Our family-owned a big coconut groove back in my place which used to be bountiful. I remember the days my mom used to take me there every weekend promising to get me tender coconuts. While my mother watered and fertilized the groove with helpers, I will be lying down under a tree, and counting how many coconuts are there in each tree. She also had some planted around our house when I and my brother were born. She used to age them along with us as we grow. So we always had plenty of coconuts. My mother's dishes had coconut in them in some form. (grated, pasted, etc. ). Those are all distant dream now. Chickpea curry( Channa masala as we call it ) is one of the protein-rich curries which is loved by most. This is not only healthy but also tastes good and hence very popular amongst vegan dieters. Now wherever you go, be it the roadside truck or a fancy restaurant, the chickpea curry they serve is with onion, tomato, and masalas. However, my mom used to make a light version of the

Bottle Gourd is a summer vegetable. As we are getting close to summer, I see that the bottle gourd is stocked up in all Asian stores.  This versatile vegetable is full of water and minerals and considered one of the healthiest vegetables. This is well suited for diabetics and regulates blood pressure. Not only that, but there is also a multitude of recipes you can make with this gourd.  This gourd has a very bland taste and hence it goes well with other vegetables or sometimes, we add this in chicken or lamb curry. Here is one of the recipes using bottle gourd. Bottle gourd lentil curry (sorakkai/lauki channa dal curry) is a wholesome vegan dish high in protein and low in carbs preferred by dieters.  You can pair this with absolutely anything.  I prefer this lentil curry with rice. To the south Indian in me,  nothing may sound as heart-filling as rice and the lentil curry. I made rice and lentil curry together in my insta pot together and it took 20 minutes in total. A complete

So what is ghee? Ghee is nothing but clarified butter. It has an established culinary and medicinal uses in every Indian household. Ghee is so beneficial to the body and skin that it has been the must-have staple in India since ancient times. Indians have a way of passing down their experiences and lessons. They tie them to stories, Gods, etc or one may call it culture/ mythology so that it establishes a connection.  Butter and Ghee are also tied in such ways to ancient Indian culture and it has been part of our lives and it will always be. Some say that ghee is not very healthy and it makes you gain weight. But the studies suggest otherwise.  Ghee has a good amount of healthy fats it, in fact, aids in weight reduction. Ghee also helps with digestion, and the vitamin E present in it helps moisturize dry skin and hair.  Ghee is also much advertised to be consumed during pregnancy to help with delivery and in postpartum to help with lactation.  IMHO, the last one may be a bit

My dear mother visited me in the West. She had brought a lot of goodies for me. And one of which is black gram lentil from my hometown. All the time we were planning her trip and packing, she instilled this desire in me for this black gram sweet called "ulundhu kazhi". And finally, when she was here, she promised me that she would teach me how to do it.  And it never happened. We spent our precious days catching up and gossipping, that in the blink of an eye, she had to leave back. The black gram was just sitting there in my pantry untouched.  She described the dish over the phone in such a way, that it painted a complex process in my mind.  I was so shameless, that I asked a friend for the dish and she dearly made it for me twice. She was so nice that she offered to do it no matter how many times I ask.  But one fine day, I mustered the courage to try this dish and to my surprise, it was not complex. It was pretty simple to make and it was DELICIOUSNESS. I later found ad