Category: Food & Cooking
34 Posts
Lunch with a priest’s family
The only way to taste true Tamil cuisine is to be fortunate enough to be invited for lunch with a family. We had that pleasure yesterday when we dined at the home of Kailas Deeksitar, a priest at the spectacular Chidambaram temple. We were greeted by his wife, son and daughter. Both sons also ser...
Read MoreEating with your hands
Eating with your hand is something that is common in Asia especially in India. The right hand is used and all meals are eaten with it. Today for lunch as part of our culinary journey we visited Sri Krishna Sweets, a restaurant in Pondicherry that is famous for its sweets on the ground floor of&he...
Read MoreNo Plate Big Enough
After class we took an evening walk along the promenade in Pondicherry which always seems to be bustling with people. Then we headed into town walking past a lot of the colonial type structures that are very much part of this section of Pondicherry. We ended up in Surguru restaurant and had chana...
Read MoreAvial
A classic preparation from Kerala, Avial is a light, easy-to-make dish of vegetables cooked with coconut and yogurt. It goes particularly well with Pallapam. Preparation should take no more than 15 minutes, even faster if you use the microwave. Ingredients 1 1/2 cups chopped vegetables – ca...
Read MorePalappam
South Indian cooks make breads from lots of different ingredients more or less unknown in the west. This unusual and delicious bread from Kerala uses a fermented batter of rice flour and coconut milk. This is called Palappam, although often you just hear it referred to as appam, which simply mean...
Read MoreParuppu, a delicious South Indian Lentil Dish
Paruppu is a popular South Indian dish that is made from boiling lentils. It can be had with chapatis, rice or even by itself. This recipe is simple and uses ingredients that you can get in most stores. Ingredients 1 cup masoor dal (red lentils) 1/4 tsp turmeric powder 1/2 tsp chili powder 2-3 cl...
Read MoreChickpea and Mushroom curry
This is another simple recipe and it goes well with the chapatis that was featured a few days ago. You start off with a little bit of oil in your wok or pan. Fry a pinch of mustard and fenugreek seeds till the mustard seeds starts to pop. Then add some garlic and fry this…
Read MoreCauliflower Kuzhambu
Today’s recipe is Cauliflower Kuzhambu. This dish really shows off a number of South Indian flavors and cooking techniques. Making it in a strictly traditional way can be a little complex and might seem overwhelming at first glance. I’ve noted a few shortcuts that can cut the preparation ...
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