This is a slightly sweetish raita since it is made from red pumpkin and also because of the other ingredients which goes in. It is a popular Maharashtrian recipe and this can be had on fasting days if made with specific ingredients. Using ghee for tempering gives a wonderful aroma. Coconut milk can also be added to the the red pumpkin before adding curd. Enjoy Laal Bhoplyache Bharit with briyani.
Sambar made with lentils and vegetables is the most loved side dish for rice or dosas or idli’s in southern India. This particular preparation, though a slightly lengthy procedure is a delicacy made with coconut paste and spices. Radish can also be used instead of drumstick. Fry the sliced radish for a while to get rid of the smell. Enjoy the sambar with rice or dosa.
Fish Puttu is a famous recipe from kerala and can be made in a variety of ways. Eggs added to the recipe blends with the scrambled fish and bring down the aroma and taste of fish. But if you want your fish to be strong in flavour the same puttu can be made spicy without adding eggs. Tinned fish is a good substitute for the initially boiled fish and comes in handy for a quick scrumptious fish puttu. Enjoy the scrambled fish or fish puttu with chapathi or rice.
Along with pakoras and bajji’s made with besan flour, yet another traditional snack made with gram flour is besan dosa. This dosa is usually made with besan flour and vegetables like onions, tomatoes along with cumin seeds or cumin powder added to the batter. Rice flour or rava can be added as an optional ingredient in less quantities depending on individual choices. Besan dosas usually come out thin and crisp if the batter is of proper consistency and should be had when it is hot. Enjoy besan dosa with coriander chutney.
When a soup is the only thing you want to have for dinner, then it should be a filling one like the meatball soup rather than any of those clear soups. This soup with the meatballs and vegetables is a boon for your taste buds and stomach. The meatballs can usually be made in excess, and can be deep fried to form an excellent snack, though it will make up for the calories lost by having the soup. Any meat can be used to make the meatballs, but chicken or lamb would be a good choice. Since the soup itself is a complete meal, enjoy the soup when it is warm.
The spicy fish fry dish just made with red chilli powder, turmeric and pepper powder. Usually karuvadu / sun dried fish is made with this method. The variations for the marinade is also mentioned in the recipe, but if needed 4 or 5 pearl onions can also be added before grinding the mixture. The fish pieces can also be baked and finally tossed in a nonstick pan to get the texture required. Enjoy the fish fry with any mild rice dish like pulao.
Upma is a very popular South Indian Tiffin item and comes handy when you need to prepare a delicious dish in a short span of time. The aroma comes out great, if a little Ghee is added while frying the Rava initially. After frying the onions, vegetables like Cauli flower, Peas, Carrot, Potato, Beans can be added to make Khichidi and which is a healthy one too. Enjoy your Upma with Chutney, Pickle or Curd.
A shallow fried dish made with roots, goes well as a side dish or an evening snack. The taro roots are pressure cooked in tamarind water, which makes the roots get a tangy taste. Then the dish is shallow fried in oil along with other spices to get the desired taste. Usually garlic cloves and dry red chillies are added to do the tadka. But dry red chilli powder and crushed ginger and garlic can be used depending on the preference. Enjoy the taro root fry with any variety hot rice.
A delicious dish made with eggplants or brinjals and basmati rice cooked in coconut and spices paste. The photo of the baby eggplants along with the rice is amazing. Usually a readymade mix for vaangi baath is used to cook the dish, but the flavor and taste of homemade masala is no comparison to the readymade mix. At times sambar powder of your choice along with coconut paste can be substituted for the masala paste but your vaangi baath will be perfect with the mentioned masala and good baby brinjals. Enjoy vaangi baath with curd and chips.
Though sounds a bit unusual, it tastes surprisingly amazing. The preparation is very simple and chicken tenders taste better than chicken breasts. The beating of the chicken breasts is very important to get the expected results as seen in the mouth - watering photos posted. The salt, pepper, ranch dressing and the garlic gives an amazing flavor to the recipe. Finely minced fresh garlic can be used and if you are not bothered about the calories, adding a bit of butter would make it extra special. Serve the chicken with a sauce or chutney of your choice.
A staple South Indian breakfast made with ground rice flour and black lentils with water and methi seeds. The batter is then allowed to ferment for an overnight before the idli’s are made. If the proportion of the rice and lentils are exact, you get the perfect batter the work is almost done. Do not overook the idli’s since it may turn hard. Enjoy idli with sambar and Coconut Chutney.
Fish fry can be flavored a lot of ways using Indian recipes. This masala for the fish is made with mint leaves, coriander leaves and tamarid pulp along with ginger garlic paste. You can also add 4 0r 5 pearl onions while making the masala paste. Sooji added finally while shallow frying gives a good texture and a crispy nature of the fish fry. If sooji is not present it can be substituted with corn meal or bread crumbs, but sooji gives a better appealing to the fish. Shallow fry the fish and enjoy it with any meal as a sidedish.
Another deep fried chicken made with a chicken thighs or boneless chicken pieces. The bread crumbs in this recipe makes the chicken crunchy, but it should be cooked on low flame otherwise the bread crumbs will turn brown very fast and inside of the chicken would not be cooked. Yogurt and Soy sauce if desired can also be added to the marinade. The egg should be beaten well and must be added, since it acts as a binding agent for the breadcrumbs. Corn meal can also be used instead of bread crumbs in the recipe to get the same texture. Serve it hot as an appetizer or a snack.
Brinjal Rasavangi is a dish made with cooked dal, tamarind and coconut along with other spices. The dish tastes great if the toor dal is cooked in a pan instead of a pressure cooker. Alternately, the dish can be made with half toor and half chana dal, in which case it should not cook until mashed. Raw plantains or white pumpkin can be used instead of eggplants. Enjoy the recipe with rice or roti.
This dish is a boon for those who love the aroma and taste of fresh ginger cooked in any form. The amount of ginger and honey can be adjusted depending on the level needed. The marinated chicken can be skewed in a wooden skewer along with capsicum and onions. If you want your chicken skewed then tomato puree should be used instead of the tomatoes and added in the marinade along with other ingredients. Slow cooking it in a covered pan also retains the flavor and makes an excellent side dish. Serve ginger chicken with vegetable or chicken fried rice.
An authentic Tamil Nadu curry made with garlic and other spices. Tastes great the next day and can be used for more than a week since the oil preserves the curry for a long time. The ginger added to the ground masala is very good for digestion 
and flavor is great too. 3 - 4 tbsp of toor dal can be added while doing the tadka. Enjoy Inji Poondu kolambu with hot steamed rice and potato curry.
Chicken Kabab is traditionally meat grilled in a traditional oven using a skewer. The meat can be minced or in small bitable pieces marinated usually overnight in a spicy mix. If using a wooden skewer, soak the skewer in cold water for 1 hour before you start the procedure, or if a metal skewer is used then preheat the skewer before the chicken cubes are arranged on the skewer. Enjoy the Chicken kabab as an appetizer or snack with Soup.
Like Dry Chicken Recipes? Try this Andhra Delicacy Kodi Vepudu
A low-fat thai food just baked and the preparation is best suited for parties or potlucks, because most of the work is done the previous day. Marination and cutting of the vegetables and chicken is done the previous day which is the majority of the work in the preparation of the dish. The basil leaves and bamboo bring the special flavor you would see in any thai dish. Enjoy Thai chicken with hot steamed rice.
Rava kesari is a common dessert as a part of an Indian meal, made with semolina or rava with sugar. You can add either orange color or saffron can be added which gives a beautiful color to the dish . At times sugar is added to the boiling water and then the rava is added and mixed, but if the sugar is added at an earlier stage the sugar melts and the consistency becomes a bit hard. If the sugar is added after the rava is semiccooked then you get a perfect soft kesari. Enjoy the kesari as a dessert along with any meal.
Grated coconut with chillies makes a spicy dip for most of the Indian snacks or any breakfast dish. This is a very common Kerala dish which serves as an accompaniment to wide variety of dishes like Idlis/Idlys , Dosas , Chitranna, Vangi Bath, Khichiddi, Pongal to name a few. This is a slight variation of the traditional Coconut Chutney made with Dalia and other spices. The taste of fresh coconut, curry leaves and hing, leaves behind an intoxicating feeling on your tongue. Serve coconut sammanthi with hot steamed Idli/Idly or Dosa.
An easy sambar made with snake gourd or any type of squash. Ash gourd or white pumpkin can also be substituted for snake gourd. The snake gourd should not be added along with the dal and pressure cooked, since it will be overcooked and would end up mushy. So it is added after the dal is made and just cooked in pressure for one whistle or can be cooked in a closed pan with dal. At the end, coconut paste or milk can be added and allowed to boil for a while. Adding 2 tbsp of fresh grated coconut while seasoning gives a specific texture to the sambar especially if it is had with idli or dosa. Enjoy the sambar with lemon pickle and steamed rice.
This simple curry has a texture and aroma peculiarly and delightfully its own. 'Palya' is a Kannada (a South Indian language) word for a dry side dish made with any vegetable. This particular one is a popular side dish served as part of a traditional Mangalorean Brahmin wedding meal. If using canned jackfruit, drain the water out of the can the previous day and soak the pieces in fresh water overnight to get rid of the saltiness of the brine. Squeeze the jackfruit pieces to drain the extra water before dicing them. If it is a fresh jackfruit, cut the fruit into quarters and cut off the white pith on top. Then with oil greased hands, remove the seeds and cut into thin slices. Enjoy the curry with rice or roti.
A common curry from southern India, served as a part of lunch. This is a simple recipe and the coconut and garlic paste is the only masala added. 
This recipe has been made with carrot and bittergourd, but if you want to avoid the bitterness of the dish then try it with other vegetable combinations. Carrot with beans, or carrot with potatoes and beans are common combinations for this recipe. For a very simple preparation it is amazingly tasty. Serve it with rice or homemade chapathi.
An evening at beach with a packet of sundal, is the idea of many in Chennai for a relaxation on Sunday. The preparation of this recipe at home has been described in a very simple way. The recipe can be made colorful by garnishing with grated carrot, beetroot, coriander, red onions and mango. Enjoy the healthy oil less snack at home with a cup of tea or tomato soup.
As the name indicates a variety of rasam made with lemon juice. Lemon is substituted for tamarid juice to give the tangy / sour taste. Note that lemon juice has to be added at the end, if it is allowed to boil then the taste turns bitter. A very simple preparation, which needs no grinding and the ginger added, gives an unique taste to the soup. Usually lemon rasam is relatively mild, compared to other varieties of rasam. Adding more dal with ground pepper & cumin seeds can make a thicker spicy version of the rasam. Enjoy the rasam with rice and a spicy potato curry.
Nethili is a variety of fish that tastes very great and usually cooked in a tamarid sauce. The same fish can be spiced up a little and shallow fried to make an excellent side dish. Allow the fish to marinate for atleast half an hour to get better results. Curd rice and Nethili fry is a fulfilling meal.
An exotic dish which can be transformed into a versatile variety of dishes, just made with tomatoes and onions( Shallots / pearl onions will be better than any other variety). This dish made once a week and refrigerated can come in rescue during several meals when not in a mood to cook. Tastes great when fresher and juicier tomatoes are used. You will get a perfect thokku if you do not add any water and allow the tomatoes to cook in it’s own juice on a slow flame. Enjoy the tomato chutney as such with idli / dosa.
Pregnancy is a time when utmost care should be taken of the pregnant woman’s health, by her own self and by others around her. Though travel is certainly not prohibited during pregnancy, it may have to be undertaken with a few precautions so that the health of the mother and child is not compromised.
The doctor may prohibit the mother-to-be from travelling during the fist three months since at that time the risk of miscarriage is the highest. Travelling may also have to be avoided in case of high risk pregnancies or as advised by the doctor.
Is it safe to travel by air?
Most airlines have strict rules for pregnant travellers, wherein they are not permitted to travel if they are more than 32 weeks pregnant. Air travel may involve risk since the change in pressure may cause damage to the membranes of the uterus. Before embarking on a plane journey, the pregnant lady should take care to dress easily and follow the rules of the airline. It is also better not to take the non-pressurised cabins in the aircraft since a change in pressure is dangerous. It is also better to avoid the smoking areas in the aircraft.
What precautions should be taken in car travel?
Though travelling by car does not have any obvious disadvantages, longer journeys may be avoided especially during the first three months. This is because, the mother-to-be may not yet be used to the pregnancy and may get tired and fatigued easily.
Other tips to be kept in mind while travelling are:
If the journey is long, frequent breaks (every hour preferably) are necessary to keep the circulation going in the body.
If the seat belt has to be worn, it should be worn low on the hips and not on the abdomen to avoid undue pressure.
Snacks should be carried on the journey to prevent the feeling of nausea and to maintain the energy levels in the body.
A pillow etc. should be carried to use during uncomfortable positions.
The doctor should give a clearance for travel before the journey.
In case of travel to a foreign country, the requisite immunisations should be taken well before the date of travel to avoid any complications. Many countries require foreigners to undergo specific immunisations before visiting their country. This should be got out of the way as soon as possible since many immunisations have side effects like mild fever, pain in the area etc. It is also better not to travel to a place where there may be more chance of infection.
Source:Doctor NDTV
Another variety of dry chicken recipe, with a simple preparation but an excellent combination for rice / roti. The preparation is very similar to chicken tikka masala, but the garam masala prepared gives the unique taste to this recipe. The only small tip would be not to add water and prepare in a heavy bottomed wide pan. The crisper the recipe the delicious it tastes. Serve kadai chicken as a side dish for roti along with sliced onions and a lemon wedge.
Fantastic photos and fantastic presentation, makes you try this recipe once you have a peek. Spicy pongal is offered as a naivedyam at temples in Southern India. In this recipe the tadka is done and then the rice and moong dal are cooked in a pressure cooker. It can be done the other way too by doing the tadka in a wide pan and mixing the pressure cooked rice with it. Finely cut ginger and green chillies can also be added while doing the taka. Serve hot pongal with coconut chutney and sambar.
A special sweet made with rice and jaggery during sankranthi/pongal. The pictures of the recipe is mouth watering, prepared with moong dal and raw rice in the ratio 1:2. But a slight variation is to add channa dal can also be added. Channa dal, moong dal and rice can be used in the ratio 1:2:4. (i.e) for 1 cup of rice, add ½ cup of moong dal and ¼ cup of channa dal. This recipe can be made with milk or without milk, but the milk just makes the recipe rich. Try frying 4 tbsp of shredded coconut along with the cashews and add it at the end. Enjoy with a generous dollop of ghee.
