Festival foods :

Paruppu poli

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Have you ever disliked any particular food just because it had a silly colour, it oozed oil and any such trivial reason? Well, I have. Thinking back, I have disliked many reasonably nice dishes just because they were not the colour of my[...]

Arisi Karjikkai

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Karjikkais are very popular sweetmeats. Usually, flour is rolled out and sweet fillings are stuffed in and deep fried to make them. The very delectable variation is the arisi karjikkai where the outer coat is made with rice flour with some[...]

Aezhu Kari Kootu

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The 7 kari kootu is usually made on the Thiruvaadhirai festival to consume with the Thiruvaadhiraikkali, a sweet dish made with roasted and powdered rice cooked with jaggery. Ideally the kootu will have those vegetables grown during an[...]

Palada Pradhaman

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In an earlier post, easy adai payasam , I had made the payasam using coconut milk. I had learnt to make the palada from a neighbour while I lived in Chennai. Then, my father used to purchase the ready made ada from a shop in Coimbatore and I[...]

Deepavali Mixture

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One of the 'must' make during deepavali is the Mixture. This can be easily prepared in large quantiies and makes easier while distributing to friends and neighbours. My mother always makes lot of varieties of the deep fried snacks to fill[...]

Jantikalu for ICC

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This month's recipe for the Indian Cooking Challenge announced by Srivalli and tried by all the members was the jantikalu or murukku famous South Indian savouries. With the festival season upon us, all of us geared ourselves to try it out.[...]

Uppappam for Karthigai

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Today the 30th of November, tomorrow and the day after are the karthigai deepam festival days this year. The Barani deepam is lighted today, tomorrow is the sarvaalaya deepam, when in all Hindu temples numerous lamps will be lit and[...]

Maavilakku for Thai Velli

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It is a tradition in some Hindu families to light what is called the Maavilakku on Fridays of particular months of the Hindu calender or during the celebrations at the local Maariamman temples. People who follow this ritual of lighting the[...]

My Wild Duck, Duck Dinner

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  It started as a simple tweet last night. I'm going out to a wild duck dinner. A lot of people thought that implied something. What was I up to exactly?  What sort of wild? What sort of duck? And no, Henrik Ibsen didn't figure into[...]

Rose flavoured maida cake

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Have you ever wondered just a clap of thunder and a random song can bring back loads of memories. It does to me, of one fateful rainy October night of 1971. Our childhood home in Namakkal was in the then fashionable extension area of the town.[...]