My daughter, as you might know already is allergic to gluten, dairy and most nuts. This cuts off some delicacies for her, though not all. With my inclination to not use xanthan gum, the limitation only increases. What I cannot make for her, I make up by making other desserts she likes, as many times read more…
Vella Payaru – Black eyed peas in a jaggery based sweet

When we cook black-eyed-peas in a sweet roast, we call it ‘vella payaru’. It literally translates as ‘jaggery with black eyed peas’. This is the offering I made today as prasad or bhog. It is a very tasty dish, and gets done in minutes. Since I am blogging a dish every day, I am read more…
Appam – Jaggery and Rice spheres

Appam has a first name. Some people prefix ‘unni’, as in unniappam and some ‘nei’ as in ‘neiyappam’. As you move up West along the Konkan coast, appam become appe. The basic recipe remains the same but the sweetness is reduced and some lentils get added to the batter. Appam has many variations. My sister, read more…
Vella payasam, a porridge made with brown rice, coconut milk and molasses

The best thing about being vegan in India is that you do not have to give up desserts, sweets or most of your favourite eats, for that matter. Being South-Indian only makes this easier. Where I come from, we did not have many dairy-based sweets to start with. Sweets in earlier times were consumed judiciously, read more…
Porulvalanga Urundai – Vegan, multigrain protein balls

[It struck me very late and very recently that this is a very highly nutritious protein bar. It would be, if you pat it down in a tray and score into pieces instead of rolling into balls. Porulvalanga balls have all the nutrition packed in protein bars and it comes disguised as a very tasty read more…
Vella Cheedai – Rice flour and Jaggery Balls

Vella Cheedai is a traditional South Indian sweet – It is rock hard on the outside and surprisingly powdery inside. As kids we used to compete for ‘The strongest teeth’ and the winner was the person who managed to bite into the crust. For the weak minded – better break it with a metal pestle read more…