Recipes In Tamil Veg

How to cook a Tamil Vegetarian Menu in 2 hours – includes entire step by step process of the meal I cooked and an alternate menu plan. The meal is naturally gluten free and vegan if you avoid the raita and use of ghee.

My publisher (now, also a friend) was coming over for dinner last night. I asked her if she would prefer a small plates kinda dinner, which is my jam these days, or a traditional Tamil vegetarian meal. She opted for the latter.

I love showcasing my  cuisine for anyone who is half interested. So I carefully worked out a menu featuring some favourites and a couple of new creations. Here’s the menu I cooked for 4 people.

Arachuvitta Sambar Recipe

This Tamil Vegetarian menu is easy to prep ahead for, with fairly basic ingredients. It showcases the cuisine well with a variety of dishes, using different vegetables, flavours and techniques. I haven’t included a dessert here due to a shortage of time and also because we had got some Theobroma brownies 🙂 But any payasam (Tamil style kheer) would be a good fit in this menu.

The thogayal, podi and pickle can also be made on the previous day, even though the instant mango pickle just takes two minutes in the microwave.

I also pressure cook the tomato-pineapple mix and the potatoes a few hours ahead so that it can cool completely before handling and pureeing. I hate to burn my hands while removing the peels of tomatoes and potatoes.

Non Vegetarian Virundhu Recipes

While I did not cook everything at one go, this entire meal can be put together with around 2 hours of work, as long as you use a pressure cooker.

Batch processing the tasks is the fastest way to cook any elaborate menu. I have batched up all the pressure cooking, masala preparation, vegetable prep and final tadka steps together. This makes a lot more sense can cooking recipe after recipe, which takes way longer time.

Soak 2 tbsp tamarind flakes in 1 cup boiling hot water for 30 minutes. Extract all the pulp and discard the tamarind flakes after squeezing well. You can also use 2 tsp ready tamarind paste, but the flavour from using freshly extracted puree makes it worth it.

Tamil Nadu Food Recipes, Tamil Dishes

Lastly, cook the rice and millets. Wash the grains separately, combine with twice the water and cook for 5-6 minutes on sim after the first whistle. Serve hot with all the above sides.

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Lastly, cook the rice and millets. Wash the grains separately, combine with twice the water and cook for 5-6 minutes on sim after the first whistle. Serve hot with all the above sides.

To get all my latest recipes and news straight into your mailbox, subscribe to my mailing list here and get a free copy of my e-book specially put together for you – The Ultimate Salad Master Table that will have you making salads like a pro HERE