Coconut Chutney

Coconut chutney is a tasty accompaniment with all traditional south Indian breakfast dishes. It takes only a few minutes to prepare this chutney if you have fresh grated coconuts already at hand. Idli, Dosa, Vada etc is not complete when it is not accompanied by this chutney.

Ingredients

1 cup grated coconut
2 small green chillies , chopped
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tbsp roasted chana dal
salt to taste

For The Tempering

1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 red chilli , broken into pieces
2 to 3 curry leaves
1 tsp oil

Method

Put the coconut, green chillies, ginger, roasted split gram and salt in a blender with a little water and grind to make a fine paste. Keep aside.
Prepare the tempering by heating the oil and adding the mustard seeds, red chilli and curry leaves and stirring till the mustard seeds crackle. Pour this tempering over the chutney and mix well.
Refrigerate and use as required.

Coriander Chutney

This is a very common chutney and is popularly known as green chutney. It can go with absolutely anything- from samosas and vadas to chaat and grilled chicken. It can be made easily in no time. We usually make it at home with Dosas.

Ingredients

1/2 teaspoonCumin seed
1/2 teaspoonMustard seed
1 bunchCoriander, large stems removed
1/4 smallOnion roughly chopped 1/4 cups Unsweetened grated coconut
1/2"Piece of ginger roughly chopped
2 green chillies
2Lemons juiced
Salt

Method

Put the cumin seed and mustard seed in a small heavy bottomed pan and roast over heat until the spices are fragrant, but be careful not to burn them. The key is to keep the spices constantly moving in the pan by shaking it with a swirling motion. Put the spices in a spice grinder and pulverize. Add everything including the toasted spices into a blender and blitz until smooth. Add some water if the chutney is too thick then adjust salt to taste. Stored in an airtight container in the fridge your green chutney should last at least 1 week.

Avocado Hummus

Hummus is a  recipe that is very popular in the middle east. It can be made with many ingredients but the common factor would usually be chick peas. This gives it an addictive taste and the other ingredients add to its distinctive flavours. Try this very tasty avocado hummus recipe and enjoy it with chappathi or nan or any other middle eastern wraps.

Ingredients

1 can garbanzo beans or chick peas, drained, rinsed
1 1⁄2 teaspoons tahini
1⁄2 lemon juice
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 1⁄2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large ripe avocado, peeled, stoned
salt
black pepper

Directions

Place all ingredients in a food processor and puree until well mixed and smooth.
Season to taste with salt and pepper, adding more lemon juice if necessary.
Transfer to a storage container, cover, and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Bechamel Sauce

It is a very tasty recipe which works wonders when served with bread or bun. Its mere presence makes a croque monsieur or a lasagne taste exceptional. I first tasted it at Pizza Hut and decided that I would try it at the first opportunity. I did just that and it came out pretty well. Everyone loved it.

Ingredients

5 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Directions

In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium-low heat until melted. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture turns a light, golden sandy color, about 6 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate pan until just about to boil. Add the hot milk to the butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Season with salt and nutmeg, and set aside until ready to use.

Tomato Chutney

This is my favourite chutney with Idli and Dosa. I used to like it even as a child but never knew that it was this eady to make. Some make this chutney without blending it but I prefer it this way. The red chillies when grinded, gives an awesome flavour to the chutney which is highly nostalgic.

Ingredients

Tomatoes -3
Onions -2
Red chillies - 4
Coriander leaves - few or 1 tbsp finely chopped
Oil - 2 tsp + 1 tbsp

  For the seasoning

   Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
   Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
   Curry leaves - few tender ones

Preparation

Chop onions and tomatoes into medium sized pieces.
Heat 2 tsp of oil in a pan, saute red chillies for a few seconds (take care not to burn it) and remove it from the pan.
In the same pan, add onions and saute until onions turn transparent.
Then add tomatoes, coriander leaves and cook until tomatoes become slightly mushy.(You do not have to cook fully as we are going to cook again after grinding it)
Allow the mixture to cool. Once it cools, grind it along with red chillies and salt needed.
Heat 1 tbsp of oil, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add urad dal and curry leaves.
When dal turns golden brown, add the ground chutney and cook until oil separates. Serve with idli, dosa or chappathi.

Dates and Tamarind Chutney

I've always been fascinated by the dates and Tamarind chutney served in bhelpuri bakalas. So this time I made it myself with my homemade bhel puri. It tested even better than the ones i've eaten till now and we also have the assurance that no preservatives are added. It can be stored in airtight containers and kept in the refrigerator for upto 1 month.

Ingredients

Dates – ½ cup, deseeded
Tamarind – ⅓ cup, packed and seedless
Water – 3 cups
Jaggery – ⅓ cup, powdered or grated
Salt – to taste
Roasted cumin powder – ½ teaspoon
Red chili powder – ½ teaspoon
Dry ginger powder – ½ teaspoon

Method

Take seedless tamarind and dates in saucepan.
Add 3 cups of water and turn the heat on medium.
Let it come to a boil and simmer for 7-8 minutes.
Then add jaggery.
Also add salt, red chili powder, roasted cumin powder and dry ginger powder.
Mix well and let it simmer for again 7-8 minutes.
Let the mixture cool down a bit and then grind into smooth paste using blender or grinder.
Strain the chutney using strainer.
You cannot skip this step, as you can see that it may have some string of tamarind which is unpleasant to bite into. Your chutney is ready.