“Cook with love, thinking about the people who are going to be eating your food. Think how much you want them to enjoy the meal. Put your heart into it !” my Dad’s secret to cooking tasty meals.

In the midst of the lockdown, when everyday is the same, meals have taken up the additional burden of having a little surprise element. I am not an experimental cook, I stick to my comfort zone. But in Indian cooking, each meal encompasses side dishes which you can always mix and match to create a new meal combo.

The lunch menu below has boiled red rice, sambar (spicy mix of lentil and vegetables) for gravy, cheera thoran (amaranth stir fry with grated coconut), pepper prawns for the non-veg and pappadam for the crunch 😋

A coconut dish is always must have in a Kerala meal, the cheera thoran serves this purpose. Sambar and pappadam are a match made in heaven !! And the prawns are spicy and delicious 😘

The individual dishes by themselves are easy to make and very common. But bring them together in a meal and test out the play of flavours. Every Keralite has his or her favourite combos when it comes to the dishes in a meal. This is one of my favourites😘.

Till next post take care !!