Methi Pulao | Methi Rice | Fenugreek Leaves Rice

Methi pulao is a yumm one dish meal that is really easy to prepare.  The methi leaves give a beautiful flavor to the pulao.  You need not prepare any special side dish for it, any raita or even papad/chips will do, which makes it one of the best choices for lunch box.

Onion Chutney | Vengaya Thogayal | Ulli Pachadi

Onion Chutney or ulli chutney is one of the popular side dishes served along with South Indian breakfast items.  It has a beautiful balance of flavors which makes it an excellent choice of chutney to be served with idli or dosa.  This can be made real quick and tastes good when made fresh.

Panch Phoron Aloo | Potatoes tempered with 5 spices

In Bengali, paanch means five and phoron means spice.  Panch Phoron - also known as panch puran, panchphoran is a spice blend that consists of 5 spices in equal quantity.  It is generally used in Bengali, Assamese and Oriya cuisine.

It is mainly used for tempering and used as a whole and never ground or used as powder.

Panch Phoron has the following spices:

Fenugreek (methi)
Nigella seeds (kalonji/kalo jeera or onion seeds)
Cumin seeds (jeera)
Mustard seeds (rai or shorshe)
Fennel seeds (saunf or mouri)

Aloo Methi | Potato-Fenugreek Leaves Stir Fry

Aloo/potato - there are so many dishes you can make with this veggie, particularly side dishes.  It is winter here now and one of my favorite greens, Methi, is available in plenty.  So decided to make Aloo-Methi, a delicious Punjabi recipe that requires minimal ingredients, is quite easy to prepare and tastes awesome.  This sabzi goes really well with rotis or phulkas.

I have used boiled aloo here as it gives a good texture to the sabzi and also reduces cooking time.

Aloo Baingan Sabzi | Indian Eggplant Potato Curry

Aloo Baingan is a popular North Indian dish prepared with 2 of my favorite veggies - Potato and Brinjal.  This is generally served as a side dish to roti or any other Indian flat bread.  It is very easy to prepare and tastes divine.

This can be made both as a dry sabzi or one with gravy.  I have prepared a dry version.  So here is how I made it..

Methi Paratha | Menthi Koora Paratha | Methi Roti

Methi Paratha is a healthy North Indian dish that can be taken at any time of the day - breakfast, lunch or even dinner.  It is a great way of adding greens to our diet, especially if you have fussy kids.  It can be taken as it is, but tastes fantastic with raita, just plain dahi or any achar of your choice.

Stuffed Capsicum | Bharwan Capsicum | Stuffed Shimla Mirch

Stuffed capsicum or Bharwan Shimla mirch/capsicum as it is called in India is a flavorful and delicious dish prepared with the combination of bell peppers and spiced potato masala.  It is an excellent appetizer and is low in fat.  There are many variations, both veg and non-veg, to the stuffing masala used.  I have prepared with spiced potato masala.  This is generally a dry dish and is served with rice or rotis.

Beguni | Aubergine Fritters | Brinjal Fritters Bengali style

Beguni is a popular mouth-watering snack from Bengal made of brinjal (Eggplant or Aubergine).  No gossip session or an evening tea in a Bengali household is complete without a bowl of Muri and Beguni.  It is also a popular street food in Kolkata.  Can be served along with rice and dal too.

Deep Fried Aubergine Fritters

Tomato Rice | Thakkali Sadam | Tamata Annam

Tomato Rice is one of the best flavorful rice dishes.  This popular spicy and tangy dish is of South Indian origin.  It is mainly a comfort food and can be prepared in a jiffy when one feels lazy to make a full course meal.  Serve with papad or any raitha.

Jeera Aloo | Aloo Jeera | Cumin Potatoes

Jeera Aloo - a beautiful combination of potatoes and cumin seeds - is very easy to prepare, real quick dish, which goes very well with rotis, puris or rice and dal.  I am a big fan of potatoes and this dish is a real treat.

Now heres the recipe..

Arti Thandu Talimpu | Vazhai Thandu Poriyal | Banana Stem Stir Fry

Not many of us know that we use almost all the parts of a banana plant -- the flower, raw and ripe banana, and stem.  Even the leaves are used to serve food in South India.

Banana stem or vazhai thandu is very healthy and rich in fiber content.  There are many benefits from consuming banana stem.  It cools the body and is also very good for weight loss and lowers blood pressure.  So it is really good to include it at least once or twice a week in our diet.

Am giving here a simple and delicious recipe for a talimpu/stir fry.  It is served as an accompaniment to rice and rasam or sambar.

Aloo Matar | Potato with Peas

Aloo matar is a popular droolworthy spicy Punjabi dish made with potatoes and peas.  It is generally served with rotis, naans or parathas and it tastes so divine that you will keep asking for moreeee..  It tastes good even with vegetable pulao, ghee rice and even rice and dal.  The consistency of the gravy will depend on whether it goes with roti or rice and dal.  If you are going to serve it with rotis/parathas or pooris, the texture of the gravy has to be thick.  If it is with rice, then a thinner texture will taste better.

Rava Upma | Sooji Upma

Rava upma is a popular breakfast recipe in south India.  It has very simple ingredients, can be done real quick and is not heavy on the tummy.  You can actually enjoy it at any time of the day or when you are feeling a bit lazy and not up to making a full fledged meal.  Adding vegetables to it is purely a matter of choice.  Even if you don't add any veggies, it will still taste good.

Kobbari Pachadi | Coconut Chutney for Rice

Coconut Chutney/ Kobbari Pachadi - There are 2 types of chutneys made with coconut - one for idli/dosa and another for rice.  The recipe I am giving here is the one to be taken with rice.

Of all the veggie pachadis that are taken with rice, this one is the simplest of all and hardly takes a few minutes to prepare.  It is a bit hot, a wee bit sweet and a little tangy too and tastes divine with hot rice and ghee.

Coconut Rice | Thengai Sadam | Kobbari Annam

Coconut Rice is a simple and tasty traditional dish of south India.  It is low on spices and is a wee bit sweet.  Can be made with both fresh and dried coconut, but tastewise fresh coconut is any day better.

There are many variations to preparing coconut rice.  My version is to make the rice separately and then add the coconut mixture to it and mix it well.  It tastes awesome and is one of those quick-to-prepare recipes that can be made when you are short on time.  So here goes..

Aloo Gobi Fry | Potato-Cauliflower Stir Fry

Potato and cauliflower - one of the best combos to make a side dish interesting.  Aloo Gobi fry is a very simple and tasty dish which is very easy to prepare, minimal spices and hardly takes any time.  This version of aloo gobi fry is a part of breakfast/dinner in many bengali homes.  Can be served with roti or paratha or as a side dish with rice and dal or any variety rice.

Potato capsicum stir fry | Aloo Capsicum Sabzi | Potato and Bell pepper Subzi

Aloo capsicum is an easy to prepare and quick sabzi which tastes really good.  Learn how to prepare it by following this recipe.

Bandhakopir Tarkari | Cabbage With Potato And Peas

Bandhakopir tarkari or Bengali cabbage curry is a simple and delicious side dish cooked in typical Bengali style.  Bandhakopi means cabbage and torkari means any side dish with vegetables in it.  Go ahead and try this awesome dish.. am sure you will like it.

Green Peas Pulav | Peas Pulao | Peas Pilaf

Peas Pulav is a popular recipe and one of my favorites.  Its very easy to prepare, does not take much time, less chopping involved, but tastes awesome.   Here's how you prepare this flavorful Peas Pulav..

Aloo Bhindi | Potato & Okra with Indian Spices | Aloo Bhindi Sabzi

Aloo Bhindi - a beautiful combination of potatoes and okra/bhindi.. it is one of those dishes which you can have often and still not get bored.. Even fussy eaters, particularly kids, will sure love it.  Normally, this is served with rotis or parathas.

Beerakaya Kura | Ridge Gourd Curry

Beerakaya Kura is a simple and delicious Andhra dish made with mild spices.  It tastes really good when taken with rice or rotis.

Vegetable Kurma/Korma

Vegetable Kurma/korma is a beautiful coconut-based curry from South India with a generous mix of vegetables.  Its quite delicious & highly nutritive.  Tastes awesome with rice, rotis, puris or parathas.

Potato Fry | Bangaladumpa Vepudu

Potatoes/Aloo is one of our family-favorite veggies.  Even simple recipes made with potato tastes yummm.. Do you love potato fry??? Here is a very quick and easy version.  Enjoy it with rice and rasam.

Lemon Rice | Chitrannam | Nimmakaya Annam

Lemon Rice or Chitrannam -- This is a classic simple South Indian dish which is had on a day-to-day basis.  It is made during festivals too.  The lemon juice adds a real zing to the rice.  You can make lemon rice in a jiffy, especially when you are in a hurry in the mornings.  Lemon rice can be made with leftover rice too..

Looking out for more classic South Indian rice varieties, here are a few that you can try out - Tamarind rice or Puliyodharai, Tomato rice, Coconut rice, curd rice.

Aloo Dum Bengali Style | Aloo Dum

Aloo'r dum is a traditional Bengali food.  Luchi with Aloo'r Dum is a popular combination served for breakfast/dinner or on special occasions like birthday in Bengal.  If you like tangy, spicy foods, then this is the one for you.  Its beautiful flavors will leave you asking for moreee..

Paneer Bhurji | Scrambled Cottage Cheese | Paneer recipes

Paneer is one of my favs and I simply love it.. Its rich in protein and there are so many dishes you can prepare with it, but if you are in a rush and want something simple and easy to prepare, Paneer Bhurji is the one to go for.. It is a popular and delicious north Indian side dish made from crumbled paneer.  It is really simple and delicious.. Paneer Bhurji goes really well with Roti or bread.

If you are looking for some more quick paneer recipes, check out these:  Palak paneer, paneer paratha, matar paneer.