Online Grocery and Snacks Shopping - myflavory.com UAE

My dear UAE readers, I am pleased to let you all know that myflavory.com is available for your online grocery shopping with free delivery*. At this crucial point of dealing with the Corona pandemic, staying home and staying safe seems to be the best way to keep ourselves as well as our society safe. Let's join hands in this fight against the virus and hope to come out of this as soon as we can. 

myflavory.com (https://myflavory.com/) has a wide range of varieties from staple groceries, snacks, sweets and native specialties. Groceries include rice varieties, millets, cold pressed oils, masalas, spices, atta, flours, dry fruits, palm sugar products, flowers, pooja needs and much more. There is also a variety of sweets and snacks from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and North India. Also they have special Arabic, Omani, Lebanese and Sri Lankan sweets & snacks. 

Use promocode 'Delivery 5' to get 5% off on delivery above 200AED and promocode 'Delivery 10' to get 10% off on delivery above 300AED. 

*Minimum order applicable for free delivery.

Cheers,

Chitz

Chow Chow Kootu | Chayote Squash Kootu | South Indian Kootu with Bangalore Kathirikkai

Kootu is one of my favourite side dishes. It is a wholesome meal in itself and requires really less effort and time. And luckily my little one also loves it, so I find making them often. Usually I make kootu with any veggies similar to this Pudalangai kootu (Snake Gourd) or this Yellow Pumpkin Kootu (Poosanikai) without coconut. At times I use coconut but do not grind them like in this Vazhaithandu Kootu (Banana stem). For me those recipes are very light on the tummy and the one like this Chow Chow kootu recipe today is a little heavy with coconut and rice flour ground and mixed in. But I like this one too. It also tastes yum and is like the one in restaurants or the ones that they serve in weddings :) 

Recipe Source: Ma

 

I Took: 30 minutes

 

Serves : 2 persons

I Used:

Chow Chow (Chayote) - 1 medium sized one Channa Dal/Moong Dal - ¼ cup Ginger - An inch piece Garlic - 2-3 cloves Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp Salt - As needed

To Grind:

Grated Coconut	-	3-4 tbsp
Red Chilly	-	1 no
Cumin Seeds/Jeerakam	-	½ tsp
Rice Flour	-	1 tsp

To Temper:

Oil	-	1 tbsp
Mustard	-	½ tsp
Urad Dal	-	1 tsp
Red Chilly	-	3 nos
Curry leaves	-	A sprig
Asafoetida	-	2 pinch

The Way:

1. Rinse channa (or moong) dal thoroughly in water. Then soak the dal in water (I took 1.5 cups) for 20-30 minutes. Channa dal pairs well with chow chow but at times I use moong dal too

2. Remove the skin of chow chow (and also the seed in the middle) and dice it and keep aside

3. Add salt & turmeric powder to the soaked dal, diced chow chow, crushed ginger (optional) & crushed garlic (optional) in a pressure cooker. Pressure cook it for 3-4 whistles or until it is done 

4. Alternately you can cook them in a pot as well. If using a pot, make sure you add sufficient water and cook the dal & chow chow. Also take care to see that the water doesn't dry up and leave you with a burnt vessel. However chow chow takes longer to cook. So it's better to use a pressure cooker for faster cooking

5. While the chow chow is getting cooked, take the grated coconut, cumin seeds, red chilly & rice flour in a mixer along with 2-3 tbsps of water and grind it to a smooth paste 

6. Once the chow chow is cooked and the the pressure is released, open the cooker. Add the ground paste to it and give a nice stir

7. If water is less, add enough for your desired consistency. Allow the kootu to boil in low flame

8. Now for the tadka/tempering, heat oil in a tadka pan/kadai

9. Add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the urd dal. As it slightly turns colour add the remaining ingredients (red chilly is optional - add to adjust the heat of the kootu) and give a nice stir

10. Add the tadka to the kootu and mix and serve

Tastes awesome with Plain Rice / Rasam Sadam / Kathirikai Kara Kuzhambu / Pavakkai Puli Kuzhambu

Notes:

Instead of boiling the moong dal, you can pressure cook as well. Just about 2 whistles should suffice. 

Cheers,

Chitz

Chammanthi Podi | Nadan Chammanthi Podi | Nalikera Podi | Kerala Style Roasted Coconut Powder for Rice

Chammanthi Podi needs no intro for a Malayalee ;) It is a staple at many Mallu homes and almost every other mallu going abroad would have taken this condiment, packed & sealed tightly and buried deep inside the suitcase :D If they do not take it during their first visit, they will definitely remember to pack some when they come & go back after the vacation :)

It is really yummy, easy to make, can be stored for quite some time if handled properly and can be had with just rice and curd. It is the most yummax combo if you ask me :) And we eat a pot full of rice when we eat them with matta rice & curd combo. Of course, we make a fluffy omelette loaded with onions also to go with it ! So now without much talk, let's see how this is made.. 

P.S: This one is made by my mil & I took only the pics :D And these are one of the first set of food pics taken with iPhone XR. Am going to ditch my SLR for a while now...

Recipe Source: Amma

Serves: 3-4 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

I Used:

Coconut	-	2 medium sized coconuts - Around 4 cups - grated
Tamarind	-	3 tbsp - A big lemon sized
Shallots	-	15-20 nos - medium sized
Curry Leaves	-	4-5 sprigs
Red Chilly	-	20-22 nos

The Way:

1. Grate the coconut finely without bigger scrapes. If you get big scrapes while grating, then you can add them in a mixie jar and give a quick pulse so that the scrapes are even. This will ensure that the colour of the powder/podi is even and dark without white specks

2. Take the grated (& pulsed) coconut in a wide and thick bottomed pan/uruli. Roast them on a low/medium flame. Keep roasting them as often as possible to ensure that they do not get burnt or get stuck at the bottom of the vessel

3. Once the coconut starts to brown slightly, add the tamarind pieces (If you wish, can wash them and add) and keep roasting

4. After 2-3 minutes add the curry leaves and shallots. If shallots are bigger, slice them and add

5. Keep roasting them till they turn deep brown in colour. Keep caution to not to burn them else the taste of the podi will not be up to the mark

6. In a separate kadai/vessel roast the dry red chillies for 2-3 minutes till they swell up and give out a good glaze. Do not roast for long as it will get burnt 

7. Now allow them to cool till they reach room temperature

8. Then add all the contents including the red chilly to a large mixie jar and grind them coarsely. Ideally it should be a little coarse. You can grind them as fine or coarse as you wish though :)

Serve with matta rice, curd & pickle :)

Cheers,

Chitz

Dal Palak (without onion and garlic) | Palak Dal | Easy Dal Palak Recipe

Recipe for the day is this warm and yummy Dal Palak which always reminds me of our Pune days. This hot bowl of simple yet flavorful palak dal was enough for us to eat scores of phulkas and extra extra helpings of rice. Did I slightly go overboard? Maybe ;) But you get the drift right. It is healthy too. All you need is that bowl of dal and maybe a sabzi. Even if I don't get time to make a sabzi, we manage with boiled egg fry or paneer burji. I love to make this with the palak I used to buy in Pune which gives an earthly flavor to the gravy. With the Chennai palak I feel that's missing. So without much further talk, let's get to the recipe.

Recipe Source: Here

Serves: 3-4 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

I Used:

Palak	-	2 cups
Tur Dal	-	½ cup
Oil/Ghee	-	2 tbsp
Cumin seeds	-	1 tsp
Ginger	-	An inch piece - chopped
Green Chilly	-	2 nos (medium sized) - chopped
Red Chilly powder	-	½ tsp
Asafoetida	-	¼ tsp
Turmeric powder	-	½ tsp
Salt	-	As Needed

The Way:

1. Rinse the lentil with water for 2-3 times. Then take them in a pressure cooker and add around 2 cups of water. Add salt and turmeric powder to it. If you have time soak the dal for 15-20 minutes before cooking so that they cook faster

2. Pressure cook the dal for 5 to 6 whistles till it becomes soft and mushy

3. Now rinse the palak in water for 2-3 times. Drain them of water. Then chop finely and keep aside. Also clean and chop the ginger and green chillies and keep aside

4. In a pan heat oil/ghee. Using ghee gives a very nice aroma and flavor to the gravy. Then temper the cumin seeds 

5. Reduce the flame to low and then add the chopped ginger and fry till the raw smell goes off

6. Then add the chopped green chillies & fry for 30 seconds

7. Now add the chopped palak and saute for a minute

8. Then add the red chilly powder and asafoetida

9. Now cover the pan and cook for 6-8 minutes till the palak is cooked. Palak will release some water. So no need to add additional water at this point. Just open the lid and saute twice or thrice in between so that the palak doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan

10. Mash the cooked dal so that it is smooth. Once the palak is cooked, add the mashed dal to it

11. Add water (1-2 cups) depending on the consistency you want or the gravy and give a nice stir

12. Check salt and add if needed

13. Simmer the dal for about 5 minutes and then switch off

Serve with nice phulkas/rotis, rice & a sabzi of choice :)

Cheers,
Chitz

Ponnanganni Keerai Poriyal | Ponnangani Greens Stir Fry | Dwarf Copper Leaf Stir Fry

Here I go with yet another greens stir fry recipe. This time it is none other than the iron & calcium rich Ponnangani leaves. They come in two shades - green and red. Here I have prepared the stir fry using green leaves today. You can follow the same recipe for the red leaves as well. Ponnangani leaves has many medicinal benefits. To mention a few, it is recommended as a very good medicine for all your eye problems and for also maintaining a healthy and glowing skin. It is said to reduce body heat and is a good remedy for piles problems. And it is very effective against stomach ulcers, gut problems and also to improve your overall health. And so I guess by now you must have very well understood how great these greens are for your health, so let's go check out how to make a simple and tasty stir fry with them :)

This is how it looks :)

Serves: 4-5 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 25 mins

I Used:

Ponnangani Keerai	-	2 cups
Sesame oil	-	1 tbsp
Mustard	-	¼ tsp
Urad Dal	-	1 tbsp
Red Chilly	-	4 nos (slit)
Onion (chopped) Asafoetida Turmeric Powder	- - -	½ cup - 1 medium sized 2 fat pinch ¼ tsp
Mung Dal	-	2 tbsp (boiled) (Take 1 tbsp raw and soak)
Grated Coconut	-	2 tbsp

The Way:

1. Take the moong dal in a bowl. Rinse well in water. Then soak the dal in ¼ cup of water for 15-20 minutes

2. Once soaked, add a little salt (not much coz we will be adding in the poriyal as well) and cook them till done. First keep the flame in high till the water boils and then simmer and cook covered till done. The dal should not turn mushy. They should be cooked and retain their shape. It should take around 8-10 minutes for them to get cooked

3. Meanwhile clean and keep the greens (keerai). Remove old or wilted or yellow coloured leaves. I use only the leaves and discard the stem

4. Rinse the greens (keerai) in water 2-3 times to remove the dirt and mud particles. Then drain the water and chop them roughly and keep aside

5. Chop the onions and keep aside

6. In a pan, heat sesame oil. Use sesame oil for this stir fry. It is highly recommended. If you do not have it replace with sunflower or coconut oil

7. Splutter mustard. Then reduce the flame and add the urad dal and broken red chillies. Saute them. Take care not to burn the red chilly or dal

8. Add the chopped onions and saute. The onions should turn translucent and slightly start to turn colour

9. Then add asafoetida and turmeric powder. Give a quick saute

10. Add the chopped greens and give a nice stir. Add 2-3 tbsp of water and give a quick stir. Cover and cook for 5-6 minute till the leaves wilt and get cooked. Check in between to see that they do not get stuck at the bottom and saute to avoid that

11. Once the greens are cooked, add the cooked moong dal and give a gentle stir and leave it for a minute

12. Then add the grated coconut and give a quick and gentle stir

13. Switch off flame and serve with rice and a gravy of choice

Cheers,

Chitz

Chiranga Olan | Bottle Gourd Olan | Churakka Olan | Surakka Olan | Lauki Olan

When the family loves Olan, I try to sneak in as many kind of veggies as I can into it :) Cheranga as such is not liked by us, but Olan with it is an exception. We love it when the bottle gourd is paired with the mild coconut milk and the soft crunch from the boiled red eyed beans.. I have already made olan with Zucchini and Pumpkin & Ash Gourd and this one is no different from them. It is simple to make and healthy and yummy too :) So let's see how to make this easy Olan with bottle gourd..

Serves: 2-3 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Soaking Time: 8 hours

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

I Used:

Cheranga/Bottle Gourd Red Eyed Beans/Vanpayar	- -	1 cup - cubed ¼ cup heaped (after boiling)
Green Chilly	-	2 nos - slited
Salt	-	As Needed
Coconut Milk	-	½ cup
Curry leaves	-	2 sprigs
Coconut Oil	-	1 tbsp

The Way:

1. Rinse and soak the vanpayar (red beans - I used 1/8 cup of the beans to soak) overnight for around 8 hours. In the morning, discard the water. Take the beans in a pressure cooker. Add enough water (around 2 cups) and salt and pressure cook till done. It took me 2 whistles in high and 2 in low. Keep aside

2. While they get cooked, extract the coconut milk and keep ready. I used around ½ cup of grated coconut and ¼ cup of water and ground it in a mixie till the coconut was smoothly ground. Then using a muslin cloth, extracted the milk from the ground coconut

3. Cut and discard the skin of the bottle gourd. Discard the thick pith if it's too ripe. Then cut them into thin cubes as shown in the picture. The thickness should not be more than ¼ inch along both width and length

4. Now take the cut pieces in a saucepan and add required salt and green chilly along with little water (¼ cup) (Instead of water you can also use 2nd coconut milk and boil the bottle gourd) and cook it till done. It will take around 15-20 minutes to get cooked

5. If there is excess water after cooking the bottle gourd, I remove them. Else the coconut milk becomes very thin

6. Add the cooked beans (a heaped ¼ cup) without water to the veggies. Give a gentle stir

7. Then add in the coconut milk and curry leaves and again give a gentle stir. Check the salt now. Add if required. Once the coconut milk is added, it should not boil. It should only get warm. And it would take about a minute or so. Switch off the flame. Add coconut oil and just swirl the pan

Transfer to the serving dish and serve along with rasam and pickle or as a dish in your Onam Sadhya leaf !

Cheers,
Chitz

Nadan Chicken Curry | Kerala Style Simple Chicken Curry | Easy Chicken Curry without Coconut - Type 2 :)

Nothing gives me more pleasure than the food I cook being wiped clean by my 2 boys :) And I'm sure that would be the same for every person who loves to cook, right :) Though we love to cook chicken in myriad number of ways, this is that recipe that we go back to every now and then mainly coz it's sooper easy (the basic Indian chicken gravy recipe) and my little one loooves it.. Even if I make it a little extra hot he will have this with the same enthusiasm and a little moist eyes ;) This is nothing fancy, just the basic onion-tomato base gravy and the normal spices simmered with lots of love :) 

During my initial days of cooking I never used to get the dense gravy in my chicken curry and it would be loose or watery. I always used to wonder what was going wrong and finally found that adding a bit of onion and tomato puree while preparing the base gravy changes the consistency. It was partly my laziness of grinding them to avoid washing an extra set of utensils that kept me away from that consistency for quite some time ;) So if any of you wondering why your gravy is watery, now you know! I love having this versatile gravy with practically anything from steamed rice / chapathi / porotta / appam / dosa / idly / idiyappam / puttu / ghee rice / coconut milk rice. Do try out and let me know which combo is your favourite :)

My other chicken recipes that you can find in the blog would be

Chettinadu Kozhi Kulambu
Chicken Masaledar | Spicy Chicken Masala

Coorgi Style Chicken Curry

Mughlai Chicken

Baked Chicken Pasta

Spring Roll

Recipe Source: Amma

Serves: 3-4 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 20-30 mins

Cooking Time: 45 mins

I Used:

Chicken	-	750 gm
Coconut Oil	-	2-3 tbsp
Onion	-	3 nos - medium sized (2 chopped & 1 for grinding)
Tomato	-	2  - medium sized
Ginger	-	A fat 2 inch piece
Garlic	-	15-20 nos (medium sized)
Green Chilly	-	2 nos - slit
Red Chilly powder	-	2 tbsp
Coriander powder	-	1 tbsp
Turmeric powder	-	½ tsp
Garam Masala	-	1 tsp
Salt	-	As Needed
Curry leaves	-	2-3 sprigs
Coriander leaves Water	- -	2-3 sprigs As Needed (½-1 cup)

The Way:

1. Clean the chicken and cut them into small bite size pieces. Cutting the chicken into small 2 inch size pieces makes it easier for the gravy and masala to sink in to the pieces and make them more succulent 

2. In a mixie jar, take the peeled ginger (15-20 medium sized ones), garlic (A fat 2 inch piece) and onion (1 no - cut into 8-12 chunks) and grind them to a smooth paste. If needed you can add 2-3 tbsp of water for grinding. Keep aside

3. Heat 2-3 tbsp of coconut oil in a pan/kadai. When the oil is hot, reduce the flame and add the 2 medium sized onions (finely chopped) along with 2 slit green chillies. Saute them well on medium flame till the onions turn translucent. You can add salt as well while sauteing the onions to help them cook faster

4. Now once the onions are translucent, add the ground onion paste to it and saute on a low flame till they start to turn brown. Keep sauteing occasionally else they might get burnt

5. Once the gravy starts to turn brown add the masalas - 2 tbsp red chilly powder, 1 tbsp coriander powder, 1 tsp garam masala and ½ tsp turmeric powder and saute well again. Keep sauteing for another 2-3 minutes till the raw smell of the masala goes

6. Meanwhile, roughly chop 2 medium sized tomatoes and add them to the mixer jar. Grind them to a smooth paste

7. Once the raw smell of the masala goes off, add the pureed tomato to the gravy and saute well. Allow it to cook for 5-6 minutes on low flame and keep sauteing occasionally

8. Then add the cleaned chicken pieces and give a nice stir. Add the required amount of water for your gravy and also 1 sprig of curry leaves. Keep in mind that the chicken will ooze water while cooking, so adjust the quantity of water accordingly

9. Cover the pan/kadai and cook in medium-low flame for 15-20 minutes till the chicken pieces and cooked tender. Keep stirring occasionally to avoid the gravy getting stuck to the bottom of the pan and getting burnt

10. Once the hicken is cooked, uncover the pan and add the remaining 1 sprig of curry leaves and 2-3 sprigs coriander leaves. Give a quick saute

Switch off the flame and serve the gravy hot with steamed rice / chapathi / porotta / appam / dosa / idly / idiyappam / puttu / ghee rice / coconut milk rice of your choice !

Cheers,
Chitz