Curry Leaves Chutney - South Traditional

---Karivepaku Pachadi/Karivepaillai Thuvayal---

Goodbye Pak, Hello Lanka!!! If there is one thing on the minds of Indians in-house and off-shore, its "Cricket WC 2011". As a typical Indian, I grew up along with my two younger brothers enjoying, watching and cheering India, all the way till now. And even now we make those triangular calls after each victory. With all eyes set on the final for Saturday, we join, billion Indian hearts beating for 11 boys in blue to make India proud!..Men in blue, its high time and its right time to go for it!!!

Much like the home game cricket, Curry leaves is a home story for me, as I grew up with one big Curry leaves tree in our back yard. I'll rant about that in my next post of Curry leaves, when I publish the recipe for Curry Leaves Powder. For now I want to proceed with my streaming with this traditional Curry Leaves Chutney, just right to eat with plain rice with a hint of ghee and raw onion.

Ingredients.

2 cups Curry Leaves
1 tbsp - oil
1 tbsp - Channa dhal
1 tbsp - Urad dhal
1 tsp - Cumin seeds
1 tsp - Coriander seeds
3-5 - Red chillies
4 -5 Garlic pods
Tamarind - A big marble size soaked in little water to soften.
Salt to taste
Water enough to grind into chutney.


Procedure :
Stir Fry the curry leaves in oil for 2 - 3 mins and keep aside.
In the same vessel, now fry the all the remaining dry ingredients except tamarind.
Remove from heat and let cool.

Once the fried ingredients are cooled grind them to a coarse powder.
Now add the fried leaves, soaked tamarind, salt and enough water and grind thoroughly till all the ingredients mix well and chutney is almost smooth.
Adjust salt.


Serve with any plain rice, ghee or gingely oil and raw onion.

Coriander Chilly Chutney

-----aka Kothimira Karam Pachadi/Hara Dhaniya aur Hari Mirch Chutney-----

Spring has officially sprung 2 days back, but for us here, we are having a snow storm blast. Chill weather definitely calls for something spicy. Somehow the first few weeks of March I have been posting different kinds of chutney recipes, so thought might as well dedicate the month for chutneys. Its nice to follow a theme like this which inspires to try more variations.

Wanted to actually blog the traditional Coriander Chutney, but at the last moment decided to make this with some twists. Thanks to the versatility of dips and chutneys! Its great how little additions and deletions to the ingredients can result in a unique taste that is only more aromatic and comes out with a burst of flavour. Adding generous amount of green chillies definitely gives a punch to this condiment. Also adding a bit of sugar gives the finishing touch.

So here is another flavourful chutney made by gently frying the spices and then coriander leaves and grinding them together. This chutney is more for tiffins or breakfast items rather than rice.



Ingredients :
1 tbsp - oil
2 tbsp - Urad dhal
1 tsp - Cumin seeds
1 tsp - Coriander seeds
5-8 - Green Chillies
4-5 thinnly sliced Ginger
2 cups Coriander Leaves
Tamarind - A big marble size
1/2 tsp Sugar
Salt to taste
Water enough to grind into chutney.

Procedure :
Heat oil in a kadai, add urad dhall, roast and then add all other ingredients except coriander leaves and tamarind and fry them.
Now add the coriander leaves too and fry till leaves shrink in size and emit nice aroma.
Transfer this to a bowl along with tamarind and let cool.

Now grind all the ingredients in the bowl adding enough water and salt and sugar to a smooth paste.
Check and adjust salt.
Serve with South Indian idly, dosa, vada or use as dip to suited Western food .

Ginger Chutney with a hint of sweet

----AKA Allam Pachadi / Ingi Thuvayal----

Sickness has come a full circle in my house with kids taking turns twice already..It is a challenge to keep up with our daily schedule with sickness at home..But there is always a reason to rejoice..At least we are not rocked by an earth quake or swept away by a Tsunami or living in scare of  any radiation from a Nuclear plant blast...By all means our hearts go to all the victims of our beautiful island "Japan"..Our prayers that the loss be minimal and the country will bounce back at the earliest...Though we know that these calamities will only increase day by day and this is just the beginning of destruction. As sensible human beings we are called to practice a great life style, choose right things, live in harmony and spread the good news, so when it comes we have no regrets...As christian I have a blessed hope of ever lasting life..Praise God!!!..

Good life style definitely includes healthy food choices and talking about health one herbal root that tops the nutrition list is "'Ginger".Ginger is so versatile that it can be added in to most of the foods in assortment. Desserts, Cookies, Soups, Condiments, Curries, Beverages, Medicines, you name it...It is very helpful to reduce indigestion, inflammation, chronic pain, quite effective in treating cold and flu, believed to have anti-cancer properties and also taken as a supplement,

Ginger is available in different forms, as fresh ginger root, dried ginger, ginger powder, ginger pills, granulated or crystallized ginger, or as a ginger drink... the list goes on..With such a wide range of ginger products available and with the ever increasing benefits of ginger being discovered ginger or a product of ginger is something that everyone should have in their homes.

For me ginger is a daily affair..starting from my morning cup of chai tea..I use it so extensively in my cooking..and one of my favourite recipe with ginger is this Chutney that I learnt from an Aunt Friend in my early marriage days.

This is only one of the methods that can be used to make Ginger Chutney.
Fresh ginger root is cut into small cubes and gently stir fried till it emits that outstanding aroma that ginger is known for..then some roasted spices are ground, to which the fried ginger is added along with salt, tamarind pulp and to make the taste irresistible a hint of sweet is added with a piece of jaggery. All these ingredients made into a paste results in an aromatic chutney that can be as a side for most of the Indian breakfast items or just with plain rice with some drops of gingely oil and a raw onion on side.

Ingredients :
1 Big Ginger root about 3-4 inches (cut into small pieces)
1 tbsp - oil
1 tbsp - Channa dhal
1 tbsp - Urad dhal
1 tsp - Cumin seeds
1 tsp - Coriander seeds
3-5 - Red chillies
4 -5 Garlic cloves
Tamarind - A big marble size soaked in little water to soften.
Jaggery - a small block
Salt to taste
Water enough to grind into chutney.

Procedure :
Stir Fry the ginger pieces in oil for 2 - 3 mins and keep aside.
In the same vessel, now fry the all the remaining dry ingredients.
Remove from heat and let cool.
Once the fried ingredients are cooled grind them to a coarse powder.
Now add the fried ginger , soaked tamarind, salt and enough water and grind thoroughly till all the ingredients mix well and chutney is almost smooth.
Adjust salt.
Serve with any idly, dosa, vada or have it as a side for rice

Coconut Coriander Chutney

While it may feel like winter will go on forever, we know the thaw is coming. Just a few more days to spring forward and good that it starts with a March break so kids and parents can adjust to the day light saving time.. For now spicing up our meals with an array of condiments definitely keeps us warm. Thanks to my after Worship fellowship time in Church on Sundays which make me go that extra mile to come out with a range of chutneys to keep variety alive. Times when I buy idlies in bulk for this purpose I usually make home made Sambar with different veggies and accompany it with variance of chutneys each time.

Coconut Coriander Chutney is served as a second variety to tiffins like idlies, dosa, vada in south India. I never tasted whenever it was on my plate, but sure food blogging transforms your perception of tasting & cooking. So here I am with my own home made version of Coconut Coriander Chutney.


Ingredients :
To Grind:
1 cup grated fresh/frozen coconut
2 cups Coriander leaves
4 Green Chillies (increase or decrease accordingly)
A small piece of Ginger (about 1/4 inch)
1 tsp Cumin seeds (optional)
1 Big marble size tamarind ball or use a juice of 1 small lime
Salt to taste
Enough water to grind these into a smooth paste

For Tempering:
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dhal
2-3 red chillies cracked
8-10 curry leaves
1 pinch of Asafoetida/Hing/Inguva/Perumgayam

Method:
In a grinder, put all the ingredients in the grinding list and grind them thoroughly to a smooth paste/chutney.
Transfer to a serving container.
Allow mustard to splutter in 1 tsp of hot oil and add the rest of ingredients in tempering list, fry for a few seconds and spread on the prepared chutney.



Happy March Break for kids!!!!

Fried Onion Chutney

Migrating from Pulusu(Stew/gravy) to Pachadi(Chutney/Dip) this Fried onion chutney is a wonderful condiment for South Indian tiffins. Be it Idli, Dosa, Medu Vada, Punukulu, you simply can't stop eating them when they are accompanied by this simple yet tasty treat.

I have blogged about raw onion chutney and how my mom and grand mom always used raw onion to make the onion chutney. But one of my fav Aunt J, used to always fry the chopped onions to make onion chutney which I think most of our south Indians do.

Though for ease of making i regular raw onion chutney, but it amazes to see how just by frying the onion gives a new texture and taste and takes it to level you can't give up.

Ingredients :
1 tsp Oil
2 Medium sized Onions chopped
1 Tbsp cumin seeds
5-6 red chillies cracked
1 big marble size tamarind ball( increase if you like tanginess like me, which actually enhances the taste of this chutney)
1 Tbsp sugar
Salt to taste
A few drops of water to grind these into a smooth paste

Method:
In a kadai heat oil and add cumin seeds to saute for a few seconds, add red chillies, followed by chopped onions and fry the ingredients till onions change color slightly and give nice aroma.
Remove from heat and transfer into a bowl and keep aside till the mixture cools.
Now add salt, sugar and soaked tamarind to the fried onion mixture and blend them to a smooth paste in a blender.

Transfer to serving bowl and enjoy with hot soft fluffy idlies, Dosa or Vada
You can preserve the left over for 2-3 days if refrigerated.