Nellikaai Thayir Pachadi ~ Gooseberry Chutney

Eating Gooseberry is Good for Health. I can never eat raw gooseberry. My taste bud never allowed me to eat one whole gooseberry till now. I like the candied gooseberry and a sweet pickle made with gooseberry. This chutney is another way that i eat. The tangy curd and spicy chilly balances the sourness. This chutney is for people like me, who could not eat raw gooseberry.

Tomato Thokku ~ Travel food

My favorite food for a picnic would be Idly with tomato thokku.  If we plan to eat our break fast on the way of travel, i prepare chinna vengaya thokku (small onion chutney) or tomato thokku to have with idlies. these two thokku varieties will perfectly go with idly.

Beetroot Chutney ~ Thuvayal

I love to eat beetroot either in pachadi or in kootu. i hate to cook stir fry with it. somehow i never liked the bland taste in it. when my friend suggested me to try this thuvayal recipe. i tried and liked it very much.  i like to eat my thuvayal mixed with rice. also like to have as a side to rasam rice. do try this,  if you like spicy thuvayal.

Ingredients:

Beetroot - 2

Oil - 1/2 tsp + 2 tsp's

Urad dal - 1 tbsp

Dry red chilly - 3 or 5

Grated coconut - 1 tbsp

Tamarind - a small bit

Method:

Wash the beetroot and peel the skin. Grate the beetroot and set it aside.

In a pan, add 1/2 tsp of oil, then add in the urad dal and dry red chilly. saute it, till the urad dal turns into golden color. 

Next add in the grated beetroot to the pan and saute till it becomes soft. it takes at least 5-7 mins for the beetroot to get soft. add little bit of salt, which will help to cook the beets fast.

Cool the sauteed beetroot. then transfer it to your mixer jar and add a bit of tamarind and 1 tbsp of grated coconut and grind it coarsely. add 2 or 3 tsp's of water and grind into a fine paste.

Heat a pan, add 2 tsp's of oil and add the grounded beetroot chutney. check for salt and add sufficient salt and saute till the chutney becomes thick. it takes 2 minutes. transfer the chutney to a serving bowl.

Serve the beetroot thuvayal with rice, rasam and appalam.

Notes:

Increase tamarind and red chilly according to your taste. adding 3 red chilly will give you a mild spicy thuvayal.

Adding coconut is optional.

Pudina Thuvayal / Pudina chutney

Mint / Pudina is my favourite, next to Mint rice i often prepare this thuvayal. mint is best for digestion, when mint clubbed with ginger and made thuvayal, eaten with Rasam, then thats the best combination to please our digestive system and make you feel light. i always prepare this thuvayal the next day of preparing biryani.

Small Onion Chutney ~ Chinna Vengaya Thokku

This is one of our favourite chutney's. I learned the recipe from aval vikatan. I also clubbed Bharathy's recipe with aval vikatan and got the recipe of this yummy Onion Thokku.

Thakkali Puthina Chutney / Tomato and Mint Leaves Chutney

Last Weekend my son had his culturals day. Only on his reharsal's day, (i.e) a day prior to the culturals day, i came to know, the song, for which he is going to perform. that night, we searched for that song in the youtube and played it. My son did few steps and he was dancing good. even the next day, before starting for the function, we gave him another rehersal and took him to the function hall. Do u know, what he did on stage, when he is supposed to dance, he stood simply for the whole performance. but i guessed that it would happen, as i had similar experience with my brother too.

Coming to this Thakkali Puthina Chutney, i love this chutney very much, as it can be prepared quick and it also tastes good with hot steaming idli's. However adding Puthina is optional, Mint Leaves addition gives a nice taste and aroma. and its good for digestion.

Ingredients:

1 Onion
2 Tomatoe's
4 Garlic pod's
1/2 cup mint leaves / Puthina
2 Tbsp's of Chana Dal
2 tbsp's of grated Coconut
3 Dry Red Chilli's
1/2 tbsp of oil for frying onion/tomatoes

1/2 tsp oil for Tempering / Thalippu
1/4 tsp Mustard
1/2 tsp split Urad Dal

Method:

Heat a pan, and a tbsp of oil, add chana dal and roast it, till it turns golden colour. add garlic pods and roast it too.

Now add chopped onion and tomatoe's and fry them. add salt to taste and chilli's and mix well.

Add Washed and Drained Puthina Leaves to the pan and saute it along. now add grated coconut and saute it for a minute and remove the pan from flame and cool it down.

Add 1/3 cup of water and grind it along with the cooled ingredients of the pan to a smooth chutney.

Now, heat a Tadka pan, and heat oil, add mustard and let it splutter and add urad dal and roast it and add to the grinded chutney.

Serve the Chutney, with Hot Idli's and Dosa's.

This Chutney is one of our favourite. Do try it!

* I also add Chilli Powder instead of dry red chilli's.
* You can also have a small bit of tamarind while grinding the chutney.

Puthina, Karivepillai Thuvayal [Mint, Curry Leaves Chutney]

Mint and Curry Leave's are like twin sister's. You can pair them both in many of your dish'es. Both help's in digestion. Having Mint Leave's chutney once aweek is good for you. This chutney taste's little bitter, because of the curry leave's. but you should not mind it for a healthy reason. If you are a curry leaf lover like me, then you will definetly love this strong aromatic flavoured chutney.

Little tamarind, and coconut add's great taste to this chutney.

How to Prepare?

* Take a Cup of Mint leave's. Wash and saute them in a pan, till they shrink.

* A Cup of Curry Leaves should be washed.

* Have 1/4 cup of grated coconut and a bit of tamarind.

* Heat a tsp of oil in a Tadka pan, add a tsp of urad dal, and fry till it turn golden color. add these urad dal to mint leaves and curry leaves. add 3 dry Red Chilli's, grated coconut, salt to taste and 2 tbsp of water and grind them into a nice paste.

* Heat 1/4 tsp of oil in Tadka pan, add 1/4 tsp mustard seed's, let it pop and add it to the chutney/Thuvayal.

Mix these Thuvaiyal/Chutney with Rice, have rasam on top, for a perfect soothing onto your throat.

Kothamalli Chutney and Green Chutney for Sandwitch

Finding out some cooking secret's from my mom is very difficult. but i will try my most to pull out the secret. Corriander leaves was one secret, she used for her delicious Paneer Masala. after trying Paneer masala, i loved adding corriander leaves, to all my gravy's. it alway's gives a nice taste to the gravy. its a healthy green too. here iam going to share two different forms of Corriander Chutney. One is Corriander Stem Chutney, that can be served for idli, dosa and vada's. and the other one is Green Chutney with Corriander leaves and Mint/Puthina Leaves, that can be used as a spread for sandwitch.

Corriander Stem Chutney / Kothamalli Kaambu Chutney:

Ingredients:

1. Corriander Leave's - 2 tbsp
2. Corriander stem's - 15 (refer the above picture)
3. Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
4. Green Chilli - 2
5. Roasted Gram / Pottukadalai - 1 tbsp
6. Oil for seasoning - 1/4 tsp
7. Mustard - 1/2 tsp
8. Split Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Wash the Corriander leaves and stem's.

Grind the corriander leaves and stem's along with Grated coconut, green chilli, roasted gram, salt and few tbsp's of water. add water, as in what consistency, you need it.

Heat 1/4 tsp of oil in a pan, add Mustard, when it crack's add urad dal. when the urad turn's golden colour, switch off the flame and pour the mustard, urad dal over the chutney.

It taste's extraordinary. Try it out, to find the difference. Taste's perfect with Idli, Dosa and Vada's.

Green Chutney for Sandwitch:

Ingredients:

Half bunch of corriander leaves,
a small cup of mint leaves ( sauted for a minute in pan),
2 green chilli's,
1/4 cup grated coconut and
ginger of half-inch size.

Method:

All grinded into chutney, with few spoon's of water and salt.

It tasted great with Sandwitch and idli's. dont avoid the coconut, it surely reduces the soarness of corriander leaves. Today, we had egg's over this green chutney spreaded over sandwitch bread. it tasted so Good.

How about Idli Sandwitch??

Spread some green chutney on flat side of one idli and some tomato sauce on other idli's flat side.
insert, veggie's of your choice, Greated cheese, inbetween two idli's and serve it with chutney and sauce.

Hope you like both the chutney's.
Both the chutney's are for Dear Cilantro's JFI- Cilantro.

Kothamalli Thokku/ Corriander Chutney

I had two bunch of corriander leaves, and as the herb mania-corriander event, hosted by siri, is ending today, i prepared this corriander/kothamalli thokku yesterday for dinner, to serve along with my Rava idli's. It was so tasty, with little tanginess, worth of trying it. It suit's best with Idli, Dosa. I got this recipe from Aval Vikatan's supplement- 30 Thokku Varieties.

Ingredients:

Corriander Leaves - 2 bunch(4 cups)

Round Red Chilli - 5 (this will be of medium spice)

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp

Oil - 3 tsp

Mustard - 1/4 spoon

Tamarind - a small lemon size / or a pinch of tamarind

Method:

Wash the Corrainder Leaves.

In a pan, heat a spoon of oil, add the red chilli, fenugreek and roast them till they get croasted. now add asafoetida powder, roasted fenugreek and red chilli's to the mixer grinder.

Add the washed corriader leaves, tamarind, salt and 1/4 cup water to the mixer grinder and grind them along with dry red chilli's fenugreek seeds and asafoetida powder very smoothly.

Now in the Kadaai or Thick Bottomed pan heat the remaining oil, add mustard, when it cracks, add the grinded paste and let it boil for 5 minutes.

After that reduce the flame and stir them till they start sticking to pan. it should go dark green in colour, thats the end point.

It should be like our home ground mehendi mix. Refer the pic above.

Note:

i used just 3 red chilli's in place of 10 chilli's, as we don't prefer very spicy thokku.

Serve with Hot Idli's. I served it with Rava Idli's.

This corriander chutney is on its way to Herb Mania created by Dee, now hosted by Siri.

Carrot Thuvaiyal(Chutney) & Carrot Rice

My Mom used to prepare this thuvaiyal/chutney for us to make us eat the carrot atleast in this form. she also makes coconut thuvaiyal, which is my favourite one. the taste of it will stay on my tongue even after eating.

Coming to this Carrot Thuvaiyal/chutney, i prefer this Carrot Thuvaiyal along with Rasam and Pappad. it used to be my simple and light meal. also i prepare this thuvaiyal and mix it with Rice and pack it for my hubby lunch box.

Coming to the Ingredients:

Carrot-2
Urad dall-1tbsp
Red chilli-2
Tamarind-Half-inch size
Salt
Oil-2 tsps
Mustard-half a tsp
Curry leaves-6

Method:

Peel the outer skin of the carrot and Grate them and keep it aside .

Now in a kadai add 1 tsp of oil. fry urad dall till it becomes golden color. also fry the red chilli's.

Add the fried urad, chilli and tamarind to the grated carrot and grind it into a thick coarse paste by adding little water and required salt. Grind it coarsely.

Now add 1tsp of oil in the kadai, add mustard seeds..when it crackles, add curry leaves and add the grinded paste to it.

Fry it till the raw smell of the carrot leaves and the color changes to darker, when it starts sticking to kadai remove it from the flame.

It also Suits for Dosa's.

This can be mixed with rice...name it as carrot rice.. I just seasoned it with ghee fried cashews.

Madras Onion Chutney

If you try this recipe and let others eat first..iam sure you will be left out with empty bowl and spoon. yeah this one is very tasty. try out for a change.

Coming to the ingredients:
1. Small Onions-1/4 kg
2. Chilli Powder-4 spoons
3. Lemon - 1(juice)
4. Salt
5. Turmeric Powder-1/2 spoon
6. oil- 6 spoons

For Seasoning:

1. Mustard-1/2 spoon
2. Curry leaves-5

Fry and Powder It:
fry the following ingredients well without oil.
1. Mustard- 1 spoon

2. Cumin seeds-1/2 spoon

3. Asafoetida-1/2 spoon

Method:
Remove the cover of the small onions. I know it is time consuming and boring job..i do this by watching TV. In a kadai, heat the oil, add mustard seeds. when it crackle's, add the small onions. fry them well. the colour change and aroma raising is the point to add the lemon juice,chilli powder,turmeic powder, and salt. fry it till the raw smell of the powder goes off. now grind it into a paste.

Before Grinding

season it with mustard and curry leaves and add the fried powder and mix well.

Chutney with Tempting Taste Ready to Serve...

i prefer this chutney with hot idlies.
To my surprise it suited well with chapathi's.

Recipe Source: Aval Vikatan.. 30 variety thokku's.
This leads for JFI-Onion.

Dosa with corriander chutney

Required Items:

1.Corriander leaves of 5 stems atleast
2.Grated coconut 1/2 cup
3.Green chilli- 2
4.Roasted gram-3 tbsp
5.salt as required
6.oil
7.curry leaves
8.mustard seeds
9. water

Method:

Take a pan. fry the corriander leaves and grated coconut without leaving oil for few seconds. now grind fried corriander leaves,grated coconut,roasted gram,green chilli, salt,5 curry leaves by adding little water.now do thalippu with mustard seeds and curry leaves.
iam sure it will tempt you to do again and again. try it out.
this corriander chutney goes well with idly,dosa,vadai, pongal.