Vankai Pachdi...

Vankai is also known as brinjal, eggplant or badanekayi. This is one the traditional recipes that my ajji used to make, especially on dwadasi day (the day after ekadasi).

So far I have eaten this pachdi with rice, rotti, chapaties & ragi mudde.

All we need is:

4 Fresh brinjals, either round or long ones or green or purple. Preferably, green ones.
1/2 ltr sour curd
1/2 tspn ginger paste
1 tspn mustard seeds
1 tspn jeera
2 dry red chillies, half crushed
4-5 curry leaves

1 tspn salt
1 tspn ginger paste
1/4 tspn chilli pwdr
1/4 tspn corriander pwdr
1 tbspn oil

First let's mix chilli pwdr, coriander pwdr, salt and 1/2 tspn oil.  Meanwhile, slit the fresh green brinjals into two. Smear or brush the oil mixture completely on the brinjals and keep it aside for a while.

Take a non stick pan and once it's hot, keep these slit brinjals and see to it that the brinjals is cooked completely. It's ok if it gets brunt, but not completely.

Next step is to complete the tempering process. For this we need to take a kadai. Pour remaining oil and once it's hot, add mustard seeds. After it crackles, add jeera, hing, crushed red chillies and curry leaves.We need to mix the above tempering mixture with curd and ginger paste.

Soaked the cooked brinjals into the curd and dont hesitate to smash it with your fingers for a tasty vankai pachdi.

Oats Kheer...

Looks like only I can dare to think of preparing a kheer out of Oats. Trust me.. it tastes yummy and will over much faster then anyother kheer, much before you disclose it to your friends or family that it's made of oats.

1 md cup oats
1/2 ltr boiled milk
2 tbspn ghee
1 md cup dry fruits (cashew nuts, dry grapes, pistas, almonds)
2 elachi (including cover) crushed
1 clove crushed
3 tbspn honey
2 tbspn jaggery

First soak oats with 1/4 ltr milk and leave it aside for 5mins. Oats gets cooked faster if soaked for sometime. Meanwhile mix honey with jaggery, crushed elachies and clove.

Take a kadai and pour ghee. Once it's hot add the mixed dry fruits and saute it completely.  Now add the soaked oats and the honey (which is previously mixed with other ingredients above). Pour remaining milk and bring it to boil. 

Enjoy eating the oats kheer hot or refrigerate it for an hour and serve it chilled.

Note: Before refrigerating it, bring the kheer to room temperature.

Jhunka....

I know lot of you'll will be curious to know what this dish is all about.I dont even know how this curry got it's name. But it tastes yummy.


Many years back, in mid 90's, I heard my chikamma (mom's younger sister), sharing the recipe with my mom.  But when I ask my mom now, she says.. it was she who was explaining it to her sister. Anyways who was explaining it to whom, still remains a mystery, to me, even today.


1 big bunch chopped sabsige soppu
1 md chopped onion
2-3 chopped chillies
1 tspn mustard seeds
1 tspn jeera
1/4 tspn hing
1/2 tspn salt
1/4 tspn turmuric
2 tbspn besan flour (kadale hittu)
1 md cup water

Take a kadai, and saute the kadale hittu till it changes colour and we shall get a very nice aroma. Pour the flour into a clean plate and keep it aside.

Now pour oil into the kadai and once it's hot add mustard seeds. Once it crackles, add jeera, onion, salt and chillies and saute it completely. We shall see the onion turning golden brown, which means the onion is cooked. Now we need to add the chopped sabsige soppu and kadale hittu. Mix it well and add water. Bring it to boil.

Yummy to eat with hot chapatis.

Pineapple Gojju

I was not ready to prepare this gojju, but ended up cooking it at the end of the day. I enjoy eating pineapple and had bought it a week back and had completely forgotten about it. Pineapple had ripened so much.. that I did not feel like eating it, but did not want to throw it as well. I know lot of us would come across this situation.

Breakfast was dosa and chutney and did not know what to do with the remaining chutney, because the dosa dough was over.


1 big cup of grated coconut
7-8 green chillies
1 tspn salt
10 strands of corriander
1 tbspn groundnut

Grind the above mixture for excellent chutney. This can be served with hot dosas/ chapathis/ poories/ akki or raji rotti.



The story of pineapple curry unfolds now:

Chop pineapple into medium cubes.
4-5 curry leaves
1 tspn mustard seeds
1 tspn jeera
1 tspn corriander pwdr
1 tspn chilly pwdr
1/4 tspn turmuric
1/4 tspn hing
2 tbspn oil
3-4 strands chopped coriander leaves 

Take a kadai and pour oil. Once it hot, add mustard seeds. After mustard seeds crackle, add jeera, curry leaves and hing. Saute them with pineapple, turmeric, salt and the remaining chutney mixture. If the chutney is very thick, then we can add 1/2 cup water and bring the entire mixture to boil. After the 1st boil, we can add coriander pwdr and chilly pwdr. Bring it to boil again in a low flame. The ripped pineapple would have absorbed the entire masala. Garnish with chopped coriander and enjoy eating with hot rice like I did.

Puliyogre Gojju...

Don't you think, that this is a hyped rice mix that people have created, over a period of time. The hype that only a certain section of people (iyers or iyengars) can make it well. Maybe yes, but if we use the right ingredients with correct propotions, then we will be preparing the best gojju.

The key ingredients required:

1/4 kg tamrind
1/4 kg groundnuts
50gms mustard
150 grams white til (roasted without oil and grounded)
Big bunch of curry leaves..
2 tbspn salt
150 gms rasam pwdr
1/2 ltr oil
1 big grated jaggery
1 tbspn turmuric
50 gms pepper
50 gms jeera
25 gms methi
2 tbspn salt
250 gms grated dry coconut
Hing.. 

1st be mentally prepared to spend some time preparing this. It requires a lot of patience. There are 4 main stages to prepare this gojju.

1st Stage:

Soak tamarind overnight. This will help us to remove the thick extracts easily. So we need first 2 thick extracts of the tamarind paste. The remaining extracts can be used to prepare rasam or sambhar. Can also be used to wash copper and brass items.


2nd Stage:

I took my small 3 ltr cooker base. Mixed rasam pwdr, jaggery, turmeric, salt, 1/4 ltr oil, with the tamarind paste thoroughly. On the low flame, bring the above mixture to boil and keep stirring it frequently. This is the only step that consumes the maximum amount of time. The mixture should reduce by 75%. Till then on a low flame, keep stirring.

3rd Stage:

Dry roast pepper, jeera and methi separately. Grind them together and keep aside. One the above mixed tamarind paste, comes to the first boil, add this mixture and stir well. Now allow the tamarind paste to start boiling on a low flame.

4th Stage:

Take a kadai and pour the remaining oil. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. After crackling, add all the groundnuts. After 3-4 mins, we shall see the nuts changing colour. This means the groundnuts are done. Now add hing, dried and long red chillies and curry leaves. Allow it to cool and then add the grated dried coconut and mix them all and keep it aside.

5th Stage:

Assuming the 2nd stage, has reduced by 75%, mix grounded white til and also the 4th stage mixture.

Obviously, we would have cooked rice to taste the mix. So enjoy eating!!!!!