I wanted to make some sweet in the last minute for my 3rd Anniversary... but dint want to make the usual Rava Kesari!!
I saw this recipe in Sharmi's Passions, to make kesari out of Aval/ flat rice. I just made a little changes in the procedure, used milk instead of water to make it super rich and ta da!! Made my anniversary special dessert for my hubby... in about half an hour. And it was too yummmy!! I can't forget the taste!
Now to the recipe for you:

Whenever I make a sidedish for roti/chapati/phulka, i always go by the traditional recipe of onion tomato base, grinding them to a paste, some masala powders and the gray is as usual. I was very skeptical of trying any sweet tasting gravy, as our tastebuds are accustomed to spicy main dish. This time I decided to try something very rich, royal and malai based... Usually I am stingy in adding cashews/ghee/milk/full cream to my dish. Always had a notion that they are not healthy for everyday cooking. I was a bit generous this time to try this recipe out... Methi Malai Mutter. (Recipe inspired from Sharmi's Passions) It has both the goodness of Methi leaves and sweetness of green Peas. I am sure I can make this item for any family get-together dinner next time. :) It turned out yummy and my hubby loved it a lot... he did not leave any traces of the gravy in the pan :P
So lets move on to the recipe...

After coming to Bangalore, I got familiar with a lot of Karnataka special dishes like Akki rotti, chiroti, jowar roti, kara bath, chow chow bath, vangi bath.... etc. But I never dared to try the Karnataka staple food - Ragi Mudhe, nothing but big Ragi balls eaten with sambar here. Out of these Akki rotti is my hubby's favorite and he also likes to try his hand in making them at home with me :) Akki rotti is an Indian style rice flour pancake.. you can either make it plain or add grated vegetables to make it more crunchy and healthier.

Whenever we are bored of making normal dosas at home, I quickly mix up some batter for a different kind of dosa like this one. You can also think of making maida dosa or wheat dosa, where you dont need any pre-planning or grinding!! This comes handy when you run out of the normal dosa batter at home. Rava dosa is our favorite ina ny south indian hotel. It's crispy, lacy in texture, yellow colored in most of the hotels. So lets move onto the recipe for an instant and crispy rava dosa.

Recently I ve been addicted to Foodie programs on Fox traveller. After watching a lot of street food shows, I wanted to try something different at home. I decided to add lot of veggies to my meal and make it tasty too.
I made my own veg fajitas recipe and it turned out super tasty!! :)

After my post on trying different tiffin items for breakfast/ dinner everyday rather than the boring dos/idli/ upma, I badly wanted to make Veg momos at home. I have tasted chicken momos on the streets and both of us love them to the core. We can easily have more than a plate of momos. So decided to try veg momos at home this Sunday. Thanks to Raks kitchen, for inspiring me to try momos :)

It's quite easy to make and doesn't take much of time. You can also prepare the momos ahead of time and steam them whenever required, to give your guests a surprise treat.

Thinking of what to cook for breakfast or dinner is the most toughest job for me in this world!! And I find it's a common problem for everybody else too... People at home get bored of the usual items if repeated too often. The moment breakfast is served, Sandy will ask what's for lunch and when lunch is served, "what's for dinner today?". I would be like "Somebody please do the meal plan for me!!".

I can manage to decide to cook something for lunch, depending on the vegetables available at home but not for breakfast! In this case I envy north indians because they don't have to think so much... roti and a sabji everyday and for all the three meals. We do cook roti/chapati for dinner, but not everyday. Again thinking of what sabji to make for roti is another problem.

So I am going to have a collection of vegetarian tiffin (light meal) items here, with a link to their recipes. So that we can just bookmark this page and drop by to select an item to cook. Else I would give this list to my hubby and ask him choose everytime based on how long he can wait for me to make it. Half of my tension will be reduced... ooof!!

If you feel that some item is missed out, please comment below so that it is helpful for others like me suffering from this cookingtiffinmania!!

I have tried to group it based on the preparation time and cooking time. Because being a working woman, I don't do much planning ahead of time except for special occassions... like soaking the ingredients overnight, grinding the batter, leaving it to ferment for a while, etc. But I do grind my own dosa/idli batter once in two weeks and stock it in the fridge. Saves me most of the times :)

Recent Recipe Collection: Healthy snacks and recipes with Nine different Whole Grains!! Navadhaniya Recipes!!
I would also do a similar post soon for choosing sidedish/gravy/curry recipe for Roti.

Peanut masala is a famous snack in the south... but I have never attempted to make it at home. My hubby loves peanuts and chats a lot, so I thought I could make this peanut masala for him for an evening snack.
I had stock of raw groundnuts at home, the unroasted and unpeeled ones. If you don't have them, you can buy the readymade spicy roasted groundnuts (peeled or unpeeled).

Recently we've been watching Fox Traveller for hours and hours together. We saw this recipe on the "Food Safari" show. Wanted try this authentic Chinese delicacy immediately... Toffee Banana is a classic Chinese dessert. Banana is dipped in a batter, deep fried and then coated with toffee. It's a different taste from other common desserts. Try it for an evening snack... or have it with vanilla ice cream.

South Indian soups are very famous across India, be it vegetarian or non-vegetarian. It is usually not the creamy version but is a clear soup made with spices like pepper. Famous ones are Kozhi (Chicken) Soup, Aatukaal (Mutton leg) Soup, Drumstick soup, Cauliflower Soup, Beetroot soup and many other unique ones. Drinking these soups are believed to be a cure for common cold, cough and fever. Grandmothers make these traditional and authentic soups with all the love and freshly ground spices, for the kids. A cup of soup can be drunk before you start your afternoon meal or you can also have it with rice. Let's see Beetroot soup recipe today.

Ingredients:
Beetroot chopped finely - 1
Onion sliced lengthwise - 1
Tomato chopped - 1
Green Chilli slit lengthwise - 2 or 3
Pepper Corns - 1/2 tsp
Split Urad dal - 1/4 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1/4 tsp
Moong Dal - 1 tsp
Biriyani Spices like star anise - 1 
Black Stone Flower - 1
Bay leaf - 1
Cinnamon stick - 1"
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt
Chopped Coriander to garnish

Method:
1. Heat oil in the cooker pan, put all the biriyani spices and roast them until aroma arises.
2. Add the pepper corns, fennel seeds and split urad dal.
3. Now add sliced onions and green chillies. Saute well until onions are transparent.
4. Add chopped tomatoes and beetroot. Also add 1 tsp of moong dal for added flavor and texture.
5. Add salt as required and let the veggies cook for 2 mins.
6. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and close the cooker. Cook for 2 whistles, don't overcook the veggies.
7. Open the cooker, add some pepper powder if required (Since beetroots may be over sweet). Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

You can use the same recipe for Cauliflower or plain tomato soup. This hot soup  tastes great for this cold weather and the monsoon season.
Happy Cooking!!
Rate this recipe below.