Inippu Ulunthu Vadai | Inippu Medhu Vadai Recipe | Inippu Vadai | Sweet Medhu Vada Recipe

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Today's recipe is one of the traditional sweet recipe, Inippu Ulunthu Vadai or Sweet Medhu Vada. Inippu vadai is prepared using urad dal/black lentil and sugar combo with cardamom flavor. This sweet vada is one of my favorite sweet,but it is not prepared often like other sweets, my mom makes it only during special occasions or for padaiyal(pooja) or if we have guest at home. But we often buy it from our near by shop and enjoy it for our evening snack. My grandma used to say that dishes prepared using Urad dal are healthy for growing kids especially for girls. She suggest my mom to make Ulunthu kali, uluntham kanji, inippu vadai(with jaggery or karuppati)for me and my sister during the periods days. Ulunthu kali or kanji is good for girls' health and gives energy during those tiring days. These foods are not only healthy, tastes divine too. I will try to share the recipe for Uluntham Kanji sometime soon.

Mango Mocktail | Mango Lemon Soda | Summer Mango Drink Recipe

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Summer started here and this week it was so hot and humid almost 91/94 F. I don't feel like going out, it is literally burning hot. Suddenly weather changes, it was only 65 -70 F till last week and it was pleasing to go out and enjoy. Also we got good showers alternate days and some days mornings were bit cold too. And now the real summer started and coming days going to be very hot and sunny.
To beat the heat and keep us hydrated, we need to take lots and lots of water, fluids and fresh juices. Kids love to have refreshing drinks more than the dairy based juices/smoothies.

So for them I make vegan and refreshing drinks with fresh fruit juices. This Mango Mocktail is one such easy and really refreshing drink to enjoy this summer. I clicked this picture almost 2 months back when the mango season started. That time, the mangoes we bought was not sweet enough and more of sour taste. So i decided to make Mango Lemonade.

Lemon Sevai | Lemon Idiyappam Recipe | How To Make Lemon Sevai

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Eid Mubarak to all who celebrate Eid. May The Almighty shower all his Mercy and blessing on you and your family. Have a Blessed Ramadan. Every year I miss to share Ramadan special recipes, hope at least next year i will share some best recipes.

During my school days, my best friend never fail to share the Ramadan feast with us. Auntie prepares elaborate meal on this special occasion, minimum of 7 or 8 varieties of sweets. I really miss those golden days. I still remember the taste of her sweets and the best Ramadan Biryani. As it is all prepared with lots of love it tastes the best. I will try to share some of her recipes here soon. Not only during Ramadan, whenever I visit my friend's place she treat us with feast and lots of love. She is one of the best Mom, my friend and her family are lucky and blessed to have her.

Now coming to the recipe, Idiyappam is our family's favorite recipe. We love both sweet and savory version. But Idiyappan with Thengai Paal/Sweetened Coconut Milk is me and my kids' favorite of all. V love Jaggery Idiyappam. Sometimes I feel lazy to make jaggery syrup for him and that time he ask me to make savory version with lemon. This Lemon Sevai is one of the easiest breakfast recipe for me on weekends. You can use either lemon or lime juice to make this savory version.

Okra Rice Recipe | Spicy Okra Rice | Vendakkai Sadham | Indian Lunch Box Recipe

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It is hard to feed my kids with some vegetables and one such vegetable is Okra aka Bhendi, Vendakkai. I usually make Poriyal with Okra(Okra Poriyal) and rarely Vendakkai Sambar or Puli Kuzhambu. V suggest me to serve poriyal mixed with rice rather than as a side dish for kids. It is easy to feed them the veggies, so I often make Cabbage Rice, Carrot Rice, Spinach Rice and this time tried Okra Rice with Okra and some Indian spices. To my surprise, this simple okra rice turned out super tasty and kids loved it. I served this mildly spiced Okra Rice With Boondi Raita. Boondi Raita paired well with the Okra rice. I used Pav Bhaji masala for this rice, it tasted almost like a Tawa Pulao with Okra. Now off to the recipe..

Homemade Ghee | How To Make Ghee At Home | Homemade Ghee From Cultured Butter | DIY Clarified Butter At Home

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Homemade Ghee recipe with step by step recipe. Making ghee at home is a very simple process and all you need is a good quality butter or homemade butter. Ghee or clarified butter Ghee is prepared by simmering butter, which is churned from cream or cultured cream and removing the liquid residue. The texture, color and taste of ghee depend on the quality of the butter, I prefer to use cultured butter than the regular sweet cream unsalted butter.

Traditional way of making ghee at home is from cultured butter and the process includes 3 stages- Milk is boiled well and after cooling to warm temperature then yogurt/curd(culture) is added to make curd(8 hours). Then the curd is churned well to obtain cultured butter then that butter is melted/simmered to make ghee. Spices or herbs are added to make ghee more flavorful and healthy.

I remember my mom and aunt churn a big pot of fresh homemade curd to obtain butter then that butter is used to make ghee. But in recent days, we do not have time and patience to make ghee the traditional way and rely on quick fix method by buying store bought unsalted butter for instant process. The store bought unsalted butter is not cultured and they are made using centrifugal force. It is then pasteurized by heating it rapidly to a high temperature to eliminate potential disease-causing bacteria and help the butter stay fresh longer.

Mango Strawberry Popsicle | Mango Popsicle With Strawberry | Summer Fruit Popsicle Recipe

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If you are looking for a simple, healthy summer treat dessert?! Then fresh fruit popsicles like Mango Popsicle, Watermelon Popsicle, Mango Strawberry Popsicle are the best one to enjoy during hot sunny days. These chilled frozen fruit desserts are not only delicious, colorful and also healthy. These real fruit popsicle are dairy free, gluten free, no preservatives needed and all you need is some sugar syrup, lime or lemon juice and desired fresh fruits or seasonal fruits like Mango, Watermelon, Strawberry, Pineapple etc., Mango is my most favorite fruit of all but dunno my kids do not like mangoes but they love mango Popsicle, mango lemonade, mango kulfi. They rarely eat mango fruit as such, so for them i try smoothies, milkshake and now Popsicle. Popsicle are easy to make and the result of frozen fruit puree is always amazing. I love making fruit Popsicle and kulfis. Before the mango season ends do try this Mango Strawberry Popsicle for your kids.Here you go.,

Ragi Malt(Sweet) Recipe | Dates Ragi Malt | Sweet Ragi Porridge Recipe | Ragi Malt With Dates & Nuts

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Today's recipe is a healthy and equally delicious sweet porridge prepared using Ragi flour, Palm Jaggery, Dates & Nuts. I cook Ragi/Finger Millet once or twice in a week and mostly a savory dish like Ragi Adai or Ragi Idli for dinner or breakfast. Rarely make Ragi Puttu for kids and this time instead of Puttu I made Sweet Porridge/Ragi Malt. Instead of plain version with milk and sugar I made it extra healthy using dates puree and Palm Jaggery. Palm Jaggery and dates are natural sweetener and the porridge turned out super delicious and also the color of the porridge was so dark like chocolate malt. My kids loved it a lot.
Ragi/Finger Millet porridge are super healthy and delicious recipes for growing kids, so try to include at least once in a week in their diet. If you don't have dates in hand you can skip dates and make it as a plain ragi malt. Here I used store bought Organic Ragi Flour and Organic Palm Jaggery, for vegan option use Coconut milk or Almond milk. I have tried with coconut milk too. Theres not much difference in the taste of ragi malt using dairy milk and coconut milk. Cardamom powder enhances the taste and flavor but it is optional.

Paneer Pakora Recipe | Easy Paneer Snack Recipe - Paneer Pakora

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Kids are in vacation and that is the reason for my absence here. The whole day I am busy with them, we play, cook, read, draw, play board/card games, go out for a walk and ride bike. So one or the other things kept me busy. I will try my best to be active here. Now coming to today's recipe, Paneer Pakora. Few weeks back I made this Paneer Pakora for tea time snack.
These pakoras are similar to south Indian bajis in which the paneer pieces are dipped in spicy besan batter and deep fried. As I am not much fond of bhajis, i made this paneer pakoras for kids and they loved it.  These paneer pakoras are gluten free and are very easy to make at home.