Today, Sailu’s Kitchen turns four. Feels incredible! A mere ‘thank you’ isn’t enough to express my gratitude for your affection, support and encouragement, dear readers. I appreciate each and every comment, feedback and emails sent by you. Thank you very much!

Wishing all my dear readers, visitors and friends a happy and safe Deepavali! Last year for Diwali, I blogged Badam Halwa, Bobbatlu and Paramannam. This Diwali also I have a delicious realm of 3 rich sweet recipes for my dear readers ~ Teepi Gavvalu, Besan Laddu and Halwa Boorelu.

Atukulu (Aval) Payasam is prepared with rice flakes aka poha that is roasted in ghee, slowly simmered in a poppy seeds-coconut milk-jaggery base, flavored with cardamom and garnished with toasted cashew nuts and raisins.

Wishing all my readers, visitors and friends a happy and safe Deepavali! Phew! Its been a marathon of sweets dishes at our home. Three sweet recipes for my dear readers this Diwali – Badam Halwa, Annam Payasam and Bobbatlu. With a home full of near and dear loved ones and the background sound of crackers [...]

Festivals reflect the cultural diversity of India, a land of many religions. Festivity denotes – new clothes, rangoli/muggulu, mango leaves thoranam, smell of camphor and incense sticks, family get togethers, fun, laughter and most importantly home cooks diligently prepare traditional sweets, savories and elaborate festive meals. Semiya Payasam ~ Rava Laddu Today being Dasara, it [...]

Meera concludes her article on traditional Maharashtrian food with a focus on snacks and sweets, including festival delicacies. Thank you, Meera, for giving us an indepth article on every day, home cooked Maharashtrian food. ~Sailaja Sailaja invited me to write about Traditional Maharashtrian Snacks and Sweets. It sure was a very delectable invitation which instantly [...]

With some very basic ingredients usually available at home, you can whip up some comforting simple lentil based sweet dishes that are not high in calories yet delicious. One such traditional Indian dessert is Pesara pappu payasam prepared from good quality yellow moong dal, jaggery and milk. This humble earthy sweet dish was part of [...]

I’m not sure if many of you have heard of sweet flavored ‘vada/garelu’. Dear reader, I’m talking of bellam (jaggery) garelu where deep fried crisp vadas are sweetened with jaggery syrup, a traditional sweet in our parts. Sometimes, during festivals or special occasions, when garelu are prepared, if there is any left over urad dal [...]

A treasured sweet dish, very dear to us Andhras, are these golden bewitching treats, Chandrakaantalu. Classified as pindivantalu (festive foods), these classic favorites are absolutely delicious making you crave for more even after you have had your fair share. I actually have to remove the serving plate from the table to keep us from finishing [...]

It’s festival time! Sankranti, our most auspicious harvest festival is just around the corner – time for indulgence, good food, new clothes and lot of fanfare. Preparation for Sankranti, begins weeks in advance at my grandmother’s (ammamma) home and is always centered around fun and traditional festive foods. Sankranti evokes memories of the warmth and [...]