I am a big big fan of South Indian tomato rice (Thakkali sadam in Tamil). So I keep trying varieties of tomato rice recipes. Earlier I had posted my version ofthakkali sadam in which the spicy tomato paste is mixed with cooked rice. Then I shared my friend Shalini’s tomato rice recipe using electric rice cooker.
Today I have shared about how to make tomato rice directly in a pressure cooker. I learnt this recipe from my Thangam Athai ( My dad’s sister). Its a very simple, quick and easy to make rice variety that is ideal for lunch box preparation.
Bachelors and working women would love this recipe. This tomato rice recipe is prepared with very less whole garam masala ingredients and had a slight spicy taste.So it has become our family favorite.I loved it very much and had the same for my lunch & dinner as well. Simple onion raita and a papad or vadagam would be the best side dish for this tomato rice.
Friends, Do try this yummy South Indian style Tomato rice recipe for your lunch box. I am sure you will love its taste. Now lets see how to make Thakkali sadam using a pressure cooker easily with step by step photos. I have updated this recipe with a full video, Please check it !
Green chilli - 1 no ( Long one, Finely chopped, use 3 slit chillies for spicy rice)
Turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp ( add 1.5 tsp for spicy rice)
Cooking oil - 3 tbsp
Cinnamon - 2 inch piece
Cloves - 2 nos
Garlic cloves - 5 nos
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - a fistful ( finely chopped)
Salt – as needed
Water – 2 cups
HOW TO MAKE TOMATO RICE IN COOKER - METHOD
Wash and chop the onion, tomato, green chilli, garlic cloves, curry leaves and coriander leaves very finely. Wash and soak the rice adding 2 cups of water for 30 minutes. ( If using basmati rice, add 1.75 cups of water)
Heat oil in a pressure cooker base, add cinnamon and cloves. Add finely chopped garlic cloves and saute for a second. Then add the chopped onion and sauté till transparent. Add finely chopped green chilli and curry leaves. Saute for few seconds.
Add finely chopped tomato pieces and the required salt for rice. Saute until tomato turns pulpy and mushy. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and mix well for few seconds. Lastly add the soaked rice along with water. Mix well and check for taste. Add more salt & red chilli powder based on it. Pressure cook in very low flame for one whistle. It takes 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the lid after the steam is released.
Mix the cooked rice with a fork. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves, mix well and serve hot with raita & papad.
Enjoy !
Note
Add more chilli powder if you want spicy tomato rice.
Adding coriander leaves gives a nice flavor to this rice. So do not skip it
You can also add mint leaves along with curry leaves if you like the flavor of mint leaves.
I have used steamed rice/ puzhungal arisi. You can use basmati rice or raw rice. But soak the rice in water for minimum 30 minutes to get fluffy, soft and grainy rice.
Enjoy this delicious South Indian style tomato rice recipe and have a quick lunch !
Radish paratha ( Mooli paratha, muli paratha in Hindi ) is a popular North Indian paratha recipe. It is basically a Punjabi recipe. Usually I make mooli paratha/ radish paratha by stuffing mooli masala in roti dough. But recent days, I have been making mooli paratha without stuffing following this easy method as told by my friend Shalini.Its a no onion no garlic paratha recipe. In this method, I have added the ground mooli along with spice powders to the whole wheat flour directly. To make this paratha soft, I have added besan flour, oil and curd. These ingredients help to keep this paratha soft for few hours. I have made these paratha thin as Sendhil loves this way. Make it thin or thick as you wish.Bachelors and working women will find this recipe very easy to prepare in busy morning hours or for dinner after coming back tired from office. Onion raita , masala dahi or pickle would serve as a best side dish for this paratha. Friends, do try this easy mooli paratha recipe at home and share your feedback with me. Lets see how to make this easy radish paratha / muli paratha with step by step photos !
Easy Mooli paratha / Radish Paratha recipe
Mooli paratha ./ Radish paratha in an easy way without stuffing !
Wash and peel the skin of radish using a peeler. Discard the skin. Slice the radish into thin roundels. Grind them to a smooth paste without adding water. While grinding wipe the sides of mixie jar and grind for long time till radish becomes a smooth paste. If you do not want to grind the radish, just grate it using a fine grater and keep aside. No need to squeeze the water from it.
In a wide plate, take the wheat flour, besan flour, cooking oil, curd , carom seeds, red chilli powder, dhania powder, garam masala powderand finely chopped green chillies and coriander leaves.Mix everything well to make a crumbly mixture.
Now add the ground radish paste/ grated radish and mix well without adding water. Flour will become semi wet now. So add very little water using a tbsp measure and make a soft, non-sticky dough. Make sure you do not add more water. If the dough becomes sticky, paratha may turn out dry and hard. So add water very carefully. The quantity of water depends on the water content in radish. I used less than 1/4 cup of water.
Grease your hands with oil and make golf sized balls from the paratha dough.Arrange them in a plate. Take one ball, dust in wheat flour and roll it to a thin or thick paratha as you wish. Paratha should not stick to the rolling pin. Do not use more flour for dusting. It will make the paratha dry even if you add more oil. Make all the paratha and keep them in a plate. If you are not able to make round paratha, just roll the paratha to any shape, cut it with a round box lid.
Heat a dosa tawa. When its hot, drop a paratha on the tawa. Keep the flame medium. Apply a tsp of oil or ghee all over the paratha, cook for a minute. Flip and cook the other side as well. Brush with oil. Cook both the sides till golden spots appear. Remove the paratha, brush with more oil or ghee if you wish. Serve it hot with raita and pickle to enjoy its best taste. If you are packing for lunch, just stack the cooked paratha one over the other, roll it in a thermal foil and keep inside the lunch box. Stays soft for few hours.
Enjoy !
Note
Adjust the quantity of spice powders as per your taste.
Usually I make this paratha thin as per my family’s likings. Make it thick if you wish.
You can replace carom seeds with cumin seeds.
Adding besan flour is optional. You can skip it too.
Adding curd and oil helps to make the paratha soft.
Be careful while adding water. Add it little by little. The quantity of water depends on the water content present in radish.
Enjoy this easy mooli paratha with a simple onion raita and pickle and relish a quick breakfast/ dinner !
Eggless honey cake recipe with step by step and video. Honey cake reminds our childhood days for most of us. Yes, when we were kids many of us would have tasted this cake from our local Indian bakery. The taste of this soft, juicy, moist, honey drenched sponge cake is still lingering in our tongue.
Whenever I visit Iyengar bakery here in Bangalore, I never forget to buy their popular stuffs like Khara bun, Benne biscuit, Baked Nippattu etc. Recent days I started buying few pieces honey cake as well. Raksha is not a big fan of this cake due to the extra sweetness from honey and fruit jam. But myself and Sendhil enjoy & love this cake a lot.
Recently many of our fellow bloggers are sharing their versions of eggless honey cake which tempted me very badly to try at home.Yesterday morning I got determined to try this honey cake without eggs and followed THIS RECIPE which I had bookmarked already. Actually I wanted to follow my eggless, butter less tutti frutti cake recipe for the base of this cake. But then I thought of trying the sponge cake base using condensed milk and butter so that I can learn another eggless, moist sponge cake recipe.
Cake came out porous, pillow soft, fluffy with spongy texture as I wished. I could really feel the taste of Iyengar bakery honey cake when I tasted a piece of this cake. I am completely happy with this recipe. Even Raksha liked it very much and taken for her snack box today. You can try this cake in pressure cooker as well. I will try to share a detailed recipe for eggless pressure cooker cake.
Friends, do try this easy, delicious cake for special occasions like birthday and anniversary. I am sure you will get perfect result and enjoy with your family. Now lets see how to make Indian bakery style eggless honey cake recipe with step by step pictures and VIDEO !
If you are looking for an eggless sponge cake recipe without condensed milk and butter, do check out this recipe. For eggless orange cake recipe using cooking oil, please check this link.
Eggless Honey Cake Recipe - Indian Bakery style recipe
How to make Indian bakery style honey cake recipe without eggs.
All purpose flour / Maida - 1. 25 cups / 1 1/4 cup
Corn flour - 1/4 cup
Baking powder - 1.5 tsp
Baking soda - 3/4 tsp
Butter - 1/2 cup (Soft at room temperature, do not melt)
Condensed milk - 1/2 cup
Boiled milk - 3/4 cup ( at room temperature)
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Vinegar or lemon juice - 1 tbsp
For honey syrup
Honey - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Water - 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp
Rose essence - 1/2 tsp
*Increase the quantity of ingredients for honey syrup if you like more sweet and juicy cake.
For sauce
Mixed fruit jam - 3 tbsp ( I used Kissan )
Sugar - 2 tsp
Dessicated coconut powder - to garnish the cake
HOW TO MAKE EGGLESS HONEY CAKE - METHOD
In a dry bowl, sieve maida, corn flour, baking powder and baking soda . Keep it aside.
In another bowl, take the butter at room temperature ( Do not melt) and add the condensed milk. Beat it well till it becomes smooth and creamy. It takes 2-3 minutes.So beat it patiently. To this, add vanilla essence and vinegar. Just Mix well. Do not beat.
Add the sieved maida mixture to the creamy butter mixture little by little ( say 1/2 cup), Simultaneously add boiled milk at room temperature little by little (say 1/4 cup). Use a spatula and fold the cake mixture. Never beat or mix vigorously. Do it gently. When all the flour and milk is over, check the batter consistency. It should not be too thick or thin like falling ribbon. It resembles creamy paste. So don’t panic.
Grease a baking pan ( use square pan ) with butter and dust with maida all over the pan. Pat the excess flour. Add the cake batter to the baking pan and level it.
Preheat the oven in convection mode at 180c. Place the baking tray inside the oven and bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes. Original recipe mentioned to bake for 25 minutes whereas mine took nearly 35 minutes as I added more milk. So keep an eye after 20 minutes and check with the knife as explained in the next step.
Insert a knife and check if it comes out clean. If the knife comes with uncooked batter, bake for 2-3 minutes more. Again check it. Bake the cake till the inserted knife comes out clean or with crumbs. Remove the baking tray and let it rest for 15 minutes. Run a knife along the sides and invert the cake in a plate.
Cake will come out easily if its properly cooked. You can trim the brown part of cake on the sides if you wish. But I din't remove it. Now prick the cake with a fork for the sugar syrup to spread inside the cake.
Now make the honey syrup and fruit sauce. For this, take a small kadai. Add sugar, water and boil till sugar dissolves completely. After the sugar is melted, switch off the flame. Add rose essence, honey after the sugar syrup becomes warm. Mix well and keep aside. Pour this honey syrup all over the cake. As soon as you pour, cake will absorb all the syrup. ( You can increase the quantity of honey if you like the cake to be more juicy and sweet)
In another kadai, take the jam and sugar. Mix well and melt in medium flame till the jam becomes thin. Switch off the flame and immediately apply the sauce all over the cake. If the melted jam cools down. it will start to solidify. In that case, you can heat and melt the jam again to coat over the cake. Atlast sprinkle the dessicated coconut powder for garnishing and cut into pieces.
Enjoy !
The outer layer/ crust of cake will dry if you leave it open for long time. So keep it covered in an air tight box till use. If you want to prepare this cake in advance, you can do it one day before and refrigerate the cake in a box. You should bring it to room temperature before serving.
Note
The outer layer/crust of cake will dry if you leave it open for long time. So keep it covered in an air tight box till use. If you want to prepare this cake in advance, you can do it one day before and refrigerate the cake in a box. You should bring it to room temperature before serving.
Do not beat the batter while adding milk. Fold the batter gently.
The base of this cake is not so sweet. So if you apply sugar syrup and jam sauce, sweetness will become perfect.
Do not more milk and make the batter thin. It takes longer time to cook.
Keep an eye after 20 minutes and check with the knife. Keep checking like this for every 3 minutes. Remove only after the knife comes out clean.
Original recipe told to bake for 25 minutes whereas mine took nearly 35 minutes.So baking time may slightly vary as per the oven temperature.
Do not invert or remove the cake when its hot. It will break. Invert the cake only after it cools down.
Enjoy this juicy, soft honey cake for special occasions. Have a great, sweet filled celebration.
When I was young, my dad used to buy this besan coated, red colored, deep fried, spicy, dry masala peanuts( masala kadalai in Tamil) and roasted green peas ( Kara Pattani ) that is sold in small packets along with cone ice cream in cinema theatres to munch on during interval time Nowadays we could find mostly popcorn & boiled sweet corn ( butter cup corn) in most of the theaters which I am not fond of. So we buy it only for my daughter Raksha. She likes Haldirams masala peanuts and moong dal as well. But I feel the quantity of salt is high in it. So I started making them at home either in microwave or by deep frying in oil depending on the time in hand. Mostly I make it for Raksha’s school snack box or for her evening snacks after coming back from school. Yesterday I prepared this masala peanuts for our teatime. I took a video recipe by making one batch in microwave and deep frying the other batch. Both came out really well, equally crunchy and tasty. Kids would like the deep fried version more than microwave ones. For people under diet or calorie conscious, you can opt for baked version in oven to cut down the calories.I have shared both of them with step by step pictures and a video below. Do try this easy, quick and yummy evening snack for your kids & elders in your family. Enjoy your teatime ! Now Lets see how to make this yummy South Indian Masala peanuts / masala kadalai at home.
Masala Peanuts Recipe - Microwave & Deep Fried Versions
How to make besan coated masala peanuts - Deep fried version & microwave versions !
Wash and soak raw peanuts in water for 15 minutes. Soaking helps to skin to remain intact with peanuts while frying. The masala won’t come off with the skin after frying. After soaking drain the soaked water completely.
Take them in a wide bowl and add the besan, rice flour, red chilli powder, Garam masala powder, Ginger & garlic paste, hing and required salt. Mix well. Then add water little by little and mix well till all the peanuts are well coated with the masala. Do not make the batter too thick or too thin. Now add 1 tsp of cooking oil all over the batter. Mix well and set aside.
For deep frying : Heat cooking oil to deep fry and drop a pinch of batter to check its temperature. When its hot, it will rise to the top immediately. Now sprinkle the masala coated peanuts in oil and deep fry till it becomes golden in color and crunchy. Cook in medium flame and toss them in oil whenever needed, cook till bubbles cease. Remove in a tissue paper.
For microwave version : Grease a microwave plate with oil and spread the masala coated peanuts in the plate.You can spread them directly on the glass plate inside the microwave. Microwave in high power for 6-7 minutes and cook till its roasted. Keep an eye to avoid burning of peanuts. You should remove the plate once in the middle( after 3 minutes) and flip them to cook the other side as well. Again microwave for 3-4 minutes. Mine took totally 7 minutes in 800w power. Roasted Peanuts will be soft to touch when hot. But it will become very crispy once it cools down. So let it cool down completely before you munch. Serve with tea !
Enjoy !
Note
Adjust the quantity of spice powders as per your taste buds.
If you don’t have enough time for soaking, just wash the peanuts and mix all the flours in the wet peanuts and proceed as given above.
Timings in microwave depends on the power of microwave. So please keep an eye. It will burn off suddenly.
Enjoy this crunchy masala peanuts for your teatime !
Kakarakaya ( Bitter Gourd in English, Pavakkai in Tamil, Karela in Hindi) is a very healthy and diabetic friendly vegetable. I make bitter gourd recipes at least once in a week. Usually I prepare bitter gourd curry, Chettinad puli kuzhambu or Pavakkai pitlai.
Kakarakaya Pulusu is an Andhra style bittergourd gravy made by frying bitter gourd pieces in oil and its added to a spicy gravy. But I came across an easy, one pot, Andhra style Kakarakaya Pulusu ( Pulusu means Kuzhambu/Gravy in Telugu) in a Youtube video. I tried it for lunch along with brinjal masala poriyal. It tasted very well without much bitterness.
Bitter gourd lovers like me must try this recipe. Addition of jaggery (Bellam), tamarind and thinly sliced bitter gourd sauted in oil helps to reduce the bitterness I feel. So friends, do try this Andhra special Kakarakaya Pulusu recipe for rice. I am sure you will enjoy it. Now lets see how to make it with step by step photos !
Ginger & Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp ( or use 1/2 tsp Ginger paste)
Red chilli powder - 1.5 tsp to 2 tsp
Dhania powder - 1 tbsp
Salt & water - as needed
Grated jaggery - 2 tsp
To temper
Cooking oil - 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Hing - a pinch
Coriander leaves - to garnish
HOW TO MAKE KAKARAKAYA PULUSU - METHOD
Wash and cut the bitter gourd vertically. Remove the middle portion along with the seeds. Slice it thinly as shown in the picture below. These steps will help you to remove the bitterness to a certain extent.So slice it thinly.
In a pressure cooker base, heat oil and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, cumin seeds, curry leaves. Add bitter gourd slices, saute till it becomes soft. Add onion, gg paste and saute till its raw smell goes off. Add slit green chillies and saute for few seconds. Bitter gourd turns dark green in color.
Now add the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, dhania powder and salt. Dhania powder helps to give thickness to the gravy. Mix well in low flame without burning them. Now add 1 cup of tamarind extract, raw pinched curry leaves. Let it boil for a minute. Add the grated jaggery, check for salt and spice. Add more chilli powder and salt if needed. Mix well and pressure cook in very low flame for 2 whistles. Bitter gourd cooks soft.
Open the cooker and see a layer of oil floating on top. Check if the gravy is too watery. If its too watery, boil for sometime till slightly thick. Mix well and serve hot with rice, papad ! ( Oil floats on top only if you cook this gravy in pressure cooker. If you make in kadai, you should boil the gravy till oil oozes out.)
Enjoy!
Note
Adjust the quantity of green chillies and red chilli powder as per your taste buds
Add the mentioned quantity of oil to get the oil floating on top.
Try this Andhra delicacy at home and enjoy your lunch !!
How to make tomato rice / thakkali sadam in a pressure cooker - Easy method ! 
