Healthy Recipes

puttu upma

Puttu ularthiyathu / puttu upma is a traditional Kerala dish which can be prepared from fresh puttu or left over puttu.  I have already shared the recipe of puttu.  Puttu is a traditional breakfast dish in Kerala and is served with pazham which means banana and papad or with kadala curry (black chickpeas curry).  Puttu with kadala curry is a very tasty combination.  But sometimes at home, we have some

vermicelli upma

    Semiya upma / vermicelli upma is a popular South Indian breakfast dish.  It is made from vermicelli, mixed vegetables and other spices.  I try this recipe very often and is a hit in my family.  This is a very simple version of vermicelli upma with loads of vegetables and no extra spice powders added to it.  Not only for breakfast, it is great for snack also. In this

elumbicha sadam

Lemon rice is a South Indian dish which can be easily prepared even when you are in a hurry.  This can also be made with leftover rice. This recipe comes handy when you wake up late and want to prepare lunch.   This is also best dish to pack for lunch or it is also good to pack during travel time.  Since lemon is added, this rice dish will not get

travancore sambar

Today I am sharing the recipe of sambar.  Though the name sambar looks very simple, but for the same word, there are various methods of preparation.  Tamilnadu sambar is different from Kerala sambar and if you think about Kerala sambar, Palakkadan sambar is very different from Travancore sambar .  Though I love palakkadan sambar with the taste of roasted coconut and other whole spices, I also like travancore sambar and

vegetable biryani

At home, all of us are biryani lovers.  More over it is easy to prepare especially when you make biryani in pressure cooker with some ready made biryani masala, I think, it is most easiest one pot meal which everyone will love to have.  You can serve it with raita, or curd or with any other side dish.  Here I have made biryani with home made biryani masala.  You can

vendakka mezhukkupuratti

Vendakka mezhukkupuratti is an easy to make and tasty side dish for rice.  This can be served with rice and any curry of your choice.  It is very easy to prepare and requires very few ingredients mainly, okra, onion, green chilli.  Now to the recipe.. Ingredients required Vendakka / lady’s finger  – 1/2 kg Green chillies  – 2 shallots  – 10 – 15 (chopped) Turmeric powder  – 1/4 teaspoon Red

Kerala fish fry

Today’s recipe is Kerala style fish fry.  It is very easy to make and tasty too. You can make use of any kind of fish to make this tasty fish fry but I normally prepare this with king fish as my family love it. Now take a look at the recipe.. Ingredients required fish pieces  – 5 – 6 (I used king fish) ginger garlic paste – 2 tablespoon red

peas pulao

Peas pulao is a very popular recipe which is liked by people of all ages.  This is a mild dish made with green peas and basmati rice seasoned with few whole spices and no masala added to it.  This rice dish can be served with any spicy gravy or with raita.  Due to the usage of green peas which is rich in proteins, this rice dish can be thought of

Aloo methi - potato with fenugreek leaves stir fry

Methi seeds are widely made used in Indian kitchen and also the leaves of fenugreek.  Fenugreek leaves are very well known for their anti diabetic properties but due to its bitter taste, it is mostly avoided by children and even by grown ups. But when mixed with some other vegetable like potato, the taste becomes wonderful.  So today, I have made aloo methi which is a dry vegetarian side dish

vendakka theeyal

Theeyal is a traditional dish of Kerala.  Theeyal can be prepared using various vegetables like shallots, lady’s finger, bitter gourd and so on.  There are two main steps of making this curry.  First one, is fry okra with very little oil, till the slimness goes off.  Be careful not to add too much of oil while frying okra otherwise it will be very difficult to remove slimness. The second step

laccha paratha

Lachha paratha is a type of Indian flat bread with its origins from Punjab and is popular throughout India.  Here I have made laccha paratha with whole wheat flour.  This can also be made with half wheat and half maida.  Now to the recipe.. Ingredients required Wheat flour  – 2 cups Oil  – 3 tablespoon Chaat masala – 1 teaspoon salt  – to taste Technique For dough 1.  To the

snakegourd with lentils

Snakegourd is a creeper belonging to cucumber family.  It is widely grown in many parts of the world and has got high medicinal properties.  It is rich in water contents and provides cooling effect to our body.  It is a low calorie vegetable and is rich in calcium, magnesium and phosphorous. This is a recipe snakegourd curry native to Palakkad.  The preparation is very simple and tastes great with chapati

curd rice

Curd rice is a very popular South Indian meal.  It is a very easy to make rice recipe which can be made even by a layman.  The method of making curd rice is very simple – cook the rice, mash it, mix it with milk, curd, butter and salt.  Finally temper the ingredients and add it to the rice mixture.  Ready.  Tasty curd rice is ready to be served.  Apart from

Tortang Talong (Eggplant Omelette) Recipe

When I was a kid, I used to despise eggplants. They taste funny and they smell funny, too. I always thought that eggplants tasted horrible—even without actually eating one. My mother would always try to bribe me to eat my eggplants, but I always declined no matter how much ice cream or chocolate she promised to get me. I was adamant about my personal childhood war against all eggplants. I

Cabbage Thoran / Cabbage Stir Fry

Cabbage thoran is a very healthy, simple and tasty side dish for rice.  This is a Kerala special recipe.  Thoran is a dish which hails from Kerala and is dry vegearian dish where the vegetables are cooked and mixed with coconut, cumin, green chilli and shallot mixture. Thoran can be made with any kind of vegetables and you will find thoran as an indispensable part of Kerala sadya / Onam

How to Make Peanut Sesame Ladoo

Today’s recipe is a very healthy, tasty and easy to make ladoo.  This recipe makes use of very few ingredients namely – peanuts, sesame seeds and jaggery.  In this recipe, I have finely powdered peanuts and sesame seeds, but if you want it to be crunchy, then grind all the ingredients coarsely.  This will give you a nutty taste of sesame and peanuts.  There is no need of any oil

How to Make Beetroot Pachadi

Beetroot pachadi is an integral part of Kerala sadya.  It is a very easy to prepare and tasty  dish.  It is a yogurt based dish and takes approximately 10 – 15 minutes to prepare this wonderful dish.  There are two ways in which you can prepare this pachadi.  One is without coconut which I have shared here and the other is with coconut.  Though this is prepared mainly during Sadya,

Watermelon Juice

I always love fresh juices but watermelon was never in my list.  Though I love watermelon pieces I never liked the juice.  My kids love watermelon juice and whenever we go outside, my daughter always opt for her favourite watermelon juice and I just watch her enjoy it.  But things changed when I tried this watermelon juice with lime juice added to it.  I was quite surprised with this change.  A person who never liked watermelon juice is now finding

Cheera Thoran / Spinach Stir Fry

  This is another healthy and tasty side dish prepared in Kerala as a side dish for rice.  It is a dry coconut based recipe where spinach is cooked and mixed with crushed coconuts, green chillies and shallots.  This is very easy to make except for the cleaning part.  Cleaning spinach takes a lot of time as it has a lot of mud which has to be removed completely.  The

Mooli Paratha / Radish Paratha

Today’s post is a healthy paratha, which is made with radish.  I used to make this paratha few years back (though not in the same way), but stopped making it when aloo paratha started taking preference over other parathas.  Recently, I got a request from a reader asking for recipes with radish.  Though I gave the suggestion as radish paratha, but she was worried about the raw smell of radish.