Pastitsio – Greek pasta bake Pastitsio is so much more than just another pasta bake. A step up from Baked Spaghetti and – dare I say it – even America’s famed Baked Ziti (which regular readers know I hold in high esteem!), this is Greece’s version of classic Italian Lasagna. We love how it slices neatly with the layers clearly visible, and the striking tubular Greek bucatini-style pasta. We love how the rich red wine, tomato and meat sauce is spiked with cinnamon and cloves, giving it uniquely Greek personality rather than “just another meat sauce”....

We always make the no onion no garlic version of peerkangai thogayal which pairs well with hot rice and ghee. I actually wanted to try the ridge gourd chutney recipe which i tasted in my friend’s house sometime back. But i didn’t have coconut with me as it is one of the ingredients of the peerkangai chutney, ridge gourd chutney. This recipe includes onion and garlic but this is a chutney without coconut....

I heard the term pineapple rasam for the first time when I was in my college. One of my friends who regularly eat at the canteen used to tell us, that in his canteen they serve pineapple rasam. I have always seen my amma and paati make rasam using tomatoes. This sounded new and interesting. After moving to Singapore, one day one of our friend’s mom invited us for lunch....

Pumpkin cubes 1 cup Onion 1 Garlic 4 pods Red chili 2 Tomato 1/2 (optional) Milk 1 cup Grated cheese 3 tblsp Broccoli 5 florets(optional) Basil leaves few (to garnish ) optional Penne pasta 1 cup Olive oil 2 tsp Dried herbs | oregano a pinch (optional) Salt as needed (for both pasta and sauce) In a pan add 1 tsp of oil and , roughly chopped onions, peeled garlic and red chili....

Rava | sooji 1/4 cup Rice flour 1/2 cup Water 1 cup (to cook rava) Salt as needed Sesame seeds 1/4 tsp Cumin seeds 2 pinches Asafoetida 2 pinches Oil 2 tsp + for deep fry Butter 1 tsp Pulse the rava in the mixer once. If using very fine rava just skip this step. In a pan add 1 cup of water and when it boils add the rava....

Vada | Vadai is a popular South Indian dish, served with breakfast or as a tea time snack. I have posted many varieties of vada recipes in Jeyashri’s Kitchen. Usually Urad dal vada is the popular one in South Indian cuisine. But for that little planning is needed. We need to soak and grind the urad dal and make that vada. This Sooji vada | semolina vada is an instant vada recipe....

Ribbon Pakoda| nada thenkuzhal|ola pakoda is an easy snack that is made during Diwali | janmasthami in most houses. My mom and mil make this very often as we all love this in our family. I am sharing the recipe for ribbon pakoda – an easy snack recipe. I have posted another version of ribbon pakoda too. Check out my full collection of Diwali recipes Also, check out our other delicious version of ribbon pakoda recipes....

Truth be told, I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve been dreaming of Thanksgiving sides. I’ve been secretly watching Christmas movies. I’ve been singing holiday songs in my head (not out loud, never out loud). Now that you’re here, I don’t have to hide my excitement. Because November, you mean the holidays. Novey, can I call you that? Since you came to visit, I’ve been able to share my recipes for stuffing and egg nog and boozy cake without feeling guilty....

This week’s lunch menu has Restaurant style Sambar style recipe ( with video)Vazhakkai fry (raw banana fry) Home made vadamCut mangoesCurd rice Cut mango pickle Stay tuned for more interesting recipes coming up in Jeyashris kitchen. Δ

The summer season is at its peak, and we take a lot of summer coolants to cool the body. Buttermilk is one of the best summer coolants and we take it in different ways. We make chaas, neer mor and different varieties of lassi. Apart from having buttermilk in summer, we make buttermilk based gravy and have it during the meal. Sambaram is a kerala-style buttermilk, in which they add crushed ginger, chili and onion....

A Healthy Salad Chaat This cabbage salad is more like a chaat salad – a healthy take on chaat. This is not your typical salad. For starters, it’s spicy. And there are potatoes (potatoes in a salad?!). But trust me, this is a salad that’ll have you and your family/friends talking. And since salads aren’t typically a topic of conversation, you know that means this is one special salad. Speaking of talking about salads… My friend Vanita made this salad for me a little while back and I was so surprised by how good the salad was that several days later, I was still thinking about the salad (and who thinks about salad?...

This stovetop Macaroni and Cheese is a perfect classic – and it just happens to be made in one pot. Butter, flour, pasta, milk, cheese and a few seasonings is all you need to make this epic classic that’s on the table super quick! MY GO-TO MAC AND CHEESE RECIPE Of all the versions of Mac and Cheese I have, this Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese is the one that I use most frequently because the effort vs output is off the richter scale....

Thakkali kuzhmabu is in my to do list for a long time. Though I have heard about this and tasted in friends houses during my school days, never tried it on my own. There are many variations to this recipe. People make it to suit their family’s preference and taste. This tastes similar to kurma and personally love this with dosai. Kongu nadu – Coimbatore region is very popular for this kuzhambu recipe....

Make mini idlis and keep it aside. Grind the coconut, cumin seeds, green chilli, ginger and cashew nuts(if adding) by adding milk while grinding. Whisk the yogurt and add the ground mixture to the yogurt. Add salt. Keep this chilled. Just 15 minutes before serving, in the serving bowl add the idlis and pour the chilled yogurt mixture. Garnish with grated carrots, coriander leaves and boondi just before serving. Serve immediately....

I have posted a baked version of onion pakoda and a deep-fried version of onion pakoda as well. Though the ingredients are almost similar, the few changes, give a very different taste to the pakoda. This pakoda stays very crisp for 2 days and we can keep this for 2 days at room temperature in an air-tight container. You can check out Moong dal bhajiaBaked pakorasAloo pakora Gulab jamun mix pakora...

Rasam is a staple in south Indian homes. We make different varieties of rasam at home. This one is the most common one and the usual one my mom and mil make on a daily basis. Some people call it paruppu rasam as we add cooked toordal water to this. We used to make this in a special vessel called ‘eeya chombu’. Making Rasam in eeya chombu is quite popular in our homes....

Urad dal 1 cup Rice 1 tblsp Green chili 2 Ginger a small piece Cabbage 3 tblsp (finely chopped) Carrot 3 tblsp (grated) Capsicum 3 tblsp (finely chopped) Salt as needed Coriander leaves few Curry leaves few Oil for deep frying Method: Soak urad dal, rice, green chili and ginger for 2 hours. Drain the water completely and grind this into a fluffy batter. I used mixie for grinding. you can use grinder also for grinding....

Watermelon is a classic summer fruit – a staple at every picnic, potluck and barbecue. It’s red flesh is so sweet and juicy that it needs no recipe. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for watermelon’s green rind. The mildly sweet rind is often destined for the compost pile or worse, the trash. Well, I’m here to tell you that not only is the rind edible – there’s actually a lot that you can do with it....

Mexican Food Fiesta! If you really twisted my arm and forced me to choose, I’d say Mexican is my favourite food……… along with Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Southern, Italian and Middle Eastern food. 😂😂😂 This feast you see is in the spirit of Cinco de Mayo which is on Saturday, 5 May 2018. It marks the anniversary of Mexico defeating the French invasion in 1862, but ironically, is more widely celebrated in the States than in Mexico....

The recipe for this sweet snack comes from The Homemade Flour Cookbook by Erin Alderson. Erin’s new cookbook explores the different ways to grind your own flour, including gluten-free grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. While the book doesn’t follow “paleo” guidelines, there are many paleo/primal friendly recipes as well as recipes that can be easily adapted, including chocolate cupcakes, sunflower seed crackers, sun-dried tomato and walnut pate, dark chocolate-dipped almond drop cookies, lemon pistachio cake, walnut cocoa brownies and more....