Anshu's Food Odyssey

Idli is one of the healthiest Indian breakfast options by far. These soft, pillowy and melt-in-mouth lentil cakes are traditionally made by fermenting rice and urad dal batter overnight; however, the entire process could be quite cumbersome and involves a little amount of planning ahead. Therefore, instant versions of idlis come very handy when you want to have something quick and yet wholesome and healthy in the breakfast . And especially when it comes to me, I am a big fan of instant recipes, be it instant sprouted moong dal dosa , instant rava & oats idli or instant dhokla , you would find me making these items very frequently as they are not only very quick to make and save you a hell lot of time in the kitchen but, at the same time are quite tasty as well as wholesome. Moong Dal Idli Recipe | How to Make Moong Dal Idli Talking about the instant moong dal idli , as I said it is a very quick and easy recipe and doesn't require an

Creamy, tasty and amazingly flavorful, Andhra Style Peanut Chutney is a perfect side for South Indian breakfast like idli, dosa, vada, upma or even sambar rice. As the name suggests, it is primarily made with peanuts, however, a few basic pantry ingredients like garlic, onions and tomatoes also go in it, which make this chutney quite unique and different from the regular chutneys you normally see being served in many regions of South India. Andhra Style Peanut Chutney | Palli Chutney If you have been following my blog, you would have noticed how much I love chutneys, especially with the South Indian meals . Not to mention, the Coconut Chana Dal Chutney has always been my favorite, but there are times, when we don't get fresh coconut so easily. And this has now kind of become a new normal these days ever since the lockdown started; truly speaking, availability of such exotic items has now become really scarce especially in the North. And therefore, I have shifted

Bharwan Arbi Aloo ki Sabzi is a delicious dry masaledar sabzi, all packed with tantalizing flavors that go so well with rotis, chapatis and paranthas on the side. One of my most favorite side dishes, it is made by stuffing arbi (or colocacia/taro root) and potatoes with a flavorful and piquant spice powder. The stuffed vegetables are then sauteed to a crisp outer texture and a soft interior. Often I include stuffed brinjals/eggplants too in this sabzi, but, since I was out of stock of them, I skipped the brinjals and just made it with potatoes and arbi. Trust me, if you are looking for a unique and different style of stuffed veggies to go with your meals, try this combination and I promise, it will get regular at your homes. Bharwan Arbi Aloo ki Sabzi  INGREDIENTS Arbi/Taro Root - 250 grams Medium size potatoes - 3 to 4 Salt - to taste Red chili powder - 2 tsp Amchoor powder - 2 tsp Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp Zeera powder - 1 tsp Haldi powder - 1/4 tsp S

Loaded with some tantalizing flavors, Tawa Pulao is a delicious and popular recipe from western parts of India, particularly Maharashtra. A wholesome and delectable meal, it finds its origin in the streets of Mumbai; it is said that a couple of decades back, a Pav Bhaji vendor curated this wonderful recipe to put his leftover Bhaji gravy to use. He just added some already cooked rice in the gravy and lo! this beautiful, aromatic and spicy pulao recipe was created, which today, counts amongst the most popular Mumbai Street Food delicacies. And since it is cooked on the same tawa or griddle where Bhaji is cooked, it got its name as the "Tawa Pulao" .  So, ideally this tawa pulao has an already prepared gravy to put to use, however, if we want to relish its tongue-tickling flavors, we can easily prepare it from scratch at our homes. All we need is few basic pantry ingredients along with the most essential, PAV BHAJI MASALA and we are good to go. So, what are waiting

Kadhi is a popular delicacy from the Indian cuisine that is made using gram flour and yogurt as a base. Having said that, the recipe of this luscious and beautiful curry differs from region to region and from every household to household. Coming from the Punjabi family, for us, Kadhi Pakoda has always meant a sour and spicy kadhi, which essentially has the soft onion or palak/spinach fritters dunked into the luscious gramflour-yogurt gravy. And I guess, most of the Punjabi households make the kadhi in a similar manner...  However, if you have ever had kadhi at a dhaba or a street-side restaurant, you would have noticed that the pakodas added in the kadhi doesn't make use of onions, spinach or any other vegetable.  The pakodas are more like phulkis (plain and soft gramflour dumplings), which are spiced with just a handful of spices and some ginger for the rustic flavor. Despite of that the kadhi is simply delectable and the spicy tadka with whole lots of crushed dhaniya seeds ma

Paneer Makhani or Paneer Makhanwala is a famous Mughlai inspired preparation wherein soft cottage cheese cubes are dunked in a creamy, luscious and delicious tomato based gravy that is subtly spiced with red chili powder and garam masala. Many a times, paneer makhani is equated with shahi paneer and paneer butter masala , however, there are few considerable differences between these three preparations. As far as Paneer Makhani is concerned, the gravy of this soulful recipe is made using just tomatoes and few whole spices. Shahi Paneer, as the name suggests, is more of a royal preparation and involves use of cashews and almonds along with tomatoes while making its gravy. Lastly, Paneer Butter Masala also uses onions along with nuts and tomato in the gravy. So, I am sure, now you have a high level idea of difference between all these paneer family cousins. I have made this Paneer Makhani with my utterly favorite and delicious Makhani Gravy Base that I normally keep stored in my

A healthy and wholesome recipe, Instant Oats and Rava Idli is a quick, easy and delicious breakfast option to start your day. Having a considerable proportion of oats, it is loaded with all that daily dose of nutrition and complex carbs, which not only regulate blood sugar levels and lower the cholesterol but, also aid in weight loss as well as relieve stomach ailments such as constipation and indigestion. In this recipe, I have used the normal Quaker Rolled Oats however, you can use any type of oats, steelcut or instant based on their availability. Eventually, they would be grounded and then used in the idli , thereby, not making any difference to its texture. Let's start with the detailed recipe. Check out more such recipes... South Indian Farali Dahi Vada South Indian Traditional Rice Idli Instant Crispy Sprouted Moong Dal Dosa Coconut & Chana Dal Chutney Farali Coconut & Peanut Chutney Homemade South Indian Sambar Instant Rava and Oa

Bedmi Poori is a traditional North Indian fried bread (poori) that is stuffed with a delicious filling of a coarse urad dal paste, subtly flavored with aromatic spices like fennel and hing. Having said that, there are two ways of making this flavorful poori: one, wherein the urad dal mixture is added directly to the flour and kneaded into a dough. This dough is rolled into discs and later fried. The second method calls for filling the urad dal mixture inside the dough balls and then rolled into discs to be fried. The recipe I am sharing is the latter one where the pooris are stuffed with the dal filling. Ideally, the dal filling that goes inside the poori requires soaking the dal for 6 to 8 hours before grinding to a coarse paste. However, one may not love the idea of waiting this long to enjoy the bedmi pooris, therefore, I have come up with this instant recipe of the poori for which you would not have to wait for a long time. Bedmi Poori The urad dal filling is trad