Vermicelli (Semiya) Upma

A South Indian breakfast which is very easy to prepare.Vermicelli is roasted and then cooked with fried onion, ginger, green chilli and vegetables. Adjust vermicelli : water ratio to 1:1.5-2 to avoid sogging of vermicelli. A dash of lemon juice will help to improve the texture of the upma. Topping with butter will give a nice flavor to the upma and will also keep the vermicelli from sticking together.
Recipe Courtesy: Kamala's Cook @ Ease

Wheat Dosa / Crepe (Gothambu Dosa)

This is the tastiest wheat dosa I ever had. I usually make wheat dosa without tempering the batter. Tempering the batter with oil, mustard, chopped onions, ginger, green chilli, curry leaves etc makes a big difference in taste. I added some grated coconut also to the batter like my mom does. Enjoy it with coconut chutney and/or red chilli chutney.
Recipe Courtesy: Bharathy's Spicy Chilly

Red Chori Sprout Usli (Salad / Sundal / Guggillu)

Usli (Konkani) or Sundal (Tamil) or Guggillu (Telugu) is a bean-lentil salad popular in South India. Different kinds of salads are prepared with different varieties of beans and lentils. Here I made usli with sprouted red chori (red cowpeas or azuki beans). It could be served as a snack or as a side dish with rice. Sprouting of red chori could be done easily in 1-3 days depending on the weather.
Recipe Courtesy: Veggie Platter

Thakkali / Tomato Rasam (A Tomato Soup)

Tomato rasam is a popular South Indian side dish served with rice. It could also be served as a starter soup.
Recipe Courtesy: Veena's Curry World


Spicy Chicken Curry

There are numerous ways of making chicken curry. This is a basic spicy version which is very simple and easy to make.
Recipe courtesy: Niya's world

Thayir Sadam (Curd Rice / Yogurt Rice)

Curd rice, native to South India, is rice flavored with yogurt and seasoned with a variety of lentils. Sometimes, milk is also added to the rice to reduce the sourness of the curd. This is not something we usually make at home. I have a faint (sweet!) memory of eating thayir sadam when I was young while visiting a relative in (then) Madras.
Recipe courtesy: Deepa's Simple Home Cooking

Idli Sambar

Idli with sambar and coconut chutney is a traditional breakfast of South India. It is summer now and I don't have any issues with batter fermenting. During winter, the batter needs to be kept in warm oven or needs to keep oustside for longer time for fermenting.
Recipe courtesy: Priya's kitchen for idli and Annita's My Treasure...My Pleasure for sambar

Thakkali Sadam (Tomato Rice)

Tomato rice is a South Indian delicacy, usually served with pickles or raita. As the name suggests, it is rice flavored with tomatoes and freshly roasted and ground lentils. This is the first time I'm making thakkali sadam and loved it.
Recipe Courtesy: Jai and Bee's Jugalbandi
I have to admit I couldn't help using cloves, cardamom, Malabar leaves (Indian bay leaves), peppercorns and cinnamon stick for flavor as suggested in Varsha's Will-O'-the Wisp. I love the aroma of those spices that spreads into the room while cooking with them.

Vegetable Upma

This is how I make upma these days, with lots of vegetables in it. My recipe is very similar to this recipe in the blog Marias Menu. I didn't precook the vegetables, instead, stir-fried it with onion and ginger and let it cook in the boiling water for a few minutes. Also, I added grated coconut like my mom does. A very healthy way to start the day.

Potato Podimas (Aloo Podimas)

I was planning to make chappathi for dinner and needed a side dish to go with. It's been a while since I made potato podimas. Potato podimas is a South Indian dish. My mom used to make it with chappathi and puri. I found this recipe in the blog Shanthi Krishnakumar's cookbook which is very similar to my mom's recipe. The difference here is that I used onions along with ginger and stir-fried chopped vegetables (carrot, green beans and peas) before adding the mashed potato. The dish came out great. The leaves and the two acorns in the picture has nothing to do with the dish. My four-year-old brought it from outside as a 'surprise' for me while I was taking the photo. I think the word 'surprise' has a different meaning in his dictionary.