Thank you friends for the constant queries and support. We have moved from Arkansas to Austin, Texas. We are really liking Austin, it feels a lot like India.
It took a little while to get back on track from the busy moving, exploring/enjoying the new place etc and the lazy mood that follows after the exhaustion.
I have lots of recipes to post in my draft. I can’t wait to post them soon. I can say hopefully that I’m back from the long pause/vacation/break or whatever.

Here’s today’s recipe, Kerala Fish Curry. The reason why I like fish is it’s very rich in protein, no cholesterol and wont feel heavy.
When there’s an option for fish and chicken I would always prefer fish. I am trying out different varieties of Fish dishes to not get bored of my favorite ones.

Kerala fish curry is cooked with coconut oil and coconut milk. These two gives an awesome taste, makes it milder and a wonderful treat with white Rice. Any fish of ur choice can be used. I got this recipe from here.

• I usually like the fish cooked in the sauce, but it will be broken into pieces. If you want the fish to be whole add it when adding the coconut milk.

(*) Serve with White rice and fish fry.

I have been having this in my drafts for a while. Not much to say about it, it’s our day today life cooking of a simple beetroot fry. It’s the the way we do at our house from kongunadu. Probably, every one does it in the similar way I guess.

• Chopped beetroot can also be cooked in the same procedure.
• I like beetroot to be little sweet, if it’s not add little sugar. But this is optiinal.
• Add grated coconut at the end to enhance the taste.

(*) Serve with curd rice, white rice, Sambar rice and Chapathi.

Blueberry pancake with blueberry syrup.

Breakfast is an essential meal of the day and should never be skipped. We wake up after 8 hrs and the last you have eaten is probably 10 hrs back and your body needs that energy to keep going.
Research says, people who tend to skip breakfast work slower than the one who has had breakfast.
When we get up from bed our body metabolism will be very low, after we eat breakfast it raises to a level, we need to keep this level constant through out the day with short snack at 11, lunch in the noon, another short snake at 4 and then proper dinner with the balanced calorie . When there’s a constant intake of food in regular intervals the body burns fat rather than burning muscle. If we eat in regular intervals with the necessary amount of calories for a day, we burn 1/4 pound of fat a week without doing any exercise, which is 1/2 kg a month.
Here’s a simple blueberry pancake recipe for breakfast. Pancakes are like Indian flat rice flour dosa but made with all purpose flour instantly. Pancakes are accompanied with Pancake syrup.
I love blueberries, that’s why you see most of my recipes with blueberry.  The following is a blueberry Pancake with light pancake syrup.

• Variations can be done with adding Oats and some other fruits.
• Whole milk will be used mostly, so you substitute the milk with Whole milk.
• Butter milk will be used in traditional pancake making.

(*) Serve with Maple, Blueberry or any Pancake Syrup.
Sending this to Priya’s Pancake Event.

Milkshakes are very famous in Indian. It will be a hot noon in  India even in Winter. When we go out for shopping definitely there will be a Milkshake/ Fresh juice break. In US, milkshakes are thick and commonly made with ice cream.  In India, it will be made with milk and sometimes little icecream will be added.
Here’s a simple Indian version of banana milkshake. Almost every time atleast one banana goes to waste from a bunch, mostly by just keeping them for a longer period, just becomes too ripe. An easy way not to waste those ripe bananas is to prepare a banana milk shake. A delicious alternative to eating a very ripe banana.

• Finish off the milkshake within 30 min of blending, else it doesn’t tastes fresh.
• Add or reduce sugar according to the taste.

Sending this to Suma’s JIHVA – Breakfast event started by Indira.

A simple fry which is commonly taken with white rice, Curd rice and Sambar. This recipe is a version without coconut, normally we add fresh grated coconut.

• Add grated coconut at the end to enhance the taste and leave it cooked for 2-3 times.
• I don’t add water while cooking cabbage fry.

(*) Serve with curd rice, white rice, Sambar rice and Chapathi.

One of the Kongunadu recipes. These days there are very few marriages at my place without curd semiya, quite famous among kids too. Some people add rice to it and some cook semiya in the normal procedure and add curd to it. We use home made curd which we freshly prepared from the milk we get from our farms. It would be thick, creamy and with slight natural sweetness. Curd with white rice would be our last meal in our lunch for sure. I miss the fresh homemade ones here .. We add pomegranate to curd rices and semiya. In this procedure, tempering can be skipped. It can be severed as it is or cold. You can see the tips to make home made curd in US here.

• Tempering can be skipped, yet tastes good.
• Pomegranate adds extra taste, since I didnt have it, I didn’t add.

(*) This goes well in parties.

This is a simplified version of bisibelabath. Hang on, I didn’t mean the authentic one, it’s my version. When you feel lazy to cook, this would be an easier recipe with a quick cook time. Of course, dhal with ghee tastes heavenly and you can add any vegetables of your taste. Though it is sort of an instance recipe, it vanishes from the plate pretty fast.

• Adding more water makes the rice get mashed up and tastes good.
• Adding ghee is optional, but it enhances the taste.
• This is similar to Arisi Paruppu Sadam with Vegetables.
• If the rice is not mashed up, add 1 cup of hot water and mix it well.

(*) Recipe from my Mom’s Kitchen.

Making chapathi is an art but very simple though. It took a little while for me to learn how to make it soft. Lots of trial and error with various combination, finally, here I come with useful tips which I learnt in the process. Chapathi is less in calories, so when u want to diet what else could be the best substitute. Chapathi pretty much goes well with any curry or gravy.

• Kneading a soft dough makes the chapathi real soft.
• Roll the chapathi as even as possible to get it to puff while cooking.
• Refrigerating helps chapathi to puff.
• Keep it little above medium high heat to get the chapathi done faster and stay softer. The hot air inside the puffed chapathi is enough to cook them well.
• Don’t heat chapathi for more than a min, to get it soft. This way the chapathi’s stays soft for a longer time.
• After the first turn, chapathi can be cooked by placing directly onto a fire flame for just 2- 5 sec to get it to puff nicely. But care should be taken not to burn ur hands.

(*) Any curry cooked with Vegetable or Non- Veg goes good with this.

Most of the people likes potato cooked in any form. This dry curry best matches with Chapathi and packed for lunch boxes.

• Instead of the deep frying, cauliflower can be added directly.
• Tomatoes can also be added, but i wanted it dry.

(*) Serve with Chapathi, Sambar Rice, Curd Rice or any variety rice.

When you have left over rice or want to prepare something really quick and healthy, here we go Vegetable Fried Rice. It’s very easy and a real comforting food.

• Green peas and other vegetables of ur taste can also be added to enhance the taste.
• Egg can also be added while frying the vegetables to make variation.
• Left over rice or rice which is refrigerated can also be used, at the end keep it on stove for some more minutes.

(*) Can be served with sesame chicken or any Chinese chicken variety.