Source: Wikimedia commons Chow chow doesn’t mean eating twice. It is the name of a squash. Tambrahms and their obsession with all vegetables of the gourd family is legendary. Such a gourd-loving community we are. Give us a gourd and we’ll make a koottu, a curry or a thogayal out of it and call it a
B for Beans Paruppu Usili
When I wrote my earlier post, A is for Avial, I had forgotten that I’d have another BIG favourite dish from our cuisine – it is Paruppu Usili. I cannot proclaim my love for this enough. And I don’t know of too many people who’ve grown up eating this, not listing it as one of their top favourites. I
A for Avial – South Indian Curry
Avial, a traditional South Indian curry made using a mix of vegetables and a delicately spiced masala with coconut, cumin seeds and green chillies – the perfect accompaniment to rice
The ultimate guide and recipe for the perfect Tambrahm sambar
Arachuvitta Sambar is the ultimate comfort food. The flavour of mum’s or granny’s cooking which you will never find in a restaurant. Get the authentic recipe here
My greatgrandmother’s recipe for Puli Aval – Tamarind Poha
A recipe for Puli Aval / Tamarind Poha, one of my favourite tiffin dishes that my great-grandmother would prepare for us. This is her recipe and I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I do.
My grandaunt’s recipe for Mango Moar Kuzhambu : Tamil style Ripe Mango Kadhi
Last week I was in Chennai, I had the good fortune to eat at my grandaunt’s place. She is my father’s Maami, around 75 years of age and she is one of the best cooks in our family and even a simple weekday meal at her place will pretty much end up being a feast because of the number of dishes on the
Molaga Maanga – an instant raw mango pickle
This was the only pickle I liked as a kid, which I had fondly christened- ‘square maanga’ because it was cut in a square dice. In the hot summers of Bombay, curd rice would taste divine anyway. A tiny bit of this square maanga with the curd rice would always take it to another level of divine. Often
Yard long beans curry : Karamani curry – Garden to plate
Yard long beans (Chauli / Karamani) have not been my most favourite vegetable, because they are often tough and stringy when bought from the supermarket. Ever since I started growing these in my garden, I’ve changed my opinion about this vegetable. Seeds from Auchan (formerly SPAR) Supermarket, Ban
Amma’s Cauliflower Peas Koottu
I’ve separated the cauliflower into florets, kept the kadai on the flame and then, I call Amma. “…Amma, how do you make that Cauliflower koottu that you serve with rotis for dinner?” Amma laughs. “But there is no recipe for it. It is the easiest thing ever!” That’s how I extract recipes from my fa
Masala Vadai from a tea shop in Mannargudi : Guest post by Bharath M.
A few days ago, Nandini Ajit, Bharath and me decided to cook up a mega Tambrahm feast for dinner. The menu was: Cucumber Salad Masala Vadai Seppankizhangu Roast Cabbage Koottu Radish arachuvitta Sambar Jeera Rasam Vetthakozhambu Arisi Appalam Banana Chips (from Hot Chips) Curds Rice Semia Payasam O
On how the monstrous zucchini got Tambrahm-ised
[Those who voted for me and got me into the final 6 Healthy Cooking Blogs, thank you! In the finals, my blog as of now is 5th. Feels kinda pointless asking to vote now as the better blogs lead by tons of votes, but if you’ve loved my work here, go ahead and vote for me. Directions here My garden alw
Thakkali Chutney (Tomato chutney)
During my early blogging days, I posted pics of tomato chutney made with both red and green tomatoes and wrote that I’ll post the recipe soon. That ‘soon’ never came until Sowmya posted a comment on that old post, a couple of days ago asking for the recipe. Since it also fits with my theme of the mo