or mutton biryani as kuska just by removing the pieces. So my dad always buys it from vegetarian hotels.Its my long time dream to recreate kuska at home.

I  have tried several recipes but they were not satisfactory. Recently I was chatting with my reader Kirthiga devi in facebook. More than a reader, I should say she is like my sister. She calls me fondly as akka. When we were talking, I just asked her about kuska biryani and she immediately shared her recipe with detailed steps. She suggested me pressure cooker as well as Dum method. I chose pressure cooker method as I felt it easy. She also said that this is the recipe of muslim style kuska. Then, what else I need to try this??. I tried it for my lunch today. It was awesome. I got the same taste as I expected. Thank you so much kirthiga. Many people use coconut milk for kuska. But I used milk.

Friends,whenever you are run short of vegetables, do try this kuska rice. Bachelor’s & working women can make this easy rice for their lunch box during busy mornings. Its a no grinding & less chopping rice variety. Just one onion, half tomato & biryani spices is enough to prepare this delectable dish for two people. U can use either jeera rice or basmati rice as per your liking. Lets see how to make Tamil nadu style kuska biryani / plain biryani with step by step pictures.

Kuska biryani recipe

How to make hotel kuska biryani recipe at home easily.

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Lunch

Serves: 2

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 25 Minutes

INGREDIENTS
1 cup - 250ml

Jeera rice or basmati rice - 1 cup Water+coconut milk or water+milk - 2 cups To add in the rice Cinnamom - 1 small piece Cardamom - 1 no Cloves - 1 no Bayleaf - 1no Mint leaves – 10 nos  Ghee – few drops To saute Cooking oil - 2 tbsp Cinnamom - 1 small piece Cloves - 1 no Bayleaf - 1 no Kalpasi/black stone flower – 1/2 tsp( click here to see the picture in stepwise pics) Cardamom - 1 no G&G paste – 1 tsp Big onion - 1 no Tomato - 1/2 no Green chillies - 2 nos Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp (adjust) Dhania powder - 1/2 tsp Curd – 1 tbsp Mint leaves – 15nos (chopped) Coriander leaves -  2 stalks (chopped)

HOW TO MAKE KUSKA - METHOD

Wash the rice and take it in a bowl. To this rice,add the spices mentioned under”to add in rice” . Add equal quantity of water+milk or water+coconut milk and soak the rice for 10-15 minutes. i.e. Rice and water+milk ratio should be 1:2.( you can soak only in water too if you don’t want to add milk or coconut milk) In the mean time, finely chop onions,tomatoes,mint leaves and coriander leaves. Then in a pressure cooker base, heat oil and add all the spices, saute for a second. Then add onions, g&g paste and saute till raw smell leaves it. Add tomato pieces and saute till mushy. Now add red chilli powder , dhania powder and saute for sometime. Add mint leaves, coriander leaves. Mix well. Now add the curd, soaked rice with water and spices. Add the required salt. Check for taste and pressure cook in low flame for one whistle or 10 minutes. Open the lid after the steam is released. Mix with a fork once. Check whether rice is done else add 1/4 cup of water and allow it to cook for 1 whistle in high flame or keep it for 3-4 minutes in high flame. Serve with onion raita and Enjoy !

Note

Rice takes longer time to cook in milk + water combo. So add more water and less milk if you want it to be quickly done. U can add 1/4 tsp of fennel seeds while sauting spices. Its optional though. Kuska I had tasted from hotels looks reddish orange in color. I think they add orange food color. But I used only red chilli powder to bring this color. So add food color if you wish. For variations, you can add coconut milk instead of plain milk OR use water alone. Remember the ratio of rice n water should be 1:2 even if  you soak for 30 minutes. If you use jeera rice, soak only for 15 minutes else rice will turn clumpsy after cooking. If you soak for more time, add 1.5 cups of water instead of 2 cups.

Easy n tasty Kuska biryani is ready ! 

Very good recipes Tags: Rice recipes, Lunch ideas, Lunch menu, Indian rice varieties, Easy biryani recipe, Biryani recipe, kuska recipe muslim, plain biryani

Technorati Tags: Kuska biryani recipe,Kuska biryani rice recipe,Muslim kuska biryani recipe,Kuska biryani restaurant style,Kuska rice,kuska biryani indian recipe,plain biryani

Continue Reading...