Green tomato sambar for idli – We call it as Thakkali kai gotsu in Tamil. I started buying green tomato ( Raw tomato / thakkali kai / Pacha thakkali in Malayalam ) recently as I wanted to learn some yummy South Indian recipes with it. I have heard people make green tomato kootu, curry, thogayal for rice and chutney for idli, dosa. My MIL suggested to try this easy thakkali kai gotsu as the first step. Usually we make Thanjavur style tomato onion gosthu for idli but my MIL told her mom make gotsu only using raw tomato. But my MIL started making with ripe tomatoes. So I too followed the same.
When she suggested this, I was very happy and tried it because thakkali gotsu is our family favorite side dish for idli. So this recipe would never fail. Its a very easy, one pot sambar recipe for idli / dosa. Even though moong dal is added, we make it watery in consistency so that it tastes juicy with idli.Both adults & kids would love this recipe. This thakkali kai gotsu is completely different from Chidambaram gosthu. You must try it know the difference . Ok, lets see how to make green tomato sambar / Thakkali kai gotsu for idli with step by step pictures !
Do check out my ripe tomato onion gotsu, Chidambaram brinjal gosthu recipes.
Green chilli - 3 nos (Use 5 for more spicy sambar)
Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
Idli batter - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves - to garnish
Cooking oil or Sesame oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - Few(Finely chopped)
Salt - as needed
Water - as needed (I used 2 to 2.5 cups)
How to make the recipe
Wash and chop tomato into small pieces.
Heat oil in a cooker base.
Temper mustard,urad dal,curry leaves.Saute the onion,green chilli adding salt.
When onion becomes transparent, add tomato and saute till mushy.
Add turmeric powder, moong dal and water.
Pressure cook in low flame for 2 whistles.Remove & add idli batter. Boil for 2 minutes.
Garnish & serve with Idli.
Green tomato sambar / Thakkali Kai Gotsu - Step by step photos
Wash and chop tomato into small pieces.Finely chop onion and slit green chillies, curry leaves and set aside.
Heat oil in a cooker base.Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, cumin seeds and curry leaves. Saute finely chopped onion, slit chilli.Saute till onion becomes transparent.
Add tomato pieces, saute till mushy.Add turmeric powder, tamarind extract and 2 cups of water. Add moong dal and Pressure cook in low flame for 2 whistles.
Remove after the steam is released. Add more water if the sambar is thick. Add idli batter, boil the gravy for 2 minutes and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with idli drizzled with sesame oil.
Notes
Adjust the quantity of chilli as per taste.
Do not skip tamarind extract. It helps to balance the taste.
No need to use jaggery.
As we are cooking directly in a pressure cooker, moong dal cooks perfectly.
If the sambar is too thick, add more water and boil.
Hot idli topped with gotsu, drizzled with a tsp of sesame oil is divine ! Do try this combo !
South Indian, North IndianNavratri Recipes for 9 days golu at home . In this post, I have framed a list of Navarathri prasadam recipes of Tamil nadu, Andhra and North India for nine days as per my readers request. Last year I made a detailed post on how to keep golu at home. At that time, many of my readers asked me to make a post on Navratri naivedyam recipes list. So today I have come up with the list of prasad recipes like rice varieties, sweets, sundal recipes/snacks based on South Indian and North Indian Navratri festival. Hope this post will be helpful to you all.
In Tamil nadu, during Navarathri people worship Goddess Durga for the first three days, Goddess Lakshmi for the second three days and Goddess Saraswathi for the last 3 days. People used to offer some sweets and sundal recipes for God in front of Golu. Even though navarathri is a 9 days festival, the day that comes before Navarathri i.e Amavasya and the day after Navratri where we celebrate the victory of good over evil as Vijayadasami, comes to 11 days.
Married ladies & young girls are invited to home and we give thaamboolam along with a sundal variety or sweet as Golu prasadham. We usually keep the golu on Pradhamai day evening. So we offer sweet pongal/sakkarai pongaland chana sundal/kondakadalai sundal for neivedyam and we offer some fruits, rock candy on Vijayadasami day.
I have shared this table of naivedyam recipes by referring Nataraja Deekshithar’s blog post. He had given a clear explanation about Navaratri celebration in temples and its importance. He has also mentioned the list of flowers, leaves, kolam, fruits, Neivedyam and Raga to be used for Navratri 9 days. I took the neivedyam recipes, added 2 more recipes for each day morning & evening neivedyam and framed this table.
I have given different sweet recipes, rice variety and sundal recipes for 9 days. You can alter the sweets and sundal varieties based on your liking. But the rice variety given here is as per the tradition according to Deekshithar’s post. So you can follow the same. I have linked all the recipes to my post. You can click on that to view the respective ones. I am yet to post few sundal recipes in this list. I will do it this week.
I hope this table would be useful for people who wants to get some ideas for Navratri recipes. Ok, lets check the table below.
In Andhra Pradesh, Navadurga ( Nine aspects of Goddess Durga) is worshipped during Navratri. Varieties of prasadam is offered to God on these nine days.
In North India, People worship nine different forms of Maa Durga.
Day 1 – Maa Shailaputri to bless disease free life Day 2 - Mata Brahmacharini to increase longevity of family members Day 3 - Mata Chandraghanta to fulfill all the wishes and provides relief from worldly pains Day 4 - Maa Kushmanda to improve the intellect and decision making ability Day 5 - Mata Skandmata to keep the physique healthy Day 6 - Maa Katyayani for health and happiness Day 7 - Maa Kaalratri to remove Evil powers Day 8 - Maa Mahagauri to provide success in life(Kanya puja is performed) Day 9 - Maa Siddhidatri for all sidhi
People perform fasting, pooja and pray the Goddess by offering nine different bhog on these 9 days. Lets see them below. Sorry, I have not shared Vrat ka recipes ideas. I have just mentioned the sweet recipes and the ingredients you can offer on these 9 days.
DISCLAIMER : I have made this list based on the inputs from various sources. Please alter them according to your tradition by consulting your family elders.
Parangikai puli kulambu/ Manjal poosanikai kuzhambu/ Yellow Pumpkin Vatha kuzhambu is a yummy South Indian kuzhambu recipe I learnt from my MIL. Whenever my MIL visits my place, I try to learn some new & traditional dish from her. When we were discussing about yellow pumpkin recipes, she suggested me to make this vatha kuzhambu adding pumpkin(Parangikai/Manjal poosanikai in Tamil). She also told me as easy method of doing this kulambu directly in a pressure cooker. I found it interesting and tried it for our lunch on the same day.
I prepared this gravy along with mixed vegetable kootu as side dish. It was a nice combination. Everybody loved its taste. As we are doing in a pressure cooker directly, time taken to cook this gravy is just 15 minutes. So bachelors and working women can The taste of pumpkin gives a natural sweetness to the gravy. So we don’t have to add jaggery to this puli kuzhambu unlike other vatha kuzhambu recipes. You can make this gravy thick or thin as you wish. It tastes good either ways. Adding Homemade sambar powder or Vatha kuzhambu powder gives the best taste. I don’t think you can make this puli kuzhambu with white pumpkin because it absorbs all the tanginess of the gravy. So friends, do try this yummy, easy, no grind parangikai puli kuzhambu and share your feedback with me. Lets see how to make Parangikai puli kuzhambu/Pumpkin vatha kuzhambu with step by step pictures.
Temper mustard, dals.Saute the onion,garlic,curry leaves adding salt.
Add tamarind extract, spice powders and pumpkin cubes.
Pressure cook for 2 whistles in low flame.
Remove and boil if needed.Serve hot with rice.
Parangikai Puli Kuzhambu - Step by step photos
Wash and chop pumpkin into big cubes as shown the picture below.Finely chop 2 small onions or quarter big onion and 2 garlic cloves, curry leaves and set aside.
Heat oil in a cooker base.Splutter mustard seeds, methi seeds,urad dal, toor dal, cumin seeds, finely chopped onion, garlic and curry leaves. After it turns golden, add the remaining onion and whole garlic cloves. Saute till onion becomes transparent.
Add 1 cup of tamarind extract, turmeric powder, sambar powder and salt.Then add pumpkin cubes.
Pressure cook for 2 whistles in low flame. Remove after the steam is released. Boil the gravy if thin and watery else mix well and serve with rice.
Notes
Adjust the quantity of sambar powder as per the tanginess of tamarind.
For variations, you can add 1tbsp red chilli powder and 1tbsp coriander powder instead of sambar powder.
No need to use jaggery
As we are cooking directly in a pressure cooker, we don't need to add more water.
Chop pumpkin into big cubes else it will get mashed in the gravy.
Tomato rava upma recipe / Rava upma with tomatowith step by step pictures - Tomato rava upma is an yummy, instant, South Indian breakfast recipe with a nice variation from our regular rava upma. Usually I add tomato and vegetables only for rava kichadi but this morning I prepared rava upma with tomato just for a change. Basically I am a big fan of tomato based recipes. Even though I don’t like rava upma, I loved this tomato rava upma a lot. It tastes tangy and spicy as well just like rava kichadi. If you wish you can add green peas in this upma to make it look colorful.
I had some leftover upma for my dinner too. It was good and stayed soft. So you can pack it for lunch box as well. Friends, If you are bored of making rava upma, do try this tomato upma for your breakfast or dinner. It tastes good with coconut chutney as side dish. Try and let me know your feedback . My School moms friends make Karnataka style tomato rava bath. I will ask them and share that recipe later. Now lets see how to make this Tamil nadu style tomato upma recipe with step by step photos.
Heat oil, Temper mustard, dals.Saute the vegetables adding salt.
After tomato becomes mushy, add spice powders.
Mix well and add water. After water comes to boil, add rava.
Mix well, cover cook for 5 minutes.
Add coconut oil / ghee.Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with coconut chutney.
Tomato Rava Upma Recipe - Step by step photos
Wash and chop the tomato, onion, chilli.Set aside.Dry roast rava for 7 minutes in medium flame without burning it.Keep in a plate.
Heat oil in a kadai.Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal and curry leaves. After it turns golden, add finely chopped onion and slit green chilli.
After onion becomes transparent, add finely chopped tomato.Saute till tomato becomes mushy. Add salt to cook tomato quickly.
Add red chilli powder or sambar powder and turmeric powder. Mix well till raw smell goes off.Add water and let it roll boil.
Lower the flame completely.Add the roasted rava in a sprinkled way using one hand while stirring constantly with other hand. It helps to avoid lumps.Once all the rava is added, it absorbs the water and becomes thick. Cover it with a lid and cook for 5 minutes in low flame.Mix once in the middle.
Switch off the flame after rava is cooked soft. Add coconut oil or ghee. Garnish with coriander leaves.Mix well and serve hot with coconut chutney!
Notes
Adjust the quantity of chillies as per your taste.
For variations, you can add 1/2 tsp garam masala powder for masala flavor.
Remember to add rava in a sprinkled way to avoid lumps.
No need to add more water. Adding more water makes it like kichadi.
You can use wheat rava instead of semolina and make the same. But add 3 cups of water.
Color of this upma varies as per the chilli powder you use. Use Kashmiri chilli powder for bright red color.
Collection of 10 different puri recipes / poori varieties – Indian deep fried bread. I make Poori recipe / Puri recipe for breakfast regularly during weekends. When I was a beginner in cooking, making a puffy poori just like hotel ones was my dream. Slowly my dream came true by practice. After making several attempts, I got to know the technique, tips and tricks for making puffy and soft puri.
In this post, I have shared all the possible tips & tricks to make perfect poori based on my observation. Hope these points would be useful for beginners. Once I started making it perfect, I got tempted to try different types of puri recipes. So I prepared varieties of poori along with different side dish recipes for our Sunday breakfast and blogged the same. This is how I got a collection of these 10 poori varieties in my website.
You can find basic poori/puri recipe with wheat flour(atta in Hindi), Chola poori/Maida puri, Tomato poori, Paneer stuffed puri, Spinach/ Palak poori, Beetroot poori, Potato poori, Kutta atta puri, Spicy masala puri, Finger millet/Ragi poori in this collection. I have given step by step pictures for all these recipes and few video recipes as well.
I am yet to try North Indian stuffed puri recipes like urad dal puri, peas stuffed puri, dal poori, bharva puri, bhatura and the most popular Pani puri recipe and puri recipes for vrat/fasting like rajgira puri and Shingare ki puri. I will try to add them in this list soon.
Generally Kids love to eat poori more than roti. So you can try these varieties at home for their breakfast or evening snacks and make it healthy with some stuffing. Ok, lets see the collection of 10 poori recipes / Puri recipes / Indian flat bread varieties to make at home for weekend breakfast & special occasions. Please click on the images to view the recipe.
TIPS FOR MAKING PERFECT POORI
Addition of rava/sooji/semolina in the wheat flour helps to make puffy poori.
Adding a dash of ghee helps to keep the puri soft.
Unlike chapathi dough, poori dough has to be tight and thick.
Dough should be kneaded well to make it smooth and crack free.
Resting time is not necessary for the dough.
Rolling should be thicker than roti to get puffed poori.
Do not dust too much in flour. Oil will get more sediments.
Always dust off the excess flour coated in the rolled poori by patting between your hands.
Oil temperature should be checked before dropping the poori.
If oil temperature is less, puri will sank in oil and doesn't puff up.
Oil should not be smoky hot too. Color of poori will become dark.
Poori should not be stacked one over the other.
POORI RECIPES / PURI VARIETIES
Basic poori recipe/Puffy Puri recipe with videoChola Poori RecipePotato Recipe/Aloo Puri with videoPaneer Puri Recipe With VideoRagi Poori Recipe Palak Poori RecipeBeetroot Poori RecipeKuttu atta Poori RecipeTomato Poori RecipeMasala Poori Recipe With Video
List of Indian food ideas for kids birthday party recipes menu at home / vegetarian food items list for birthday party dinner & Lunch – Organizing Children’s birthday party is really a challenging task for parents. Some people love to conduct an elaborate dinner or lunch party and some prefer to make a simple tea party by just providing cake and snacks based on their budget.
Most of the people wish to keep the party in the evening or in the afternoon if its a weekend. Since its a kids party, many people stick to vegetarian menu if they have a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian guests.
Be it a simple snacks party or an elaborate dinner/lunch party, choosing the cake, planning the menu, decoration of home/ party hall and arrangements would be tough for many especially beginners.
So I have tried my best to help you choose the party menu. Birthday party food items should be attractive, kids friendly and healthy at least to some extent. Not just for kids, menu should be appealing to adults as well. Long back I had shared a simple kids birthday party menu idea after getting inspired from one of my friend’s party.
After I made that post, I too got the confidence and started conducting simple birthday party at home for Raksha’s birthday. I got many mails from my readers to post more related to this topic. So today I have come up with the list of kids friendly, birthday party menu items list for Indian kids to help parents like me. I have also linked the recipes for reference. Its purely a vegetarian menu but you can find both South Indian & North Indian recipes.
Non-vegetarians, please excuse me. You can get some ideas from this list and make fries, gravies, biryani with chicken, mutton and egg. I took the help of my friend Shalini to frame this list. As we live in apartments, we have the chance of attending many parties. Shalini is in US now. Being in abroad, her friends conduct some potluck, get together and parties during weekends to meet people and build relationships. So she could help me well with her own ideas.
I have also got some menu ideas from my school moms friends. With the help of this list, you can decide the party menu based on your budget. You can cook the food on your own or buy from outside/ restaurants.You can also opt to make Jain food without using onion and garlic.
All these pictures shared in this post are the ones I collected for years. The picture given below is the simple decoration I made at home for Raksha’s birthday party.
I have categorized this list as Starters/Appetizers, Main course, Dessert, Drinks & Beverages that are suitable and loved by kids from 3 to 10 years. Basically kids love to have foods based on tomato, paneer, sweet corn, cauliflower, baby corn, bread, cheese and fruits. So I have given most of the dishes using these ingredients. These recipes would be surely a winner among the kids.
Friends, do make your own permutations and combinations according to your kids preferences and frame the party menu. Hope you all find this list useful. Do leave a few words in the comment section and help me with your suggestions for more recipes and a few words of appreciation to motivate me if you find this post helpful. Ok, lets move on to the list of birthday party menu ideas ! Friends, do help me by sharing your thoughts and more recipes to include in this list.
In the above picture, you can find a sample of simple snacks party and the lunch party menu. If you are inviting kids without parents, you can give a simple party by giving a drink, starter/snacks, cake and a dessert. Finger foods is the best option for kids below 10 years. Skip the main course. To make it even more simple, you can just finish it with cake & samosa or veg puffs. If you are inviting adults/parents, then you can go for wider options. Birthday party should be more of fun, hassle free and memorable. So you can arrange for small games, magic shows, music, dance to make the party more interesting.
Do refer my Simple birthday menu post to get some ideas on how to conduct the party & gifting for kids. I have also shared a sample menu at the end of this post to get some idea.
Bread stick dipped in Nutella with sprinklers on top
Jelly
Sample menu for simple birthday party
Orange juice
A slice of Birthday cake
Mini samosa with ketchup or Veg puffs or cashew pakoda
Gulab Jamun
Sample menu for Dinner or Lunch party buffet
Any aerated drink or Fruit punch for welcome drink
Tomato soup/Sweet corn soup
French fries or aloo tikki or kabab with tomato sauce/green chutney
Gobi manchurian
Roti / Naan / Kulcha
Paneer butter masala or Mixed veg gravy
Dal tadka
Dum aloo or baby potato gravy
Veg Dum Biryani with raita
Plain rice, rasam, fryums
Curd and pickle
Gulab jamun
Carrot halwa
Ice cream
Fruit salad
Paan/ Beeda
POINTS TO NOTE
Pastries are better than the cream cakes. So choose the cake accordingly.
Make less spicy food as you are cooking for kids. Parents will adjust/ compensate about the taste.
Kids prefer deep fried foods for starters. Gobi 65 or manchurian is the best choice.
They love the food more if its cheese, paneer and potato based.
Kids love to have poori more than roti.
Most of the kids love paneer butter masala and potato, peas kurma more than mixed vegetable kurma.
Always keep some plain rice, dal and rasam to tackle fussy kids.
If you arrange for dinner party, make some idli too.
Its always better to avoid aerated drinks like pepsi, 7up etc. You can give some fruit juices instead. No problem even if its store bought.
Gulab jamun would be the best dessert for Kids. No kid would say NO.
Ice cream is also a must for kids.
Keep some hot water ready. Many kids are allergic to cold stuffs like ice cream , chocolate and cakes. So you can tell the parents to give them hot water immediately after they eat ice cream/chocolates to prevent from cold, fever. I am sure this tip works.
Finally, do not force your kids to eat everything in the plate. Most of the kids love to eat the cake, starter and dessert. Do not worry about it. Parents can feed them later at their house if needed.
Hope this list helps you to decide the menu quickly. Thanks for visiting this page !
Last week I made Dahi aloo recipe ( Dahi wale aloo/ dahi aloo ki sabzi) as side dish for Kuttu ki puri. In North India, people make dahi wale aloo during fast/Vrat for roti or poori. Dahi aloo is a yogurt based/curd based dish in which boiled potatoes are cooked with spices. It is most popular in Rajasthan. I could relate its taste to Dahi kadhi. I followed this recipe from Maayeka. We liked it with kuttu atta poori. This Dahi aloo sabzi goes well with Rajgira poori and Sabudana thalipeeth too.
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 !
When she suggested this, I was very happy and tried it because thakkali gotsu is our family favorite side dish for idli. So this recipe would never fail. Its a very easy, one pot sambar recipe for idli / dosa. Even though moong dal is added, we make it watery in consistency so that it tastes juicy with idli.Both adults & kids would love this recipe. This thakkali kai gotsu is completely different from Chidambaram gosthu. You must try it know the difference 
. Ok, lets see how to make green tomato sambar / Thakkali kai gotsu for idli with step by step pictures !
