L Exploring Food

Hello there. Today's recipe is that of a much loved and famous sweet dish of South India - Semiya Payasam.  You just can not imagine a happy occasion or any kind of celebration in Kerala without involving the Payasam - it just makes any and every happy moment even more sweeter. It's easily made and involves just a few ingredients. There are various types of Payasams made in India and the easiest of them all is the Semiya or Seviyan payasam. Hmmm, what are we waiting for -  Let's just get to it :) So What Do We Need? Now I used a regular coffee mug to measure out some of the ingredients and it's a 350 ml cup. 1 cup Vermicelli  - about 350 gms 3 litres of Full fat Milk   - Full fat milk ensures that you end up with a rich and creamy Payasam. Using low fat milk will leave the Payasam a bit runny and wet. Sugar about 1/2 a cup + 3 tablespoon   - You can increase or reduce the quantity as per your preferred ...

  Cumin Rice Jeera Rice - it's delicious! It's amazing how you can cook a fragrant and flavorful rice with nothing more than just a few cumin seeds. It's ready in no time and with minimal effort. It's the perfect recipe to make on days when you crave for something more than just plain rice.  Now there are many variations that you could make to this recipe by including other spices or may be an onion and / or add leaves such as the curry leaves or coriander leaves. I sometimes do so by including the ingredients that I have mentioned as Optional down below to my Jeera rice. But honestly - there isn't a need for it really - you have already taken the boring plain rice to a whole new level by adding just the cumin seeds alone. So What Do We Need?    2 cups of Basmati Rice - 1 cup is about 150 ml   Take a bowl. Put the rice in and fill the bowl ...

Banana Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam Pancakes - Do I really need to tell you all how good this recipe is. The name says it all. And its my go to recipe whenever I crave a pancake. So let's get to it. Banana PBJ Pancakes So What Do We Need ? 1.5 cups of Self raising Flour   - If you don't have self raising flour, you can always use all purpose flour with 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. 1 cup Milk 2 Eggs About 1/4 cup sugar - Adjust as per your sweetness level.  2 tablespoons Maple syrup or as desired. - This is optional. But I find that adding a bit of maple syrup to the batter gives it a really yummy flavor.  You can always reduce or increase the quantity of sugar and Maple syrup as per your liking.  1 Banana - In a bowl and using a fork, mash the banana really well with as little lumps as possible. 3 - 4 tablespoon Peanut butter 3 - 4  tablespoon Strawberry Jam   - You can ch...

    Sambhar - Gosh I can't even begin to describe how popular and a must have this dish is to every South Indian. It goes perfectly well with rice, Idli (steamed rice cake) and Dosa (a type of pancake). And you can expect Sambhar to be made in every Malayalee household and eaten almost everyday with every meal. It's also a default dish included in the menu for every good occasion and celebration whether at a wedding reception or for Vishu or Onam. The belly just doesn't get satisfied without the Sambhar.    Sambhar  And the best thing about this dish is you get to add your choice of Veggies. You can add carrots, potatoes, shallots, cooking banana, okra, string beans, yam, eggplant, drumstick, tomatoes etc :-) - a little of any or all. It's just amazing when you think of all the nutrients you get from just this one dish.      So What Do We Need? 1 cup of Toovar Dal / Arhar Dal / Sa...

Hello Everybody :)   Today let me share with you a simple and easy Fried Rice recipe. Believe me - it's absolutely delicious.  Egg Fried Rice   So What Do We Need? 2.5 Cups of Basmati Rice or any long grain Rice Cook the Rice with 2 cloves and 1 cardamom. Add enough salt to season the rice when you boil it. Once cooked, keep aside to cool for at least half an hour. Incase you don't know how to cook Basmati rice you could click on this link :  LauraG-Simply-rice-with-twist 6 Eggs 1 long Carrot - Cut into tiny cubes - Make it as small as you can so that it cooks faster 1 Medium Capsicum - Cut into tiny cubes. 3 - 4 Spring Onions - Clean these very well. Discard the roots. Slice both the white bulb and the green leafy bit of the spring onions thinly. 1.5 Tablespoon of Dark Soy sauce Around 2 teaspoon of Garlic powder   - If you don't have garlic powder ...

Chicken Istoo Hi All. Today's recipe is an all time favorite of mine. It's enjoyed so much by Malayalees and is a popular breakfast dish in Christian households. It's even a default, must- have dish served at Christian wedding receptions - your meal is going to start off with a serving of Istoo and Appam. It's just delicious. Istoo is a coconut based white gravy dish and it's amazing how a few ingredients can just create something so yummy. It isn't a spicy dish and so it's definitely something that can be enjoyed by anyone and everyone - young and old alike. So What Do We Need? About 1 kg Chicken - including bone pieces  - Cut into small to medium size pieces Clean the chicken well. Remove the skin off the pieces and give the pieces a good wash. Then in a bowl, take the washed chicken pieces and add a tablespoon of vinegar and a dash of salt. And fill the bowl with water. Let the chicken pieces sit in this vinegar water for 10 - 15 m...