Vegan Pancakes - Eggless, Butterless Pancakes

Pancakes are light fluffy breakfast treats made with flour, eggs and milk. I was introduced to them when I moved to America. I had my first pancakes at iHop Restaurant. They make good pancakes and they provide you with an array of syrups to top your pancakes with. Plus you can order them with a variety of fruits. What's not to love.

Tzatziki - Greek Cucumber and Yogurt Dip

Tzatziki is a Greek Yogurt based recipe. It can be used in a variety of ways. It can used a dip - will work great with some Pita Bread, Carrot or Celery sticks. It can be used along with fillings in a Pita Pocket. You can use this as a substitute for Mayo in Burgers. You can also use it as a Raita with Indian Style Rice or Parata.

Focaccia Caprese - Focaccia with Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil

Focaccia Caprese is a variation of Focaccia influenced by the Capri region on Italy. The flavours usually included are Mozzarella, Tomato and Basil like in a Caprese Salad. As you might know I am part of a Baking Group called 'We Knead to Bake'. We bake a bread every month based on the recipe given by Aparna. After a successful year (yes, we baked 12 breads together and learned a lot), we are moving on to the second year with newer members and newer adventures.

Lemon Madeleine - Traditional French Madeleines

Madeleines are soft cake/cookies from France. They are noticeable for their unique shell shape. They are spongy in the middle and slightly crispy on the edges. We were introduced to these yummy goodies way back in US when we were shopping in Costco. So it goes without saying that we bulk purchased loads of them and devoured them.

Vegan Mashed Potato

Mashed Potatoes are a very popular side dish served in America and England. Though I love potatoes in most forms, this is one form that I never took a liking to. But little one and husband love it. Its probably their favourite potato recipe. I prepared this Vegan Healthy Mashed Potato with my Christmas Dinner.

Carrot Rice - Kids Lunch Box 2

Rice is a super easy item to pack in lunch box. I usually cook the rice ahead of time (read, there will be some rice from the dinner or from what is made for lunch). So the job here is to just make the variety rice. In this case, the smaller the portion size means the work will be done in no time.

The Lunch - Carrot rice, Orange juice, Yogurt, Orange and Cheddar cheese.

Kanu Pongal - Pongal Special Recipes

Day 3 of Pongal is celebrated as Kanu Pongal. Here are some yummy recipes prepared for Kanu Pongal. Hope you enjoy these at home. I still remember my mom preparing all varieties of Kalanda Sadam (Variety Rice) for Kanum Pongal. 

On Kanu Pongal, we put Kanu Pidi. Balls of rice are prepared and fed to crows. A white rice, a sweet rice, a red rice (with red kum kum) and a yellow rice (with turmeric). 

Murungakka Sambar - Drumstick Sambar - Arachu Vitta Sambar

Arachu Vitta Sambar is a special kind of Sambar. It is made with freshly ground spices, without the use of Sambar Powder. This adds to the taste of the Sambar. Today I present to you a very popular sambar made in Tamil Nadu with Drumsticks (Murungakka). Drumstick has an awesome fragrance that is imparted to the sambar making it a wonderful delight.

Pongal Sappadu - Pongal Meals - Tamil Festive Meal

Pongal is the harvest festival of Tamilnadu. A Chakkara Pongal (sweet pongal) is prepared on the Pongal Morning. Read more about the celebration and specific recipes here. This post is for the meal served for lunch.

Pongal Recipes here

The banana leaf is usually used to serve Feast. The top portion is used to serve different curries and bottom side is used for rice, sambar, snacks, payasam etc. The leaf usually used should be the end leaf (nuni ela) with the smaller end on the left of the person sitting in front. 
The order of serving

On the top from right to left - Thayir Pachadi, Sweet Pachadi, Poriyal(s), Kootu, Urugai(Pickle)
On the bottom payasam at the right corner. rice in the middle (with paruppu, sambar, nei etc), on the left corner - Appalam, Medhu Vadai

I have a lot of recipes in my blog. But still not the complete collection. I will update this page as and when I post all the recipes.

Meal I served in 2014 for Pongal. I cooked this meal with a friend and totally enjoyed the experience.

Potato Logs - Potato Sticks - Kids Lunch Box 1

As I posted earlier that I will be posting some Kids Lunch Box recipes and ideas. I am starting with my son's favourite recipe - the potato logs or potato sticks. This recipe was given to me by Niv of Panfusine

Lunch below is Potato sticks (just 3 this time) with ketchup, yogurt, juice and fruit.

Kids Lunch Box Recipes and Ideas

Packing a healthy lunch box for my family is something close to my heart. Packing lunch was never a problem when it was just my husband and me. I used to cook some food for dinner (mostly roti and sometimes rice). We ate a portion of it for dinner and the other portion of it went into the lunch box. So no extra thought or effort was put into it.

When I started packing lunch for my little one last year, I was at loss. He is not a very picky eater. But still as a kid he does have his preferences. He loves eating his roti/sabji, dal for dinner. Or if I make some rice, that goes well too. If you follow my blog you would know that I make a variety of food from different cuisines and we all love it.

Vegan Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Brussel Sprouts have a reputation of being hated by most people. But we love these oven roasted sprouts. I made this as part of our Christmas Dinner.

Honey Roasted Carrots and Parsnips with Caraway Seeds

Oven Roasted Vegetables have an amazing taste to it. This carrot and parsnip roast is just out of the world. The honey adds a nice sweetness to it (substitute with maple syrup for Vegan). The caraway seeds adds a nice aroma and flavour.

Other similar recipes from my blog
Roasted Vegetables with Rosemary
Potatoes and Cauliflower with Ajwain

Vegetarian Christmas and Thanksgiving Dinner (Mostly Vegan)

Wishing all my readers a very Happy New Year 2014. Hope you all had a good holiday and are ready to start the new year! We also enjoyed a few wonderful days at home. Loads of celebration and what celebration is complete without food.