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.

Aamras ~ side dish for puri

This year, my son is going crazy over mangoes. he cried for half a day, when mangoes were plucked from the mango tree opposite to our apartment, as he wanted all for him!



Last week, our friend brought her home grown Rumani mangoes for us. The very next day, i prepared this aamras and enjoyed it to the core with puri. definetly this is the best way to treat mango lovers!

This recipe is easy and simple, it can be said in one line. i clicked lots of pictures out of love for mangoes. kindly bare with me. also i hope mango lovers would enjoy the pictures here!

serves: 2
time taken (to prepare and to finish eating) : less than 10 mins

Ingredients:

1 ripe alphonso or rumani mango
2 pods of cardamom
2 strands of saffron
2 tsp's of sugar
2 tsp's of milk (optional)

Method:



Wash the mango and peel its skin. cut it into pieces. discard the seed.

To your mixie jar, add the chopped mangoes, cardamom seeds, saffron and sugar. add milk, if you wish. i skipped adding milk. grind all together till you get a fine and smooth aamras.

Serve with puri and enjoy the mango delight! if serving later, store in fridge. it tastes even better, when chilled.

Notes:

It is said that, 1/4 tsp of dry ginger powder is added to the aamras in maharashtra.

Use fully ripened mango and i guess only few varieties of mangoes work well for aamras.

How to make aloo paratha ~ with step by step pictures

Aloo Paratha, i make it quite often. but never posted here, as i always make it for dinner and as i never click pictures after sunset. today broke the rule and made for lunch. as i was keen on making north indian thali, we had aloo paratha's with khichdi and dal. which turned out into a good and satisfying meal.

Aloo Paratha Recipe

Prep Time: 20 mins 

Cooking Time: 10 mins  
Serves: 2
Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Recipe Type: Bread
makes  6-7 paratha's

Ingredients:


Atta / Wheat flour - 2 cup's / 400 gms
Potatoes - 3
Oil - 1/2 tsp
Omam / Ajwain - 1/2 tsp
Corriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Chilly powder / sambhar powder - 1 tsp (or use finely chopped green chilly)
Finely chopped corriander leaves - 2 tsp
Ghee - 2 tsp's (for making paratha's)

Method:

Pressure cook the potatoes for about 5 whistles at least. peel its skin and mash it nicely. let it cool.

In a pan, heat 1/2 tsp oil, add ajwain seeds.

tip: you may add very finely chopped onions and green chilli for a variation.

Then add in the mashed potatoes. and mix well with ajwain.

Add corriander powder, cumin powder, chilly powder and salt to taste.

Mix well with the potatoes. add in the chopped corriander leaves and mix all together. it should all come together. let the stuffing cool down.

tip: it is very important to let the aloo stuffing to cool completely. else, you cannot roll the paratha with the hot stuffing in. it peeks out.

Meanwhile when the stuffing cools down, prepare the atta. In a wide bowl, mix wheat flour and little bit of salt. add water and knead like we knead our poori dough. so do not knead so soft, as we do for phulka's or chapathi's. Divide the dough and shape them into big balls of a tomato size. Also shape the aloo stuffing into small balls that of half a lemon sized ones.

tip: aloo stuffing balls should be half the size of the atta dough balls.

Take a atta dough ball and and roll with rolling pin or flatten on your palm, it should be just of your palm size. flattening evenly is very important.  Place a aloo stuffing ball in the centre.

Now bring the corners all together and shape like we do for modak.

Close the stuffing thoroughly and flatten with your palm with little pressure.

Dust with flour, so that it will be easy for rolling.

Roll it lightly and never give pressure to the centre part. if needed dust with flour. even, if the stuffing peek's out, do not worry.

This is how, the fully rolled paratha look like.

Heat a Griddle/dosa pan, put the rolled paratha and wait for it to get cooked.

When the paratha puff's up, apply ghee on both sides of the paratha and cook, till you find brown spots.

Transfer the paratha's to a serving plate. if intended to store and eat later, then wrap them up in aluminium foil.



Serve aloo paratha's hot with curd and pickle. sprinkle chilly powder and cumin powder over curd before serving.



Notes:

Do not try to use hot aloo stuffing before rolling.

While rolling, if little bit of stuffing sticks to your rolling pin, then scrap it off, dust some flour and then start to roll. do not keep the rolled paratha in the rolling surface, it furthur sticks. so as soon as you roll, put it on griddle.

We like these aloo paratha's a lot. whenever i make it, i get compliments without fail. do try it out!

Today i cooked lunch leisurely. from next week, i have to pack lunch for my son. i do not know, how am i going to manage cook so early. also i did not train my son to eat alone all these days. it is going to be a different learning phase of life for both of us!