Broccoli Rotis
The best part of staying in Munnar is to get hold of the local fresh veggies . Broccoli is one such veggie that I love to cook with .Soups and salads were my first preferences when I started to cook with them .But it wasnt a big hit with my kids as they rarely fancied them on their plates . Being a mother my first priority has always been to find out ways to include them in the daily diet .The fun part of cooking is to keep innovating recipes .That’s one way that I came up with the Broccoli Rotis which is now a fave with my young one .”Amma , you know these green rotis are much better if you add extra ghee to them …well thats how I want them !” my younger one chuckles and adds on, “But u dont have to add more ghee to my brothers rotis….” with a naughty smile. Hmm ….that was short ignite to the reason for a new fight that started off in a matter of minutes..
I have started posting video recipes on my youtube channel..If you would like to have a look at the video tutorial .You can subscribe
- For the Filling
- 2 tbsp of oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 3-4 green chillies chopped
- 7-8 Broccoli florets
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 tsp of dry mango powder
- 1 tsp f garam masala
- For the dough
- 2 cups of wheat flour
- 1 tsp of ghee
- Salt to taste
- water as required to knead
- Ghee to panfry the rotis
- Mince the broccoli in a blender or food processor .
- Heat oil in a pan , saute onions and add in green chillies .
- Once the onions are translucent add the minced broccoli .Stir add water and salt .Cover & cook till the the water has totally evaporated .Keep aside .
- In a bowl mix wheat flour , salt and ghee .Pour in the required amount of water and knead the mix into a dough .Leave it to rest for about 10 minutes . Now pinch and roll balls out of the dough , flatten them , dust them with wheat flour .Dusting with flour stops it from sticking a lot to the rolling pin .
- Roll them thin .spoon some of the broccoli mix and fold from all the four sides into a square.Dust again with wheat flour and roll them out thin .
- Pan fry the rotis on both sides on a flat pan with ghee.
- Serve rotis with pickles, raita or curries.
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Spicin up the win of “4 o’ clock temptations of Kerala “
Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Indeed the thrill and joy of achievement is just unexplainable. Last year in the month of July when I was at my parents place for the monsoon break from school , I least expected the outcome of my long awaited cookbook “4 o’ clock temptations of Kerala” .I have had the craziest as well as the most unexpected circumstances when I look back .I lost the data of my book thrice and then send it for print .Things were totally haywire with my harddisk broken , my laptops display dead and so on ….it was just never ending and I had time constraints as I was to exhibit my books at the Frankfurt World Book fair …When the book print was all sorted just two days before my flight I am informed that my visa got rejected ..It was totally devastating 🙁 ..to top all these my son was down with pneumonia .I tried my level best ..but unfortunately I couldnt make it to Frankfurt .The books were exhibited there as my brother was there for the event ..but it took me months to recover from the mishaps .
Whatever happened, happened for good.
Whatever is happening, is happening for good.
Whatever will happen, that will be for good as well. –
Bhagvad Gita
Its taken me a very long time to share with all of you the news of my book , but as its told better late than never ..so I am very happy , excited, thrilled, ..you can take up all the synonyms that can go with it ….to share with you all tht my cookbook , “4 o’ clock temptations of Kerala ” which is on the snacks of Kerala cuisine has won “Best Indian cookbook in the world ” for the Gourmand world cookbook awards 2015-16 from 209 countries representing India .I seriously had no words to say on stage… when I was called up I was in all tears ….
Its great to win the Gourmand awards the second time and experience the whole event .Earlier it was for my cookbook “Lip smacking Dishes of Kerala” which won the 3rd Best Local Cuisine book in the world for 2013-14 at the Gourmand World cookbook awards from 187 countries representing India , held at Beijing , China .
Now to spice up all this news I have a recipe for a pickle that I made from the garden fresh cherry tomatoes…
- 1/4kg cherry tomatoes
- 2tbsp of kashmiri chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
- 2-3 green chillies chopped
- 1 small piece of ginger finely chopped
- 1 tsp of mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp of fenugreek seeds
- 1/4 tsp of asafoetida powder
- 2-3 tbsp of oil
- 1/2 tsp of sugar
- 1 tbsp of vinegar
- salt to taste
- 2-3 sprigs of curry leaves
- Heat a pan , add oil and fry the tomatoes till they shrink in size and seperate.In the remaining oil , pop mustard seeds, add fenugreek , ginger, green chillies and stir fry them for a minute or two on med flame .Lower the flame and stir in the turmeric and kashmiri chilli powder .Once the oil starts seperating add in the vinegar .I added a little extra vinegar so that i can cook the the sauce a bit more .You can also add water but that at times accelarates mould growth in the pickle .
- Now mix in the fried tomatoes , add sugar , asafoetida , salt and curry leaves .Turn off the flame and let it cool before you bottle them .
- Enjoy these pickles with rice or rotis ...
A few months back when Facebook team contacted me to do a video on my journey from a homemaker to an entrepreneur I had no clue of what to expect .My latest cookbook “4 o’ clock temptations of Kerala ” won the “Best Indian cuisine book in the world” for the Gourmand world cookbook awards 2015-16.A few weeks back I received an email from Facebook India with the statistics of the reach…”The video had reached 600,000 people across India! The video itself has been viewed 300,000 times ”
I whole heartedly thank all the wonderful people who had viewed,supported,encouraged ,shared and liked the video .Kudos to YourStory for the wonderful video 🙂
Watch how Nimi Sunilkumar's Cooking School used Facebook to spread awareness of her cooking classes and grow her business.
Posted by Facebook on Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Greg Grano and Sarah Sellman two wonderful filmmakers from SanFrancisco did a portfolio on me for the website Hooplaha-Only good news ..it was just magic as the video is very close to my heart ..
Its crazy when I look back and see how my passion for food has created magic …the magic of following my heart!!!
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Dash of red ..a dash of cherry tomatoes!!!
Its been for long that I have been trying to get my cherry tomato plant healthy and bloomin..but every year theres something or the other that pours water on my intentions.This year too something similar happened.The first saplings were accidentally pulled out by our gardener who was busy levelling out the grass.The second sapling pulled out by rodents and phew.. the third set planted ..washed out by untimely rains this year.So this year I have decided to be more contented on using the cherry tomatoes that my friend was kind enough to share with me …
The cherry tomatoes are very small varieties of tomatoes. These beauties are so pretty in sight and they are thought to have originated in Peru and Northern Chile. These variety of tomatoes are used more in salads , with pasta, the dried versions in breads..
- 1 cup of bow pasta/ any other type of pasta
- 1 cup of cherry tomatoes chopped in half
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 2 tbsp of oil
- Salt to taste
- 2 tsp of chilli flakes
- ½ cup grated Mozzarella cheese
- 1 tsp of basil seasoning
- 1 tsp of thyme seasoning
- 2 onions finely chopped
- Crushed pepper to taste
- 3 cloves of garlic chopped
- Cook the pasta in boiling water with salt to taste and strain in a colander.
- Heat oil in a pan saute the chopped onions with garlic till transparent.
- Add in the cherry tomatoes and cook for 5-10 minutes.
- Add in the chilli flakes and mix in the pasta.
- Add basil, thyme and crushed pepper and mix.
- Mix in the grated cheese and season with olive oil and turn off the flame.
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Melt in the mouth ..Mixture !
In two days the holidays come to the winding stage and its back to normal .The temperature has been really hot in Thrissur ..I think its been almost the same in most parts of Kerala.Being accustomed to the Munnar climate , changing over to the tropical climate it was a bit difficult.But its nice to have a little rain although the heat doesnt come down very much .
Todays post is an Andhra style mixture with poha or beaten rice.A mixture that looks complicated but which is super simple to try and can be kept bottled for some time.I love this snack as its a wonderful melt in the mouth snacker with a very distinct taste.
- 500 gm thin white Poha (beaten rice flakes) dried in sunlight for 2hrs
- 1 cup of coconut chips
- 1 cup of peanuts
- 1 cup of fried gram
- Salt to taste
- 2-3 tsp of chilli powder
- 1 ½ tsp of chaat masala
- 1 tsp of cumin powder
- ½ cup Curry leaves
- Oil for frying
- Fry the poha till it is crispy in a dry pan and separate.
- Fry and separate coconut chips, peanuts, fried gram and curry leaves in to a
- colander so that the oil oozes out.
- Mix the fried ingredients and poha together, add in salt and mix.
- Mix in chilli powder, chaat masala, and cumin powder.
- Once cool store them in air tight containers.
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Milky milky milkelicious ..Milchreis!!!
Are you a rice fanatic? I like rice but not to an extend where I would choose it over breads and chapathies….may be that would be the routine of my mom avoiding rice for dinners as my dad was a person who would least prefer rice when it comes to dinner time.But my rice stories have no connections to me having in puddings..Cooking at home my sons are always head over heels over the white payasams/kerealan milk puddings.Me and hus crave for the jaggery one so its more of a weird face that he would put up when i choose the “white ” one.
Now todays post is of a German pudding which was passed on to me by Julian Kloos & Kathrin…which was an equal hit with my hus and kids.The pudding is told to be the best thing to bribe your kids on …:P you have to have your tricks and trades,well thats what I have learnt with my sons..:D
Rice puddings are famous all around the world. Milchreis , the traditional rice pudding from Germany is a very famous pudding. Made with cinnamon , milk and rice it’s a simple recipe that tastes heavenly.The word “Milchreis” basically means Milkrice. This is a pudding basically served to children .It can be topped with any fruit compote. Here I have a recipe with apple compote.
- 200gms of white short grain rice
- 2 cups of milk
- 1 cup of water
- ½ cup of fresh cream
- 70gms of brown sugar
- 1 tsp of vanilla essence
- For the Apple Compote
- 2 apples peeled cored and cut in small cubes
- 2 cups of water
- 1 tsp of lemon juice
- ½ tsp of vanilla essence
- 1/3 cup of brown sugar
- In a heavy bottomed pot cook pour in the milk and water.
- Wash and add in the rice, brown sugar and vanilla essence.
- Cook the rice in the milk on low flame stirring it constantly till it is well cooked and stir
- in the fresh cream.
- For the Apple Compote
- In a sauce pan combine sugar, vanilla essence, water and bring it to boil.
- Add the apples, lower the heat and cover and cook.
- Stir occasionally.
- When the apples are soft add in the lemon juice and let the mixture thicken.
- Remove from heat and cool.
- Serve the milchreis pudding in bowls topped with the apple compote.
- Sprinkle cinnamon powder over it before serving.
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Sago Gulu Melaka..the easy peasy pudding!!
Off with all the birthday celebrations of my munchkins..both happy to have their birthdays celebrated with their friends…the best part is making time for their wishes and never-ending menus…the twinkle of happiness that their eyes have is so very mystical. They can be the most naughtiest, the best friends worst enemies when stubborn..he he ..its all in the game ..I was the same 😉
Today’s recipes credit goes to Khairul from Malaysia who is a foodie and blogger. I remember the day he had whatsapped me on the availability of classes. It was when he had dropped in with his friends for the class that I knew that he had been for long a follower of my blog…an avid and very much talented foodie! The first time I read about the pudding was long back …it was one afternoon that it struck me that Khairul would have more info on this dessert…
“Sago Gulu Melaka” a local Malaysian dessert. This is a really quick and easy recipe for dessert with just 4 main ingredients. The pandan leaf is known as the vanilla of the east because of its unique aroma. These leaves are used in Indonesian, Singaporean, Filipino, Malaysian, Thai, Bangladeshi, Vietnamese, Chinese, Sri Lankan, Khmer, and Burmese foods, especially rice dishes, cakes, and desserts.
- 300 GMS of Sago (Sabudana)
- 100 GMS of Sugar
- 80 GMS of Palm Sugar (Gulu Melaka)
- 1 tbsp of Vanilla Essence / 1 pandan leaf
- 3/4 cup of Coconut Milk
- Boil 2 litre of water with sago until the sago cooks well.
- Strain the sago in a sieve and lightly wash off the starch under cold running water.
- Place the sago in small bowls, level the top and freeze for about 30 minutes.
- In a saucepan heat the coconut milk till it starts boiling and keeps aside.
- In another saucepan cook palm sugar with sugar and the ¾ cup of water till the sugar
- dissolves with the vanilla essence / pandan leaf and makes syrup.
- While serving separate the sago shapes on to plates and pour coconut milk and
- sugar syrup over it.
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Kulfi time !!!
Its been like ages since I have posted …..really wanted to do a post for Childrens day…but couldn’t make it .As my kids had their always loved Kulfis. The past two months have been totally head raking for me classes, school , book , kids, home….things wouldn’t have been more or less worser with me being diagnosed with pneumonia…sheesh….. its like being chained …!!! The curtain raiser for the whole melodramatic experiences started off with Siva’s hand fractured…then with the viral and then with me all sick…hoping to get things sorted out and fine…
The kulfi recipe goes on to one of my students and dear friend ….Lindiwe Richer..sorry Lindi for being snail late..in posting this recipe…
- 2 cups of full cream milk
- 1 tbsp of corn flour made into a thick paste adding cold water
- ½ cup of chopped dates
- ¼ cup of almonds roughly chopped
- 4-5 strands of saffron
- Seeds of one cardamom
- 1 tin of condensed milk(400g)
- Mix in the milk and condensed milk and bring to boil.
- On boiling, reduce the flame to low stir in the corn flour paste, cardamom seeds,
- almonds, dates and saffron.
- Stir the mix on low flame till it thickens.
- Let it cool and pour into kulfi moulds and freeze till they are firm.
- Please take care while de moulding slightly pour hot water on it (take care that water
- doesn’t seep into the mold).
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Celebrate this Diwali.. relish on Papaya Halwa &Khascha !
Diwali/ Deepawali the festival of lights is all set for celebration . The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, and hope over despair. The best part of Diwali is the wide variety of sweets that one can devour! After my post has pretty much lagged out and the reason was that my cam was under service. It was as if I had actually gone handicapped. There was no other choice but to rely on my iphone for my snaps…to tell you the truth that’s when you really feel if you had your cam with u.Its not the pics but my mind that could never as such be content with the pics.
This is my post after the Onam celebration . There was something more that came up during the onam holidays. I was invited over to Mumbai for the 160th Sree Narayana Guru Jayanthi celebrations organized by the Sree Narayana Mandira Samithi at The Sree Narayana Group of Institutions, Chembur during which I was to be felicitated..It was my first time to Mumbai ..an experience in itself. A trip with my inlaws, hus and kids….during the function I was pretty much overwhelmed to meet some of the most wonderful people who really cared for the society!
As its Diwali and its all about sweet things..I have two recipes one is Papaya Halwa and Khascha a sweet snack from UttarPradesh.For the Khascha recipe a big thanks to Pooja ,my home science student at school for sharing their traditional sweets!
- 225 gms of ripe papaya fruit deskinned, deseeded & cubed
- 300ml of milk
- ½ cup of sugar
- 2-3 tsps of ghee
- 1 tsp of almonds & 1tsp of raisins roasted in ghee
- 4-5 strands of saffron
- Blend the papaya with milk to make a smooth paste.
- Heat and keep stirring the papaya milk mix, add in the sugar, saffron strands and
- keep stirring on medium flame till the mix starts thickening up.
- Add ghee on the sides of pan and continue mixing.
- Once the halwa starts thickening add in the raisins and almonds and remove from
- flame.
- If u wants to make your halwa sweeter, add in two tablespoons of sugar while
- cooking. Relish on your Papaya Halwa!
- 1 cup of Semolina
- 1 cup of all purpose flour
- 1 cup of sugar
- 100g ghee
- 150 ml milk
- 2-3 cardamom seeds
- Oil for frying
- Mix in the semolina, flour, cardamom and sugar.
- Slowly pour in the milk and knead into dough.
- Make small balls out of the dough or roll the dough into discs and cut desired shapes.
- Sprinkle flour while rolling as it might quite sticky.
- Fry the shapes out in oil till it is golden in color.
- Munch on these wonderful Khaschas this Diwali!
May the divine light of diwali spread into your Life with peace, prosperity, happiness and good health.Wishing all my friends a wonderful Diwali!
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Celebrate this onam with Pumpkin Payasam!
Onam holidays have started a break of ten days Onam being the state festival of our Gods own country titled Kerala! All over the state of Kerala, festive rituals, traditional cuisine, dance and music mark this harvest festival. The ten day Onam festival is celebrated floral carpets, traditional dance forms , onam sadhya-the feast on banana leaf, boat race….At school we had the teachers day and onam celebrations on adjacent days.The Thiruvonam day..the tenth day and the most sacred day of the celebrations…..its great fun all members in the family get together ,friends and relatives all ..the onamsadhya is prepared and served on the banana leaf with different curries , rice and desserts. This Onam I wanted to post the recipe of a special payasam .Payasam is basically the dessert that’s served after the feast. Today’s post is Mathanga Payasam /Pumpkin Payasam..
- 2 cups of pumpkin cubes (de skinned &deseeded)
- 3/4 cup of jaggery syrup
- 2 cups of thin coconut milk
- 1 cup of thick coconut milk
- 2 cardamoms crushed
- 4 tbsp of sago cooked in water
- 2 tsp of ghee
- For Garnish
- 2 tsp of coconut pieces
- 2 tsp of cashews and raisins
- Ghee for frying
- Cook the pumpkins in water, sieve and blend into a smooth paste.
- Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed vessel and fry the pumpkin paste for about 5-10
- minutes on medium flame.
- Mix in the jaggery syrup and keep on stirring.
- Let the jaggery syrup blend well in to the mix and then pour the thin coconut milk and
- continue stirring.
- Add in the cooked sago balls and cardamom.
- When the milk starts thickening, pour in the thick milk and when it is on the verge of
- simmering, turn off the flame.
- Fry out the coconut pieces in ghee along with the raisins and cashews and garnish
- the pudding.
Serve it warm or cold and enjoy this onam !
It was while writing this post , I was reminded of a website I stumbled on to while browsing on apps that help you order food online in India.It has got everything that a foodie would want to devour from mughlai cuisine to south indian to pizzas..With a userfriendly interface and a catchy name “Foodpanda”
They cover most cities in India and when you have the app on your phone its pretty much more easier. Theres also city based pages like for Bangalore , Mumbai and Delhi .Well I have my foodpanda app on my phone..planning to use it once am in the listed cities. 🙂 Hope you all would find it equally handy 🙂
Being up all in festive mood,Heres the writeup on me that came up in Grihasobha Malayalam magazine (Delhi press publication)this September
So signing off for now …Wishing all a happy and prosperous onam!
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Jeeraka kanji ..the porridge to boost your immune!
It’s been like ages that I have been wanting to post on my space.. There’s loads of things that had gobbled up my time to write n my blog. Well when school closed up for the monsoon vacations this time round I was the most eager one compared to my munchkins to go “home”.Oh yes…even though you are married although you have a home here ,you still quote ur parents place as “home”. It’s not only my personal experience,but I think most women have this “home”sickness.I really chucked on this only when my colleague brought it to my notice.It was almost a month that I got with my parents in Thrissur..but this time round there came up a few surprises with media interviews, write-ups and the best part was being felicitated by the Thrissur Mayor , Mr.Rajan Pallan at the Council Meeting.
Karkidaka masam/Ramayana Masam /Karkidaka month is considered the last month ie. the twelfth month according to the Malayalam calendar followed in Kerala.This year the Karkidaka masam started on July 17th and ends by August 16th.The sacred scripture , Ramayana is recited during this month and so this month is also known as the Ramayana masam. It is to welcome the new year ie.The Chingam month that the Ramayana is recited from the starting to the end of the month. In Kerala , Karkidaka kanji is very famous which is a medicinal rice porridge that is very much healthy .The monsoon months are considered to the most appropriate time to have medicinal rice porridge. On my stay in Thrissur , I had the opportunity to meet up with Dr.K.S.Rajithan (Medical Superintendent ) of Oushadi Panchakarma Hospital and Research Institute,Thrissur.Dr. says ,”Its during the monsoons that the immune system of our body deteriorates and we are more prone to sickness, digestive issues and many ailments. .Our ancestors used to have many practices with Ayurveda to boost their immune system . So this is in fact is the most suitable time to have different kanjis (rice porridges) in your diet.” During my period of stay in Thrissur there was a “Kanji Mela”(Rice Porridge fest ) organised by the Oushadhi Panchakarma Hospital Canteen.It was indeed a feast out there with 11 varieties of rice porridges each with special benefits.It was the Kudumbasree unit(a women empowerment cluster ) working in the fabrication of flavoursome dishes and variant rice porridges.
So coming over to the recipe, for this post..it is Jeeraka kanji /Cumin rice porridge.The courtesy for the recipe goes to Dr.Rajithan. This is a pretty easy recipe and its only the ingredients that you have to get hold on to to make the medicinal mix.Its best to have it for 14 days in the monsoons..
- For the Medicinal Cumin mix
- 2 tsps of cumin (jeerakam)
- 2 tsps of black cumin seeds (karinjeerakam)
- 2 tsps of long pepper (thippalli)
- 2 tsps of Carom or Thymol seeds (Aimodagam)
- 2 tsps of Black peppercorns
- 2 tsps of dry ginger powder
- For the porridge
- 80g of broken rice /podiari
- 1 litre of water
- 450ml of coconut milk
- 5gms of the medicinal mix
- Salt to taste
- 2 tsps of ghee
- 3-4 shallots sliced
- Dry roast the ingredients for the medicinal cumin mix and powder it finely in a
- blender.
- Store this mix in an airtight container.
- Wash the rice and cook it in a vessel with the required amount of water.
- When half cooked add in the powdered mix.
- Take care to keep stirring the porridge and keep on medium flame.
- Pour in the coconut milk and add salt.
- Cook till the rice is soft.
- Heat ghee in a small pan fry the shallots till caramel in color and pour over the rice
- porridge.
- If you feel that the porridge is a bit bitter, add in 2 tsp of jaggery syrup to cut down the
- bitterness.
- You can serve this hot /warm with pickle, vegetable stir fries, pappad or even with
- fried salted curd chillies.
So enjoy this monsoon the healthy way!
Here’s a glimpse of the media coverage..
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Hi! I am Nimi Sunilkumar…an award winning cookbook author /culinary demonstrator/freelance writer / food photographer/food blogger …spiced with the flavors of food..
