Kara Chutney Recipe | Tomato Chutney(without Coconut) for Idli/Dosa | Hotel Style Red Chutney For Idli

Kara Chutney or Hotel Style Red Chutney is one quick & easy to make chutney that pairs well with many South Indian Tiffin recipes like Idli/Dos, Pongal, Chapathi, Paniyaram, Adai, etc., This Chutney tastes similar to the hotel red chutney, mildly tangy and spicy chutney without coconut. It requires only few basic ingredients and can make it in a jiffy. This is one of my favorite chutney and I love it with hot Idlis and Paniyaram. The color of the chutney depends on the variety of tomato used.

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Onion Pakoda Recipe | South Indian Onion Pakoda | Vengaya Pakoda - Easy Tea Time Snack Recipe

Onion Pakoda/Vengaya Pakoda is a quick and easy to make Instant tea time savory snack. This can be prepared in no time if you have besan flour and rice flour in hand. Not only as a snack, this onion pakoda makes a perfect side dish for any south Indian Variety rice, Rasam & Rice, Sambar Sadham etc.,I usually make Onion Pakora,north Indian style Pakora that is crispy and slightly soft texture. But this Onion Pakoda is crispy and crunchy ones that is similar to the ones we get in our Tea Kadai/Tea shops, Bakery Shops in Tamil Nadu. In salem(my home town), you can find this flavorful onion pakoda in any bakery shop, tea stall during noon & evening time. There are few bakery shops in Town area & Agraharam street where they prepare fresh pakoda every day. V is more fond of deep fried snacks and this onion pakoda is his most favorite of all snacks. But i rarely make it for him and I usually prepare the Pakoras/bajji kind of snack that is served with Chaat Chutneys or ketchup.

So this time, I prepared for him and to share it here on my blog. This Vengaya Pakoda doesn't require any dipping, crunchy and flavorful snack. Here,I used onions but you can also use cabbage to make Cabbage Pakoda, Spinach or any greens to make Keerai Pakoda. And Munthiri Pakoda with addition of Cashew nuts. I have already shared Cashew Almond Pakoda for kids, Bittergourd Pakoda/Pavakkai Pakoda really good snack for diabetic people.

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Onion Kachori Recipe | Pyaz Ki Kachori Recipe

Onion Kachori Recipe with step by step pictures. Winter Evenings sure needs some garam garam savory snack & Hot Beverage. Last week it was very cold, cloudy and rainy days. V was working from home for 2 days and he requested me to make some spicy snack. I know what he means by spicy snack, nothing but any deep fried savory delights. First I thought of making Punjabi Samosa but samosa making consumes much time for shaping and it was already 2 pm. Within 2 hours I can't finish cooking and clicking. Since after 4 there will not be enough light as it was really a dark gloomy day. So decided to make some Kachoris and with one quick and yummy Onion filling, Pyaz Ki Kachori|Onion Kachori.

Kachoris are in my to do list since long time, long back tried Peas Kachoris but it was like Stuffed pooris and not the crispy snack kind. I referred Vahchef's video for Onion filling and prepared dough on my own. I got good tips for making crispy kachoris/Samosa from my Neighbor Aunt. She said that for making crispy, flaky samosa and kachoris you need to add more oil to the flour, the flour should be mixed well with the oil first then use very little water to knead dough. Minimum 3-4 tbsp of oil for 1 cup of flour is needed. And then you get crispy, flaky and perfect punjabi samosa. 4 tbsp is 1/4 cup of oil for 1 cup of flour. But i don't want to add that much oil, so I tried with 1 tbsp oil and it turned out good at first attempt. The most important thing for crispy kachoris, that you need to fry them in right temperature. If its too hot then it will turn soft and become stuffed pooris, If it is less hot then kachoris will be oily and soggy. Please read all the instructions and notes before starting the recipe.

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Kadamba Chutney / Quick & Easy Chutney for Idli / Dosa

Today's recipe is one quick and easy chutney recipe that goes well with most of the south Indian tiffin variety like Idly, Dosa, Pongal, Paniyaram, Adai, Upma etc., Kadamba Chutney is nothing but a combo of many ingredients like onion, tomato, ginger, chillies, garlic, mint leaves, cilantro, coconut, dal etc. This is one quick and yummy chutney and one of my favorite too. If u have all this veggies in hand but not enough to make a specific variety like Coconut Chutney or Mint Chutney or Tomato Chutney then you can make use of all those tiny bits in one recipe and make a delicious side dish for your tiffin. Now off to this simple chutney recipe....

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Poondu Milagu Kuzhambu / Garlic Pepper Gravy

It's snowing continuously for the past three days n now my place looking so beautiful with snow covered everywhere. I like to admire the beauty, particularly the trees n shrubs looks more beautiful. Weather also not too cold above 15 F only. Wanted to click some pics of that heavy snow on my backyard but don't want to take risk since last week for same reason went out to take food pics with snow BG, that time weather was too cold (below 10 F) so I couldn't stay out for not more than 10 minutes n was in hurry to enter n while closing the patio doors I got my fingers stuck between the door and got hurt on my fingers badly, still blood clot on one of my finger hurting me:(

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Vengaya Sambar / Onion Sambar

Onion Sambar / Vengaya Sambar, very tasty, flavorful and quick sambar recipe. If u have cooked dal in  hand then it takes only 10 minutes to make this sambar. This is my version of Vengaya sambar with very simple ingredients. Here i used both small onions/pearl onions n onions but for more taste n flavor use only small onions. This tastes great with rice, dosa, paniyaram, Ven Pongal etc.

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Onion Masala Buns / Onion Khara Buns

Happy Vinayagar Chaturthi Wishes to all my friends n readers. May The Lord Ganesha Bless u with all Health & Prosperity. Hope some of u had a wonderful festival n some still enjoying the special occasion with friends n family sharing all delicious Prasad :) I am stil getting ready for the pooja, planned everything for evening. So today bit busy with other things, not in a mood to blog but have to post for the final day of blogging Marathon. As i prepared the recipe in advance its now easy for me to post today. Onion Masala Buns is more or less similar to Khara Buns/Savory Buns in taste, with the addition of more onions but this is really more soft like my Garlic Buns since i followed the same recipe. This recipe is slightly adapted from Gauri's Masala Bread recipe. On seeing the Masala bread which she posted last week i was so much tempted as i love savory bakes, so immediately tried it on my way. Thanks Gauri for the recipe/idea it turned out so delicious and we enjoyed it a lot. These buns are great for tea time snack, even it tastes good when dipped in hot tea/coffee. Do give it a try n let me know h it turned out to u. Now to the recipe.

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Onion Peas Kurma

For Day 2 of Blogging Marathon under the theme Cooking With Onions, i have chosen my Mom's favorite recipe, Onion Peas Kurma. My mom makes this kurma mainly for Puri. It doesn't require more ingredients n big preparation, just simple kurma with usual coconut grinding and veg sauteing.

I just tweaked my mom's recipe and made it with frozen peas. If u r out of veggies but at the same time u want to make some rich n delicious side dish for your rotis, this kurma is the best option. Since this kurma tastes excellent even without vegetables but for a whoelsome n healthy meal u can also add a cup of finely chopped mixed vegetables of your choice. But try this version without veggies, u will love this kurma for its unique flavor n taste. I like the onions to be bit crunchy, sure that adds a good taste to this kurma. Hope u will also like this yummy n aromatic kumra. Now to the recipe...

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Bhindi Do Pyaaz / Okra Onion Masala

Cooking With Onion is my theme For the 3rd week of BM n for day 1 am going to share Bhendi Do Pyaaz . When Valli announced this theme, very first recipe came to my mind was "do Pyaaz " which means cooking with double the addition of onions or more onions. Generally I love adding more onions to my cooking that too for dry curry, poriyals n stir fry too. This time tried Do Pyaaz with Bhendi/Okra. And it turned out so flavorful n delicious. Remember the tip given by my sister, adding yogurt/curd to any okra dry sauté gives nice taste n sliminess free okra fry/curry. So tried that too, over all Bhendi Do Pyaaz came out so well n tasted delicious. Sure a great combo with Rotis or even with Rice n Dal Tadka. Now to the recipe...

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Fresh Tomato Salsa / Chunky Salsa / Salsa

Hope u had a wonderful weekend n mine also went smoothly and wishing my readers n friends a very pleasant n successful week ahead. After a hot hot sunny days today it drizzled and the weather was too good n everyone at home is sleeping after a wonderful n filling lunch with some spicy chicken curry n mild pulao, rasam n rice. So i got some time now for my blog, i couldn't be active like before due to some personal issues but i really inspired by friends' support n lovely comments. Thank you friends, so i don't want to leave my blog n blog buddies n decided to post some simple recipes. And this Salsa made with fresh tomato n other stuff is one such simple n easy to make recipe. I think this is loved by all group of people n can make it to their individual choice particularly the spice level. This recipe is also from the Natural Health Magazine, under the heading "Five Foods Which Gives u Instant Energy". I had already shared the first recipe under that heading, "Mixed Bean Corn Salad" and this Salsa is second n other three are Chinese Ginger Chicken Soup, Honey Salmon n Creamy Berry Salad. Will try to make it soon n share with u. I made very little changes to the original recipe, i did not add garlic Jalapeno, and also added cumin powder extra. My kids love Salsa n tortilla chips, particularly the one from Chipotle. So i often made this simple version for them. Now to the recipe...

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Onion Tart With Mustard N Fennel

We are entering in to the Fifth edition of The Gourmet Seven, and for this month we decided to bake some Pies/Tarts/Galattes/Quiches from Smitten Kitten. I have chosen a very flavorful n yummy Onion Tart With Mustard and Fennel two main reason to pick this recipe, one fennel is my fav spice n i love adding it in all my cooking and the other one i don't have tart pan! wanna buy one soon :) I rarely eat pies/tarts at restaurants and never thought to make one at home that too from the scratch. For this i would like to thank the members of The Gourmet Seven. Yes, without this group n their unique themes i would have not tried such recipes from the scratch. Thanks to those creative brains and i am so proud to be a part of this group!!
This was my first experiment with tarts, and this base/pastry was new to me...with yeast-egg combo. Honestly, i didn't like the smell of the dough with yeast n egg. I thought that my choice of recipe wasn't good this time:( But i didn't drop my work n proceeded  with some hope and instead of cheese I sprinkle Tandoori masala powder on top. To my surprise the final product was too good n it doesn't  have any yeast/egg smell. It tasted bit spicy and yummy like savory bread/pizza. My H and the elder one loved it. My kid asked me Y u made pizza spicy didn't add cheese?! My choice of recipe was successful and liked by my Family. The memories behind this creation will be in my mind forever :)
You could also add some veggies like mushroom,cabbage,carrots,spinach along with onions and make it a wholesome n yummy flavorful Tart. Now to the recipe....

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Onion Rasam / Vengaya Rasam

        Day 6 of Blogging Marathon under the theme"Rasam" and today's rasam is another simple yet tasty rasam with pearl onions/sambar onions or in tamil - Chinna Vengaya Rasam. I already posted Bottlegourd Onion Rasam and this onion rasam is little different from that. For this rasam i used both cumin-pepper and also rasam powder. To make it bit healthy i also added little Tuvar dal. Overall this is a very filling and delicious rasam. Adjust pepper to your taste. I made this rasam little thinner in consistency, adjust to your taste n desired consistency. Thinner or thicker both way this rasam tastes awesome. The recipe as follows...

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Moongdal Onion Chutney

        Today's recipe is simple chutney, Moongdal onions chutney. This is also one of my Mom's recipe. This chutney goes well with Idly/Dosa/Adai/Pongal n with all tiffin varieties. This moongdal chutney is very flavorful and tasty chutney. I love it with Idly but this i made with Adai. Instead of giving plain onion tomato chutney to your kids you can give this healthy and yummy chutney. Try this and let me know how it turns out to you. Now to the recipe..

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Bottle Gourd Onion Rasam

           Rasam, one of the most comforting food and its most common in all South Indian Homes. I could say that my mom's Rasam is the best and very flavorful Rasam. When i was studying higher secondary i prepared my first Paruppu Rasam and it was liked by all my family members and my Dad really appreciated me :)  I love paruppu rasam a lot and mostly i make paruppu rasam only. Later learned to make Tomato Rasam, Thattai Payir Rasam, Lemon Rasam  and this Onion Rasam. For a change i made this onion rasam with some bottle gourd chunks and to my surprise that was so good and we loved to eat Bottle gourd in this way. I made Tapioca vada and this rasam for lunch. Very yummy combo and it was a tasty and very filling meal. I was in a hurry to serve lunch for my H, so couldn't concentrate on pictures and presentation. Somehow presented and also i am bit scared to click picture of a piping hot rasam, as the hot fumes from the rasam might spoil the camera lens  n its life. Ok Now to the recipe.....

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