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Thank you my dear friends for ur queries and support. After a short break, here I am back with Banana walnut bread.
These days I am into baking more, at least once a week I am trying to bake. As many of the passionate bakers say even I am becoming fond of baking. This recipe turned out to be super moist with the right amount of sweetness.

The variations can be done by adding other nuts, skip coconut, butter can be used instead of oil, I wanted to keep it light so I used oil.

Based on the baking pan the timing should be adjusted. If you are planning to use mini loaf pans reduce the timing by 10 min and vice versa for bigger pans.

• This can be stored in freezer for upto 3 months or covered with plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for upto 1 week.

Happy Tamil New year Friends !!
I was thinking to do something sweet on the Tamil New year day but wasn’t sure what to do. Suddenly got reminded of the rock sugar which I recently brought from Indian groceries and got this recipe from my MIL. She was telling me that this would taste like halwa as we add more milk and ghee. Trust me, they tasted really like halwa !!! I added more milk than water, also the ghee improved it’s taste.

I don’t remember a special occasion on when this is prepared at our houses, but these days Kalkandu pongal is served in marriages at my palce for dinner.


Some people don’t add milk and prepare just with water, it depends on how you like and milk can be skipped. Of course cooking rice in milk enhances the taste. Some add orange food color or saffron to enhance the look, but I made it plain with no extras. Whatsoever, we really enjoyed this on this new year occasion !!

• Instead of pressure cooked rice, rice can be cooked in a vessel and the rock sugar can be added at the end nd mixed well with the other ingredients.
• Saffron can also be added to get a slight golden color.
• Pinch of orange food color can be added to get nice color.

(*) Recipe from my Mother-in-law.

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I started liking muffins after coming to America. They serve a lot of varieties for breakfast. I love muffins for it’s soft cake like inside texture and the crispy dome. So here’s my attempt at a Strawberry Muffin with fresh strawberries.
I thought the strawberry would be cooked nicely and that won’t be moist inside the muffins, but I was wrong. When it’s cooked I could see the moistened area around every strawberry chunk, not sure if this is how it would be or I am doing it wrong, someone please answer me, if we use fresh fruits for baking is there any special steps that needs to be done?

• Beat until the dry ingredients and wet ingredients combine to get the soft muffin else muffin would become rough.

(*) This can be refrigerated in a airtight container for about a week. If refrigerated, heat for 10-15 sec in microwave before serving.

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But note a point, they are crispy and taste very good when eaten as soon as they are out of griddle. So normally, when ever I prepare this, there will a plate ready with chutnies to be eaten instantaneously.
I really liked it when I ate it at Adayar Anandha bhavan, since then I never stopped trying it at home. Am sure everyone would love this recipe !!

• The mix can be increased by the quantity and made in advance. But use them before a month from the mixing date, else it spoils the freshness of the dosa
• Add some potato masala in the middle of the dosa after it’s done to make it as Masala Rava dosai..
• Add some finely chopped onions on the top side while cooking dosa to prepare it as Onion Rawa dosa.

(*) Recipe from my Mother-in-law. Serve with Coconut/ Tomato Chutnies or Hotel Sambar.

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With that let’s get into today’s recipe, you can call it an anniversary special!

(*) Can be saved in a air tight container for up to 1 week.

This is one of the kongunadu specialty recipes. Bitter gourds also known as bitter melons have lot of health benefits. Many won’t eat bitter gourd coz of it’s bitter taste, but if not for the taste it should be consumed once in a while for it’s health benefit. They are used in purifying blood tissues and helps in digestion and have lot more other health benefits. In Indian ayurvedic treatments, they are used to treat diabetics since they have insulin. I love bitter gourd fry which my mom makes as they are cooked in ghee and reduces the bitter taste a little. I also like this bitter gourd gravy which we often make at our houses. I added little sugar to the gravy recipe to slightly balance the bitter taste. Adjust the sugar or skip it if you don’t want it.

• Tamarind juice also can be added to make variations and also to reduce the bitter taste little.

(*) This goes good with Rice. Recipe from my mom.

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.

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.

Dhal fry is a very famous north Indian dish. Normally called as, ‘Tadka dhal Fry’ meaning seasoned lentil fry, seasoning the cooked dhal. It is served in most of the Indian restaurants. Any dhal varieties can be used to cook this dish. In a typical south Indian family, dhal will be cooked at least once a week. Dhal is rich in nutrients. When I was a kid, I remember harvesting dhal from our farms. They will be mixed with red soil and kept covered in the floor ( not sure, why ) for 1 or 2 days, cleaned thoroughly and cooked. Dhal with shells on is rich in fiber, my grand mother never split them before cooking.
If the cooked dhal turns out too thick, add little hot water to get your required consistency. Season the cooked dhal 5 min before serving, for a better  taste. Add a little ghee to give it that extra taste. I became a fan of dhal fry since I started working.

• Any kind of dhal can be used to cook dhal fry.
• Adding chopped ginger and garlic gives a nice aroma and tastes great.
• Adding ghee to dhal in a small amount tastes heanly. If ghee is not preffred oil can also be used.
• Any other seasoning can also be used as preffered.

(*) Recipe best suites with naan, chapathi and roti.