5 Condiment Chutney

This chutney was an instant idea that I got for dinner today; however, this combination of the ingredients is a familiar one to us as gravy-base. The proportion is what I have tweaked to give a chutney form; I basically tried to prepare ginger chutney and eventually added other ingredients. Ginger is the base and I added onion and garlic for flavour, tomato for tanginess and coconut for texture; it worked perfectly well. It is not only easy and tasty but also healthy because the ingredients are raw ground and sautéed minimally to keep nutrients intact. I cannot call it an invention but it definitely is an innovation.  Kundan just loved it.

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

1.      Ginger - 4” piece

2.    Garlic – 6 cloves

3.    Shallots – 5

4.    Tomato - 1

5.     Coconut – 2 tbsp grated

6.    Gingelly Oil – 1 tbsp

7.     Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

8.    Asafoetida – 1 pinch

9.    Chili powder – 1 tsp

10. Turmeric powder – 1 pinch

11. Salt to taste

Method:

Step 1: Clean and roughly chop peeled ginger, garlic, shallots and tomato.

Step 2: Grind into a coarse paste the chopped condiments along with grated coconut.

Step 3: Heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, sprinkle a pinch of asafoetida and add the ground paste.

Step 4: Add enough salt, chili powder and turmeric and stir for few minutes.

Step 5: Serve with idli or dosa.

Hyderabadi Mirchi Ka Salan

I tried this today for lunch as my in-laws have come home. I've heard of this from ma sister long back but had not tried or tasted it earlier so I was curious to try this recipe with the lovely Charleston peppers (bajii milagais as locally called) that I had bought a couple of days back. I had adapted the recipe from tarladalal.com with slight alterations in the flow for convenience sake. This was so lovely in aroma & taste and it goes pretty well with rice or rotis.

Serves: 4

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1.      Charleston peppers – 6

2.    Onion – 1 large

3.    Tomato – 2 large

4.    Garlic – 6 Cloves

5.     Ginger – 1” piece

6.    Coconut grated – 2 tbsp

7.     Cumin seeds – 1 + 1 tsp

8.    Sesame seeds – 2 tbsp

9.    Groundnuts – a fistful

10.             Oil – 3 tbsp

11.  Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

12.Curry leaves – 4 or 5 leaves

13. Kalonji or Nigella seeds – ½ tsp

14.Chili powder – 2 tsp

15. Coriander powder – 2 tsp

16.Turmeric powder – 1 pinch

17. Salt to taste

Method:

Step 1: Dry roast groundnuts, sesame seeds and a teaspoon of cumin seeds and grind them into a powder.

Step 2: In the same mixer jar grind into paste the following ingredients: grated coconut, chopped onion, tomatoes, ginger and garlic cloves.

Step 3: Slit the peppers and remove seeds and use it as whole or just chop them into 2” pieces after trimming the ends as I did.

Step 4: Heat oil in a non-stick pan preferably and arrange the peppers to roast them. They become whitish and the skin bulges slightly; more notably a beautiful aroma of roasting peppers just explodes in your kitchen. Just then drain the oil in the pan and keep the peppers aside.

Step 5: In the same oil splutter a teaspoon of cumin seeds, kalonji, mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Step 6: Add the ground masala paste and sauté until the oil separates.

Step 7: Add chili powder, coriander powder, the ground dry masala and sauté for a minute. Pour two cups of water and add enough salt and let it boil for 3 minutes.

Step 8: Add the roasted peppers and turn off stove.

Step 9: Serve hot with roti or rice.

Pudina Paratha

Pudina or Mint that we know as a very flavorful and refreshing herb used in various cuisines is also used extensively for relieving from indigestion, respiratory issues, and nervous strain. I was browsing for recipes of pudina paratha and happened hit the blog chakali.blogspot.in from which I’ve adapted this recipe. It came out really well and my husband credited it to be the bestest paratha I’ve ever made, if I can make, anybody can make. So it is surely worth a try for paratha lovers, umm... otherwise also you can give a try.

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 20 minutes (excluding 30 minutes standing time)

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1.      Wheat flour – 2 cups

2.    Salt to taste

3.    Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp

4.    Carom seeds – ¼ tsp

5.     Oil – 1 tbsp

6.    Mint leaves – ½ cup

7.     Coriander leaves – 1/3 cup

8.    Curds – ½ cup (I used butter milk)

9.    Garam masala – 1 tsp

10.            Chaat masala – 1 tsp

11.  Butter – 2 tbsp (optional)

Method:

Step 1: Take atta in a mixing bowl and add to it: salt, cumin seeds, caraom seeds, oil, chopped mint & coriander leaves, ½ tsp of garam masala & chaat masala each (in original recipe masalas weren’t added in the dough) and knead with curds into a soft dough and cover to rest it for 30 minutes.

Step 2: Now divide the dough into 4 or 5 equal portions, roll into balls and then into thin circles with the help of rolling pin and dry flour.

Step 3: Apply a teaspoon of oil on the top surface and sprinkle a pinch of garam masala & chaat masala each.

Step 4: Now make a Japanese fan kind of folds with the top surface upside and hold one end at the centre and circle the other end to join it. You get to see a thick bun with concentric circles like in the picture.

Step 5: Use enough dry flour and gently roll this into thick circular parathas. Repeat for all the parathas.

Step 6: Heat tawa, grease oil or butter and cook it like any paratha on both sides until brown and done.

Step 5: Top with a blob of butter and serve with chilled curds or raita.