Category Archives: Indian Food Recipes

All Indian Food Recipes like Curries, Rotis and Breads, Chutneys, Sweets, Pickles, Snacks, Drinks and more are showcased here. Regional recipes and cooking from other parts of the world will also be posted.

Navarathri Sundal Recipes

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Navarathri is 9 days of fanfare and socializing apart from the festive atmosphere it ushers in. In South India, some else that is popular than the Navarathri Golu is the delicious Sundal (Tamil). Sundal is fried Salad usually made of a variety of sprouts and pulses. A different variety of Sundal is prepared on each of the 9 days of Dasara. Sundal is offered as Neivedhyam (Offering to a deity) and thereafter distributed to guests and neighbors. Harini Murali from Chennai shares these delectable Navarathri Sundal recipes that are simple and traditional.

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Navarathri / Dasara – Golu Craft Tips

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Navarathri also called as Dasara in Karnataka, Navarathri or Golu(Kolu) in Tamilnadu, and Bomma Koluvu in Andhra Pradesh.  This festival is a ten-day festival (Nine nights=Nava-rathri). This festival is dedicated to Goddess Parvathi. Various forms of her is been worshipped in all these 10 days. The first three days is for Goddess lakshmi, god of wealth. The next three days is for Saraswathi, god of learning and knowledge. and The last three days is for Goddess Durga, god of strength and power.

Arranging Navrathri Kolu is also an event in itself it means inviting neighbors, friends and other relatives to visit your home and view the Kolu decorated. Small gifts are exchanged amongst women generally women exchange coconuts, cloths or blouse pieces and sweets amongst themselves. Sumangali (married) women also exchange bags containing a small mirror, turmeric, comb, beetle leaves with supari or paaku. Guests are also offered delicious Sundal as Prasad (food gift) during these 9 days.

Dasara Golu - Navaratri Dolls

A typical South Indian Golu or Doll Arrangement during Navratri.

Golu / Kolu is a unique family tradition carried forward in certain regions in South India particularly in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Golu is a Tamil word which translates into Dolls or an arrangement of dolls. Dolls can include a mix of mythological characters as well more contemporary ones. Lead by the womenfolk of the house, the whole process of the collecting, buying and arranging dolls is taken very seriously with preparations starting almost a month in advance. Along with the Golu, miniature parks and theme ideas are also implemented (such as a village, city etc).

Harini Murali from Chennai shares these nifty tips to beautify your Navaratri Golu by giving you simple tips to make a park and a temple that adds glitter to your Navaratri Golu.

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5 Kozhukattai recipes for Ganesha Chathurthi

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Updated: September 2012: 4 more modak . kozhukattai recipes added.

It’s been quite a while since I posted to this blog; if you’ve been visiting this blog regularly, please accept my apologies. To make up for my mistakes :) I have got some sweet news for you. The festival season has begun in India and it goes on till next year’s Pongal festival.

Oh I promised something sweet right? Ganesha Chaturthi (Vinayaka Chaturthi) festival is round the corner and it’s time for delicious Kozhukattai’s again. Try these recipes for this Ganesha festival or any other forthcoming festival and impress everyone with your special cooking skills :-)

Download these Kozhukattai recipes as a PDF file (Right click on the link and click “save target as..” in your browser. You will need Adobe PDF reader to view this file. Print or read at your convenience and try these recipes.

 

Kozhakattai / Kolukattai / Kozhukattai is a sweet rice dumpling dish prepared on special occasions in South India and on Ganesha festival it is a must on the menu. Also known as Kadubu in Karnataka ; there are other variations to Kozhukattai – Modak in North Indian states and Modagam in Tamil Nadu. Modak is round-shaped while the delicious Kozhukattai is in the shape of a snail :-)

Tradition has it that Ganesha’s favorite food was the Modak and therefore these sweets along with other dishes are offered to Him during the festival. Like all children (and children at heart), Sweets during any festival are the fastest eaten and I confess that my home, I’m the first to finish off the Kozhukattais.

Whether you’re a fan of Indian sweets or want to make the perfect Kozhukattais, there are 5 recipes below. Included is the sweet version with coconut and sesame fillings, a vegetable version and a Payasam (Kheer). All varieties of Kozhukattais usually have a central filling (sweet or spicy). The sweet filling is called Puranam in Tamil.

These recipes from my mother, have been tested and adapted from the Tamil magazine ‘Aval Vigadan’ and a book from South Indian professional cook, Mrs Mallika Badrinath; my thanks to them as well.

Share your recipes for Ganesha Chathurti using this form in the main site or leave your feedback.

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Potato Spring Rolls – Step by Step Recipe

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“I don’t go long without eating. I never starve myself: I grab a healthy snack”- Vanessa Hudgens

Indian food never seems to be short of options for Snacks and short-eats. But like every home, budding cooks want to try out something different. We are a cookery-show inspired home and weekends are the perfect time for experimenting various dishes shown on TV. I’ve always wanted to make those spring rolls similar to that of a restaurant’s but couldn’t get around it so far. But now, I’ve finally made them! This one is a crispy variety of spring rolls, but this one has a potato filling instead of other veggies that you normally find in a roll.

Potato Rolls

It tasted great with tomato ketchup and is a perfect starter for any party. Tell us how you like it in the comments.

Recipe follows below:

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Rui Macher Jhol (Bengali Fish Curry)

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Bengalis sure love their fish and fish dishes are one of the main highlights of any Bengali cuisine. This authentic recipe is contributed (tested and tried :-) ) by a friend and a food enthusiast, Diprabhanu Bakshi from Bangalore. For this Fish curry,  ’Rohu‘ fish is used which is a delicacy in Bengal and other regions in Eastern India. It goes well with steamed rice and or Rotis.

The photo is clicked from a mobile camera and doesn’t do full justice to the dish, but Dipra assures us that the fish curry will make you want more with every bite. Try this for lunch or dinner.

Rohu Macher Jhol

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No-Cook Instant Rasam

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Rasam is as South Indian as a dish one could find. This simple soup / curry has many varieties but perhaps the simplest one is where you don’t even have to cook it! Ta Da…Presenting the ‘No-Cook Instant Rasam’. With a few simple ingredients you can have delicious Rasam ready to go in under 5 minutes. This is a perfect dish that can be tried by bachelors, first time cooks or if you want to come with up something tasty when you are really hungry. Goes well with steamed rice.

 

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Fancy more Rasam varieties? Check out South Indian Rasam recipes on our main site

Eggless Vanilla Ice-Cream Recipe for a Hot Summer day

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икониSummer is here in India and the heat is rising. Ice-creams and cool drinks are a favorite to beat the heat and why not! While many Ice-creams require the use of eggs to get the proper consistency, this one doesn’t require eggs at all.

Sangeetha, an aspiring chef from Mumbai, and our favorite fans from Indian Food Kitchen’s Facebook group, shares this yummy recipe for Vanilla Ice-cream that you can make without eggs.

She says

hiiiiiiiiiii ! 2 beat the heat here is a more chilling :-) recepie for my foodie friends.

Recipe Follows Below

Spicy Chicken 65: Guest Recipe

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It’s so wonderful to have visitors to Indian Food Kitchen submitting various recipes. Unfortunately my work has kept me from posting many of these and others from my mom’s Kitchen. I’ll promise to be more regular and some more surprises also await in the near future :-) By the way, if you are on Facebook, join Indian food Kitchen over there and you can meet a lot of foodies.

Ok, back to the main topic, Beula from faraway New Zealand has contributed this recipe for Chicken 65, a popular appetizer / starter / non-veg snack, which surprisingly many Indian restaurants seem to have forgotten these days.

Many thanks to Beula for sharing the recipe for this popular dish. India seems to be a chicken crazy nation (food wise, that is) and this dish sure is a non-vegetarian delicacy. Enjoy and do post your comments below.

Chicken 65 recipe

Recipe follows below:

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Guest Recipe: Moong Dhal Thattai (Rice Crackers)

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This recipe was contributed by Kavitha from the United Kingdom. Thattai (in Tamil) or Nippattu (in Kannada) is a savoury cracker found in South India. Though not regularly prepared in households they make for a yummy accompaniment for rice-based dishes of South India. Kavitha makes this recipe look so easy even I think I can make it :) Try this as as one of your evening specials and let us know how it goes.

Recipe follows below:

Guest Recipe: Cottage Cheese and Onion Stuffed Roti!

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Happy New Year folks! I’ve been out of action for quite some time now. Lot of things happening on the personal front, so couldn’t devote much time here. Enough rambling already. Suchitra from Basel, Switzerland has shared this yummy recipe for Cottage cheese and onions stuffed  Rotis. The recipe looks simple enough and is perfect as a lunchbox dish or even as a dinner meal. Try it out and let us know how it turned out.

Ingredients (for stuffing)

  • 1 cup grated cottage cheese
  • 1 onion chopped finely
  • coriander leaves chopped finely
  • 2 green chillies (chopped)
  • salt (according to taste)
  • garam masala (1/2 tsp)
  • coriander powder (1/4 tsp)
  • Kasoori methi leaves (1 tsp)- fenugreek leaves
  • 2 garlic cloves (chopped finely)

Ingredients (for the base)

  • Wheat flour (1 1/2 cup)
  • water
  • salt

Method / How to make:

  1. Knead the flour to a smooth dough with the help of water and set it aside.
  2. In a bowl mix all the stuffing ingredients with a liberal dose of oil.
  3. Take a ball of dough and flatten it to a small circle.
  4. Add the filling in the middle and fold the sides to make it into a small pouch.
  5. Flatten this small pouch to a medium sized circle.
  6. Fry this in a pan to golden brown on both sides.
  7. Serve with yoghurt and pickle. Enjoy!

Check out some more Roti recipes from our main site and also Suchitra’s blog here – http://indiencooking.blogspot.com/