Gooseberry chutney

photo credit: drumecho

Make delicious chutney in no time!…

Gooseberry (amla) – 3 nos (deseeded and chopped)
Green chili – 1-2 nos
Cumin (jeera) – ½ tsp
Grated coconut – 1 tbsp
Sour curd – 2-3 tbsp

1. Grind all ingredients except curd to a smooth paste
2. Add the paste to curd, season and serve

Till next time …happy cooking!

Ridge Gourd chutney

Offbeat thats the word for this one. Unique chutney made from an equally unique and unconventional ridge gourd. The chutney is neither sweet or sour nor it is tangy. It has a distinct taste of its own and goes really well with rice or chappatis.

Ridge gourd – 250 gms (pic for reference at the bottom of the page)

Tamarind – 1 marble sized (Soak in water and extract the pulp)

Mustard – 1 tsp

Chana dal (gram dal) – 1 tsp

Urad dal (white) – 1 tsp

Dried red chili – 6 nos

Asafoetida – 1 pinch

Coriander leaves – 1/2 cup

Oil – 1/4 cup

Salt to taste

1. Shave off the ridges roughly and cut into small cubes
2. In a medium sized wok heat oil, add mustard and let it splutter
3. Now add asafoetida, both the dals and fry till golden brown
4. Fry red chilies separately and add the cubed ridge gourd and stir. Saute till soft and add it to the wok
5. Add the tamarind pulp, coriander, salt and grind it to smooth paste
6. Your ridge gourd chutney is ready to serve!

Ridge Gourd

Till next time…happy cooking!

Thanks Jaya for the recipe! Keep them coming

Meet Jayalakshmi…a wonderful cook and an excellent home maker

Carrot Chutney served with dosa

After interesting and offbeat lemon chutney its carrot chutney that can be an interesting alternative to run of the mill chutneys we normally make. After all variety makes life interesting isn’t?

Carrots – 3 nos

Tamarind – 1 small lemon size

Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp

Urad dal (white) – 1/2 tsp

Dried red chili – 4 nos

Asafoetida (heeng) – 1 pinch

Oil

Salt to taste

1. Chop carrots and boil them till they turn soft. You can also put them in a pressure cooker with little water and wait for 1-2 whistles and keep it aside to cool
2. Soak tamarind in little water for sometime. Squeeze and extract the pulp (juice). Discard the rest
3. In a medium sized wok heat oil and add mustard seeds. Allow it to splutter
4. Now add dried red chili, urad dal, stir and then add asafoetida
5. Add the boiled carrots, tamarind pulp, salt and blend it to a smooth paste
6. Serve with dosa, bread or rice

Till tomorrow….happy cooking!

lemon chutney

Hmmm.. this one was new to me too. Lemonade, pickles, salads..yes…but never thought that yummy chutneys could be made out of Lemons..! A must try!

Tender Lemon – 6 nos.

Green Chili – 3 nos

Chili Powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp

Fried and powdered Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp

Mustard seeds (sarson) – 2 tsps

Asafoetida (heeng) – 1/4 tsp

Oil – 3-4 tbsp

Salt to taste

1. Wash and dry lemons
2. Cut into half and deseed
3. Add green chilli, turmeric, salt and marinate for atleast 2 days
4. Blend it to a fine paste
5. In a pan heat oil and add mustard seeds and wait for it to splutter before adding the blended paste
6. Add chili powder, fenugreek powder, asafoetida and fry till oil separates
7. Serve with rice, chapatti, idli etc

* can be stored without any preservative for an year

Till tomorrow… happy cooking!

Curry Leaves Chutney

Not only is this a popular ingredient in most of the south Indian dishes there are very many medicinal benefits from the aromatic curry leaves. And did you know that curry leaves are very good for your hair?hmm smells good, tastes good, makes you look and feel good…what more does anyone would want? . Here’s a simple curry leaves’ chutney for you to try your hand at!

Curry leaves (kadipatta) – 2 cups

Grated coconut – 1 cup

Dried red chilli – 7-8 nos

Urad dal (white) – 1 tbsp

Tamarind – 2 marble sized balls

Oil – 2 Tbsp

Salt to taste

• Wash curry leaves and keep aside
• In a wok add oil and heat. Tip in dal, chilies, curry leaves and fry for 5 seconds
• Add coconut, tamarind, salt and fry
• Cool the above mixture and blend
• Serve with rice

*this is also good for digestion

Till tomorrow….happy cooking!

Sweet & Sour Chutney (sauce)

Little sweet with right mix tanginess makes this chutney so very delicious. And you use the healthy option as sweetner that is jaggery instead of sugar. Goes well with snacks and with meals too!

Tamarind – 1 lemon sized  (soak in lot of water)

Jaggery – 5 Tbsp (powdered)

Dried ginger powder – 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder – 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

Cinnamon powder – 1 pinch (optional)

Clove powder – 1 pinch (optional)

1. Remove the seeds from tamarind and squeeze out well to get thick pulp
2. Heat a pan and add the tamarind pulp and add more water to it. Leave it to boil
3. Add jaggery, stir and bring to a boil
4. Add ginger powder, chili powder abd slat and keep stirring till consistency of the chutney turns thicker
5. Add Cinnamon and Clove powder if required
6. Your chutney is ready to serve

* you can also  use dates as as option for sweetness. Split the quantity between jaggery and date paste

* you can garnish with raisins

Till tomorrow….happy cooking!

Thanks Jaya for sharing your wonderful recipe

Meet Jayalakshmi

Walnut Hummus

Things are pretty easy in the east I must say. Boiled beans, boiled chickpeas, washed and packed salad leaves, cut vegetables you name it and its available in the super markets to make life faster and easier in the kitchen. Even hummus can be picked up off the shelf… For those who do want to make it at home. Here’s  a recipe with a twist that is hummus made using Walnuts…after all we are in the walnut week aren’t we? Btw to make it even more healthy you can use sprouted boiled chickpeas in place of normal chickpea!

Walnuts – 1/2 cup

Chickpea (chana) – 250 gms (boiled and drained)

Lemon juice – of 1 number

Garlic cloves – 2 nos

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive Oil – 2 tbsp

Parsley – 1 tbsp finely chopped

Chili powder – 1/2 tsp (optional)

1. Mix all the ingredients except Parsley and chili powder and blend it to a smooth consistency.
2. Add water if required
3. Garnish with a sprinkle of chili powder, 1/2 tsp oil and few boiled chickpeas.
4. Serve with bread / pita / vegetable cuts

Till tomorrow…happy cooking!

Walnut Sauce

Sauce or chutney goes well with appetizers as well as with the main course. I tried this one with as an accompaniment to a full course meal and results were quite satisfactory

Walnuts – 1 cups
Onion – 1 no. (big)
Mint Leaves – ½ cup
Green chili – 1-2 nos
Yogurt – 1 Tbsp
Salt to taste

• In a pan boil water and immerse the walnuts in it. Leave it aside
• Meanwhile roughly chop onions, mint leaves and green chili and put them in a grinder along with yogurt
• Drain the walnuts and add it to the grinder
• Add a bit of water and coarsely grind for approximately 15-20 seconds
• Serve with any snacks, as a dip with vegetables or a side dish to go with your biryani!

Till tomorrow….happy cooking!

Who doesn’t like variety? I am one person who gets bored easily and needs variety to keep it interesting. I have already shared with you the standard version of coconut chutney recipe with you already. Here’s another take on it and tastes delicious.

Desiccated coconut – ½ portion
Tomato – 1 no
Red chili – 2-3 nos
Fennel – ¼ tsp
Oil – 2 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Curry leave – 3-4 nos
Salt to taste

1. In a wok heat 1 tsp oil and add tomato, fennel, 2 red chili and fry well and take off the burner
2. Now add desiccated coconut and fry in the existing heat.
3. Cool mixture and grind to a smooth paste
4. In the same wok heat 1 tsp oil an add mustard seeds, 1 red chili, curry leaves and take off the burner and add it to the ground chutney
5. Serve coconut chutney with idli or dosa

Till next time….happy cooking!

photo credit: David Davies

After Idli its dosa that a must eat specially when you are visiting South India.  With little bit of love and effort you can make it at home too! Given below is a recipe for plain dosa. If you planning to make masala dosa then make bhaaji and use it as filling. We have an outlet in Kochi which serves 57 varieties of dosas. You get my drift? All you need is to get creative and make your fillings – potatoes, beetroot, egg, chicken,mutton….anything! go crazy with your experiment!

Raw rice – 3 cups
Golden or par boiled rice – 1 cup
Black Gram daal – ¾ cup

Soak all together for atleast 3 hours and grind to a fine paste.
Add salt and leave it overnight to rise.
The final batter will be of medium consistency (neither thick nor watery)

1. Take a flat pan
2. Ladle out batter in the centre of the pan and swirl it around with the help of the ladle so that it takes a thin pan cake kind of form. Cook on medium flame
3. With a flat spatula overturn the dosa and let it cook on the other side on low flame
4. Serve hot with chutney and sambhar

Coconut Chutney

Coconut shaving – 1 cup
Tamarind – 1 pinch
Sugar – 1pinch
Ginger – ¼ inch piece
Green chilli – 1 No.
Salt to taste

For tempering

Mustard seeds – 1-2 tsp
Curry leaves – 2-4 leaves
Red chilli – 1 No.

1.    Grind all ingredients for the chutney in a mixer adding bit of water to a fine paste
2.    Temper the ingredients in a bit of oil and add to the ground chutney*

Till tomorrow….happy cooking!

*For those who are new to tempering here is what you need to do ….Oil + warm + mustard seeds + let it splutter + add curry leaves + red chilli and add to the chutney!