Spicy mushroom masala

Mushroom sauteed and then simmered in a spicy and tangy gravy is definitely a wonderful side when having chapathis/naan/pooris for a meal. A silky smooth gravy with a rich colour gives the dish a restaurant-style effect. This recipe can be a called a crowd pleaser. Kids and elders ... everyone will love this gravy 

I was very lazy to make dinner yesterday but then realised that I had to finish up a pack of mushrooms that was lying in the fridge for 2 days. Was feeling very dull and lazy from morning and could not get out of it. When I saw the mushrooms I knew I could not let it go waste. So reluctantly pulled it out and decided to make something spicy and restaurant-style. Kids showed up in the kitchen and offered help. They had so much of enthu after having a tiring day at school and an evening class. I could not say no to those cute-little smiling faces. So keeping the laziness aside I decided to make our evening a fun-filled one with lively conversations in the kitchen. We ended up having lot of fun and enjoyed a dinner which we relished till the end.  I paired it with whole-wheat naan and some chilled lemon-juice to enjoy a great dinner.
  
Well the gravy can be made in under 30 minutes but we were so busy chatting and helping each other and taking selfies and each others pictures that we spent more than an hour in the kitchen. Finally it was all worth it when the dinner turned out perfect pleasing everyones taste buds

Methi Matar Malai ....tastes rich, slightly sweet and little creamy

Methi matar malai is a rich and creamy gravy that accompanies very well with rotis/naan. This one was on my to-try list for a very long time now. Every time I would harvest a methi batch from my little garden I would think of making it but somehow or the other I would end up making something else. This time I harvested little more than usual so had some extra at hand after making parathas. Stashed the extra little in the freezer to make sure I use it only for this recipe and none else this time

Tried this recipe last week and it was a big hit among the kids. Sweet green peas and methi cooked in a mildly sweet and creamy gravy is really addictive especially with kids who would else not like to have methi. We grow methi leaves at our home in small batches - they are very good for health, the kids get to show more interest in the garden (like sowing,watering and harvesting) as they are very easy to grow and the best part is that they are great to taste when plucked fresh. We have never had the need to buy it from market as all it needs to grow is just seeds, water and a pot with soil :)

I got this recipe from the internet - rajshri food. I adjusted quantity of ingredients a little to suit our taste buds. This recipe is surely for keeps. Try this recipe and am sure you kids will love it 

  

Quick Babycorn Gravy

Babycorn is everybodys favourite. I use them a lot in my recipes. This one is a quick gravy that gets ready in almost 15 minutes so it gets very easy during the morning school rush when planning to make a kids favourite to school. I use pressure cooker to make this gravy and hence save a lot of time. Theres not a lot of spices in there ... just the regular ones but the gravy turns out wonderful every time

Silky soft gravy with small babycorn roundels cooked to perfection is what makes this gravy special. Love the bite from the babycorn when it together brings out the flavours induced from the gravy. Come on ... dont sweat out much and make this gravy. I am sure everyone will love it

Achari Paneer ... or Pickled Paneer :)

Achari Paneer.... the name itself says everything. Its the pickley taste paneer. Hmm... yummy ... it is perfect as a wonderful side for chapthis / rotis / naans to make your simple meal really tempting. Kids and adults both will like it. I followed the recipe from vahchef's video. Its loaded with a wonderful spice blend that makes the dish taste nice and spicy and tangy... the pickle style

Just to push myself to get into the kitchen my son gave me the idea to try something new with paneer. Checked out this recipe and tried and loved the outcome. I am not sure if I tweaked the recipe anywhere but the dish turned out perfect. Lots of spices in but it definitely for a purpose. If you like a lot of spices in your meal then I can assure this one would be a great addition to our wish list

Soya bean curry..

A simple gravy to bring a change in your regular lunch/dinner menu. Soya is so good for health. It is very rich in protiens, calcium and iron and this curry brings in another way to introduce it to your family's diet without sweating too much. It goes well with chapathis, rotis and phulkas

Lucky me, my kids love this gravy and enjoy it every time. They like to take it school along with poori. Easy to make in the morning so love having the soy beans hany at home always :)

Mushroom Babycorn Gravy

Was looking to try some recipe to try using mushroom and babycorn as I had a little of both left over from the previous day. Wanted a combination of both to suffice for dinner served as a sidedish with chapathis. Looked up a couple of recipes over the internet and picked up a mind-satisfying recipe. Tried this for dinner last week and it was too good. Everyone including the little ones loved the gravy a lot

The preparation of this gravy was also a little different from the usual. Liked the preparation and the best part was that everyone liked it. This recipe is a keeper for sure. If you havent tried a combination of babycorn and mushroom then this recipe is really worth a try. Give it a try and I am sure you will enjoy it

Curd Paneer .... Dahiwale Paneer

If your curd and paneer then this dish is for you. A very simple paneer dish that is pulled together in no time to serve a beautiful meal at your dinner table. The dish is named so as the main ingredient that makes the gravy is curd or dahi. The dish gets chunks of onions and tomatoes in a beauifully spiced curd gravy

This recipe is quick to make yet full of flavours. Me and my kids love it a lot

Dum Aloo... a great sidedish for chapathis

Dum Aloo is a delicious spicy gravy made with small baby potatoes that are deep fried and then added to a slow-cooked mouth-watering curry. It is a perfect side dish for chapathis and is loved by all. Making this is also pretty easy except that it tastes best when cooked on low flame for a longer time. So dont be in a hurry when making it :)

My kids love this with rice and chapathi both. They love the fried potatoes so much. I dont deep fry them instead pan fry them till golden crust is formed

Malai Paneer... very quick and easy to make

Malai paneer as the name suggest is the creamy paneer masala. The simplest and minimal ingredient paneer gravy which is is creamy and buttery to taste is ready in a jiffy. This is go-to recipe for us when the kids ask for paneer dish in the last minute. They like the creaminess of the gravy and are a big fan of it... and so am I. This curry makes the kids finish up their chapathis soon when served for dinner and the lunchbox comes home wiped clean when served for lunch to school :)

Try this and you will love how simple and quick it is

Prawns curry... semi dry style

A spicy and delicious prawn curry to go good with steaming hot white rice. I dont eat prawns but my family does. This is one reason that I seldom make prawn curry at home. Last time during a visit to my mo's house a friend of ours offered us a bowl loaded with prawns curry. I initially said no especially due to the reason it was a big bowl and there were not many people to finish it off... just my dad and my two little kids. Upon her insisting to take it and seeing her love I could refuse taking it

My younger one likes prawns but the elder one  simple denies if not forced. But this day when I offered him some gravy and asked him to try, he winked with a cute little smile saying he loves it. Both of them enjoyed it a lot. Now that is good for me

The kids wanted me to get the recipe from my friend and try it at home. A very simple no-fail recipe that I tried and came out awesome. Thanks to Dayana... my very good friend for this wonderful recipe :)

Paneer Do Pyaza...

Paneer Do Pyaza is a rich dish made with soft paneer and a whole lot of onions. The term 'Do Pyaza' refers to the addition of onions twice in the recipe. First set of finely chopped onions is cooked till it gets a very soft and melt-in-the mouth texture. Second timee another of diced onions is cooked towards the end of the recipe which gives crunch and volume to the dish

Spices and cream and onions make this a very rich and tasty dish which goes really well with naan, roti, chapati, kulcha etc. I have always had this at restaurants and never bothered to try at home. Had some paneer and thought of trying to make it. I should say it tasted awesome and was perfect with chapathis for dinner. Kids loved.... I could manage to get only a little curry sufficing just one chapathi... for the other I had to use jam ;) I got 10/10 for this recipe. They have made me promise that I should make this for school some day :)

It takes time to make the recipe as cooking on low to medium flame is the mantra. But all the work is worth it. The taste is awesome and this recipe is a keeper for a long long time to come :)

 

Dried Peas masala

Dried peas masala serves as a good sidedish for our dinner menu. Served with hot chapathis, it tastes simple and perfect. Fresh peas sure tastes different from the dried ones. It has its own unique taste. Cooked with few spices and a little cream, this dish tastes is one good addition to the menu for a change

My kids love this so I get to make it once in a while. Check out this simple recipe 

Tawa Paneer....

Tawa paneer is a spicy and tangy sidedish made with paneer, onion, capsicum and tomato. It tastes great with rotis, naan and kulchas too. We have always had this at restaurants and my wish was to serve it at my kitchen table and give everybody a pleasant surprise. I make a lot of paneer gravies but I havent named them anything with the restaurant style name. They were all trials in my kitchen and recipe from friends that could not be tagged with a name. Decided to do a few more based on restaurant menus. Lets see how it goes

Last week when deciding on what paneer dish to make for dinner to serve with chapathis, my elder kiddo niks suggested we make tawa paneer. He wants spicy stuff these days. We checked a few youtube videos and well the procedure was very simple and we had all the ingredients at hand. Tried it for dinner few days back and turned out as we wanted it to be. It was so much liked by kids that they finished off more than half the sabji before daddy was home for dinner. Poor hubby he got to eat less curry than usual :)

Pallipalayam Chicken... our favourite

Chicken is cooked once or twice a week for sure at ours. We love it and so I get to try and make different varieties. This recipe has been on my wishlist for almost three years now. I was introduced to this yummy dish by my husband's colleagues wife... Geetha if I remember the name correctly. We had gone to the mall for and for lunch we settled down at the food court. There was a lot of discussion over the table as usual and everyone came up with something or the other. I was in a mood for some naan and side dish. I could just not come up with anything satisfying when my friend suggested this "Pallipalayam Chicken". She asked me to try it and ensured I would love it for sure. Well yes... I tried it.. I dont like it but instead "I LOVED IT"

Oh yes the curry burst with flavours. I could feel that it was not loaded with too many spices but whatever spices... it was just perfectly blended and perfect. I fell in love with it. To my strangeness my husbands reaction was just ok to it. Now since that was just an ok I kept on postponing to try it in my kitchen. Everytime I would plan to make it, I would think that I was making it just for myself

Now after three long years, I finally decided I should try it. The kids are old enough where they differentiate tastes very neatly and also rate them accordingly. Finally I tried making it and turned out to be a huge it. Even my hubby fell in love with it this time :D

I am sure this recipe is a keepsake for me

Puzhiyotharai mix... Puzhi saatham mix ... a handy item in every south indian home

Puzhiyotharai or puzhi saatham is a traditional south Indian food made in each and every household on a regular basis. Its also served in temples as prasadam. There are many different versions of this and everyone has heir own favourite style to suit their palate. Whatever it is and however it is made, I find it awesome as it lends a wonderful helping hand in packing kids lunch with no hastle

We all love this in our home. So the mix is always made in a decent amount and stocked up in the fridge. Whenever in a hurry or even on lazy days it comes in handy. Just cook some rice and add a little amount of this mix along with some gingelly oil and give it a quick stir. The rice gets ready in no time to be packed for office or school lunch

We make it so often that I forgot to write a post till now. Last week my friend Vidya asked me for my recipe when I got to know that the recipe wasnt up here. So here it is for you my dear friend 

Kofta with nuts and greens in a rich gravy...

Koftas and kofta curries are both a beautiful addition to any dinner menu. Whenever we hear kofta our eyes open wide and we sure feel that drool inside. Our family loves koftas... so it is an often seen menu. But instead of deep fried koftas I have shifted that part to tawa-cooked patties. A little less oil to stay away from the guilt. Its always better to stay away from deep-fried stuff if we can. Sounds good but not easy to find an alternate every time. Koftas into patties sounds good to me..... so this is how it is at our dinner tables 

This kofta has a beautiful nutty flavor from the walnuts, cashews and sesame seeds and also has an added aroma from greens like coriander, curry leaves, mint leaves and green chilly. It sure gives a unique crisp flavor to add up to the taste. I feel its a good way to add some health benefitting nuts and greens which is otherwise picked out from plates and cornered before even the kids start to eat

A simple yet rich gravy adds up to perk the taste and take it to new heights

Paal kootu / Thenga paal kootu..

My kids love chunky vegetables in gravy style. So I include these in my menu often along with Vegetable Kurma and Chunky vegetables in a simple gravy style. They love it for rice, rotis and dosa too. So this is my addition to kids gravies which is less spicy but very delicious. I can say it is a kind of stew coz of its mild coconut flavor.

This one is such a special that my mom makes it for the kids every time we visit them during our vacation. She loves to watch them eat their veggies with so much fun.

Recipe here is very simple and just calls for a little coconut for the dash of flavor.