! Regional Indian Cuisine Blogroll !

Food Map of India

2011-11-27T12:30:00.000-05:00

I found this food map of India through a chain mail. Very interesting...Click on the map to enlarge

Asparagus Paruppu Usili (Asparagus with Crumbled Lentils)

2011-04-26T12:30:00.001-04:00

Paruppu usili is a side dish popular in Tamil Nadu where lentils (toor dal and chana dal) and vegetables are served together. Dal is soaked and then ground coarsely with spices. It is then made into round balls and cooked by steaming and then crumbled along with cooked vegetables. Here, instead of steaming, dal is cooked by stir-frying in oil, after seasoning with mustard, cumin seeds, chana dal,

Potato Egg Curry

2011-04-21T12:30:00.005-04:00

I took a short break from blogging. Eventhough I was not posting anything, I still was cooking and taking pictures. I usually make egg curry with potaoes in it so that I can use it for more than one day. Potatoes and eggs get along well in this versatile egg curry. To fried onion, garlic and ginger, add masala powders and saute for few minutes. Then add potatoes and tomatoes and cook till tender.

Best Blogger Award

2011-03-31T07:00:00.004-04:00

Thanks to Ammu of Rasi's Veg Bites for sharing this award with me. Ammu has a beautiful blog with a variety of vegetarian recipes, especially Tamil recipes.

Malabar Chicken Fry Masala

2011-03-31T07:00:00.003-04:00

A chicken dry curry recipe from Malabar. Marinated chicken is shallow fried in oil first. For the masala, onion, garlic, green chilli, tomatoes and spices are fried in oil. Fried chicken is then added to the masala and slow cooked for a few more minutes. Serve with rice or any Indian bread. Recipe Courtesy: Aysha's Life Today

Aloo Palak (Uttar Pradesh Style) / Potato Spinach Dry Curry

2011-03-30T07:00:00.002-04:00

This is how I usually make aloo palak, which could be served with both rice and roti. Here onion, garlic and green chilli are lightly fried, then potatoes are added and cooked. When potatoes are half done spinach and other spices are added and cooked and then finally stir fried for a few minutes. The other type is the Punjabi style aloo palak where cooked potatoes are simmered in a pureed spinach

Goan Fish Fry

2011-03-28T07:00:00.044-04:00

A delicious fish fry recipe from Goa. Turmeric, salt, chilli, cumin and coriander powders are made into a paste with kokum pulp to marinate the fish. Marinated fish is then rolled in semolina (sooji or rava) and shallow fried in oil. Goan fish recipes often use kokum as the souring agent, while in Kerala, gambooge (kudampuli or malabar tamarind) is used for the pupose. They both belong to the

Banana Flower Stir-fry (Vazha Koombu Thoran)

2011-03-25T07:00:00.043-04:00

A delicious banana heart (flower) stir-fry which is usually served as side dish with rice. I found some refrigerated banana flowers in the Indian grocery store and dared to buy it once again eventhough last time it turned out to be slightly bitter. It tasted great this time! After removing the outer loose bracts (petals), the flower is finely chopped and washed in water with a pinch of turmeric

Green Beans Mezhukkupuratti (French Beans Stir-fry)

2011-03-24T07:00:00.030-04:00

A simple green beans stir-fry to serve with rice. Onion, shallot, garlic, green chilli and curry leaves are fried in oil, then chopped beans, red chilli powder and turmeric are added and cooked. After cooking, lid is removed and stir-fried for a few more minutes. Recipe Courtesy: Nags' Edible Garden

Capsicum Egg Bhurji (Scrambled Eggs with Bell Pepper)

2011-03-23T07:00:00.024-04:00

Egg bhurji is the scrambled egg preparation from North India. Here egg bhurji is made more nutritional and colorful by adding capsicum. Onion, green chilli and capsicum are stir-fried and then beaten eggs and milk is added. Milk is used in the recipe to make bhurji softer. Serve with rice or roti. Recipe Courtesy: Roochis

Vellarikka Curry (Yellow Cucumber in Coconut Gravy)

2011-03-22T07:00:00.026-04:00

My mom usually make vellarikka (yellow cucumber) curry this way with slight difference. Cucumber is skinned, cut into cubes and then cooked with turmeric and red chilli powder. Ground paste of coconut, cumin seeds and shallots (pearl onions) and crushed mustard are added and finally seasoned with oil, mustard, whole red chilli and curry leaves. Note that butter milk or yogurt is not added to

Mackerel / Ayala Fry (Kerala Style)

2011-03-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

Guess what I found in the grocery store the other day - 'fresh, cleaned' mackerel (ayala)!!! It was not Indian mackerel but Atlantic mackerel (aka Boston mackerel), which differ in appearance from the former. I was very surprised to find fresh mackerel here but it was not as fresh as the mackerel sold by the local fish sellers in Kerala who go from house to house to sell their latest catch. Or,

Palak / Saag Chicken (Chicken in Spinach Gravy)

2011-03-18T07:00:00.003-04:00

Going green on St. Patrick's Day! Yesterday we had chapathi and palak chicken for dinner. I didn't make it with St. Paddy's day in mind; it just happened that way. My son came to the conclusion that he had 'green water' and 'green cupcake' at school, so we are having 'green chicken' for dinner. For the gravy, spinach leaves are immersed in boiling water for a few minutes, then immersed in cold

Bitter Gourd Red Chilli Chutney (Pavakka Mulaku Chammanthi)

2011-03-17T07:00:00.008-04:00

Another interesting bitter gourd recipe. Bitter gourd is cooked with onion and crushed red chilli and then tamarind juice is added. If you are a bitter gourd lover you will definitely like it. I think I added too much bitter gourd compared to the original recipe. Next time I'll exactly follow the recipe. Recipe Courtesy: Tina's Kaipunyam

Vegetable Hakka Noodles (Indo-Chinese style)

2011-03-11T07:00:00.031-05:00

An Indian Chinese style spicy and delicious vegetable hakka noodles. Boil the noodles as per the instructions on the package (I used Ching's hakka noodles). Wash in cold water and pour some oil over it so that the noodles won't get overcooked and stick to each other. Fry onions, garlic, ginger and vegetables and spice it up with soya sauce, chilli sauce, ketchup, chilli flakes, pepper and salt.

Ethakka Aviyal (Green Plantain in Coconut Gravy)

2011-03-10T07:00:00.004-05:00

Although the word 'aviyal' denotes mixture of vegetables, this side dish is made with green (raw) plantain alone. Plantain is cooked with green chilli, kudampuli (malabar tamarind or gambooge), turmeric, curry leaves and salt. Grinded mixture of coconut, cumin seeds and pearl onions (shallot) are added and cooked. The dish is finished off with a dash of oil and curry leaves. Kudampuli can be

Boiled Tapioca with Green Chilli Chutney (Kappa Chendamurian with Mulaku Chammanthi)

2011-03-09T07:00:00.023-05:00

Tapioca is a staple food of Kerala. The easiest way to have it is by merely boiling it, where tapioca is cooked in boiling water and then served with hot chutney or fish curry. Chutney is made in different ways either with red chilli powder or green chilli. To make geen chilly chutney crush together green chilli, pearl onion (shallot), peanut size tamarind, curry leaves and then add oil and salt.

Jaisalmeri Kala Chana (Black Chickpeas in Yogurt Gravy)

2011-03-08T07:00:00.004-05:00

A kala chana recipe from Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Cooked chickpeas is simmered in a yogurt-chickpea flour (gram flour or besan) gravy along with other spices. Serve with roti, naan or chapathi. Recipe Courtesy: Chitti's Kitchen

Penne with Chicken in Cream Cheese Sauce

2011-03-07T07:00:00.003-05:00

My son declared that he don't like cream cheese and this is one way I found to make him eat some left over cream cheese. Cream cheese, milk and parmesan cheese formed a great sauce for pasta. Fried chicken pieces, red bell pepper and green olives blended in well with the sauce. Recipe Courtesy: CookingWithPhilly.ca

Chicken Ularthiyathu (Kerala Style Chicken Stir-fry)

2011-03-04T07:00:00.003-05:00

A delicious chicken fry recipe from Kerala. Chicken is cooked and then stir-fried with onion, ginger, garlic, tomato and other freshly roasted spices. Serve with rice or chapathi. Recipe Courtesy: Sangeetha's Kothiyavunu

Palak Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese in Spinach Gravy)

2011-03-02T07:00:00.029-05:00

A delicious paneer dish in spinach gravy popular in North India. Paneer fried in ghee is cooked in a spinach-tomato-cream gravy along with fried onions, green chilli, ginger, garlic and other spices. Spinach and tomatoes are cooked in boiling water (blanched) and then pureed to get the rich, smooth gravy. Finish off the dish with cream and kasuri methi to get the restaurant like taste. Serve

Chilli Mushroom (Indian Chinese style)

2011-03-01T07:00:00.028-05:00

An Indo-Chinese style mushroom dish which is very easy to prepare. Mushrooms are fried with onion, ginger, garlic, green chilli and then cooked in a sauce containing vinegar, soy sauce, chilli sauce and tomato ketchup. Addition of bell pepper augments the taste and aroma of the dish. Serve with fried rice or chapathi. Recipe Courtesy: Yummy O Yummy

Vermicelli (Semiya) Upma

2011-02-24T23:00:00.001-05:00

A South Indian breakfast which is very easy to prepare.Vermicelli is roasted and then cooked with fried onion, ginger, green chilli and vegetables. Adjust vermicelli : water ratio to 1:1.5-2 to avoid sogging of vermicelli. A dash of lemon juice will help to improve the texture of the upma. Topping with butter will give a nice flavor to the upma and will also keep the vermicelli from sticking

White Radish (Daikon) Stir-fry

2011-02-24T07:00:00.029-05:00

This stir-fry is made from the white Asian radish or mooli (Daikon), although it no longer looks white. I used two 'large' radishes and I never knew that so much water could be retained in radish that it left my stir-fry not that crispy as it was intended to be! Onion, garlic, chilli-cumin-coriander-garam masala powders and a squeeze of lemon juice offset the sharpness of the radish in this

Vegetable Fried Rice (Indo-Chinese Style)

2011-02-23T07:00:00.029-05:00

I enjoy Chinese food as much as I do Indian food. Indian Chinese cuisine is a popular candidate in Indian restaurants all over the world. This simple vegetable fried rice is very easy to prepare and it left a nice aroma in my kitchen that my son asked if I had brought food from restaurant. Recipe Courtesy: Shoba's Anubhavati