Homemade Tomato Puree | How To Make Tomato Puree At Home | Homemade Tomato Puree Easy Method(Pressure Cooker Method)

Homemade Tomato Puree, Easy Pressure cooker method with step by step photos. Tomato Puree(sauce) is one of the basic and important ingredient for making any sauce-pizza sauce/pasta sauce, North Indian gravy like Malai Kofta Curry, Paneer Kolhapuri, Paneer Buterr Masala, sabzis, soups and many more recipes. Initially I was using canned Tomato puree more than the fresh tomatoes and then reduced the canned stuffs due to its preservatives and added artificial flavors.
If you have tomato puree in hand, you can make any Indian curry in no time. As the tomatoes are pre cooked and thick tomato puree/sauce tend to cook faster and can make any gravy and sabzis quickly. I saw this pre cooked Tomato Puree recipe in youtube and have tried it couple of times for my gravy/curry recipes. I felt this pressure cooker/pre cooked method is more easy and best than the usual way of making tomato puree by blanching the tomatoes then cooling in ice cold water and blending. Based on the tomato variety the color and texture of tomato puree varies. Here, I used vine tomatoes you can use roma tomatoes or campari tomatoes or any desired variety.

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Kuzhambu Milagai Thool Recipe | Homemade Chilli Powder Recipe | Chilli Powder Recipe For South Indian Curry

Kuzhambu Milagai Thool is nothing but a chilli powder mix with dal and other spices. For any south Indian dishes like Kuzhambu, Stir Fry/Varuval, Sambar, Poriyal this kuzhambu milagai thool is used traditionally and that gives unique taste, flavor and authentic touch to the dishes. I like to use kuzhambu Milagai thool for my south indian kuzhambu recipes instead of plain red chilli powder. But here, I do not find kuzhambu milagai thool  now-a-days, So I prepare it at home.

Last year when my Bil visited us, My Mom-in-law has sent few packets of fresh Homemade Milagai Thool & Dhaniya powder. She prepares such flavorful dhaniya & milagai thool like my Grand mom. This is my Mom-in-law's recipe, I got it for a small portion that stays for 1-2 months. She uses sun dried dry red chillies and dhaniya and roast only the other ingredients, but here sun drying method is not possible during winter season and that time I usually roast all the ingredients and grind it.
Kara Kuzhambu, Puli Kuzhambu, Egg Kuzhambu, Masal Kuzhambu, Varuval tastes good and flavorful when cooked using this Milagai thool instead of plain red chilli powder. If you want to taste authentic south Indian dishes then you must try it with this Milagai Thool. You can even use this chilli powder to make Sambar and all other day to day cooking except for North Indian Curry & Sabzis. For North Indian style gravy/sabzis you have to use plain chilli powder without other spices & lentils combo.

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Easy Idli/Dosa Recipe Using Rice Flour & Urad Flour | How To Make Idli/Dosa Using Rice Flour & Urad Flour | Easy Idli Batter Recipe Without Grinding | Crispy Paper Dosa Recipe

Homemade Idli/Dosa Batter using Flours | Easy Idli/Dosa Recipe using Rice Flour | Super Soft Idlis & Crispy Paper Dosa Recipe With step by step pictures. This week I am sharing one of the staple & popular breakfast recipes of South India. Making a soft idlis and crispy paper dosa is definitely a challenging task and that too for some North Indian people who love Idli/Dosa and trying to make it at home is really a big task. Most of my North Indian friends ask me for this idli/dosa batter recipe, but after hearing about the grinding part, particularly urad dal with Mixie/blender they will lost the interest to try idli batter at home.

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Homemade Rasam Powder Recipe | How To Make South Indian Rasam | Rasam Recipe using Rasam Powder

Homemade Rasam Powder Recipe | How To Make South Indian Rasam Recipe with step by step pictures. I started posting on Saturdays mainly to share some Kitchen Basics/Homemade/How to's recipes.  And For this week, I am sharing a simple and one of the must Ingredient in a South Indian Kitchen Pantry, Rasam Powder Recipe. I have shared almost 14 varieties of Rasam Recipes but haven't shared Rasam Powder Recipe.  I have been using Shakthi Masala Brand and was comfortable with it. But now-a-days I am not getting it here, tried few other brands and not satisfied with the taste and flavor. So decided to make it at home and also some of my readers requested for rasam powder and other Homemade spice powder recipes.
I got this recipe from my sister and tried it and was fully satisfied with the taste and flavor. Also the recipe doesn't involve ingredients in gram measurement just 1:1 tuvar dal:jeera-pepper ratio is enough. You can use any cup, tumbler or any desired size and make this flavorful Rasam Powder at home. Homemade spice powders are always special, fresh, very aromatic and free from artificial flavors and preservatives. Along with the Rasam Powder I am sharing the South Indian Rasam, simple and easy to make rasam using Rasam Powder.

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DIY Slivered Almonds | How To Make Slivered Almonds | How To Make Almonds For Desserts & Baking

I wanted to post this How To make blanched Almonds, Slivered Almonds and Sliced Almonds technique for long time. And finally decided to share it now since the festival season is ahead and the use of blanched Almonds & Slivered Almonds is must in Indian Sweets, Baking & for Desserts. These almonds gives nice crunch and taste to the dish and also makes the dish more attractive and pleasing. Not only for desserts & sweets general in take of almonds is good for health.
Almonds are packed with vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber, and are associated with a number of health benefits. Just a handful of almonds, approximately one ounce, contains one-eighth of our necessary daily protein. Almonds can be eaten raw, toasted, caramelized and are availbale in many form like sliced, slivered, almond flour, butter, almond milk. The good protein content of almonds aids in lowering cholestrol and reducing the risk of cancer and heart disease.

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Homemade Paneer / How To Make Paneer (Cottage Cheese)

Again I am here with an another Indian Basics,Homemade Paneer Recipe. Paneer/Cottage cheese is loved by both Vegetarians and Non-Vegetarians, especially kids love it a lot. Inspite of its high fat content, paneer are a good source of protein too. Anything with paneer is sure a hit and we can make tons of dished with this versatile paneer from Paneer Kheer, Paneer Jalebi, Paneer Curry, Paneer Paratha. I have some handful of Paneer Recipes in my space and now its time for to share How to make Paneer at home. Planning to post few more Indian Basics here and like all the Homemade version, this Homemade Paneer also tastes and smells so good.

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Homemade Garam Masala Recipe / Punjabi Garam Masala Recipe

Generally i do not make spice powders like Garam Masala Powder, Sambar Masala, Rasam Powder at home and rely on store bought ones since its easy and handy. But nothing can beat the freshness, flavor and taste of Homemade spice powders. I make paruppu podi and idli podi every week or once in 10 days but other spice powders are rarely. This Punjabi Garam Masala powder was prepared
by my neighbor aunt and I simply clicked the pictures and noted the measurements. Being a Punjabi, she prepares all the authentic punjabi dishes at home. I even asked her for Sarson Ka Saag recipe, the most traditional punjabi dish.

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Homemade Chutney Powder / Idly Milagai Podi / Idli Podi Recipe / Spiced Lentils Powder

Idly Podi / Idly Milagai Podi is a coarse mixture of roasted lentils/dal and chillies which is served as a side dish for South Indian Breakfast like Idly/Dosa/Paniyaram/Adai. This podi is a must item in my Pantry and everyone at home loves it, so i often make it freshly and rarely bought the store bought  MTR Idli Podi when am not feeling well to cook. However, i prefer the homemade ones since the homemade spice powders are really fresh, flavorful and healthier and all we need to do is just spare few minutes to make the spice powders at home. Everyone have their own version & variation and here's mine, very simple and a basic version without sesame seeds and more ingredients. Now to the simple version of idli podi...

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Curry Leaves Paruppu Podi With Sesame Seed & Garlic / Karuveppilai Paruppu Podi / Karuveppilai Podi Sadham

Sorry for the too long title, i dunno how to name this recipe, i wanted to mention both rice and the podi separately. So to get clear i named it bit lengthy :) And i have already posted a another version of curry leaves podi for Idly/Dosa. This curry leaves podi is for rice/plain rice alone like Paruppu Podi. This karuveppilai Sadham podi is made using Tuvar Dal, Roasted Gram Dal along with sesame seeds and garlic. This is a very flavorful and tasty podi which is healthy too. Generally we know that curry leaves are rich in iron and its good for hair growth, blood count etc. Recently i read it in an article that it helps in treating type 2 Diabetes and googled for more information and was surprised to see the healthy factors behind this curry leaves. In my childhood days i never eat this fresh curry leaves and always throw them now felt very bad for that. So now-a-days whenever i saw curry leaves in Indian grocery, i buy 2-3 packets and consuming it regularly either in this podi form or as fresh leaves.

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Jeera Paruppu Podi / Jeeraga Sadham Podi / Spiced Cumin seeds Powder

Wishing a very Happy Women's Day to all the amazing women. Though I have many seen many respectable n inspiring women in my life, my first inspiration is my Mom/Amma. Today,She is thousand n thousands miles apart, she is always on my mind n close to my heart. Have learnt everything from her, How to be n How not to be, Do's n Do not's, love, caring, priority, anger, patience, everything. One living example to me, she struggled lot to brought up me n my sister. The one n only woman who care for me n laugh when I laugh, cry when I cry, living n holding her breath for us. The only thing She expect from me is daily 30 minutes phone or Skype call which made her day. Missing her a lot n she too miss me n her Grand sons. Just a small thought on this special day :)

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Curry Leaves Chutney Powder / Karuvepillai Idly Milagai Pdi

Wisconsin is a winter wonderland, it's snowing/ Windy for the past 18 hours n going to be the same next 3 days. its so beautiful to watch the snow fall and also the weather is not too cold, its 30 F or above only. But becoz of heavy wind Schools were closed today...I was so happy to hear this message early morning so that I can sleep for some more time. Then only realized that two kids will be at home. Oh..no..H am going to manage them as I planned to bake (savory bake) today. All my plans were spoiled, since if they are at home means I can't do any work except I can bake a cake or cookies which they love more n help me in such cases. Yes, they help me n obey all my words n somehow I manage to finish my work with them. But in case of savory bake or regular cooking there will be lots of interruption you can't do anything properly. I know this is more common n every blogger mommy took it a challenge n succeed for their blog baby! But most of the time our Kids will win the game, right?! Today also they won the battle n I dropped the baking idea.

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How to make Idli/Dosa Batter / Homemade Idli/Dosa Batter /Soft Idli & Crispy Dosa Batter without Idli Rice

I wanted to post this Idli/Dosa Batter recipe for long time, but today only got the right time with pics & step wise pics ready. Though its not a special recipe i wish to have some Indian Basics in my Spicy Treats' Recipe Index. Definitely making a soft idlis and crispy dosa for a beginner is a challenging task, so this post is specially for the beginners in cooking.
First time when i clicked the step wise pictures, i ground the batter in the traditional/actual method ie grinding dal and rice separately then mixing together. But this time decided to share the convenient method, grinding everything together for easy and less messy job. And also this time my boys helped me to take step wise pics clearly, they posed by holding rice/dal and to show batter texture, so sweet na?! They do help me a lot in kitchen but while taking pictures they trouble me equally :(

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Paruppu Podi / Sadham Podi / Spiced Lentils Powder / Homemade Paruppu Podi For Rice

Hope u all had a joyful weekend, me too had fun with my family. As the outside weather is too cold we went to near by Mall and had fun for more than 3 hours. I enjoyed shopping/Window shopping and kids had fun playing indoor games there and Sunday cooked chicken(recipe coming soon) and the day went well. And now expecting for another pleasant week.
Coming to Today's recipe Paruppu Podi / Sadham podi, we love all kind of podis and this paruppu podi is my most fav one. That too i love Paruppu Podi from Home Foods, a famous shop(in my home town) for all kind of spiced powders, Instant mixes, etc. Their podi and instant mixes are really fresh, flavorful and tasty. Its my long time wish to recreate their podi at home. I bought about 1kg of Paruppu n poondi podi from Home foods while coming here for first time. Since i love to have podi rice daily for lunch. But the podi lasted only for few months, after that i bought podi from Indian grocery but they were not tasty and i don't like it too, so i asked my mom for homemade version and tried it and happy that my podi matches 75% to home foods podi :)  Now off to the recipe....

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Homemade Yogurt Recipe / How to make Yogurt(Curd) at Home

Actually this is not a recipe but got more request to share How to make Yogurt/curd at home. Even some of my friends also asked to share this Basic Recipe. Yogurt/Curd is one of the staple ingredient in most of the house and we have the habit of including yogurt in our daily diet. I rarely buy yogurt from stores or mainly for the first culture. Otherwise i use only homemade yogurt, the store bought one turns sour soon and also it doesn't have that fresh flavor of curd. So i rarely use it and rely on Homemade ones. Homemade yogurt tastes so delicious, fresh and even after a week it remains fresh. I love buttermilk made out of Yogurt and Me and DH daily drink at least 2-3 glasses of Buttermilk.

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Homemade Curry Masala Powder / Curry Masala Powder Recipe

Curry Masala Powder is nothing but a spice powder similar to Garam Masala Powder or chicken masala powder etc. I love this Curry Masala Powder flavor a lot n i used to add it in most of my fry, varuval, sabzis, masala rice etc. If u are my reader for long time u might noticed that :) Really i love this masala powder in my cooking, this not too strong n spicy like Garam Masala powder but gives lots of flavor n unique taste to your dishes. I mostly use store bought Curry Masala Powder either Shakthi or Aachi Brand. When i googled for the recipe i couldn't find the perfect spice powder mix, there's for only Curry Powder recipe which is different from it. But i got the recipe here n also referred the Ingredients list at the back of Store bought masala packet. I added everything in the list except Jathi Kai but the home made curry masala powder was so flavorful n my Potato Fry Tasted awesome with this Masala. Give it a try n let me know h u like it:) Now to the recipe...

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