This easy homemade sambal is a spicy chili paste that’s nice to have in the fridge — perfect for adding bold flavor to rice, noodles, pasta, soups or any meal.

Learn how to make Morkootan (Mor Kuzhambu), a traditional South Indian yogurt curry. A simple, comforting vegetarian dish with vegetables, coconut, yogurt, and spices.

Snakegourd, as its name suggests is a long thin snake like gourd. It is called pudalangai in Tamil, padavalakai in Kannada and Padavalanga in Malayalam. This is a versatile vegetable and has not much flavor by itself. It absorbs the flavor of the spices and can be used it many dishes like kootu, milagkootan and stir fry. I added it to my pasta ( as you would zucchini) and it was good.

Rajashree and I go way back. We were friends in college and, even though life took us to different corners of the world, we did not lost touch. Every time we both happened to be in Bengaluru, we made it a point to meet. Raji is a true foodie, always introducing me to new restaurants and hidden gems around the city.

It has been awhile since I posted. Spring is here and spinach is sprouting in the garden. In India, we make a lot of different rice dishes, other than the well known biryani. Most of these recipes use cooled cooked rice so they are perfect for leftover rice. Think of them as our version of fried rice. I recently learned that in Tamil Nadu, all these rice dishes are called specialty rice.