Monday, May 11, 2026

Mango Popsicles | Mango Ice

Mango Popsicles, a delicious and refreshing popsicle made from fresh mangoes. It's one of the best popsicles that you can have on hot summer days. It's light, refreshing and instantly cools you off.

I'm a person who thinks that mangoes are best when eaten as it is ! So i hardly make any desserts or any recipes with it regularly. Occasionally make one or two. That's all.

But now that i want my little one to enjoy all kinds of summer treats, I'm a little hesitant to try every flavor of ice cream/popsicle that are available in the market. So i prefer to make a little quantity at home especially for the kiddo and this mango popsicle is an instant hit at our home.

So if you haven't tried making mango popsicles at home then do give it a try ! It's simply amazing !

Mango

For this recipe, i have used the red mangoes that are available here in all grocery stores. But you can try this with any well ripened mangoes provided that are less fibrous and more fleshy.

Lemon Juice

Other than mangoes, this recipe calls for lemon juice and maple syrup. But if your mangoes are tart, you no need to add the mentioned quantity of lemon juice in this recipe. You can reduce the lemon juice quantity or leave it out if your mangoes have enough tartness. When you taste test your mango puree make sure you can feel the tartness well. That's what makes this popsicle so refreshing.

Maple Syrup

For sweetener, i used maple syrup in this recipe. However, you can use honey, sugar or any other sweetener as per your liking. Depends on the sweetness of the mango , you may need more or less sweetener.

Ok, that's it. Now let's check out how to make this delicious mango popsicle.

Mango Popsicles | Mango Ice

Preparation Time : 6 hrs | Cooking Time : 5 mins | Serves : 4
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

Mango -1

Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp

Maple syrup - 2 tbsp

Procedure

First take a mango, peel the skin and cut into small pieces and then put it in the blender jar.

Next, add the lemon juice and maple syrup an grind them into smooth puree.

Pour the mango puree in the popsicle mould and cover it with foil paper and insert the popsicle stick at the center of each popsicle(or else you can use the popsicle stick that come from the mould too).

Freeze it for minimum 6 hrs or overnight. Just before serving, take the popsicle out and dip the popsicle mould in warm water and take the popsicle out(it comes out easily).

Tasty and refreshing Mango popsicle is ready.

Related: Creamy Mango Kulfi

Notes:

Make sure to freeze it for minimum 6 hrs.
If you don't have popsicle mould, you can pour it in small tumbler and cover it with foil paper and freeze it too.

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

12 Mini Chocolate Cupcakes | Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

Mini Chocolate Cupcakes, a delicious and mildly sweetened chocolate cupcakes which are perfect for your kids snack box as well as tea time snacks.

In general, i'm not a big fan of icing so i never used it here. But you're making this for a party or birthday celebration, then you can decorate them with some icing and it would be a perfect treat!

I have been making this chocolate cupcakes regularly at our home for over a year now. It's always been a such a huge hit with my kid. He loves this chocolate cupcake and ask me to bake this often so at alteast once in a month i make this.

During this year's spring break, i made these chocolate cupcakes twice in a week and he eagerly did all the mixing and patiently waited till it got ready :-)

For the given measurement in the recipe index, it makes exactly 12 mini cupcakes. But you can also use the same batter to bake it in a 6 inch cake tin as well as 5*7 inch loaf pan. It all turned out good.

As i said earlier, this chocolate cup cake is mildly sweetened and that's how we like it in our home. For more sweetness, i would recommend to add 2 more tbsp of sugar and use milk chocolate chips (instead of semi sweet chocolate chips). That's what i do when i bake this cake for friends :-)

So now let's check out how to make these simple and delicious chocolate cupcakes.

12 Mini Chocolate Cup Cakes

Preparation Time : 1 hr | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 12
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour - 1/3 cup

Cocoa Powder - 2 tbsp

Sugar - 1/4 cup

Oil - 1/4 cup

Salt - a pinch

Baking powder - 1/4 tsp

Vanilla Extract - 1/4 tsp

Milk - 2 tbsp

Egg - 1

Semi Sweet Chocolate chips - 1/4 cup*

* Add more or less of chocolate chips as per your liking.

Procedure

Preheat the oven @ 350F . In a bowl, crack open a egg, whisk it gently for 30 secs and then add the sugar.

Next add the vanilla extract and the oil. Whisk it all well together. Then shift the dry ingredients(flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder) into the egg mixture.

Next add the add and mix it all well until it become a smooth batter.

Then add half of the chocolate chips into batter and mix it gently. Line the cup cake tray with the liner and pour the cake batter into each mould and sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top of each mould.

Put it in the preheated oven and bake it for 12-15 mins.

Delicious and soft cupcakes are ready.

Related: Chocolate Banana Bread

Notes:

Instead of the liner, you can grease the cup cake tray and bake it.
Adding oil makes the make moist even when store it in refrigerator.

Sunday, April 12, 2026

Black Rice Sago Payasam | Purple Sago Kheer

Black Rice Sago Payasam, a delicious dessert made from the black rice and tapioca pearls. If you have been following me for a while, you might already know that the black rice is one of the staple pantries in my house. So i often experiment with black rice a lot in my cooking. And this payasam is one of my recent tries and we absolutely loved it.

If you're looking for a different type of payasam/kheer/dessert to make on any occasions then definitely give it a try !

Black Rice / Kavuni Arisi

Black rice in general is slightly sticky and gives a nice creaminess to the dessert. So you don't need any condensed milk or something like that do thicken this payasam.

In addition, Black rice when cooked gives a strong hues of purple color to the rice and makes it more appealing. Like all my black rice recipes, this one is also a big hit with my kid.

Finally i pulsed the black rice in the mixie/blender a couple of. times before cooking because black rice takes a long time to cook compared to the white/basmati rice.

Sago / Tapioca Pearl / Javvarisi

In this recipe i have used 2 tbsp of black rice for 1/2 cup of sago. But there is no fixed rule for the ratio here. You can add more or less as per your liking.

Few Tips

Both sago and black rice tend to thicken when it is cooled down. So make sure to serve this payasam when it's warm for drinkable consistency or else it would turn into spoonable consistency.
If you prefer to serve later, then add the milk just before the serving to keep it as diluted.
Once the pressure is naturally released from the pressure cooker, open the lid immediately and add the sugar. If you keep it aside for a long time, the sago and black rice tends to clump together and then later it needs a lot of arm workout to break those clumps. Adding sugar immediately will prevent that.

Now let's check out on how to make this delicious Black Rice Sago Payasam.

Black Rice Sago Payasam | Purple Sago Payasam

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Dessert | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

Javvarisi / Sago/ Tapioca Pearl - 1/2 cup

Kavuni Arisi / Black Rice - 2 tbsp

Milk - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/3 cup

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Ghee -1 tbsp

Cashew - 5-8

Procedure

In a pressure add the javvarisi and then the roughly pulsed kavuni arisi, wash them well and add about 3/4 cup of water and pressure cook it for 3 whistles.

Once the pressure released naturally from the pressure cooker, open the lid and add the sugar and turn on the heat again & cook till the sugar is melted completely.

Then add the cardamom powder and milk ( boiled and warm). Let them boil for a min or two. Finally roast the cashews in the ghee and add it into the payasam.

Delicious and vibrant looking Black Rice Sago Payasam is ready.

Related: Sweet Kavuni Arisi / Black Rice Pudding

Notes:

Adding cashews is optional so you can skip that if you don't want.
This payasam tends to thicken when it cool down.

Thursday, April 2, 2026

Kollu Kadaiyal | Horse Gram Curry

Kollu Kadaiyal, a delicious and flavorful curry made with horse gram. It's one of the popular recipes in the Kongu region of Tamilnadu.

Back in the days, in Tirunelveli, Amma or anyone from our family circle never made anything with kollu so obviously I never knew or tasted kollu before marriage. After marriage, when i came to Tiruppur, i heard about kollu paruppu / rasam a lot and knew that's one of the common dishes in that region.

However, i had tried my hands on this ingredient very recently only. Couple of months back, i bought a pack of horse gram because of impulsive buying when roaming around the grocery aisle without the purchase list on hand :-)

First thing i tried with horse gram was this kollu kadaiyal. It was simply amazing in taste and flavor. Ever since i have been making this curry for at least once in 15 days. More than a curry we like this as an accompaniment. So usually i serve this along with rice and puli kuzhambu.

The main flavor of the curry comes from the grounded spices. So i highly recommend to make it fresh instead of using the ready-made ones. Also, you can make this curry as mushy as you want. In our house ,we don't prefer mushy paruppu, so don't mush the horse gram completely.

Now let's check out on how to make this delicious Kollu Kadaiyal

Kollu Kadaiyal | Horse Gram Curry

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 3
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

Kollu / Horse gram - 1/2 cup

Tomato - 1

Garlic - 2 cloves

Green Chili - 1

Coriander leaves - a few

To Roast & Grind

Coriander seed - 2 tsp

Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp

Pepper corns - 1/2 tsp

Onion -1/2

To Temper

Sesame oil - 1 tsp

Mustard & urad dal - 1/4 tsp(each)

Pearl onion - 5

Red chili -1

Procedure

Take the kollu in a pressure cooker, wash it twice and then add 1 cup water along with roughly chopped tomatoes, garlic and green chili.

Close the pressure cooker with a lid and cook it for 5-6 whistles. In the mean time, dry roast the ingredients listed under " To Roast & Grind". First add the spice and roast till aromatic and then add the sliced onions and saute till translucent.

Let it cool completely and grind them into coarse paste.

Once the pressure is naturally released from the pressure cooker, open the cooker, discard the green chili and then mash the horsegram roughly.

Put the pressure cooker on the heat again and add the grounded spices and bring into a boil(if needed add water as per your needed consistency).

In the mean time, temper the ingredients listed under "To Temper" and add it into the kadaiyal.

Finally add some chopped coriander leaves and mix it all well.

Delicious Kollu Kadaiyal is ready ! You can serve this as main curry or as an accompaniment.

Related: How to make Kollu Idli Podi

Notes:

If you want more spiciness, you can mash the green chili as well.
While serving, you can add a tsp of ghee for extra flavor.

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Chana Biryani | Chickpeas Pulao

Chickpeas Pulao / Chana Biryani, a delicious and flavorful one pot rice recipe made from chickpeas, basmati rice and exotic Indian spices.

This is one of our family favorite recipes to pack it for lunchbox or one day picnic. This biryani tastes great even when we serve it cold. That makes it ideal for packing.

Today, in this recipe, i have used very less spices since i have been serving the same for my kid. If your family loves spicy food, then you can add more red chili and garam masala powder as per your family needs.

Basmati Rice

I have tried this biryani with both basmati and seeraga samba rice . When it comes to chicken or mutton biryani, i usually prefer seeraga samba rice because of its flavor.

But for this biryani, I really can't pick one. Both taste good in their own way. So use whatever rice you like for biryani.

Chickpeas

Make sure to soak the chickpeas well. Well soaked chickpeas only cook at the same time when the rice cooks. Undercooked chickpeas totally spoil this biryani. So it's really important to soak the chickpeas overnight whether you're making this biryani in the morning for a lunch box or in the afternoon for lunch.

Ok, now let's check out on how to make this delicious chickpeas biryani.

Chana Biryani | Chickpeas Pulao

Preparation Time : 8 hrs | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Biryani | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

Basmati Rice - 1/2 cup

Chickpeas/Kondakadalai/Chana - 1/4 cup

Onion(small) -1

Tomato(medium) - 1

Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Red chili powder - 1/4 tsp

Garam Masala powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Coriander leaves & mint - a handful

Oil - 1 & 1/2 tbsp

Cinnamon - 1 inch piece

Cloves - 4

Cardamom - 1

Water - 3/4 cup

Procedure

Soak the chickpeas overnight and soak the basmati rice for 20 mins. Heat a pressure cooker with oil and add the cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom. Saute it in the oil for 30 secs.