Indian food, Andhra recipes and Global cuisine inspired cooking

This pachadi is pure vegetarian food sans the onion-garlic twosome. Saatvik khana - fresh, healthy and light. Ridge gourd is a vegetable that is vata pacifying according to ayurveda and one of my favorites. I am always looking for recipes of sweet-flavored ridge-gourd, known as beerakai in Telugu, peerkangai in Tamil and torai/dodka in Hindi/Marathi. […]

If you want to experience the ‘kaaram’ (spicy hot) ruchi that Andhra food is known for, then you should taste the non-vegetarian fare which is sure to get taste buds tingling and set your tongue on fire. The fiery hot flavor is there and not in the vegetarian food which is definitely not spicy rather […]

Nehal is always complaining that I cook greens every day and its always a challenge to get him to enjoy the flavor of greens in any form. Amaranth leaves are available almost all year round in our parts and its a very regular green at our home. There are quite a few varieties that we […]

When starting out to cook on my own, one of the first recipes I learnt was, Kobbari Pachadi. I am not talking about the regular coconut chutney that goes with our South Indian breakfast fare. What I’m talking about is a coconut pachadi that is prepared only to be eaten with rice during meal times. […]

A simple, crunchy, dry saute (vepudu/poriyal) is Cabbage stir-fry with the perfect blend of color and taste. A stand-out recipe where cabbage is mildly spiced with red chilli, cumin and coriander powders and garnished with fresh coriander leaves. One of my favorites as a side to go with rice, rasam and appadam.

Cabbage Vepudu Recipe
Prep […]

Cooking a dal dish atleast 4-5 times a week for lunch is a normal routine but on days when tur dal (usually with greens/tomato) is not cooked, its a dry saute dish like today’s recipe which calls for bengal gram and coconut. The thing to take care in this recipe is to not let the […]

The very thought of home ground spice mix aka podi warms my appetite not to mention the aroma that emanates my kitchen during it preparation. Podis or spiced powders/blends are an essential part of South Indian cuisine with each home having their own versions of preparing it. We in Andhra share a fondness for […]

I was craving something deep-fried last evening but stopped myself from preparing anything at that moment. So, I soaked some alasandalu (lobia/black-eyed peas/bobbarlu) this morning to make some fritters with our evening tea.
Absolutely crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle, these fritters have a wonderful mouth-feel and are an anytime […]

Kootu is a popular South Indian lentil based vegetable stew that is thick in texture. Kootus usually comprise of lentils (channa dal/moong dal) and vegetables like bottle gourd, potatoes, plantains, brinjals, cabbage, carrots and beans that are cooked in a blend of fresh coconut and green chillis. There are many variations to the kootu in […]

This morning, there was no way I could pass up the capsicums sitting in the refrigerator screaming for attention. I set out to prepare a pachadi in combination with green chillis to mellow down the sweetness of capsicums. Capsicum and green chilli pieces are sauteed in oil, ground to a coarse paste and slow cooked […]