Soulful Creations

When you too much lauki on hand- this is something you can try. Ingredients 1 medium sized Lauki, cubed 1 tbsp sambar powder 1 lemon-sized tamarind ball, soaked in hot water and the pulp extracted Seasoning  1 tsp Mustard seeds 1/2 to 1 tsp Methi seeds 1 tbsp Chana dal 2 dried red chillies, crumbled Oil 1 - 2tbsp Rice flour, as a thickening agent, dissolved in about 2-3tbsp of water Method Heat the oil, add the seasonings. Once it splatters, add the lauki and saute it. Add sambar powder and saute till the raw smell is gone. Add the tamarind water and cook for about 10 min. Add the rice flour mixture and cook for about 5min or until the kuzhambu is thick. You can also use drumstick  and other berries in this recipe. But the all-time favorite is this one here . Judgement : It tasted great as always- for some reason I thought laukis would turn sweet but thankfully they tasted amazing PS: A halloween horror story about these...

Methi/ Fenugreek, a relatively under-utilized herb that belongs to the Fabaceae family, a family with more famous members such as chick peas, peanuts and alfalfa (the poor methi does not stand a chance now, does it?). Despite having its roots in the Mediterranean region, this herb is widely used in Indian cuisine and I guess this is not really surprising given that India is the largest producer of fenugreek.  Sources: wiki , spice pages The recipe for this lovely sambar comes from Shyamala's blog- I did not change much here.   Ingredients 1/2 cup toor/tuvar dal Fresh methi (fenugreek greens), leaves and tender stems chopped finely 1 onion, sliced thin 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 medium tomato, chopped 1.5 tsp tamarind paste dissolved in 4 cups water 2 tsp oil 1/3 tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp mustard seeds 1 tsp cumin 1/4 tsp asafoetida powder 2 tsp (heapful of homemade powder) sambar powder 1 tbsp rice flour 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish Method: Pressur...

idlis, a "Lunch Box" special. Idlis have a special place in our culture. Be it Ramisseri (yeah they have a special secret idli recipe!), Kanchipuram (the big flat ones) or my mom's mallipoo idlis- a family is never complete with idlis at least once a week. The name seems to have come from Tamil- ittu avi- literally pour and steam. Since it is a combination of rice and lentils,  there is a lot of ground to play in. Some interesting links here and here that describe the little history that we know of, for idlis. Ingredients 3 cups rice 1/2 cup whole urad dal 1/2 cup skinned whole urad dal 1/2 cup sprouts 2 tbsp ground flax seed 1 tbsp methi, soaked separately Method Soak the rice and the lentils separately (you do not have to soak the sprouts) for a few hours; 4 to 6 hrs is plenty of time. Grind them separately adding as little water as possible, add the sprouts and methi seeds to rest of the dal mixture and grind until they become a fine paste -the key to good ild...