Cooking For Health and Happiness

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Cooking For Health and Happiness

I am Rama Ananth, the owner of this page. I have always wanted to share whatever I know as far as cooking simple, easy food is concerned. Thank you.

In this page I share some known, but forgotten dishes, made by my mother and grandmother. I am not a very good cook, as I am still learning. I believe in using as little oil as possible, and post some dishes which are supposed to be very oily with minimum amount of oil, and yet are very tasty and healthy. Since I am Diabetic, I use only Stevia in some of the sweet dishes that I post. My dishes a

re mostly diabetic friendly. Some dishes that can be made oil free, I have mentioned oil free version too. This is also a Vegan cooking page. I am also always willing to learn better ways of cooking from friends and relatives and also from many food bloggers/ Youtube videos etc. My hobbies are cooking, taking pictures of the food I cook, nature, and sunsets. Other than these, I am also passionate about working out (being an Aerobics Instructor), and also teaching and practicing Reiki. I love travelling and have been fortunate to have visited quite a few countries. Though I am a South Indian, I have lived in many places in North India, as my father had a transferable job. I think I have shared enough about myself. Please enjoy this page, and have a healthy and happy life!!!

15/01/2026

Happy Pongal!!!
Sweet Pongal made with Jaggery, and Pepper and Cumin Pongal.

20/12/2025

Datshi: a very famous, tasty and very simple dish made with lots of vegetables.
Though it is a vegetarian dish, I have made it in a Vegan way, and still it is so tasty.
There is just butter and 4 cubes of any processed cheese (in Bhutan they use Yak butter and Yak cheese, but in India we have to make with our regular butter and cheese).
I added some Olive oil, and Nutritional Yeast, and Parmesan cheese powder to get that really cheesy taste, (all plant based). There is no other masala, not even Turmeric has been added, and yet the natural color is so beautiful.
The vegetables added are: Carrot, Radish, Onion, Tomato and Potato. Really yummy dish, I would call it a soup.
Only green chillies and salt has been added. Here is the link for the Vegetarian Datshi recipe by Chef Lama.
https://youtu.be/1y3JFTF5TcE?si=Of2O4ogUqhzwbEDh

23/10/2025

Super Easy Red Dal Dosas
Red Dal Dosa: Red dal 1 cup, 1 carrot 1 inch piece of Ginger, a few fennal seeds, some Red Kashmiri chillies and salt
Soak everything together for just about 10 mins and grind them all together to a smooth batter, and make Dosas with it. Really tasty and healthy and quick way to make Dosas. Served with some Pineapple Chutney and Chutney Powder.

19/10/2025

Tofu in Bottle gourd Gravy And Okra with Onion, Garlic and Tomato Dry Dish.
Tofu in Bottle Gourd Gravy: A Unique gravy made with chopped BG, Green Capsicum, Almonds and Cashew, and few whole Spices like Bay leaves, Cardamoms, Cinnamon, a Black pepper powder, which are all cooked together, and ground into a fine paste.
Then add the marinated Tofu (in Vegan Curd, black pepper salt and Nutritional yeast powder to give the tofu a cheesy flavor).
Fry the tofu after marination and add it to the gravy mixture and cook everything together for a few seconds.
Serve it with Rotis, Poori, garnished with some chopped Coriander leaves.
There is no Onion and Garlic in this dish and still tastes amazing. Do try it and enjoy this very healthy Vegan dish.

21/07/2025

Pazhaya Sadham (previous day's cooked rice)
It is a humble dish with nothing fancy added to it, and eaten with lots of love for the taste it gives.
It is just cooked rice left to ferment overnight by soaking the left over rice with enough water.
In olden days no fancy tempering / no fruits and vegetables etc. were added.
But as we evolved we found new ways of making it more healthy by adding these things (which are all optional).
First soak the cooked left over rice with enough palin water. Just remember to mash the cooked rice well before soaking .
Add some salt, a little bit of milk (about 2 tsps) and 1 tsp of curd (if vegan then add plant based milk and curd)
Leave the cooked rice in any vessel or even better a terracotta container overnight.
The next day add more curd or butter milk, mix everything well and have it just as it is with some spicy mango or lemon pickle or you can even have it just like that.

If you feel like you can temper it with :

Heat 2tsp of Sesame oil, once it is hot add the half tsp of Mustard seeds and allow it to crackle.
Then add 1or 2 slit Green chillies, some chopped ginger and a few curry leaves. You can also add some chopped raw onion. Pour this over the Fermented Rice, and mix well.
Further if you want to make it more healthy, you can add grated Carrot/ Cucumber, and some pomegranate and garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.

It contains a high amount of probiotics. These probiotics are associated with a wide range of health benefits, including improved digestion and immunity. It is a Vegan source of B12.
Studies have shown that the availability of micronutrients like B complex, vitamin K, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and selenium increases drastically in rice, after the the process of fermentation.

Enjoy this healthy and tasty, yet simple dish!!!

15/07/2025

Crispy Adai: made with 1 and half cup of Rice and 1 and half cup of mixed (Tuvar dal, chana dal, mung dal,urad dal, rajma, broad beans and white garbanzo), some red Guntur chillies, some Byadagi chillies and plenty of curry leaves.
Before making Adai we can add some cabbage, onion, spinach etc. to make it more tasty and healthy.
Jaggery is the best thing to have with Adai.
Adai can be made as soon as we grind it or we can even leave it to ferment and make it after fermentation. Both taste really good.

29/04/2025

Adai with Drumstick leaves

Ingredients and method:

Kabuli Channa, Rajma, Mung Dal, Channa Dal, Urad Dal each about 1 and half tbsp, with 1 and half cup of Brown Rice. Add some Red chillies (about 10), plenty of Curry leaves and soak everything together for 4-5 hours and then grind everything adding 1 tsp of Fennel seeds and together adding water as required to make the batter into pouring consistency.
Add 1 and half tsp of salt.
Optional ( add chopped Onion, Cabbage, Fenugreek leaves or Drumstick leaves)
I added Drumstick Leaves.
No need for fermentation, but if you like it fermented you can kep it for fermentation overnight or for 5 hours. Both ways it would taste very good.
Since there was Brinjal dish, I served it with that and some Jaggery powder.

20/12/2024

Multi-Millets Dosa Idly Batter
And Store Bought Multi-Millet Noodles

Ingredients:

I cup Finger Millet Powder
1 Cup Horse gram Powder
1 cup Brown Rice
2 Tbl Mung Dal
2 Tbl Chickpea Dal
1 Tsp Fenugreek Seeds
Salt to taste
Mix and Rinse Rice and Dals and Fenugreek seeds well and soak them all together with enough water covering them. Soak them for 4-5 hours
Remove the water and grind them in mixer / grinder adding the soaked water little by little, to a fairly smooth batter.
Next add the powder of Finger Millet and Horsegram to the mixture and mix them well. Add water as needed to get the Idly batter consistency.
Add salt to taste, mix well with clean hands, cover it and let the batter ferment overnight or for 6-8 hours.
Once fermented mix the batter gently and make Idilies, and Dosas.
Have them with anyChutney of your choice or Sambaar.
A really healthy breakfast/ lunch/ dinner is ready.
The Idlies come out very soft and spongy, and Dosas as you can see are so crispy like Paper Dosas. There is no need to flip the dosas.

The Multi-Millet Noodles: It is a store bought, ready to make Noodles, just follow the instructions, add your choice of vegetables and serve with Tomato Ketchup (optional)

19/12/2024

Madurai Urulaikezaghu Potlam
(Madurai's Potato dish wrapped in Mandarai Ilai: Sal leaves)
Though I didn't have that leaf at the time of making this dish, I instead used it to serve it on a banana leaf, which is also good. These leaves add their own flavor when eatables are packed in them.
For making this dish I followed this link: https://youtu.be/FOiiQ2ROfbU?si=s3dH0Ff15-IEoBG5
It is a dish that is sold in the temple street of Meenakshi Temple in Madurai Tamil Nadu, where workers and even others just pack some curd rice from their homes and just buy this cheap, yet delicious potato dish to have it with their curd rice. It can be carried during train/ bus travels also and would stay unspoiled for days.
One can have this as a Masala for Dosas, Idlies and also Chapaties.

For the extremely hot weather in Tamil Nadu, this is the best accompaniment to have with a cool curd rice. There may be slight difference in the way different small eateries there make it, I liked this one which seemed to be the most authentic of all.

Though this video is mostly in Tamil with some English also thrown in, I am sure you can easily follow the recipe by simply watching it
Here are some pictures of my attempt in making this really tasty dish:

09/10/2024

Peanut Dosa
Ingredients :
Rice 1 and a half cup
1/2 cup Raw Peanuts
1/2 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
Rinse everything together a few times and soak them all together for 4- 5 hours.
After the soaking, grind them together (first strain the water), adding water little at a time to get a nice fine batter.
Add 1 tsp of salt or to taste, mix it well and keep the batter covered in a warm place to ferment. (for 5-6 hour)
Once it has Fermented you can make soft and spongy dosas out of it.
Heat a skillet, once hot, reduce the flame,sprinkle some water to further cool it down and then pour a ladle full of the batter, and just spread it lightly, not too much, it should be as thick as a pancake.
Cover it with a lid and after a minute, remove the lid and you can flip it to the other side and remove it from the skillet .
There is no need to add any oil to it.
In fact it is not required also to flip the thick dosa as it would have cooked, because we have closed it with a lid. However, there is no harm, even if you flip it for 1 or 2 seconds.
Stack the Dosas one on top the other and serve these yummy Dosas with any Chutney or vegetable Stew/ Kurma.

06/10/2024

Bottle Gourd Paratha

Ingredents:
2 cups of whole wheat Flour (I have used Multigrain Atta)
3 tbsp of Chickpea flour (optional)
1 packed cup of peeled and grated Bottle gourd
1 tsp Kashmiri Chillie powder
1/2 tsp Chat Masala
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
a pinch of Asafoetida
1 pinch of Turmeric powder
2/3 crushed Black Pepper
Salt to taste
a small bunch of chopped coriander leaves
1/2 tsp of oil

Method:
Mix everything well in a big bowl
Now add water slowly ( you won't need much water as the bottle gourd itself would release water) only add as needed and knead the dough well, and keep it covered aside for about 10 mins.
Now heat a skillet and place the rolled out Paratha on the skillet , flip after few seconds sprivkle some oil and cook till brown spots appear, flip again and sprinkle oil on the other side , cook till nice golden brown spots appear and transfer to a hot case.
Make other chappaties in the same manner.
Always keep the flame low/ medium.
These parathas can be served with some Raita or Green Mint and Coriander Chutney and some sweet and sour Mango pickle.

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