Kadai Paneer

SrilathaIndian, Sides Leave a Comment

Kadai paneer is a rustic dish, with big chunks of vegetables and paneer, cooked al dente, coated in a freshly blended spice mix incorporated into a semi dry gravy. Most restaurants serve it floating in a ton of sauce, everything cooked to death, with all the flavors overpowered by the ubiquitous tomato onion gravy. My husband and I have been looking for a semi dry dish, with the vegetables retaining a lot of the texture and fresh flavor, and the paneer just soft enough to chew. I finally found this recipe online, tried it once,and its a winner.
Recipe Source: (with very minor modificaitons)
http://www.chefandherkitchen.com/2012/12/kadai-paneer-recipe-paneer-recipes.html

TriColor Pepper Chutney

SrilathaChutneys, Sides Leave a Comment

Tired of the same old same old coconut, onion, or tomato chutneys? Here’s a refreshing multi-colored, vitamin rich, tangy low fat chutney for you! No need to grate or thaw coconut! Ready in about 20 minutes! Goes great with idli, dosai, pooris, rotis, rice, doubles as sandwich spread!

Potatoes In Tomato Gravy (Aloo Tamatar Subzi)

SrilathaBreakfast, Sides Leave a Comment

A simple side for pooris/chapathis/rotis. Minimal ingredients, no fuss, rustic side dish. This can quickly become a go to dish, it’s vegan, and needs no garlic or onions. All you need is potatoes, tomatoes and a few staple spices that most pantries would have.

Kara Kuzhambu (Spicy Thick Tamarind Gravy)

SrilathaSides, South Indian Leave a Comment

Kuzhambu is a generic thick, sour gravy in Tamil cuisine, meant to be eaten with rice or as a side for idli/dosai/pongal/etc. It is generally made with a tamarind base, although it can also have buttermilk/yogurt as base. It is not the same as sambar, although the base stock is tamarind for both. Kuzhambu may or may not have dal (paruppu/lentils) whereas sambar will always have dal along with the tamarind stock. Both may have vegetables. Sambar is generally slightly thinner than kuzhambu. This recipe is one of those which is by definition hot and spicy – “kaaram” means hot (red chili hot). Kuzhambu means a thick slurry/gravy. The stars of this recipe are shallots, garlic, and lots and lots of curry leaves (kariveppilai). The flavor is enhanced by using virgin, cold pressed nallennai (unfiltered sesame oil).

Eggplant Gothsu (Kathirikai Gothsu)

SrilathaSouth Indian Leave a Comment

Eggplant (kathirikai/vangi) gothsu is a tangy spicy side dish that pairs well with bland main dishes like pongal, dosai, idli. The traditional way of making this is to smoke the eggplant and cook it in a tamarind broth spiced with chilies, onions, and sambar powder. And this is the recipe I have made today, to serve with vennpongal.
On to the recipe!