Kala’s Yellow Corn and Carrot Pulav

January-March is the season for luscious yellow corn. It has a bland sweetish flavour and a crunchy texture which adds character to a dish. I have always loved sweet corn and chicken soup and wondered if I could get the same flavour with rice – and I could! I added coconut milk to give the rice rich flavour. It is a favourite in my house, and it goes very well with both vegetarian (Sweet and Sour Brinjal Masala, Dry Peas Curry) and non-vegetarian (Kala’s Chicken and Capsicum Curry, Kovilpatti Chicken Curry) side dishes. It is also a very attractive dish which can be served at festivals and to guests.

Kala’s Yellow Corn and Carrot Pulav

Kala’s Baby Corn Manchurian

The late ‘90s saw Cauliflower Manchurian become wildly popular in Tamil Nadu. I do not know why it is called Manchurian because it has no link to that region, but its popularity drove me to try it out. I then make the Manchurian with Baby Corn, as my son refuses to eat cauliflower. The spice mix used here for making the masala paste is entirely my creation.

Kala’s Baby Corn Manchurian

Kala’s Paneer, Capsicum and Baby Corn Pulav

I have a fondness for pulavs and fried rice and like to come up with my own recipes. I have seen rice recipes using paneer by famous chefs, but I wasn’t impressed with the taste. As paneer is rather bland, I added capsicum to enhance the flavour. I also added baby corn because it complements capsicum. I usually serve this dish with hot and sweet tomato chutney as it goes well with the mild flavour of this dish.

Low Spice Low Oil Aama Vadai

Happy Pongal everyone! I used to enjoy Aama Vadai as a child in both Thirunelveli and Madurai. I was surprised to find that very few people knew about Aama Vadai in Chennai. The characteristic feature of the Aama Vadai is the use of 3 dhals, unlike the Ulundhu Vadai or Masala Vadai which only uses one dhal. This vadai has a very mild flavour, and, therefore, is typically served with or as an accompaniment.

Aama Vadai

Chicken and Potato Roast

Christmas is the time when guests drop in casually, and you would like to be able to serve a hearty meal quickly. This Chicken and Potato Roast doesn’t take much time to cook, and you can continue with other preparations while it is marinating. Though it is a simple dish, it has a special something that can turn food into a feast. My daughter found this recipe on the net, and I modified it to suit the Indian kitchen and palate.

Chicken and Potato Roast

Chocolate Coated Spicy Donuts for Santa

Advent is when we make plans for Christmas, especially for Christmas Eve when Santa drops in. We usually leave cookies and milk for Santa, but I’m sure he’d like a bit of variety in his diet. I decided to make donuts and preferred to bake rather than fry them because I wouldn’t want Santa to get stuck in the chimney 🙂 I added spices used in fruit cakes to add variety, and the chocolate icing to add extra ‘Christmas’ to the donuts. Santa may get chocolate stains on his beard instead of cookie crumbs, so remember to leave a serviette for him.

Kala’s Bacon and Sausage Pulav for Easter

Though Easter follows 40 days of vegetarianism, Tamil people don’t have a great spread for the festival. I wanted to offer an alternative to the traditional chicken or mutton biriyani, and I chose this Bacon and Sausage Pulav as it is the same meat-and-rice type of dish, but is also very different and very mild flavoured. This is a scrumptious one-dish meal, and it only needs ketchup as an accompaniment if required.

Kalas’ Bacon and Sausage Pulav

Baked Paarai Meen (Trevally Fillets)

Fish food doesn’t agree with some people, perhaps because we use a lot of spices in India. I was looking for a fish recipe that used Indian spices but was mild flavoured. I found one in The Cook’s Colour Treasury called hake gratin, which was baked with cheese. To make it suitable for our palate, I removed the cheese and substituted coriander leaves in place of parsley. I used trevally, which is an inexpensive fish in India and can be easily skinned and cut into fillets. The result was a melt-in-your-mouth baked fish with a flavour that no one can resist.

Baked Paarai Meen (Trevally Fillets)

Thirunelveli Lime Rice with Paruppu Thuvaiyal (Roasted Bengal Gram Dhal Chutney)

Thirunelveli Lime Rice is different from the typical Madras Lime Rice in that it is very mild, and fresh ingredients like onion, green chillies, and coriander leaves are used, and it is also served with Paruppu Thuvaiyal. The acid in the lime juice changes the anthocyanin pigment in the onion to a beautiful reddish pink colour and makes the texture crisp. This makes it a most attractive dish.

Thirunelveli Lime Rice with Paruppu Thuvaiyal (Roasted Bengal Gram Dhal Chutney)

Erode Kathirikkai (Eggplant) Curry

My father’s youngest sister, Jeyanthi, relocated to Erode from Thirunelveli when she got married. She had picked up several new recipes from her Erode friends and acquired relatives. My mother had enjoyed her cooking and collected a few recipes from her. This Kathirikkai Curry is one of those precious dishes. Kathirikkai is a staple ingredient in Tamil cooking because different varieties of kathirikkai are available throughout the year. I prefer to use the deep purple variety. This curry turned out to be absolutely fabulous, and it can be served with plain rice, Easy Peas Pulav, Potato Pulav, or chappatis.

Erode Kathirikkai Curry