south indians , please help me

[u/Downtown_Fondant_609]

Recently, my mom has seemed very tired of cooking. It's not something she enjoys, and I think she's finally had enough. So, I offered to cook dinner from now on. Most days, I can just reheat leftovers from lunch, but on the days when I need to cook, what do you all suggest I make? I'm a 16-year-old and I'm pretty decent in the kitchen, so I’m not a complete beginner. I'm looking for recipes that can be made quickly, like curries and other dishes that I could serve with rice. If chapati is already available, I’d also like ideas for what to pair with that.

[u/redd1t010]

Potato fry

Simple dal

Rice

[u/TA_totellornottotell]

If you cook nonveg, I recently came across a recipe for a dish where you marinade chicken with a bunch of spices, then brown some onions, add the chicken and marinade, and cook it down (finishing with curry leaves). Fish fry is also really easy - if you make a pachadi and vegetable to go alongside, it’s a nice meal with rice. And doing a nice prawn/shrimp curry is super simple - I really on it oftentimes to make a dry gravy dish in a hurry.

If you guys have sambar at lunch, you can use it to make tiffin items at dinner. We oftentimes have dosa (store bought) at night to finish off the afternoon’s sambar.

Otherwise, one of my favourite meals is a good pappu/paruppu dish and some vegetables (a simple poriyal/thoran is delicious and easy to master; once you get the technique, you can make it with almost any vegetable).

If you’re using chapati, a good kurma is super easy - it’s basically just sauteeing a few things, adding veggies, and finishing with coconut milk. Some people make their own masala but I don’t think it’s necessary if you are starting out (although look into how to make fresh coconut milk because it will help with so many dishes). You can add paneer to it to bulk it up. I also like kurmas with legumes, like black eyed peas or chickpeas. Super easy if you use canned versions (just rinse them to get the residue off). All of these can also be eaten with rice but they are popular with chapati because they are heavy on the spices you find in garam masala.

Finally, YouTube is a treasure trove. I am well old enough to be your mother but even I still look at videos. A few channels that I like for South Indian food are Vismai, Village Cooking Kerala, Chef Deena, and Cook with Fem (these are in different languages but have decent English subtitles). And look for the keyword ‘bachelor’ - it is specifically aimed at people who have no cooking background but find themselves in a situation like yours; it’s how I found that chicken curry and I always see recipes for things like bachelors sambar or rasam.

All the best and please come back with more questions. You may also find good luck for this and future questions in the r/Indianfood sub.

[u/femto-wolf]

Definitely get a good dal recipe under your belt.

Basic thoran (from a Malayali) recipe here:

- Heat up oil, fry ~1 tsp of mustard seeds until they pop

- Add chopped onions, garlic, +/- ginger, and chilies. Fry until fragrant and onions are starting to turn color, then add turmeric, salt, cumin

- Once the spices are roasted, add shredded coconut and toast -- you're looking for a the coconut to start getting a little brown

- Then add your vegetable of choice-- beans, cabbage, carrots, some combination thereof; at this point I would toss in the karipatta as well if using; keep sauteeing and vegetables are cooked to your preference; if it's starting to burn, you can splash a bit of water in, but don't go too heavy or the whole thing will turn to mush

Once you have the basic technique down, you can play around with different vegetables and combinations, which can keep things interesting.

Moru (yogurt curry) is also pretty easy to make

- Heat up oil, fry mustard seeds

- Add chopped onion, dried chilies, garlic and karipatta. You want to get a lot of color on the onions (not quite burned but dark)

- While your onions and such are cooking, thin out your yogurt with water to your desired consistency; add some salt at this stage

- Once the onion and such is at a good level, lower the heat and add the yogurt mixture; make sure you whisk thoroughly and heat it just enough for it to be hot all the way through; you don't want it to curdle, so try not to let it truly come to a boil

^This is how my family does things, but maybe ask your mom for tips, in case any of my advice is not how you all like to do things.

Good luck! It's nice of you to help out your mom.