Nivedhanam

Cornbread is a very popular breakfast in the US.. It is made on the skillet or baked in the oven and served as breakfast. It is quite simple to do and very delicious.. I baked this in a 8 inch square dish and the height of the bread was about 1 1/4 inches.. You will get a taller one if you choose a smaller pan. You can also bake these in muffin tins. I got this recipe from allrecipes.com and made a few changes..

Today we are seeing a dish that is popular in all parts of the world.. The very humble – Jam!! I have started making jam in the last few years and every time I see loads of fruit, the first dish that comes to my mind is Jam!!! I have made many varieties of Jam but most of them uses Pectin to make the jam. Now this recipe is a Jam recipe that does not use Pectin, but gets the help from the pectin that is naturally in the grapes.. So this jam uses only 2 ingredients and gives you a beautiful jam with no pectin, no food color, no artificial preservatives and no essence also.. Trust me you get the bursting flavor of grapes and the beautiful color naturally… Although Jam is popular in many parts of the world, it is mainly used in English Breakfast – Bread and Jam.

Talk about simplicity and I cannot ignore this delicious recipe... When I was in US, the cuisine which has rice (other than Asian ones) is Mexican.. Love their beans and rice, cilantro rice etc.. Again this fajita is another dish that is part of their platter which is a elegant, simple and flavorful vegetables.. Be it burrito bowl or burrito or taco, veg fajita (pronounced as fa - hi - ta) is sure to be there.. Our favorite place was Chipotle where we used to relish burrito and taco and this fajita was so delicious and flavorful.. I surely miss them here in India (although I have so many other Indian options...). So I made them at home and we all relished it!! yummm...

So what is all in the platter? Tomato and Basil Tortillas, Cilantro Lime Rice, Veg Fajita, Sour Cream, Refried Beans, Corn Salsa and Cheddar Cheese

Potato is an universally liked vegetable, also available in many parts of the world.. This version of using the potato in a kari is a common dish in our household which is everybody's favorite.. Using a cast iron pan will make the browning better and also even.. This can be served along with Sambar saadam, Rasam saadam, Curd Rice, Bisi bela bath, Mixed rice etc.. Today I am serving this with Kaara Kuzhambu and steaming hot rice..

Welcome friends to another month long marathon – “Buffet on the Table”.. Today we are starting another month long marathon – Buffet on the table with 5 categories and the week 1 is going to be "Combo from Countries". and I am starting with a delicious combo in our house.. Spicy Potato Kari and Kaara Kuzhambu. When you talk about Combos, lot of dishes come to my mind other than the Indian ones.. In our house, it is always combo dishes and rarely do we do an one dish meal.. There are lot of combos that are quite popular like – Pita Bread and Hummus, Brownie and Vanilla Ice Cream, Burger and Fries, Mor Kuzhambu and Parupu Usli, Roti and Paneer Butter Masala, Channa Masala and Batura, Fish and Chips, Fries and Sauce, Ghevar and Rabri etc…

Kaara Kuzhambu

Kaara kuzhambu stands up to its name – Kaara means – very spicy and kuzhambu is a thicker gravy and this dish is sure to make your eyes water along with your tongue.. It is super tasty and tongue tickling.. I served this along with the all time favorite – Spicy Potato Fry

Talk about healthy ingredients and unpolished ingredients is on the top of it.. Today's recipe is using the very healthy aval (poha) to make upuma.. This poha is unpolished and is very healthy.. Great thig about poha is that it needs no cooking or minimal cooking only... This makes a great breakfast or a quick dinner... It takes about 15 minutes and tastes best when serve hot!! You can also garnish with some freshly grated coconut if desired.

Do you like Methi??? I actually love it.. There are so many dishes that can be made with this in both leaves form and seeds form.. They are so healthy, but not many appreciate it due to its slightly bitter taste... We add methi seeds (fenugreek seeds) to a lot of our daily dishes mainly sambar.. This pulao is made with the greens and is quite easy to make.. The flavor of the leaves are beyond words... I am not adding the whole garam masala spices here as I love the flavor of methi, but you may add if you prefer..

Do you know the speciality of Nellikkai (Amla)??? It is the only (at least that I know) that has 5 tastes out of the 6.. Meaning there is arusuvai (6 taste) types of taste that food can be seperated and Nellikkai has 5 in it.. The arusuvai (6 types of taste) are - Pulippu (sour), Thuvarpu (astringent), Kaarppu (pungent), Uppu (salt) , Inipu (sweet) and Kasappu (bitter).. And the other great thing about nellikkai (amla) is that it is used in so many varieties of dishes and it is sooo healthy.. The health benefits of it are so many that you can write few books on it.. And today's recipe if going to use this amla in a very easy way!!

Today's recipe with fruits is very interesting form of rice. It is a great idea to pack for lunch, for parties and also a quick dinner.. The flavor is mild and will be little sweet, so please serve them with spicy side dish.. I served them with spicy Aloo Gobi. I got this recipe from a TV show.

Today's guilt free recipe is with millets and the cutest millet of all... It is made with Saamai called as the Little Millet.. Idli by itself is a very healthy breakfast.. Now making it even more healthier is by substituting the rice portion with the millets.. I also used the whole black urad dal with the skin. Again making it even more healthier.. Serve it with a spicy chutney and gobble them guilt free.. I made them in mini idli molds and it was so attractive

Why bake bread when it is available on the shelf of a grocery store? Homemade bread tastes a lot better and many customizations are possible and also the aroma of fresh bread is so heavenly. Once we smell the beautiful aroma of bread while baking, we would always prefer to make (bake) it at home. It’s simple and fun, baking bread. There are many types of bread and this one is plain white bread. Always slice the bread just before use as unsliced bread lasts longer.

Want a healthy snack that you can munch guilt free??? So in perfect for holidays or for watching TV.. Moong dal / Paasi Parupu is a healthy dal which is easy to digest but loaded with proteins.. Ask a person with fever or stomach flu or people who have just delivered, paasi parupu (moong dal) will be part of their diet as it is easy to digest, loaded with proteins and so healthy. I have heard that it also helps in healing the wounds.. There are so many items that we make with this dal. Some are -. This is a different one with it being a snack which is so similar to the fried one. I have the Moong Dal Fry recipe here which is a very famous snack. I got the idea from here to make the similar moong dal fry without actually frying it.

If there is one type of food which is enjoyed in many parts of the world, then it has to be chips.. Ranking top on junk food, these are irresistible and a lot of times you cannot stop with one.. There are many branded chips available, but make them at home and make it even more irresistible. I have tried the baked version here, but this one is the sinfully delicious fried one. You can add any seasoning powders of choice, but I kept it simple this with just salt and chili powder.