Tomato-Garlic Chutney With Coriander Leaves' Flavour!

.

Tomato-Garlic Chutney

This chutney is famous among our relatives. Let me write the recipe now.  This is very easy to make!


Ingredients:

1.  1 and a 1/2 Kg. (or 15 nos.) Ripe Banglore Tomatoes.

2.  1 Full garlic, peeled.

3.  2" Ginger, peeled and sliced.

4.  6-7 Green chillies

5. 1 Green capsicum (Optional)

6.  2 tbs. Red chilli powder.

7.  1 bunch Coriander leaves, washed and cleaned.  You can include some Curry                 leaves too!

8.  1  tsp. Gharam masala powder.

9.  1/2 tsp. Turmeric powder (haldi powder).

10. 2 tsp. Cumin seeds (Jeera).

11. 2 tsp. Sugar.

12. Salt to taste (Around 1 1/2 tbs. for this ratio...you can taste and add more, later)

13. 1/2 cup Gingily oil or any cooking oil.


Method: 

Put these ingredients in a mixie jar...garlic, ginger, green chillies, 1-2 tomatoes, capsicum and grind first into a paste.

Place the kadaai or thick vessel in the stove and pour oil and then jeera (cumin seeds).  When the jeera begins to get brown in colour, add the above mentioned paste. You can smell the roasted jeera and that is enough.  Don't leave it for long in the oil.

Mix it with a ladle.

First round of grinding!

Pour this paste in the oil and mix well.

Second round of grinding. Always cut the tomatoes before grinding.

Cut the coriander and then grind with a couple of tomatoes.  You will be able to grind them into a paste fast.  Pour it into the vessel in the stove.  Stir it.

Grind all the other tomatoes and pour into the vessel.  Stir it.  Add haldi powder, sugar, chilli powder, salt etc.  Let it boil for nearly 20-25 mts. or until it becomes thicker.  Add the gharam masala powder.  Leave/stir for 5 more mts.

The chutney is ready.  Store it in an airtight jar.  Take the required amount of chutney in another vessel and use.  This can be used for a week or so for dosa, idly, chapaati or can be mixed with rice too!

I don't use onion in this chutney.  You can add it if you want a change in taste!

Please try this and tell me if you liked it.  Please write to me if you have got any doubt.


.

Peerkkangai Thogaiyal/Ridgegourd Chutney and Simple Tomato Chutney!

.

Peerkkangai thogaiyal/Ridge gourd chutney

I make this chutney often at home for idly, dosa etc.  Everybody loves it. This vegetable, Peerkkangaai in Tamil, Heerekaai in Kannada and Ridge gourd in English is very good for health. The other name is Luffa! Wikipedia says: 

Its juice is used as a natural remedy for jaundice. The juice is obtained by pounding the bitter luffa and squeezing it through a cloth. Bitter luffa seeds and dry crusts are also available and can be used for the same purpose.

The centre/white spongy portion is a bit bitter sometimes, but mostly it is a bit sweet.  Anyway, taste it first, please.  I used to eat it raw while cutting the vegetable and used to give to my children too! Now, to the recipe:

Ingredients: 

1 Ridge gourd/peerkkangaai - 1 medium sized
2. Grated Coconut - Half

3. Mustard/Rai/Kadugu - 1 tsp.
4. Black gram/Urad daal/Uluththam paruppu - 1 tbsp.
5. Red chillies - 6-7 (or as per your taste)
6. Curry leaves/Kariveppilai
7. Asafoetida/hing/Perungaayam - 2 peppers' size
8. Coconut oil - 2 tsp.
9. Dry tam - 1/2 tsp.  or a small amount of tamarind/puli
10.Salt - as per taste.
11.Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp.
12.Sugar - a pinch

Method:

Peerkkangaai!

First wash the vegetable properly.  Remove the top and tail of the vegetable.  Remove the projecting portion like it is shown in the picture with a peeler.  Don't remove the green portion.  Remove it lightly otherwise you will feel it in your tongue like tough threads, which would be irritating! We call it 'naar yedukkaradu'! Then cut the main portion like it is shown in the picture below:

Pour oil in the hot kadai.  First put the hing piece.  Let it get fried.  Then mustard.  Let it flutter/burst.  Add the urad daal, chillies and curry leaves.   Mix them properly.  When the daal is golden brown, add the cut peerkkangai pieces.  Mix it. Add the salt, turmeric powder, sugar and tamarind also.  Let it get cooked with half cup of water..see to it that the veg. doesn't get roasted. Add a bit more water if you want.  Switch off the stove.

Put all the ingredients in a mixer along with the grated or pieces of coconut.  Grind them well.  The chutney is ready.  You can wash the mixer with half more cup of water if you want the chutney to be a bit watery.

Tomato Chutney:

You can roast the ingredients like it is shown in the picture and add chopped tomatoes instead of peerkkangaai and cook.  Tamarind is not needed for this, since the tomato has got a tangy taste and add 1/2 tsp. of sugar to make it tastier. No coconut please for this chutney!

Instead of tomato, you can add cabbage/brinjal etc.  without coconut but with tamarind!

You can make coriander chutney in this method.  You can just fry the ingredients, add chopped green coriander and grind it with or without coconut...add a bit of tamarind...I always use dri-tam powder mostly for chutneys.

I had already written the recipe for Onion Chutney...the roasting ingredients are the same for most of the recipes of chutney. 

If you add 3-4 tbsp. of Tuvar daal/tuvaram paruppu instead of urad daal and grind it with a small amount of coconut, Tuvar chutney is ready! Add tamarind for this.  No tamarind only when you add tomatoes!

All these chutneys will be tasty with hot rice, with idly, dosa or Chapaati!

Enjoy and let me know if you liked them, right?!

Thengaai dosai/neer dose/bajjari dose!

.

Thengaai Dosai with Peerkkangai thogaiyal and Sutta Kaththrikkai thogaiyal!

This is a 'very easy to make' dosa.  We don't need much ingredients too.  When we have guests, we can prepare this dosa and keep it in a casserole and serve, unlike rava dosa, raagi dosa etc.  which would be good/tasty,  just right from the tava.  Only thing is, the side dish should be a bit strong/hot, since this dosa is not prepared from sour/fermented batter, it will be bland. Many of my relatives love this dosa.  Tastes a bit like 'aappam'.

Ingredients:

1. Raw Rice - 2 cups
2. Grated coconut - 2 tbsp.
3. Cooked raw rice/saadam - 2 tbsp.
4. Sugar - 1/4 tsp.
5. Salt - 1 tsp. or according to taste.
6. Hot, boiling water - 3 cups
7. Coconut oil - 2 tbsp.

METHOD:

Soak the rice for 4 hours at least.  You can soak at night and grind and make the dosa in the morning.  Or soak it in the morning and grind in a mixer and make the dosa in the evening or night.  It is better to grind and make dosa immediately.  You must add the coconut, cooked rice etc. and grind together.  Add salt and sugar.  Boil 3 cups of water and add to the rice batter.  The batter should be very thin.

Keep the non stick tava on the stove.  Heat should be medium.  Take the coconut oil in a cup.  Apply oil on the tava with an applicator, shown in the picture below or with the head/top of a brinjal.  You can hold the top and use it as a stem, dip it in oil and apply on the tava. Pour the watery batter, like you do for rava dosa, on the tava.  Close with a lid for half to one minute.  You will know how long to keep after one or two dosas. Lift the lid and take out the dosa.  Store them in a casserole.  Apply oil again and make the next dosa.  Dosas are ready!

You can eat the remaining dosa even after 4- 5 hours.  They will be tasty. Not much oil is used in this dosa.  Very easy to digest.

The batter should be watery.

Oil applicator in wood.  It is available in vessel shops. This way only very less oil can be used.

The dosa should be covered for half minute.  The dosa will not get roasted, but will be soft.

Non-stick tava is good for this dosa. The dosa will slide down into the casserole! The work will be over very fast!

Dosas are ready to eat!

You can have this dosa with any hot chutneys like Onion Chutney, sutta kaththrikkai thogaiyal (Burnt brinjal chutney), peerkkangai thogaiyal (Ridgegourd chutney) or anyother hot chutney.  Some like it with coconut milk (Coconut milk with jaggery).  Or More kuzhambu, vaththal kuzhambu etc.

Try this and tell me how it came out and whether you liked it.

Vengaaya Thogaiyal/Onion Chutney

.

Please check here for the recipe!

.

Beetroot Saasmi - An Udupi Dish!

.

 This is a very 'easy to make' dish.  We use beetroot for making sweets, curry etc.  Here, we, people from Udupi, make a different dish, which can be had with rice, chapaathis etc.

Beetroot  (click on it to know the benefits of this vegetable)

Wikipedia has given a long list of benefits of beet root, mainly, it is good for the heart.

Ingredients:

1. Beet root - 1/2 Kg.
2. Coconut - Half or 1 and a half cup grated.
3. Rai/Kadugu/saasuve/mustard seeds - 1 and a 1/2 tsp. to 2 tsp.
4. Red chillies - 6 - 10 nos.
5. Rice flour - 2 tsp.
6. Normal curd, not sour curd - 1 to 1 and a 1/2 cups.
7. Salt - as per taste (First add 1 and a 1/2 tsp. and taste!)

Method:

First peel the vegetable and cut into small pieces.  Pressure cook with some water...I do it along with rice.  Otherwise you can cook it until it is soft. Take it out from the cooker and put it in a vessel.  Add some salt and keep it on the stove for 5 - 10 mts.

Beet root pressure cooked and salt added. Let it cook for 5 mts.

Ingredients for grinding.

Grind all the ingredients except curd, into a fine paste.  And add to the cooked beet root.  Mix well.  Then pour the curd in the mixer and just turn the knob for a second (we call it one 'drrr'!) and pour it into the beet root.  Let it foam. It should not boil.  If it boils,  it will turn watery.  Switch the flame off.  The dish is ready.

My children love this saasmi! Saasmi means mustard seeds in our language, Tulu! Mustard is full of Omega 3 fatty acid, wikipedia says so!

Try this and I would be happy to read your comments!

.

Adai - Dosa With Mixed Grains

.

Adai - Dosa with mixed grains

Adai is a favourite tiffin in our house.  We can have it for breakfast or dinner.  It is quite a heavy food.  We can eat 2-4 adais at a time (adults 2 and children 3 to 4)! When we have got too many guests at home, we do this snack.  We can place two tavas on stove and finish off the work fast, unlike dosa which is not heavy, so people tend to eat more and it takes time! Adai is very nutritious with all the daals.  Normally, we use only the main daals like Channa or bengal gram, thuvar and urad daal but now I am adding flax seeds, kaaramani and kollu etc. which are very very nutritious and we won't use them in ordinary days.  Now, to the recipe:

Ingredients:

1. Boiled rice - 1 and 1/2 cup
2. Raw rice - 1 and 1/2 cup
3. Brown Channa  (I don't use kabooli chana for this) - 3/4 cup
4. Thuvar dhal - 1/2 cup
5. Urad dhal (with skin is still better) - 1/4 cup
6. Kaaraamani - 2 tbsp.
7. Kollu - 2 tbs.
8. Flax seeds - 2 tbsp.
9. Coconut - 1/2 cup or some pieces as shown in the picture.
10. Red Chillies - 1-12 nos.
11. Green chillies - 2-4 nos.
12. Ginger - 1" piece
13. Capsicum piece - small one (optional)
14. Hing/asofoetida - 1/2 tsp.
15. Sugar - 1/2 tsp.
16. Salt to taste
17. Coriander, chopped - 1 bunch
18. Chopped Curry leaves
19. Chopped onion - 3 (medium sized)
20. Oil - We use nallennai/gingelly/til oil.  Any other oil also will do.

Method:

Soak the daals and rice and other things as shown in the picture, separately for 3 hours. Wash them and then soak! You can use the same water for grinding.

Grind the rice items  in a mixer first.  It should be ground a little less coarsely (like fine rava batter).  Then grind the daal items coarsely.  Just grind for a short time.  If it becomes like a fine paste, the taste will differ.  Daal should be visible, though not fully.  Mix everything together with the salt, coriander, curry leaves, hing, salt, sugar etc.  Let the batter not be very watery.  You can leave it for a couple of hours and then make adai.

The left over batter can be used the next day or later.  If it becomes a bit sour, it tastes even better! We call it 'pulichcha adai' means 'sour adai'! I soak the rice and daal in the morning and make adai at night.  Or soak at night (just the two rice and Channa daal separately, soak the rest of the daals, add with Channa in the morning and grind. Add coconut, red chillies etc.with the rice and grind).

Apply some oil on the hot tava and spread the batter on that.  Let the flame be medium.  Since the batter is not thin like dosa batter, but with lot of daals, it takes time to get cooked.  I make a couple of holes in the adai as in the picture and add more oil (one or two tsp. to make it crisp).  Turn it after a few minutes (let it be a bit brown in colour) and leave it for a couple of minutes again.  Adai is ready to eat.

Instead of coriander leaves, you can add murungai ilai (Drumstick leaves) which is very good for health or paalak/spinach leaves.

A highly nutritional food item is ready!

Kollu/Horse gram

Flax seeds

Kaaramani/cow peas/lobia

Ulundu/Urad daal/black gram

Thuvaram paruppu/Thuvar daal/Toor daal

Kondai kadalai/Brown Channa

Daal and rice, soaked separately! Add the chillies and other things while grinding rice.

The batter should not be very watery!

Spread the batter on the tava after applying oil!

You can eat the adai with vellam/gud/jaggery, butter (which will be very tasty!),  chutney (coconut, onion, coriander or tomato) or chutney powder. I like to eat it with orange marmalade too!


P.S.: While making any dosa, apply oil on the tava and make a small dosa.  First dosa will not be very good.   Without applying oil, make the next dosa and pour oil after a minute.  Dosa will be crisp.  We use gingelly oil/sesame oil mostly for dosa and idly since this oil is very good for health.  You may not like the taste in the beginning, but you will get used to it later, like we do with olive oil! I didn't like the smell in the beginning!

I have highlighted the captions in grains.  If you click on them, you will know the nutritional value of them.  You can click on the picture to have a clearer view. 

.

Dosai Milagaai Podi/Chutney Powder For Dosa

.

Dosai milagaai podi/Chutney powder for dosa

All South Indians will have some sort of Dosai Chutney powder at home.  Most of us eat dosa or idly with chutney podi/dosai milagaai podi at home (apart from coconut or some chutney and saambaar!).  It will be very tasty...for you too!  Now, to the recipe:

Ingredients:

1.   1 tbs.  Black sesame seeds/yellu/til

2.   30-35 Red chilllies/lal mirchi/sigappu milagaai (I didn't weigh it but counted it!)

3.   1 tsp. Mustard seeds/kadugu/rai

4.   2 cups Bengal gram/chana dhal/kadalai paruppu

5.   1 cup Black gram/urad dhal/uluththam paruppu

6.   Asafoetida (as per taste - I use LG solid hing)/Perungaayam

7.   1 tsp. Dri tam/tamarind powder/puli podi

8.   1 tbs. or a bit more, salt/namak/uppu

9.   1/2 tsp. of sugar

10. Curry leaves

12. 2 tsp. of coconut oil


Method:

Keep all the ingredients handy.  Wash the curry leaves and see to it, it hasn't got water droplets in it.  For me, I take the ingredients without measuring it, but it is better for you, if you are new to cooking, to measure the dhals, chilli etc. and keep in separate plates, so that it would be easy for you to roast them. 

First dry roast the til in a kadai/wok.  Within minutes, they will start bursting.  Put it in a plate.

Dry roasted til/sesame seeds/Yellu

Take a tsp. of oil...I use coconut oil.  If you don't want to use it, take a tsp. of refined oil or sunflower oil.  Put the piece of hing into it.  It will get fried.  If you don't have the solid hing, you can add the hing powder while grinding.

Then, add the mustard seeds.  After it flutters, add the red chillies, roast it for a couple of minutes.  Add the curry leaves. You can hear the dry sound when you fry it.  Pour them in the plate with the til.

Red Chillies, Hing, Mustard and Curry leaves - roasted with a tsp. of oil.

Take another tsp. of oil. Add the chana dhal.  Fry it for a couple of minutes.  Then add the urad dhal.  Urad dhal is small in size, so it is better to add it a bit later. Roast it till it is a bit brown.  The picture was taken a bit earlier.  It should be golden brown.  Let the flame be medium, so that the dhal don't get burnt! Switch off the stove!

Chana dhal, Urad dhal, roasted with a tsp. of oil. It should be browner than this! I took the picture a bit earlier!

First grind the chilli mixture in the mixie, until the chilli seeds are powdered.  Don't leave the fried chilli until it is cold.  Then the seeds won't get powdered.  Then add the dhal, dri tam powder, salt and sugar.  My mother used to fry a piece of tamarind with the dhal and use it.  Now, we get the tamarind powder, which is easy to use! Sugar is used to blend the taste.  Powder it into a coarse powder.  It will be tasty if the dhal is coarse.  Taste it.  Add salt, if you need it.  Dosai chutney powder is ready.  You need not add til, if you don't have it at home.  I like the til taste, esp. black til. Mix one or two tsp. of this powder with oil and eat it with dosa or idly...you will love it! We add one or two tsp. of oil (ginginly oil in our house), for a tbs. of this powder, mix and eat with idly or dosa or chapaathi too! We apply this paste on the chapaathi, roll and eat! My son loves it!

We use this powder to make Idly usili/upma out of the remaining old idlies...mash/powder the remaining idlies.  Fry mustard, chana dhal, urad dhal etc. in a tsp. of oil.  Add mashed idlies.  Put one or two tbs. of this powder or according to taste. Add half tsp. of salt and half tsp. of sugar.  If you want it more tasty, add a tsp. of ghee! Mix them well. You can add some gharam masala powder also, if you want! I keep the remaining idlies in fridge and then mash with fingers.  It will be like powder!  This 'easy to make snack' will be a favourite snack of your children. You can make it just like you do upma...add chopped ginger, green chillies, onion, curry leaves with the granished dhals.  Add mashed idlies plus this powder! Snack is ready!  I will try to add the pictures of these snacks also, when I make them next time!

When we travel, most of us take idly soaked in oil plus this chutney powder.  We mix needed quantity of powder (we need more powder for this) with oil (Gingily oil, mostly...and sprinkle some water, just sprinkle, on it. It makes the idly to remain soft without drying up).  It should be like slightly watery paste ... need more oil!  Then dip the idly in it...cover both sides and pack it! We take some Amul chaach...masti... to go with it! We love this combination, while travelling! It stays for 24 hours. That's it for now!

This powder will be good with Rava/Raagi dosa too.  Click on the link for the recipe!

Please write to me if you have got any doubt. I would love to know the result, if you try this.  Try half the quantity first! If you like it, do it again and store it in an airtight container.

.

Rava Dosa And Raagi - Baajra Dosa

.

Raagi-Baajra flour dosa

These dosas are very easy to make!  We always have Bombay rava/sooji and rice flour at home.  My mother used to have raagi/kezhvaragu flour also at home always.  If we didn't have normal dosa batter in stock and if we had some visitors, she used to make these dosas in a jiffy!  I keep baajra/sola maavu also at home because it is good for health.  Wheat flour will be there in each and every home!  Now, to the recipe:

Ingredients for both dosas:

 Rava Dosa:                                                    Raagi Dosa: 

1. Rava - 1 cup or 1 measure                     1. Raagi/Kezhvaragu/rye flour - 1 cup

2. Rice flour - 1 cup                                      2. Bajra/solam/milo flour - 1 cup
                                                                                (Wheat flour also will be fine here)
3. Wheat flour - 1 cup                                  3. Rice flour - 1 Cup


Common ingredients for both dosas:


4. Pepper/Milagu/Kaali mirch  - 1 tsp.

5. Cumin seeds/Jeeragam/Jeera - 1 tsp.

6. Ginger, finely chopped - 1 tsp.

7. Green chillies, chopped - 1 - 2 tsp.

8. Asofoetida/Hing/Perungaayam powder - 1/2 tsp.

9. Chopped coriander and curry leaves (Koththamalli, Karuveppilai/kothmeer and kadi paththa)

Salt as per taste and a pinch of sugar  to blend the taste.

Method:

Mix all the ingredients.  Pour nearly a litre of water...the batter should be watery like it is in the picture.  It should not be thick like our normal rice/urad batter.  Then the dosa will be thick.  First mix well with half the quantity of water with a ladle and then add more water.  Leave for 15 - 20 minutes to soak.  The dosa maavu is ready to use! All the flours are of equal measures - it is easy to remember!

 

All the flours

The batter after adding water

Unlike normal rice/urad dosa, this batter should not be spread, but poured on the hot tava!

Heat the non-stick tava.  After it gets heated up, POUR the batter like it looks in the picture.  2-3 tsp. of Ghee-refined oil mixed oil will be tasty for this dosa.  We are a bit diet conscious, so, we use 2 tsp. of Gingely oil/til oil/nallennai.  The flame should be medium.  This dosa will come out nice and crisp if we take time and heat it in a medium flame throughout.

If you have two people to eat at the same time, use two tavas...simple... you need  lot of patience while making this dosa! This dosa will be crisp when it is hot!  Fold it and serve.  NO NEED TO TURN AND COOK! Any type of chutney, coconut or coriander, will be nice for this dosa.  Or dosa-milagai podi  (click on the link to get recipe!)is best.

Enjoy and I would be happy to know the result please!