Zucchini Chutney

When Ridge Gourd Chutney is a staple, can Zucchini Chutney be far behind?

One of the home-garden zucchinis became the base ingredient for this chutney.

Sautéed with onions, green chilies, and tomatoes, flavored with salt, tamarind and grape molasses, and then ground up with toasted urad dal and chana dal, this zucchini chutney is easy to make and quite versatile.

For a thicker consistency, pan cook it till the excess water from zucchini evaporates. Temper with mustard seeds and cumin seeds if preferred.

Shiso Pesto with Buckwheat Soba Noodles

Back in 2006 and 2007, I was thrilled about growing Shiso in my home garden as it was the early years of my home-gardening, and I liked having herbs handy in the backyard to try different recipes.

A decade later, looks like Shiso is quite readily available in the market when in season and has become a fairly popular and mainstream herb much like cilantro and mint.

A member of the mint family, Shiso leaves can be mostly green to greenish reddish/purplish. Much like my favorite pesto and chutney, I make shiso as pesto or chutney when the mood calls for it, using whatever ingredients I feel like throwing together at that time.

In this recipe, shiso pesto comes together with a confluence of complementary Asian flavors.

Tossed in with some buckwheat soba noodles, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds, and a side of roasted eggplant and home-garden scallions, shiso certainly takes center stage in this dish.

Shiso pesto as a dip, served with roasted eggplant slices and bell peppers makes a fantastic appetizer.

Shiso Pesto:
½ Tbsp sesame oil
½ Tbsp red miso
½ Tbsp mirin
½ Tbsp rice vinegar
½ Tbsp lime juice
¼ to ½ cup packed shiso leaves
2 to 3 Tbsp sunflower seeds

Grind the ingredients together and adjust to taste.

Pumpkin Seed Chard Pesto with Carmen Pepper and Alma Paprika

Growing up with a variety of chutneys made with fresh seasonal ingredients, where most chutneys had coconut and herbal notes, I took a great interest in Pesto when I first encountered it at a friend's place ages ago.

Since then, I've tried quite a few pesto and chutney variations that have turned out anything from out-of-this-world to eww-get-it-away-from-me.

There are but a few staple indigenous ingredients in each region that lend themselves to umpteen combinations -- some good, some not-so -- subject to individual taste preference. So, mixing it up a bit seems natural and unavoidable for variety.

Anyway, getting back to this recipe, which came about because I had an unexpected set of ingredients handy,  begging to be used, the Pumpkin Seed  Beet and Chard Greens Pesto got a boost from home garden Alma Paprika and Carmen Pepper.

The Alma paprika are plump tomato-esque ones rather than the traditional corno di toro type elongated chili variety. The tiny plant was weighed down with two of these and I was waiting patiently for them to ripen to a brilliant red. Seeing as how the plant was falling down, I decided to harvest one of them while still yellow and sporting a healthy blush.

The Carmen pepper was getting big and strong and long, so I was sure I can wait till it turns sweet and juicy red. But, before I got around to taking a picture of it on the plant, the pepper fell off the plant. 

A bunch of chard and beet greens, Alma paprika, green Carmen pepper were ready to be made into something interesting. I thought of the protein-packed Indian staple of Dal, or maybe, South Indian Masiyal, perhaps even Chard-and-Peppers gratin or Creamy soup.

And then I noticed this unassuming jar of pumpkin seeds. It is lightly toasted and salted but unhulled retaining the highly valuable insoluble fiber. 

The mood called for a simple pesto using Chard and Beet greens, Pumpkin seeds, fresh garlic, Alma paprika, and Carmen pepper. 

I didn't quite measure the condiments, just eyeballed some apple cider vinegar and lemon juice, and olive oil, plus grated Parmesan for this pesto. The pumpkin seeds brought in the coarse texture I like in pesto.

Stirred in with rotini pasta and tossed with sauteed onions and bell peppers, this was quite the simple yet satisfying meal.

Fava Bean and Chard Herb Hummus

I am hoping to plant chard for fall harvest, along with more kale, lettuce, and snap peas. By late fall, I end up circling back to comfort foods like soups, stews, and casseroles with nothing new to add to the recipe collection here.

Anyway, a while back, I had a nice big bunch of rainbow chard and a bag of fava beans fresh from CSA that I didn't want to ignore. Not that fava beans will be ignored in our house, especially when the older child gobbles them by the handful when they are blanched tenderly and set out in a bowl.

While tossing some blanched fava beans in salads and pasta is easy, I wanted to make a dish with intense fava bean flavor that will be the center of attention for a simple evening meal. What's more intensely fava bean-flavored than Fava Bean Hummus? Well, maybe fava bean stew, fava bean falafel, fava bean koftas. Or, any of the three recipes in Broad Bean Bash...

It's a Zen-like activity to shell the fava beans. Well, at least, when there is just a small basketful, and not a giant sackful. So, one fine evening a few weeks ago, I sat and shelled the fresh fava beans out in the backyard, watching the hummingbirds flit to and from their feeder. The house finches and chickadees were making several trips as well, completely ignoring me sitting right in their path to the feeder.

The chard wouldn't like sitting in the sidelines, I figured. So, chard got chopped, stem and all, with the fresh garlic from the farm; sautéed with a pinch of salt and a splash of lemon juice, the greens were raring to go.

Later that evening, the beans danced in boiling water for a couple of minutes and dove into the bowl of ice water. Finally, they were glad to shed their thick outer layer without much coaxing, and emerged in their resplendent beany greenness. It was quite a sight to behold in a bowlful.

Now, strong herbal notes bring that added oomph to the palate, so, armed with my trusty shears, I snipped a bit of mint, fennel, oregano, and scallions from the garden.

Blanched fava beans, sauteed chard and garlic, fresh herbs, plus a couple of bold Serrano chilies came together with some tahini, olive oil, and a splash of apple cider vinegar to make this incredibly delicious Chard and Fava Bean Herb Hummus.

Served with homemade Chipotle Coconut Flour Flax Meal Rotis, and a small side salad, the Fava Bean Hummus took center stage that night for sure.

Ingredients
1½ cup blanched fresh fava beans
1 cup chopped chard with stems
½ cup packed herbs
2 Tablespoon tahini
2 Tablespoon olive oil
2 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
salt to taste

Tempering:
1 teaspoon olive oil
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon small dry Pequin peppers

Preparation

1. Combine the hummus ingredients in a food processor and blend to desired coarse/smooth consistency, adjusting salt to taste
2. Tempering: Heat the oil in a small pan, add the cumin and caraway seeds, allow to crisp and brown gently, then add the Pequin peppers and turn off heat
3. To serve, garnish the hummus with the tempering, stir if preferred.
4. Serve with Chipotle Coconut Flour Flax meal Roti, or Chipotle and Sun-dried Tomato Tortillas, or, Ube Purple Yam and Chipotle Naan, or, Mint Olive Greek Pita,  or Kohlrabi-stuffed Kale Fennel Naan...

Green Papaya, Green Mango, Green Kohlrabi Spicy Chutney

There's something utterly delectable about the combination of tangy sour and peppery piquant with a touch of delicate sweetness that has made it universal. Cuisines around the world have come up with local versions of this combination leveraging the indigenous ingredients.

Raw green mango chutney and thokku are fairly common in Indian cuisine; and so is green papaya and kohlrabi. After the Purple Carrots, Purple Cabbage and Beet Relish, I was craving for more such combination chutneys and relishes.

There was enough green papaya left after the Green Papaya and Purple Carrot Thai Salad.

There was enough kohlrabi left from the big bunch I picked up at the Farm market.

There were two green mangoes I had picked up because I like mangoes and liked the price.

The stars practically scrambled to align themselves for this particular Green Papaya, Green Mango, Green Kohlrabi Spicy Chutney to come into existence.


Ingredients
2 cups grated green papaya
2 cups grated kohlrabi
2 cup grated raw green mango
2 Tablespoon finely grated ginger
4 green chilies, finely diced or minced (seeded first, if preferred)
1 whole lemon, zest plus the lemon sections finely diced

1/2 Tablespoon brown sugar (1 Tablespoon if the green mango is too sour)
½ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup white vinegar
¼ cup Pomegranate red wine vinegar

¼ cup coconut oil 

salt to taste

Tempering:

1 Tablespoon mustard seeds plus 1 teaspoon coconut oil

Preparation

1. Heat the ¼ cup coconut oil in a pan and add the grated ginger and all the rest of the ingredients, stir well, adjust salt to taste and allow to simmer in medium heat
2. Tempering: heat the oil in a small pan, when shimmering add the mustard seeds and allow to pop, turn off heat
3. Once the liquid has cooked up and the chutney has thickened to a spreadable consistency add the tempering, stir well and preserve in jar using the boiling water canning method
4. If not canning, allow to cool and refrigerate and use within ten days

Quinoa Scallions Fenugreek Feta Fritters

For a while now, fritters, griddle cakes, and unleavened pan breads seem to be taking over my kitchen. Anything is fair game as long as I can make a batter and cook it on the pan quickly. A nice big vegetable side, plus a few of these small fritters or pancakes seem to be a popular dinner meal with all but the youngest in the house.

Ingredients
1 cup cooked quinoa
¼ cup buttermilk
¼ cup crumbled feta
¼ cup finely chopped scallions
1 Tbsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos
2 eggs
2 Tbsp flax meal
2 mint leaves minced
2 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (available at most Indian stores)

3 Tbsp finely diced onions (optional)

oil for griddle cooking

Preparation

1. Combine the ingredients and mix well to form a thick batter
2. Heat a well-seasoned cast iron skillet to medium, with a light drizzling of oil
3. Drop a dollop of the batter, flatten a bit, allow to cook till browned; flip and brown the other side
4. Serve warm with Mint-Cilantro Chutney

Mint-Cilantro Chutney:
10 mint leaves, finely chopped
½ cup chopped cilantro
1 small serrano chili, chopped (optional, adjust to taste)
1 Tbsp Tahini paste
¼ teaspoon tamarind paste
¼ teaspoon agave nectar

Combine the ingredients in a blender, and process to a fine paste, adding water if needed for the chutney consistency.

Spicy Cous-Cous Patties with Mint and Fennel Pesto

Cous-cous with Spicy Tagine is a favorite dinner for the adults in the house. Kids don't care for it much. There's usually some cous-cous leftover, nudging me to reconstitute them into something appetizing the next day.

These cous-cous patties are a nice way to use up leftover cous-cous. Simply add finely diced onions, carrots, bell peppers, maybe some spices like paprika and cumin, perhaps even some chipotle chilles, bind with eggs or bread, form into patties and pan-fry.

Or, shape them into small balls, even flattened balls, and deep fry, like bonda or vada. The deep fried flattened cous-cous balls remind me of one of my favorite street foods in India, Masala Vada, which is usually made with a few different kinds of lentils.




If I were to indulge à la Owl in Tearwater Tea, I would say the heels, the end-slices, of sliced bread loaves, loathed and discarded cruelly all over, warrant a mention.

Anyway, rather than eggs for binding the cous-cous, I prefer slices of bread, especially the heels, adding a bit of stock or water as needed to be able to shape the patties or balls.

Now, chutneys and pestos flow freely in my kitchen. Chutneys were nothing to write about when I was growing up in India - there were several varieties - any combination of handy edible ingredients, ground together with thought to flavor and texture, becomes a fine condiment to accompany any meal.

In those days, my mom reserved her precious Moulinex Mixer exclusively for delicate handling. All the heavy-duty idlee/dosai batter and chutneys were made using the large mortar-pestle called Aattukkal - The Grinding Stone. Quickly smashed ginger, garlic, black pepper, cumin was done in Ammi kal - a lesser known but just as valued companion of Aattukkal. Ammi kal is very much like the Mano and Matate used in the Americas.

Pesto, to me, bears similarities with the Indian chutneys I grew up with. After all, Pesto is made by quickly grinding the ingredients together in a mortar and pestle. Some favorite nuts, olive oil, fresh herbs, dash of salt/pepper is all it takes to make fresh pesto that has enhanced many a simple dish in our house.

The mint and fennel pesto with sunflower seeds came about thanks to the lovely mint and fennel in the garden that have managed to survive my negligence.



Mint and Fennel Pesto with Toasted Sunflower Seeds
Ingredients
1 cup fresh mint leaves
¼ cup fresh fennel leaves
1 clove of garlic
¼ to 1/3rd cup toasted sunflower seeds
2-4 Tbsp olive oil
hint of water, if needed
salt and black pepper to taste

Simply blend the ingredients together to desired consistency, adjust salt to taste.

Ajvar Hot Eggplant & Red Pepper Relish

We've been having some of our staples lately - idlee, dosai, roti, rasam, pizza and such... so, no exciting new recipes to try out and share here.

This ajvar relish is one of our staples as well, as a dip, as a side, as a base for other dishes...

Ajvar is a Balkhan roasted eggplant and sweet red pepper relish, sometimes referred to as vegetarian caviar. ZerGut Ajvar is a popular East European product found in ethnic food stores here. However the store-bought ones somehow seem to be a little too sweet and have this aged smell that feels a bit unappetizing for me sometimes. Trader Joe's™ brand so far is my favorite for ready-made ajvar. However, since it is easy enough to make at home and I can adjust it a bit to my taste, I make a batch on and off and store it in the fridge, and use it to flavor other dishes.

Ingredients
1-2 eggplant
3-4 sweet red peppers
4-6 dry red chilies
1-2 garlic cloves
¼ cup lemon juice
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
salt to taste

Preparation

1. Roast the sliced eggplant and red peppers over open flame (I use my gas stove for this step), or in a 475°F oven (broil a bit to char the skin, if preferred); put in a paper bag, cover and allow to sweat a bit; remove charred skin if desired - I like to leave it on for the smoky flavor
2. When cool enough to handle, coarsely chop up, combine with the garlic and dry red chilies, blend to a chunky relish (or smooth if using it as a spread)
3. Add lemon juice and olive oil to taste; adjust salt
4. Allow to cool completely and store in an air tight jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks
5. If canning it, cook over medium-low heat and can when hot

Enjoy Ajvar in many ways:

• mix with some cream cheese to make a delicious sandwich spread
• mix it with some yogurt and sumac to make a mouth-watering sauce for wraps or pita pockets
• add enough olive oil and a bit of lemon juice or red wine vinegar for acidity to make a wonderful salad dressing
• use it as-is on toasted olive-ciabatta bread or rosemary-potato bread or any favorite baguette slices
• use it to flavor curries and stews as in the Chickpea stew below

Chickpea Stew flavored with Ajvar

Ingredients
1 cup cooked chickpeas
1 cup cooked black beans
1 cup cooked diced beets (optional)
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 cup ajvar (or more to taste)
1 Tbsp agave nectar or brown sugar (optional)
garnish: cilantro, spring onions
salt to taste

Preparation

1. sauté the onion and combine the rest of the ingredients and simmer together with enough water or broth to preferred stew consistency
2. garnish and serve warm

Pan Fried Spring Roll Wraps

This came about as a quick evening tea-time snack when my parents were here. Around 3:30pm or 4pm most afternoons we liked to assemble in the patio for some tea. Usually some mixed nuts or Chex mix or Indian mixture is what my parents enjoy with tea. But, once a week or so I would make some impromptu snack and that's how this pan fried spring roll wraps came about.

Nothing special about this dish. I had a batch of spring roll wrappers in the freezer that needed to be used up. Filling can be anything of your choice - curried potatoes, carrots and peas like for samosa, or cabbage/carrots/bean sprouts like for spring rolls. But, I just had ricotta cheese and frozen spinach handy, so, that's the filling I used here.

Rather than deep frying like for spring rolls or samosa, I simply pan fried in a shallow pan with just a tiny bit of oil to brown the sides.

Ingredients
10-12 Spring roll wrappers, thawed and ready to use

filling: ricotta cheese, frozen cut spinach thawed and squeezed dry, curry powder, salt, chopped onions

3-4 Tbsp oil

Preparation

1. combine the filling ingredients, adjust to taste and set aside
2. fill each spring roll wrapper with a tablespoon of the filling, wrap it tightly, seal with a little bit of water around the edges
3. heat a tablespoon of oil in a shallow pan, place the spring roll wraps in batches and allow to brown; turn over and allow to brown on all sides
4. add a little more oil for each batch and pan fry them in batches till all are done
5. serve warm with mango chutney or any favorite cutney

Mango Chutney

Ingredients: dry mango, spiced dry mango with chilli powder, distilled white vinegar, brown sugar salt, oil, water as needed

Mango chutney is usually slightly sweet-sour, so the flavors can be adjusted to taste - vinegar gives the sourness and the mangoes are sweet as-is, but brown sugar can be added for extra sweetness. I get these wonderful dried mango slices at New Season's Market - unsweetened organic mangoes, as well as dry mango slices spiced with salt and chilli powder - which makes it very easy to make this chutney any time.

soak the dry mango pieces in some hot water to reconstitute a bit; combine the rest of the ingredients except oil and blend to a fine paste; adjust flavors to taste and sauté the paste in a bit of oil over medium heat till it comes together and is thickened a bit.

If the chutney is too thick for a dip, dilute with some water.

Chicken Kebabs with Green Grapes Chutney

I was in the mood for good old Rava Upma for dinner, but D wanted something a little more exotic as it is a weekend dinner. He loves upma but only on weeknights as a simple wholesome meal...

Also, I hadn't thought of anything for AFAM:Grapes event this month hosted by Swapna at Swad. So, I set aside my dreams of Rava Upma with peas and carrots, and decided to make chicken kebabs for D, as well as for AFAM:Grapes :-)

I settled on kebabs as they are quick and easy to make, very light, and satisfying. D liked it because I don't care for chicken so more for him!

To make it interesting, I added grapes to the mix, and served it with green grapes chutney, thus showcasing the AFAM (A Fruit A Month) star of this month. I would have liked to try a dessert or a drink with grapes for this event, but, maybe another time...

Now, it is a bit early in season, and the handful of vines in our garden are very young, but, we did have a little bunch of local Pinot Noir! I was quite thrilled. It was quite tasty... not that we are planning to make our own wines, but, one can dream, right?!

Chicken kebabs are simple: Thaw and marinate boneless skinless chicken breast in a preferred marinade, arrange in skewers with favorite veggies, grill till chicken is done. I used some bell peppers, potatoes, grapes and pearl onions. If using potatoes, preferably par-cook it before grilling. Grilled grapes added a nice sweet-sourness to the kebabs.

Grape Chutney is a version of Sweet-and-Sour chutney. The variety of grapes used and its tartness would determine the proportion of ingredients. I used fairly tart, yet mildly sweet seedless green grapes.

Ingredients
Marinade:
1 tsp tamarind concentrate
½ cup light soy sauce
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp Shatta, an Arabic hot pepper sauce (or any favorite hot sauce)

Green Grape Chutney:
1 cup coarsely chopped green grapes
4-6 green chilies
½ cup coarsely chopped cilantro stems, cleaned
¼ cup white wine* (I used Pinot Grigio as we had it handy)
salt to taste
*optional: I liked to carry the theme of grapes for this AFAM:Grapes event

Preparation

1. Green Grape Chutney:Combine all the chutney ingredients, except the wine, in a blender or food processor and blend to a smooth paste. Pour it into a pan and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes, adding the wine if using.
2. Kebabs: Cut the chicken to bite-sized pieces, and marinate it for about 30 minutes. At the same time, soak some bamboo skewers in water. If using vegetables, cut them to bite-sized pieces as well and marinate them separately till ready to assemble the kebabs
3. Assemble the pieces in the bamboo skewers and grill till chicken is done

Pongal Godhsu

Pongal, Godhsu, Medhu Vadai and Chutney - all four together - evoke this wonderful memory of my childhood Sunday brunches. Many Sunday mornings, my mom made this combination which became a favorite brunch in our family.

Now, thankfully, D and Ana love it too, so I get to make it on and off on weekends. Plus, it gave me a reason to use up the eggplant, chilies and tomatoes from our garden.

Now, I was too lazy to make vadai, but I did make a simple chutney. And, as always, my recipes are adapted to my tastes, so they may not be quite traditional and authentic.

Ingredients

for the godhsu: 1-2 Ichiban eggplant (or any variety handy) 1-2 red paprika peppers (optional) 1 kung pao green chili (or any other variety) 1 medium onion 2 medium tomatoes salt to taste 1 tsp cumin powder 1 Tbsp coriander powder 1 tsp hot chili powder 1 tsp brown sugar ½ tsp tamarind concentrate Tempering: 1 Tbsp canola oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds curry leaves, cilantro for garnish

for pongal: 1 cup jasmine rice ½ cup yellow split moong dal 3 cups water salt to taste 1 Tbsp whole black pepper 1 Tbsp cumin seeds 2 Tbsp canola oil

for the peanut-coconut chutney:
½ cup dry roasted peanuts
¼ cup dry grated coconut
1-2 red paprika peppers, or red chilies
salt to taste
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Chutney:Combine the ingredients in a blender/food processor and blend to a fine paste, adding a little water, if needed. Optionally, add the tempering: heat oil in a pan, add 1 tsp urad dal, when it turns golden brown, add a tsp of mustard seeds and cumin seeds and when the mustard seeds pop, off heat and garnish the chutney.

Preparation:

Pongal: Combine the rice and dal in a pressure cooker and cook till slightly mushy; heat oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds and whole black pepper, stir a little till cumin seeds sizzle but not burn, add the cooked rice+dal, some salt, stir well, adjust to taste; add a little water if the rice is too thick; I prefer the almost-porridge consistency.

Godhsu: Finely dice the vegetables; heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds; when the mustard seeds pop, add the onions and other diced vegetables, sauté a little; then add the cumin, coriander, chili powders, salt to taste and the tamarind, some water to cover the vegetables, and allow to simmer on medium low till vegetables are cooked but not mushy. I like the godhsu to be fairy thick, not too runny...

Serve the pongal and godhsu hot and steaming. It makes a filling brunch especially on cold winter mornings. But, many a nights, I have served this for dinner too.

cranberry rhubarb chutney

Chutneys of all kinds were always handy at home when i was little, my mom made sure of that. She prefers the traditional south indian thogayals, all forms of coconut-based chutneys, "green" chutneys (usually, green chilies with mint/cilantro), "red" chutneys (tomatoes and dry red chilies usually), and so on.

Chutneys now have become an integral part of my menu, especially since the wee one likes to dip her foods in something, and, i sort of like to experiment with different flavors and combinations of ingredients. Some have come out surprisingly good, some have taught me a lesson or two...

Anyway, it is rhubarb season again - almost. A few plants we have in our garden have started growing again. Time for me to use up the stash of frozen rhubarbs from end of last season:-)

While I love dry fruits, my main objection is that they are almost always treated with sugar. But, last week, i found some unsweetened dry cranberries at the store and i had to get a big bagful.

Now, typically, fresh cranberries are a late autumn treat, whereas by then, rhubarb season has ended... so, making this with fresh cranberries and fresh rhubarbs has not happened so far for me...

This cranberry rhubarb chutney is a favorite at home, especially since i get to make it only a few times a year, depending on availability of the ingredients.

The tang from rhubarb and unsweetened cranberries is balanced by brown sugar and a pinch of cayenne pepper in this recipe. In that sense, this is a form of sweet and sour chutney, much like tamarind-date-raisin¹ chutney.

Serve with dosai, adai, savory waffles, rotis, or even with dhokla ...

Ingredients:
1 cup dried unsweetened cranberries
1 cup finely diced rhubarb
¼ cup brown sugar (or more)
1 tsp cayenne pepper powder (adjust to taste)
1 tsp canola oil
salt to taste (just a tad, to bring out the other flavors)

Preparation

heat oil in a pan, and sauté the cranberries and rhubarb for a bit; combine the rest of the ingredients in a food processor and blend to a fine chutney, adding water as needed to get the desired consistency; for additional tang, i sometimes like to add tamarind concentrate.

---

¹ For tamarind-date-raisin chutney:
roughly measure out equal amounts of raisins and chopped dates into a pan, add just enough water to immerse them, bring to a gentle simmer till most of the water is absorbed, and turn off heat; when cool enough to handle, put the cooked dates and raisins, along with any remaining liquid, into a blender, add some tamarind concentrate, salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper powder, blend to a fine paste; adjust flavors to suit your taste and enjoy :-)

Curry Leaf Chutney

Curry Leaf chutney one of my favorites and is pretty simple and fairly easy to make if I can find curry leaves, which is not always the case. I have tried growing my own, but probably the seeds were not quite happy or I left it out exposed to cold too much, they never survived so far. I have not given up hope yet.

Ingredients
1½ cup loosely packed curry leaves
1-2 jalapeno or serrano (remove seeds and membrane if too hot)
1 cup grated coconut (dry or fresh)
1 Tbsp urad dal
1 Tbsp toor dal
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 Tbsp canola oil
salt to taste
some water

Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a pan, toast the dals and mustard seeds till urad dal turns golden brown.
2. Off heat, add the curry leaves and toss them around in the residual heat of the pan.
3. Allow to cool a bit; then, combine the coconut and chilies, grind to a fine paste, adding water as needed.
4. Stir in some salt to taste.

Tempering is optional, I always like it as it adds a nutty flavor and gritty texture to an otherwise smooth chutney, and is visually appealing.

Tempering ingredients:
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
1 Tbsp canola oil

Heat the oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds and allow it to pop, then add the cumin seeds, allow them to plump up, and turn off heat. Garnish the chutney with the tempering. Stir well before serving.

Curry Leaf thogayal/thohayal is another wonderful way to enjoy these leaves: make it just like coconut thogayal recipe, with the curry leaves as the additional ingredient.

coconut thogayal

Thogayal (or, thohayal) is a versatile chutney-like dish: can be served with hot rice, or with dosai and rotis. It is usually pretty thick - holds shape when rolled into a ball:)

It happens to be a popular dish at home as D asks for it (are you making some toga-yell today?) and despite its fieriness, my wee one seems to relish it with dosai.

Ingredients
1 cup grated coconut (fresh or dry)
2 Tbsp toor dal
1 Tbsp urad dal
2-3 dry red chilies
1 Tbsp tamarind concentrate
1 Tbsp canola oil
salt to taste

Preparation

1. dry roast the dals on medium heat till they release a nutty aroma and urad dal turns light golden brown
2. combine the toasted dals and rest of the ingredients and blend to a coarse thick paste; adjust salt to taste; add water only if needed;
3. serve with dosai, adai, rotis or even hot basmati rice
   

Ridge Gourd Peel Chutney

Ridge gourd is one of those vegetables that reminds me of cactus: if nothing else seems like vegetation and this seems to be the only juicy thing around to cook and eat, of course, I'd relish it. But, fortunately for the ridge gourd, I love its peel as it makes a fantastic thohayal or chutney.



Ingredients:
1 Tbsp urad dal
3 Tbsp dry grated coconut
1/2 cup diced onions
6-8 curry leaves (optional)
2-3 cups ridge gourd peel, chopped
4-6 dry red chilies
¼ tsp tamarind paste -or- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp Apple cider vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar (optional)
salt to taste
1 Tbsp Olive oil
water as needed
tempering: (optional)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp urad dal
2-3 curry leaves chopped
1 Tbsp canola oil

Preparation:

1. heat 1 Tbsp canola oil in a pan, sauté the ingredients for the chutney
2. when cool enough to handle, blend in a blender or food processor into a fine paste, adding a little water at a time as needed; adjust salt to taste
3. tempering: heat oil in a small pan or ladle, when it is shimmering, add the urad dal; when it turns golden brown, add the mustard seeds; when mustard seeds pop and die down add the cumin seeds and curry leaves, off heat
4. garnish the chutney with the tempering; stir the tempering in before serving

Mint Chutney

This is a rather simple version of mint chutney. Serve with pakoras and bhajjias, or on the side with naan or rice- this chutney is quite versatile.


Ingredients
4-5 cups of mint leaves, washed
4-5 serrano chilies (fewer if too hot)
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 Tbsp urad dal
1 Tbsp chana dal
½ cup dry grated coconut
salt to taste
water as needed
1 Tbsp oil

tempering: 1 tsp canola oil, ½ tsp mustard seeds, ½ tsp urad dal

Preparation

1. heat oil in a pan, add urad and chana dal, toast them till they are light golden brown
2. add the chilies, ginger, coconut, mint leaves and sautee for about a minute or so in medium heat till mint leaves wilt a little and turn dark green; turn off heat, allow to cool
   
3. transfer the cooled contents to a blender and blend to a smooth texture, adding water and salt as needed
   
4. tempering: heat oil in a pan, when it starts to shimmer, add the urad dal, when it turns golden brown add the msutard seeds and turn off heat, allowing msutard seeds to pop in residual heat

Tempering is optional: I like the nutty taste the fried urad dal and mustard seeds impart :)

Stir well before serving