Tomato Rice /Thakkali Sadham Recipe

On our last visit to India more than 2 months ago, my mother had prepared very delicious and fragrant Tomato Rice with mint. That along with a yogurt raita made a quick fix and light tasting dinner. Quite frankly I am not a huge fan of Tomato Rice and when she proceeded to make the Tomato Rice I was not pleased and had that smirk on my face. But she nudged along and asked me to try it as it was a new recipe and the others in the family just loved it. Quite grudgingly I tried it, but was…

Spicy Pongal (Khara Pongal /Moogachi khichidi)

  Isn’t it true that simple, uncomplicated things are the ones that provide the most warmth and comfort? We had been to an Indian Restaurant last weekend in lieu of a mini-celebration and we had their lunch buffet. You know, how these Indian restaurants are with their buffets; they have a lavish spread of at least 20-25 different variety of dishes to offer, ranging from Naans/Rotis, curries, noodles, chaats, 2 deep fried stuff, 2-3 desserts, idlis/dosas, rice, biryani and what have you. All pleasing to the taste pallets but none to the heartJ.   It is hard to resist the…

Raw Mango, Flat bean Rice (Avarekai MavinaKayi Chitranna)

This is in variation to the Chitranna that I have already mentioned here. Avarekai, is known as ‘Flat Beans’ in English are very famous in Karnataka. Avarekai is available in Indian stores here in the US under the name ‘Surti Papdi Lilva’, usually in the frozen section. A beautiful (picture) of this beans is here.   My MIL also makes another variation of Chitranna by adding grated raw mango and Avarekai to the Rice.  The tanginess for this rice comes from the raw mango and there is no need to add lemon juice to this. I had taken this picture…