1008 posts since 2008

Food & Cooking Archives

Welcome! Sharing my reflections on the spiritual path.
Join me on a profound journey of self-discovery and spiritual growth.

Feb 25, 2012

Learning Chettinad Cooking

Our spiritual and culinary adventure is coming to a conclusion and today we had our last cooking class. It was on two Chettinad style dishes. The first was "Mint Chutney" and the second "Kola Urundai Kolambu". Here's the recipe for the "Mint Chutney" that we learned today. Ingredients required Mint leaves - few sprigs Shallots - 100gms Garlic - 1 pod Ginger - 1 inch Coconut (grated) - half cup T...

Feb 22, 2012
1 MINUTE READ

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.
Feb 20, 2012
1 MINUTE READ

Eating 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 g
Feb 19, 2012
1 MINUTE READ

No 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 restaur
Dec 22, 2011
2 MINUTES READ

Avial

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 choppe
Dec 18, 2011
3 MINUTES READ

Palappam

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
Dec 15, 2011
2 MINUTES READ

Paruppu, 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