I belong to the Southern part of India and we make a lot of traditional dips otherwise popularly known as “Chutneys”
in the Indian food culture. One can play with this idea and make so many variations of chutneys once you have a basic understanding of making a chutney.
I have picked 3 of my best Chutneys for you—-
1) Coconut Chutney
Toast 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen but thawed coconut in a pan under medium flame with 1 teaspoon of coconut oil with chopped green chili, 2 teaspoon of roasted Bengal gram lentils and salt to taste. Blend in a food processor or blender to turn into a semi smooth paste.
Garnish with Cilantro, mustard seeds and curry leaves.
COCONUT CHUTNEY
2) Tomato Chutney
Take a pan under medium flame and add 1 teaspoon of coconut oil, 1 cup of chopped tomatoes, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds,
1 teaspoon of red cayenne/ chili powder, 1/2 inch of grated fresh ginger or paste, 3 garlic cloves finely chopped and sauté with 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder and salt to taste and blend to a fine paste. Garnish with mustard seeds and curry leaves.
TOMATO CHUTNEY
3) TRADITIONAL “THOGAYAL” OR LENTIL CHUTNEY WITH COCONUT
For this chutney, you need 2 teaspoons of Black gram lentils or Black Lentils – although its called black gram these lentils are white on the outside with black seed inside -its called ” Urad dal” in the Indian food culture. You also need 1 teaspoon of Split chickpeas which is yellow in color. Toast both these in a pan under low flame with a teaspoon of coconut oil. Add 1/2 cup of coconut- fresh or frozen grated thawed- and toast with salt and 2/3 fresh red chilis. If you don’t have fresh red chili substitute using cayenne powder. Throw all of this in a blender and grind with as little water as possible. I also add a small piece of fresh tamarind. If not available you can add a teaspoon of lemon juice for acidity. In my household growing up this was one chutney that was never garnished and was gobbled up before it got to the table:)
TRADITIONAL NAME “THOGAYAL” OR LENTIL COCONUT CHUTNEY
Heat a pan with canola oil. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and wait till splutters. Add turmeric, cayenne, coriander powder, salt and lemon pepper powder. Then chop garlic and add to the pan. Saute for less than a minute. Then transfer the chick peas from the can and mix well for about 3 min’s so it soaks in all the flavors of the spices.
Turn off the heat and add the grated coconut and mix well.
Enjoy! This is such a great healthy snack!
If you do not wish to use the caned chick peas, you can buy the packet of chick peas from the store and soak it overnight. Pressure cook it and use the cooked chick peas.
One of my very dear friends called me to check if I could cater for Millburn Elementary school’s International Fair day. On this day, all the parents and kids get to taste different cuisines from all over the world and so I decided to take up this challenge to represent Indian Food. According to the instructions that was given to me by my friend, they needed something that was easy for kids as well as parents to pick and eat, dishes I prepare should obviously have flavors of my country India, it has to be ALLERGY FREE 🙂 and not very spicy. They also mentioned that they needed a dessert as well that had no nuts, no milk and so forth so even kids or parents with nut or milk allergies would be able to enjoy it. I decided to make VEGETABLE ROLLS and for dessert, my favorite CARAMELIZED BANANAS WITH TOASTED SWEETENED COCONUT FLAKES AND CARDAMOM.
I woke up early this morning all ready to take up the challenge. My vegetable rolls needed stuffing for which I decided to saute onions, bell peppers and boiled cooked potatoes with a bunch of home ground Indian spices. Once the stuffing was cooked and ready, I started spooning in some of the stuffing in each roll and folding it and cutting it into 3 for mess free eating:)
I was asked to make 75 such Vegetable rolls and cut into 3 so a total of 225 pieces and a small tray of dessert.
It took me a while to make and cut those 225 pieces:) I then had to start on my dessert. Dessert was simple but healthy and delicious. I had some cardamom seeds in my pantry so took them and freshly ground them using mortar and pestle. I chopped the most number of bananas I ever have in my life so far:) and used a tad of clarified butter along with brown sugar to get those puppies cooking and caramelized! Then I sprinkled some toasted sweetened coconut flakes on top and added some freshly ground cardamom as garnish- Pure heavenly bliss!
I packed everything up and had it dropped at the Millburn Elementary school, my dishes proudly representing my country India and its flavors!!!! My friend also sent me a picture clicked at the fair with most of the food gone in the trays:)
Have you heard of heaven on earth?????? This dish of mine exactly feels like “heaven on earth”. Growing up as a child, my “PAATI” (nana/grandma) struggled to make me and my brother to get to eat fruits!!!!!! So she used to make this dish and it would be gone in one second:) Just like that…..
Fortunately or unfortunately:) History repeats itself. So I make this yummylicious dish for my kids as a snack (and guess who shares their snack????)and they wipe the plate clean and I mean CLEAN!!! Please try this with your kids and let me know if it worked???and I PROMISE IT WILL:) You can also serve this as a dessert if you are entertaining. Add a scoop of COCONUT ICE CREAM on top and its out of the world!!!!!! Also, if you have not-so-ripe bananas this recipe will sweeten them up and is a great way to use them.
This is how I make it:
I chop up my bananas into thin mini slices and throw in a pan not too hot with a tad bit of clarified butter in it! Trust me guys, these are small cravings and my blog always screams out Moderation so a little doesnt hurt. You can also add olive oil and I add some brown sugar and let it caramelize on a low flame for about 10 minutes. You dont want to burn the sugar so keep the fame low.
And you have Heaven on a plate! I plate mine with some basil leaves and sweetened coconut flakes- Delish!!!! Enjoy!!!!
Chop up the onion, garlic and tomatoes finely. Remove the stems of the mushrooms and cut them into half. Take a wet paper cloth and wipe them to take off any dirt on them. Take a pan, add a teaspoon oil, transfer the chopped onion, garlic and saute for a minute or two. Add cumin, coriander, cayenne, curry powder and salt to taste.
Then transfer the mushrooms and saute with the rest for about 5 min’s or so. For the sauce, add cilantro, basil and coconut milk in a blender and blend well. Add salt to taste. Transfer the sauce to the pan and cook for 2 min’s under a low flame.
For the garnish, cut the ginger into thin strips length wise and saute with some honey or sugar.
