• COOKING BASICS

    Fresh Turmeric/ Manjal Kothu

    January 21, 2012 - By 

    Fresh Turmeric is available during Pongal festival. I came to know that fresh turmeric can be used to prepare pickle only after I started blogging. Last year I prepared pickle and this year I prepared thokku with this fresh turmeric. Turmeric is a root and it is related to ginger.…

  • COOKING BASICS - RECIPES

    Home Made Butter

    January 20, 2012 - By 

    It is very economical to use home made butter. It is also a satisfying experience. This butter can be used to prepare ghee, in cakes and other sweets. I don’t use this butter in making puff pastry. The home made butter usually has a large quantity of water when compared…

  • BAKING BASICS

    Melting Chocolate

    January 19, 2012 - By 

    While preparing chocolate based sweets, it is very important to melt the cooking chocolate before you start preparing the sweet. Cooking chocolate is available in thew form of bars. So first chop[ it up with a sharp knife on a chopping board. Chocolate should not be kept directly on flame…

  • COOKING BASICS

    Fried Spinach Crumbs

    January 13, 2012 - By 

    I saw this method of preparing spinach/ palak in a old Woman’s Era. The idea of frying spinach was quite interesting and I tried it yesterday. The swirls of spinach looked beautiful and I used some for garnish. The crumbs had a lot of oil but when used in the…

  • COOKING BASICS

    Home Made Frozen Peas

    January 11, 2012 - By 

    I saw this preparation in many blogs around the blogosphere. Having peas at home is very handy. It is also economical when you prepare it at home. I usually prepare this when the cost of peas is low and it helps when the cost rockets up. It is a very…

  • COOKING BASICS - RECIPES

    Home Made Coconut Milk

    January 10, 2012 - By 

    Coconut milk is used in many recipes and is even delicious with a tsp of sugar. This gies richness to the dish when added. We usually add it in gravies, paayasam and pulao. It is also used as an accompaniment for idiyappam, paniyaram and aappam. It is also used as…

  • COOKING BASICS

    Home Made Grated Coconut

    January 6, 2012 - By 

    Grated coconut is an important ingredient in any Tamil recipe. We use it for garnishing vegetables or grind it as a paste and use it as a thickener in gravies. It is also used in sweets, payasam and many more dishes. Now a days we get coconut powder at stores but home…

  • RECIPES

    Boiled Groundnut

    January 5, 2012 - By 

    This is a nutritious and guilt free snack perfect with a cup of coffee in the evening. This is a very simple procedure. You need a pressure cooker. If you don’t have one, then use a big pan to boil the groundnuts.  Wash the groundnuts 3-4times. As these are fresh…