Arachuvitta Sambar Recipe | Tamil Brahmin Tiffin Sambar Recipe

Learn how to make Arachuvitta Sambar ~ South Indian lentil and vegetable stew flavoured with fresh roasted spice and coconut mix and tamarind extract

People who know me tell me that I turn little crazy when I start missing certain food. Food has that kind of effect on me and some days, it can turn my life upside down! It is especially so if I don’t get to eat full-fledged South Indian breakfast of Idli, Vada and Sambar at least once a week and begin to show withdrawal symptoms. Notice that gorgeous bowl of Sambar up there? It’s called Arachuvitta Samabr. This little tongue twister is a wonderful Tamil Brahmin Tiffin Sambar recipe where fresh ground roasted spices and coconut mixture is added to the simmering pot of vegetable and lentil stew with tamarind extract. Unlike other sambar recipes, this one uses fresh ground spice instead of ready to use sambar powders which makes it finger-licking good!

Ingredients for Arachuvitta Sambar

The ingredients which we find in sambar powder has dried red chillies, which surprisingly came to India only in the 15th or 16th century by the Portuguese from Mexico. Not just the chillies, but also tomato, potato and onions were not part of ancient Indian cuisine and were introduced by the western settlers and invaders around the same century. It is quite interesting that these ingredients have become a staple in many food preparation all over India and Indian subcontinents and are as Indian as it gets. Prior to red chillies became an integral part of cooking, it was the black peppercorns and ginger which added the heat to the curries and other food preparations and to this date, many South Indian recipes still uses black peppercorns and ginger (both in fresh and dried form) to spice up the dish and also for their immense medicinal properties and health benefit. We are so used to seeing the red or orange hued curries, it is bit difficult to imagine pale coloured sambar or other curries and this just shows how Indian cuisine has embraced the chillies as it is their own home produce! And so are the potato, tomato and onions without which it is difficult, if not impossible, to imagine the current Indian cuisine!

Harive Soppina Huli/Sambar Recipe | Vegan Red Amaranth Leaves/Keerai and Coconut Sambar Recipe

Learn how to make Vegan Harive Soppina Huli/Sambar or Keerai Sambar ~ Red Amaranth cooked in a spicy and sour lentil and coconut gravy tempered with fried garlic and curry leaves

I am going through a phase which intellectuals call as writer’s block when words seem to have abandoned them. Although I am far from calling myself a writer, I would like to use this fancy term to express this current period of word drought in my life. This one post in recent years got to be one of my shortest post with one of my most loved and cherished recipe. I have this wonderful Harive Soppina Huli or Red Amaranth (Keerai) and Coconut Sambar recipe which missed to make an appearance all these years! Try it and trust me, you will not regret it!

As the name suggests, HuLi (pronounced as who-Lee) means sour in Kannada and this recipe of Harive Soppina Huli or Keerai Sambar is little different from the traditional Soppina Huli recipes in terms of cooking technique and also the ingredients used in fresh masala. Instead of cooking the dal separately, I tend to cook the lentils along with greens to save time. I also like my Huli on bit tangier and hence use both tomatoes and tamarind pulp in making this Huli. I like to add a piece of cinnamon and few cloves, which I believe elevates the flavour and aroma, when making fresh roasted spices that is ground to smooth paste along with freshly grated coconut and tamarind.

Vegan Spicy Tomato Chutney Recipe | Quick and Easy South Indian Tomato Chutney Recipe

Learn how to make Spicy Tomato Chutney ~ Vegan South Indian style tomato chutney with aromatic spices and garlic

I can’t believe how fast the days are zooming past. Was it just a week ago we celebrated LD’s 6th birthday?! Within a month’s time he will finish his year 1 and move to year 2 this fall! It is going to be painful and really difficult to say goodbye to the teachers and the teaching assistants who have helped him with the transition and made his first year in big school a memorable one.

With the summer holidays fast approaching, I’ve decided to make a little handmade and homemade gift for the most important people in LD’s school. This is our way of saying thank you. Among other, one thing I am going to include is a jar of Vegan Spicy Tomato Chutney. This is not just any tomato chutney; this is THE Tomato Chutney that has conquered my heart and taste buds!

Ela Ada Recipe | Steamed Sweet Rice Flour Cakes in Banana Leaves

Learn how to make Ela Ada ~ Sweet coconut-jaggery stuffed rice cakes/parcels steam cooked in banana leaves, a traditional delicacy from Kerala

Last few weeks have been really busy on home front which required my full attention. This was good enough reason for me to wean myself from spending hours on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google+. It was a good break, away from social networks and spending more time on what I do best, annoying my family! ;)

This year the weather god has been really generous, blessing us with beautiful long sunny days and cool breeze in between to keep our cheer high. So we decided to make the most of it. The days were spent with Lil Dumpling, mostly in garden, caring for the plants and painting under the shade of tree. We took a break by chasing butterflies, watching the ants gather food for the winter, twittering with birds, jumping on trampoline and having impromptu picnics.

BaLekai Sippe Palya Recipe | Learn How to Make Vegan Raw Banana Peel Stir Fry

Learn how to make BaLekai Sippe/Raw Banana Peel Palya ~ Vegan hot and sour raw banana skin stir fry with South Indian spices

Last one year has been a crazy year for us, with many twists and turns which made us gasp and halt before we gingerly stepped forward. It was not an easy year for us, but at the same time it turned out to be a very special and most memorable one.

When I wrote this post a year ago about starting a new chapter of our life in India, I had no idea that we will be back in Britain exactly in a year! It’s funny how we think that we have sorted out everything, smoothed the little wrinkly problems, prepared for every challenges that life throws at us and feel that we have planned even the minute thing to last detail, there will still be a little glitch that will pop up somewhere on the way of our near-perfect and well planned life! Well, it didn’t take long to learn even the best laid plans can fail sometimes. Life has taught me many things, and the recent lesson made me realise how important it is to live in a moment and not moan over things when they fail to meet our expectations. In everybody’s life there is a point of no return, a point where we can’t go forward anymore. And when we reach that point in our life, all we can do is quietly accept the fact and face reality. Well that the thing about lessons, you always learn them when you don’t or least expect them!

BaLekai Sippe/Raw Banana Peel Palya served with Kerala matta rice and banana crisps

Beetroot Pachadi Recipe | How to make Beetroot Pachidi

Learn how to make Beetroot Pachadi ~ Beetroot in spiced coconut and yogurt gravy

We three have been very busy here.... Busy doing nothing! Oh wait... We are enjoying the bright sunny days with clear blue sky, lush greenery around us, a lazy stroll in our parents farms, breathing fresh air, warmth of sun shining on our faces, reading books in the cool evening breeze, sleeping under the twinkling stars, playing in the mud and building sand castles in the beach and eating whatever our heart desires! We really have been busy... ;)

Spicy Tomato and Garlic Thokku Recipe | How to Make Spicy Tomato and Garlic Chutney/Relish

Learn how to make Tomato and Garlic Thokku ~ Spicy tomato and garlic chutney/relish for Dosa and Idli

One thing I never thought of becoming when I donned motherhood hat among other very colourful and interesting hats I wear day to day life was getting absent minded and forgetful! Someone who could remember couple of dozens of 10-12 digit phone numbers or every family and friends’ birthdays or anniversary dates was starting to find it difficult to even remember her own cell phone number.

Taro & White Bean Curry – A Guest Post by Chinmayie @ Love Food Eat

Taro and White Bean Curry

I have known her for more than two decades; we grew up on a same street and studied at same school. But we both lost touch when we moved to different cities for higher education. It was only last year when I met her again in my home town when she came to visit me and Lil Dumpling with her ma and gorgeous daughter and then we kept in touch through social network. Few month’s later she mailed me about starting her food blog and since day one, I have become a fan of her beautiful clicks, and what she cooks! It is my greatest pleasure to introduce beautiful Chinmayie of Love Food Eat, a food blog which is unique and simply stunning! Her blog may be just six months old but it is already studded with priceless recipes and beautiful narration. After one look at her blog and I am sure you’ll not want to miss reading her posts. So why not follow her on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook!

Mooli Raita | Radish Pachadi Recipe

Mooli Raita | Radish Pachadi 

No rants or ramblings or memories to share with you all today! Alas, the word that usually forms in my mind coming from heart and flowing at my finger tips tapping on keyboard seems to have left me today…all alone!

Kembude Kai Bendhi | Pumpkin and Cashews in Coconut Gravy Recipe

Kembude Bendhi/Pumpkin and Cashews in Coconut Gravy

In our home we love spicy food. The hotter better is the slogan which we follow for most of the time when we prepare food in our beloved kitchen. A pot after pots of hot fiery food is churned every day which we enjoy cooking, eating and sharing with our friends. A tall glass of sweet or spicy Lassi (yogurt based drink) usually served with most times completes our meal.

Tindora/Ivy Gourd Roast | Roasted Tindora/Ivy Gourd Recipe (How to make Spicy & Crispy Tindora/Ivy Gourd Roast)

Spicy and Crispy Tindora/Ivy Gourd Roast

My love for Tindora or Ivy Gourd grows more with each passing day. Not only I am a great fan of its crunchy texture and taste, I have many fond memories of my childhood days spent with my sister under the shade of its beautiful green vines where we shared our joys, sorrow and many secrets. I had lost the count for number of times I had spent reading my favourite childhood comic books under the shade of it’s think vines and lazily picking some very tender, small Ivy gourds and eating them lying on the blanket. Whenever I cook with these little green gems, I fondly remember the times we spent lying under the shades of these vines beautifully spread across guava tree in my parents’ vegetable garden. Isn’t it interesting how simple and everyday fruits and vegetables can create such fond and happy memories!

Bottle Gourd Peel Chutney: Stop!!! Save the Peels

Bottle Gourd Peel Chutney

“Can you guess what’s in it?”

There she was, my Amma, with a twinkle in her eyes and as excited as a little girl of five who just found next best thing to sliced bread!

“Oh, ho… Oh, no! Here comes trouble”, we all thought.

Kesari Bhath/Suji Halwa: A fool-proof recipe

Kesari Bhath/Suji Halwa

I am not too fond of sweets! Period.

~sigh~ Wish I could just stop it there and pen down today’s recipe. Being a chatty person that I am, I have this urge to write a long post before giving the recipe! So bear with me for few more minutes and few more lines of my ramblings… or else simply skip to the recipe part and I won’t mind at all!

Horse Gram/Huruli & Bimbli Saaru: Hot, Spicy and Comforting

 Horse Gram/Huruli & Bimbli Saaru/Rasam

Few days back everything seemed perfect! Bright and beautiful summer days, lovely blue sky with puffy white clouds, chirpy birds singing happy songs, and my lil pea healthy and happy! Ah, happy days... filled with sunshine, laughter and good fun.

Mango Chutney/Relish: Summer Beckons

Mango Chutney/Relish

A warm hello on a very warm summer day to all warm and lovely readers of Monsoon Spice. How are you? What is happening at your end? Oh, I can go and on as it’s been more than a year since this blog had any food posts. So much has happened in a last year or two and I don’t know from where to start! All of a sudden words seem to have deserted me! My mind is bursting with thoughts and memories which I want to share but they just don’t seem to be budging and flowing at my finger tips. Alas! I am at that phase again. A writer’s block!!!