Kerala style Chicken Curry/ Chicken kuruma/ Slow Cooker Chicken Curry

Chicken in almost any form is good for health. Apart from good source of protein, Benefits in weight loss, cholesterol control and rich in calcium. Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world. This curry is perfect for roti, appam and rice. The recipe is rich in flavour as we are going to add coconut milk in the end. Try this easy and traditional recipe:

Kathirikai Masiyal/ Mashed Brinjal / Eggplant Gravy/ Baingan Bhatra

Each state in India has their own style of cooking. Brinjal Masiyal is one of the tastiest and easiest dish which goes well with rice and roti. It gives a rich gravy consistency. Let's see how to prepare it:

Avarakkai Poriyal/ Broad Bean Stir Fry

Broad beans are an excellent vegetable source of protein and fibre. This may be a winning combination for weight loss. Many recipes can be done with Broad beans. We can make avarakkai poriyal with onion, with Dal, with egg, with coconut or we can simply make sambar with this vegetable. Today we are going to learn how to cook avarakkai poriyal with onion and coconut.

White Sauce Pasta

Creamy white sauce pasta is all time favourite for me. If you like to impress your guests with less timing then this italian cuisine ranks first. Olive oil and garlic are the predominant flavours in italian cuisine.

Ghee Rice/ Jeera rice

Are you bored of eating plain white rice daily. Here comes an alternative. Instead of eating white rice you can flavour them with ghee, cinnamon, cardamom, shah jeera, onions. Serve this ghee rice with egg curry, chicken curry, mutton curry. It really tastes awesome. Try it and leave your comments:

Egg Curry/ Egg Gravy

Egg is one of the healthiest and most nutritious food on the planet. It is a good source of inexpensive, high quality protein. Weight watchers can take egg white alone as more than half of the protein is found in egg white and lower amounts of fat and cholesterol. 

Instant Pot Carrot Halwa/Slow cooker Carrot halwa

CARROT - This orange crunchy veggie has a lot of powerful health benefits like beautiful skin, cancer prevention, improves vision and anti - aging. This root vegetable is a good source of antioxidant agents. A nutritional veg as a sweet is a double dhamaka.

Paasi parupu Sambar /Idly Sambar/ payatham parupu sambar/ Moong dal Sambar

Idly and Sambar is an excellent combo. Sambar goes well with idly, dosa, paniyaram, uthappam, vada. Generally, we make sambar for rice with toor dal and this idly sambar with either moong dal alone or combination of moong dal and toor dal. My 'H' loves this payatham parupu sambar. He usually dip it lightly if i keep chutney. If it is sambar, then he loves to soak the idly in sambar and eat. 

Cheese Sticks

Cheese Sticks are one of the most favourite things for little ones. 'K' always ask for cheese sticks at restaurants. After a hesitation, i thought of trying at home. He was so curious after i told him that i'm going to make cheese sticks for him. He voluntarily wants to help him and sat near me in the counter. With the help of two little hands here comes cheese sticks:

Fried Tempura Shrimps/ Shrimp Fry/ Prawn fry/ Golden Shrimps

Prawns - my all time favourite. Though it increases your cholesterol once in a while is ok for me. You can give prawns for kids for weight gain and it is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Generally, I used to do prawn gravy until i learn this one. I'm sure you'll love the taste and stick to this recipe after trying this once. Recently, i went to Thailand for a trip. I learned this recipe there and the ingredients also i bought it from there. Try using the same recipe to enhance the taste. If you are in dubai, you'll get in global village Thailand shop.

Paavakai Fry/ Bitter gourd fry

Bitter Gourd is an essential medicine for those who are diabetic. Though it is bitter to taste, it is full of essential nutrients. It makes an essential detoxifier and skin cleanser. Regular intake of bitter herb boost the immune system while removing all unnecessary toxins. 

My Husband likes bitter gourd oil fry. Inorder to include bitter taste in food i used to do it once in a week. You can add onion before adding vegetable to enhance the taste.

Methi Dal/Fenugreek Leaves Dal/Parupu Venthiya Keerai

Spinach (Keerai) has a lot of nutritional values. It is low in calories yet very high in vitamins. It is an excellent source of iron, protein and dietary fiber. It is advised to take spinach in daily life. 
Methi Leaves are generally cooked along with dal, paratha and curry. Dal is a good source of protein and fiber.

Keerai Poriyal/Arai Keerai Poriyal/ Siru Keerai Poriyal/ ThanduKeerai Poriyal

Spinach (Keerai) has a lot of nutrional values. It is low in calories yet very high in vitamins. It is an excellent source of iron, protein and dietary fiber.

It is advised to take spinach in daily life. Today we are going to learn how to do keerai poriyal:

Kuzhi Paniyaram/ Kara Paniyaram and mint coconut chutney

Kuzhi Paniyaram is a traditional south indian dish. With the same batter we can make both sweet and kaara paniyaram and here i'm going to show how to do kaara paniyaram. When idly batter turn sours, we make dosa and even dosa batter stays for 2 more days then we can make paniyaram as a substitute for dosa as most of them get bored with eating same idly and dosa.

Mutton Biryani /Lamb Biryani)/Ambur Style Mutton biryani

Biryani - A recipe only made for a special occasion during my childhood days. After marriage if i hear this restaurant's biryani is very good from my neighbours then the very next day we hunt the location and go even if it is 30km far to eat the biryani. All my family are biryani lovers. Not all biryani tastes same. i have tasted 'N' number of biryani's and each have a unique taste of its own.

During the early days of trying biryani recipe either i'll overcook or undercook it. I was always searching for a fool proof method. I even bought a rice cooker specially for biryani bcoz someone has told me that you'll get fluffy rice but that too didn't worked out for me. My neighbour thought me this simple style of biryani that anyone can do it. So, here comes:

Meen Varuval (Fish Fry)

Fish is an important source of omega-3 fatty acids. It has a reputation of being low calorie and high protein food. Eating fish once or twice a week can be enough to reap its benefits. 

Generally, i go for fish kuzhambu rather than varuval coz i used to buy it in nearby supermarket. Last week i went to beach with 'K' for Funtime and met a tamil fisherman. After enquiring, he gave his number and asked to contact him if i need fish. I ordered for a fish of any variety but a fresh catch fish. He brought a sack full of sankara uncut fish. The next full week comes fish kuzhambu, fish fry, fish patties menu for meal. And here comes beach side fish fry:

Vendaikai Poriyal

The health benefits of Lady's finger whether you eat them raw or cooked is more. It helps control diabetes, weight loss, improves mental function and immunity, good for pregnant women and prevents cancer. It is widely used in India. Also known as Okra, Bhindi in hindi.

'K's all time favourite nowadays and he'll empty the bowl as soon as he saw it. I make this at least once in a week. So, here comes:

Notes:

To avoid the stickiness while cooking the okra:

• pat dry for at least an hour. If you are in a hurry, can cut the piece a day before and store in air tight container.
• don't chop too thin pieces.
• add a tbsp of curd while cooking.
• add 5 to 6 drops of lemon juice while cooking.
• add a tbsp of besan flour at last.

Pudhina Kothamalli Thuvayal (Mint Coriander Thuvayal)

Mint Leaves have lots of health benefits which includes digestion, breath freshener, blood purifier, natural glow to skin and many more. Generally i make kothamalli thuvayal and pudhina thuvayal separately. After making a rich biryani yesterday, i m in short of both leaves. Hence planned to incorporate both in today's meal. It goes well as a side dish with rasam and curd, also can mix with rice as a variety rice and suits best for lunch box too. So, here comes: