You would require:
1 cup poha (which is flattened rice), 1 liter of whole cream milk, 5 almonds, 5 pistachios, 5 cardamoms powdered, 1 cup sugar, 4-5 cashews broken, 15-20 raisins, water and little bit of salt.

Wash and drain the poha. Leave it for 10 minutes.  Separate the poha grains using your fingers from the vessel. Boil the milk in a large vessel and when the milk starts boiling add poha and stire gently in it. Bring the mixture to boil. Simmer till the milk volume reduces to half. Stir occasionally once or twice. It is time add sugar and cardamom, stir it to dissolve. Add the raisins and cashews. Simmer the whole mixture for 2 minutes and garnish with chopped almonds and pistachios. The aval payasam is ready.

Masala Dosa

Masala dosa is a very popular south Indian recipe which you can find in almost all types of fast food joints in India and restaurants. The masala dosa is the most popular recipe among south Indian dishes in other parts of India.

You would require:
2 ½ cup uncooked rice, 1 cup of urad dal preferably whole, 2 tablespoon fenugreek, salt to taste and 2 table spoon cooking oil. For Masala you would require 3 boiled potatoes peeled and chopped, 1 onion chopped, 2 chillies, 1 tbsp turmeric powder, 1 tbsp chana dal, ½ tbsp mustard seed, salt to taste and coriander leaves if you wish.

You have to soak the urad dal, rice and fenugreek seeds separately for at least 8 hours in water. Now grind them well together using the requisite amount of water to make a fine paste. Add salt and set the mixture aside for fermentation for the whole day.

Now when you are ready to prepare masala dosa, cut the onions, and arrange the rest of ingredients to prepare the masala dosa. Sauté the chopped onion in a pan with cooking oil and add mustard seeds, chana dal, and chilly to the sauté onion. Fry till they are brown in color. Add salt and the chopped potatoes, turmeric, chilly powder continuously. Cook it for few minutes. It is time now to pour the ladle on a non-stick pan and give it a circular shape. Put little oil around it and turn around while bubbling appears. Now fill the center of the dosa with the masala (one spoon) prepared. Fold the dosa to cover the masala. The dosa is ready to be served with chutney of coconut and sambhar.

The South Indian food is loved by folks because of their simple preparation techniques and the nutrition value which remains intact in their recipes. You can prepare quickly some South Indian recipes without compromising the taste, aroma and nutrition of food. All you need is to arrange the ingredients of the required recipes. Remember, the South Indian Food are very much taste oriented and if you minus one ingredient, perhaps there may be some chance of mission the origin flavor of it. For example a lot people prepare dosa a popular dish of south India without fenugreek seeds in them which reduce the taste of the dosa to a large extent.

Here are few simple yet healthy recipes of South India Food which you can prepare in your home in no time.

Carrot Rice

This is a yummy dish of South India Cuisine and served as quick breakfast or lunch at homes.

The ingredients:
2 cups of basmati rice cooked well. 1 cup of fresh carrot grated and 1 onion chopped finely. 2 green chillies, ½ cuped boiled peas, 1 tabsp urad dal, 1 tbsp cashew nuts, 1 tbsp mustard seeds, salt to taste, ½ tbsp red chilly powder, ½ tbsp turmeric powder, 4 tbsp lemon juice, coriander leaves, oil for cooking and little bit of cumin.

Take a shallow pan and heat 2 tbspoon of oil. Add the mustard seeds, when they strart spluttering add the urad dal and cashew nuts. Sauté the mixture in oil in low flame till they are brown in color and add turmeric powder, chilly powder, and salt. Now mix the grated carrot and boiled peas and sprinkle with water. Keep the pan cover in low flame till the carrots are tender. Now add lemon juice and add the boiled rice to the pan. With a cooking spoon mix the rice well with the stuff in the pan. Cook for another 3-4 minutes in medium flame. Garnish with coriander leaves. The delicious carrot rice is ready.

Chettinad Chicken

This chicken recipe is very popular throughout India because of its preparation style and nutrition value.

The ingredients:
1 kg of chicken washed can cut into bite pieces. Ginger garlic paste, 2 onions chopped, 1 ½ tsp black peppercorns, 1 ½ tsp white poppy seeds, 2 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 2 twigs of curry leaves, 2 tbsp fennel seeds, 4 green chillies, salt to taste, 1 tbsp turmeric powder, 1 tbsp chilly powder, cooking oil, 1 tomato mashed properly and coriander leaves for garnishing.

Smear the chicken pieces in salt, turmeric powder, chilly powder and little oil properly. Heat the oil in a large shallow pan, add cumin seeds, fennel seeds, chopped onion, and fry till they are brown in color. Add the black peppercorns, poppy seeds, green chilies, curry leaves to it and sauté the spices properly. Keep the mixture aside and now add the remaining onion and ginger garlic paste to the oil and fry till they are brown in color. Add the smashed tomato, coriander powder, sauted spices, and rest of powders of turmeric and chilly. Mix the mixture well and if require sprinkle water over it. Now add the chicken and add salt for taste. Fry the mixture in medium flame for at least 6 minutes. Pour some amount of water and cover the lid of the pan and cook for 15 minutes. The gravy would turn almost dry. When the chicken becomes tender and the gravy quite thick put off the flame and cover the lid for another 5 minutes. The Chettinad chicken is ready to be served with hot bun or rice.

Here is a Shahi Mughlai Dish of Delhi and other North Indian places which is in great demand among food buffs.

Biryani Badshahi Recipe

Ingredients:
720 gm of mutton finely cut into bite pieces, 400 gm of rice parboiled, 4 tbsp lime juice, 10 blanched almonds, ½ tbsp mint leaves, 1 cup butter, 1 handful of chopped coriander leaves, ½ tbsp cumin seeds, 1 large sliced onion, 3-4 cardamom, 3 tbsp oil, 5-6 pods of garlic, 3-4 cloves, ginger finely grated, ½ tbsp saffron, 2-3 green chillies chopped, 1 cinnamon, ½ kg curd, 130 mg milk, 4 cups of water.

Wash the rice and boil it in a cooker. Soak the saffron in water. Now fry the sliced onions in the oil till they are brown in color. Put it aside. Fry the garlic, ginger, red chillies and almonds in fresh butter, add mutton to it and salt and stir the mixture well. Add little amount of friend onions to it. Now add water and cook on low flame till the meat is tender and some thick gravy is left. Put curd in a muslin cloth and let the water to drain away. Mix the cardamom, cumin seed, min leaves, chopped chillies, coriander in the drained curd. Strain the saffron water and add lemon juice to it. Add all these to the mutton on the pan and mix well. Now sprinkle half of the boiled rice and spread a layer of friend onion and then the rest of rice over it again. Pour the milk and some butter over it. Cover the vessel and seal the edges with flour paste. Place the can on flame for about 45 minutes. The Shahi Badshahi Biryani is ready for serving.

The other popular Shahi Mughlai dishes of Delhi and North India are – Murg Noorjehani recipe, Shahi Chicken Korma, Nehari, Bakra Tandoor Tangri and others. They are richly prepared with large amounts of butter, clarified butter and other ingredients.

Paneer Butter Masala

What you would require? 
300 gm of paneer, 2 onions chopped (blanched and pureed), ½ cup butter, 2 tbsp coriander powder, 4 tbsp tomato puree, 1 tablespoon garlic-ginger paste, 2 tbsp cashew nuts, 1 tbsp turmeric powder, 2 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder, 1 tbsp garam masala, 1 cup fresh cream and salt for taste.

Cut the paneer into cubes and fry them. Now put them in hot water to keep them soft. Heat butter in a kadai and add the onion puree and sauté till they are light brown in colour. Now add the garlic-ginger paste and sauté for some time. The add kashmiri chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, cashew nuts, tomatoe puree, garam masla and salt. Add little amount of water and sauté.

Now add the paneer cubes and add required amount of water. Cook till the gravy turns semi solid or quite thick. Finally garnish with fresh cream and the paneer butter masala is ready to be served with hot rotis.

Shahi Paneer

What you would require? 
300 gm cheese cut into cubes of bite size. Two onions chopped, 1 tablespoon garlic-ginger paste, 2 green chillies, ¾ tablespoon of turmeric powder, 1 tbsp garam masala, ½ cup cream, ¼ cup dry fruits, ½ tbsp white pepper powder, 1 tbsp red chilly powder, 10 tbsp vegetable oil, ½ cup milk and salt to taste.

Fry paneer in a frying pan till they are light brown in color. Now put them in hot water so that they remain soft. Sauté the dry fruits in the remaining oil in the frying pan. Make a fine paste of onion, garlic-ginger paste, and green chilly in a blender. Fry the mixture in oil and sauté till they are light brown in color. Lower the flame and add white pepper, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, garam masala, and salt. Saute the mixture again for 1 or 2 minutes. Pour the milk, dry fruits and heat till the gravy is thick. Cook on a low flame and then add the paneer cubes. Heat the paneer on the gravy for another 2 minutes. Now add the cream over it. The shahi paneer is ready to serve. Garnish with more dry fruits and serve it with tandori rotis.

The traditional Hyderabadi cuisine are known for their spicy flavor, hot fragrance, liberal use of exotic spices, ghee and use of dry fruits in most items. They use the meat of lamb extensively as a non-vegetarian food. The delectable recipes of Hyderabad are famous throughout the world. Tourists flocking to India rarely miss the chance to visit the place of historic importance and get a taste of the cuisine.

Here are few recipes of Hyderbadi Food:

Beef Korma

Though beef is not eaten by majority sections in India, yet the item is very popular in South India. Beef korma is a delectable dish of Hyderabad and it is served well with hot tandoori rotis or rice.

You would require:
2 lbs of beef cut into pieces of 1 inch. ¼ cups of sliver almonds, 8 cloves of garlic, 7 cloves preferably whole, 1 tbsp ginger-root which is chopped coarsely, 1 tbsp coriander seed, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tbsp cardamom seed with pods, 1 tbsp red peppers crushed, 1 ½ tbsp salt, 1 tbsp ground cinnamon, 6 tbsp cooking oil, 3 medium onions sliced very thinly and separated, ¾ cup of whipping cream, ½ cup plain yogurt, 2 tbsp flour, ¼ tbsp garam-masala, 2 tbsp parsley or you can choose snipped coriander, water of required amount.

Combine all the spices and blend them in a blender to fine powder. Add little water, and then blanched almond, cloves of garlic, ginger-root, salt and grounded cinnamon to the mixture and blend them well till the mixture is in the form of paste. Boil the meat and then deep fry them in cooking oil. Now it is time to fry the onion on a big pan and add all the blended ingredients into it. Sauté till the color is deep brown. Now add the meat and pour ½ cup of water to the pan. Cover the pan for simmering the whole stuff for 45 minutes till the meat becomes tender and keep on stirring from time to time. Now stir the yoghurt, adding whipping cream, garam-masala and flour to it. Cook and stir the whole stuff till the gravy is thickened. Garnish the cooked korma with coriander leaves and the beef korma is ready to be served hot.

Hyderabadi Biryani

Ingredients required:
720 gm of mutton finely cut into bite pieces, 400 gm of rice parboiled, 4 tbsp lime juice, 10 blanched almonds, ½ tbsp mint leaves, 1 cup butter, 1 handful of chopped coriander leaves, ½ tbsp cumin seeds, 1 large sliced onion, 3-4 cardamom, 3 tbsp oil, 5-6 pods of garlic, 3-4 cloves, ginger finely grated, ½ tbsp saffron, 2-3 green chillies chopped, 1 cinnamon, ½ kg curd, 130 mg milk, 4 cups of water.

Wash the rice and boil it in a cooker. Soak the saffron in water. Now fry the sliced onions in the oil till they are brown in color. Put it aside. Fry the garlic, ginger, red chillies and almonds in fresh butter, add mutton to it and salt and stir the mixture well. Add little amount of friend onions to it. Now add water and cook on low flame till the meat is tender and some thick gravy is left. Put curd in a muslin cloth and let the water to drain away. Mix the cardamom, cumin seed, min leaves, chopped chillies, coriander in the drained curd. Strain the saffron water and add lemon juice to it. Add all these to the mutton on the pan and mix well. Now sprinkle half of the boiled rice and spread a layer of friend onion and then the rest of rice over it again. Pour the milk and some butter over it. Cover the vessel and seal the edges with flour paste. Place the can on flame for about 45 minutes. The biryani is ready for serving with chutney and raita.

Each region of India has its own specialty which is inspired by race, history, religion and geography. For instance, the Rajasthan cuisines make use of more milk and milk products than water due to scarcity of water in the place. The Punjabi food reflects the vibrant culture of the place, the tradition of people who love variety and want food filled with not only nutritious ingredients but also some amount of love by which they are prepared.

The secret of Indian style of cooking is the use of spices. Always being hot filled with chilly varieties, spices Indian food is also a complement for the blend of sauces that are used while preparing the recipes. The tradition of Indian cooking is an art and you would have great experience in cooking Indian food. Right from planning your recipe to collection of ingredients in right amount to blending of spices, simmering, steaming and stirring, the cooking is an activity that would enjoy the most.

The good thing about Indian cooking is that it is neither complex nor confusing. You don’t have to work too hard to prepare them. Just you need some patience preparing the spice blend and collect some ingredients for them. You have to be very specific while you cook Indian food for the real taste. For example you must use coconut oil for South Indian dishes to get the real taste and pure mustard oil to get the flavor of Bengal and East.

The traditions of Indian cooking have seen both vegetarian and non-vegetarian style of cooking. There are some recipes or dishes which require not a contemporary roaster or micro-woven, but the burning coal or a perfect fire place to roast them. For instance you can prepare tandori chicken in a woven but the taste of it roasted in a hearth has a different feeling.

Indian cooking thus involves all types of cooking- frying, boiling, steaming, roasting and low steam frying. There are few recipes where banana leaves are used to steam meat and fishes. Your mouth would just water while you see them prepared!

Indeed the place is known for their variety of vegetarian food styles. Whether you talk of Lapsi which is wheat porridge or the ‘bhujia-roti’ combination, you have something to stuff in your mouth without any sort of hesitation. If you wish to learn about the taste of Rajasthan and its vivid culture which is reflected in the dishes, read the book on Rajasthan Cuisin by Maharani Gayatri Devi.

Rajasthani food is mostly known for the cooking in Royal Kitchens. Food here is a serious business because of the tourists flooding the state almost all the year round. The cooking here has its unique flavor and they use the simplest ingredients in them. Gram flour is widely used in some delicacies like Pakoda, Ghatta ki Sabji, Khata and others. They use bajra and corn to make bread (rotis). The place is also known for Khichri a particular dish prepared by ingredients like – rice, vegetables, ginger, spices, and some amount of butter. Rajasthan is also known for richly snacks like – ‘Daal-Moth’, Papad, Chips and Bhujia.

Here are few things which you always find in Rajasthan:

Lassi

This is natural yoghurt which is churned to remove the butter and make Lassi (buttermilk) a cool beverage served in summer.

Rajasthani Dal-Bati-Churma

This is a common food of Rajasthani people. Daal-Bati is cooked lentils and roasted balls of dough which is accompanies by pickle berries cooked in different methods. The Churma is a sweet dish made of jaggery or sugar in ghee. For taste and variety some ingredients like coconut, khoya and resins are also used.

Frying Puris and Chola

This is also a Punjabi favorite snack. Grams are soaked in water and later on cooked to a delicious stuffy recipe called chola masala which is served with fried white thin breads that puff like balloons when they are put on hot boiling oil in big pans.

The other common things which you would be able to taste in Rajasthan are – sweets having some spicy flavors, jalebis, mithais, faldas and glass of milk served with thick cream.

India is a country which has a history of more than 3000 years and this place has been home to different sects of people from time to time – Buddhists, Hindus (Aryans, Dravidians), Muslims, and many other religions like Sikhism, Jainism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and to name a few. They all dictated food habits to people and the result is present day variety and richness of Indian regional foods.

There are many styles of cooking in India- somewhere there is high use of underground vegetative products like – onion, garlic, and ginger; while at some other regions people avoid them with the belief that such food items increase body heat and keep your head hot all time. From the lap of Himalayas in the North to the Southern tip of Coasts; from the Western Deserts to the Eastern hills you will find hundreds of region style of cooking in India. They are the reflection of their culture, climate, geography and people. But one thing which is very much common to almost all types of cuisines is the use of aromatic and flavor filled spices for which India has been known from times immemorial.

Kashmiri Cuisine

The valley which is often called the Heaven of India leaves you spellbound not only with its scenic beauty, Shikaras (large boated houses), and the brightening ice caps on the mountain; the cuisine of the place also leaves a long lasting impression in your mind. The place is known for some traditional style of Mughal cooking. The people mostly eat here meat of lamb, mountain goats, chicken, mutton, and to some extent buffalo-meat also. The place is known for Rogan Josh, Ristas, and mouth watering deserts like ‘firni’ and green tea called kawah. The dishes here are very rich, nutritious and reminiscent of the history of the place.

Maharastrian Cuisine

Mumbai or the famous Bombay has been the financial powerhouse of India and the second largest film Industry in the world. But the city is a bustling paradise for tourists and people because of the famous Maharashtrian cuisine and the famous Dubbawalas. You find food from very ethnic and regional culture to the eclectic and electrifying international culture. The famous dishes of the place are – Upma, Saar, Modaks, Sabudana Wada, Puranpolu, Vaara Paw, and other types of recipes. You have a comfort while you relish the deserts of the place. Mumbai is one of the renowned places in the world for sea-food.

The other famous regional cuisines of India are Kerala Delite, Tamilian Cuisine, Hyderabadi Cuisine, Bengali Cuisine, Assamese Cuisine, and Punjabi and Delhi cuisine, Rajasthani Cuisine and to name a few which have the vigor and versatility of cooking.