Coconut & Soaked Urad Dal Chutney / Chutney Recipe - 29 / #100chutneys

What else do you need when your best friend always encourage and support your passion. I am sure that everyone would have crossed such beautiful memories. Yes! I am going share a few words about my friend Swathi who taught me today's chutney recipe and whom I miss a lot after she got transferred to her native place. She was also the one who motivated me a lot during my last #100dietrecipes and in fact, I had also shared her recipe Methi Wheat Flour Instant Dosa in that series. I am feeling so happy to dedicate this chutney to her which I learned some years back but got a chance to prepare only today. She is a also great cook and during those days, every Friday used to be a feast day either in my place or hers. Seriously, I terribly miss those days ! I am getting so emotional and nostalgic, so moving to today's recipe...

This chutney is prepared using soaked urad dal and coconut. Easy to prepare, healthy and importantly, no cooking required for this recipe. Urad dal is very good for women as it contains iron, folic acid and calcium. In this recipe, soaked urad dal is added as such without cooking or sautéing which is indeed a healthy one. The addition of raw onion gives a crunchy texture and delicious taste when it is served with Kanji or Curd rice. Apart from that, this chutney can also be served with Rasam rice. Adjust the quantity of chilli according to taste bud.

Ingredients :

2 1/2 Tbsp Urad dal 
3 - 4 Dry red chillies 
1/2 Cup Coconut, grated 
Small piece of Tamarind 
Salt to taste 
2 Tbsp Finely chopped Raw Onion

Method :

Wash and soak urad dal for 30 - 45 minutes.

Add grated coconut in a blender along with dry red chillies, salt and tamarind.

Grind into fine paste by adding little water.

The consistency of the chutney should be thick and not watery.

Now drain the water from urad dal and add it to the blender.

Grind it coarsely. ( just give one or two extra pulse ).

Transfer it to a bowl and serve.

Serving Options :

Serve with Kanji, Curd rice and Rasam rice.

Vendakkai Chutney / Lady's Finger Chutney / Chutney Recipe - 28 / #100chutneys

Few of you must be familiar with Lady's finger chutney and for others, you might get a strange reaction while seeing this chutney. I even gave a weird reaction when I saw Vendakkai chutney in some Telugu Cookery show long back. I usually pen down when I watch cookery shows, but somehow missed for this chutney. So I tried to recreate the same by recollecting few ingredients and also enhanced a little bit according to our taste bud. And thank god, my attempt did not go wrong. The chutney tasted so delicious and was a huge hit among family members. The addition of sesame and groundnuts gave a creamy and yummy taste. This chutney pairs perfectly with hot plain rice or with Rasam or Curd rice. The vital part of the Vendakkai chutney is the stickiness should not be there so saute well in a low flame until Vendakkai turns almost crispy ( not very crispy ).

Ingredients :

1 Tsp Oil + 1 1/2 Tbsp Oil 
8 Vendakkai / Lady's Finger, Finely chopped 
1 tbsp Sesame seeds / Ellu 
2 tbsp Groundnuts, Roasted
1 Onion, Finely chopped 
2 - 3 Green chillies, Chopped ( Adjust according to tase bud ) 
3 - 4 sprigs of Curry leaves
Small piece of Tamarind 
salt to taste
Thinly sliced or finely chopped onions for garnishing

Method :

Heat 1 1/2 Tbsp oil in a pan and add chopped Vendakkai / Lady's finger.

Saute until the stickiness goes off and lady's finger gets cooked. ( almost it turns crispy )

Remove from the pan and keep aside.

Now to the same pan, add remaining oil and add chopped onion followed by green chillies, curry leaves and tamarind piece.

Saute it until the onion changes its colour and remove from the flame.

Dry roast sesame seeds and groundnuts. Cool all the ingredients.

First grind sesame seeds and groundnuts into fine powder. Then add all the sautéed ingredients along with lady's finger.

Grind it little coarsely by adding the required quantity of salt and water.

The consistency of chutney should not be fine paste.

Transfer the prepared chutney to a bowl, add chopped raw onion and serve.

Adding raw onion is optional.

Serving Options :

Serve with rice.

Methi Leaves - Chana dal Chutney / Vendhaya Keerai - Kadalaiparupu Chutney / Chutney Recipe - 27 / #100chutneys

Here comes another interesting healthy chutney using Methi leaves. I am feeling really happy that my family members started eating Methi leaves and in-fact everyone started encouraging me to cook something like this so that they can enjoy all veggies. The best part of the chutney series project is, every end of the day there is some kind of guess the secret ingredient game happening in my house. Interesting right? And yeah, of course I am the one who always win ;)

Coming to today's recipe, I have used Chana dal and tomatoes to balance the bitterness of Methi leaves and it worked so well. The chutney tasted so delicious with no bitterness. I have added green chillies according to my family's preferences so adjust the quantity according to taste buds. This chutney can be served with Idly or Dosa.

Ingredients :

1 Tbsp Oil
3 Tbsp Chana dal
1 Big Onion, chopped
2 Medium sized Tomatoes, chopped
3 - 4 Green chillies ( Adjust according to taste bud )
1/2 Cup Fresh Methi leaves
Salt to taste

For Tadka :

1 Tsp Oil 
1/2 Tsp Mustard seeds 
1/2 Tsp Urad dal 
1 Dry red chilli 

Method :

Heat oil in a pan and add chana dal.

Fry until the colour starts changing and add the remaining ingredients except salt.

Saute for 3 - 4 minutes or until the tomatoes turns soft and methi leaves get cooked.

Once done, remove from the flame and cool the ingredients.

Grind into fine paste by adding the required quantity of salt and water.

Transfer it to a bowl and keep aside.

For tadka, heat oil in a small and add mustard seeds.

Once it starts spluttering, add urad dal and red chilli.

Fry and add it to the prepared chutney.

Serve.

Serving Options :

Serve with Idly or Dosa.

Gongura & Capsicum Chutney / Chutney Recipe - 26 / #100chutneys

Gongura is a general used in Telugu cuisine and most popularly used in a pickled version. Already I have shared more information about gongura leaves along with an interesting recipes, so please check the below link to get a detailed version.

Gongura Pappu 

Gongura Pachadi 

Gongura Brown Rice Pulao 

Royyalu Gongura 

And coming to my today's chutney, I gave an unique twist by including green capsicum / bell pepper along with gongura leaves. And both the ingredients complimented each other to give a delicious tangy, spicy and tasty chutney. This chutney pairs perfectly with hot plain rice but also can be served with Idly or Dosa. Adjust the quantity of green chilli according to taste bud. Dry red chillies can also be used instead of green ones.

Ingredients :

1 Tbsp Oil 
1 Bunch Gongura leaves  (approx. 1- 11/2 Cups ) 
1 Big Green Capsicum / Bell Pepper, Chopped 
1 Big Onion,Chopped 
1 Tsp Cumin seeds 
4 - 5 Green chillies ( Adjust according to taste bud ) 
Salt to taste 

For Tadka :

1 1/2 Tsp Oil 
1/2 Tsp Cumin seeds / Jeera 
1/2 Tsp Urad dal 
1 - 2 Dry red chillies 
A pinch of Hing 

Method :

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add chopped onion followed by cumin seeds, green chillies and capsicum.

Saute it together for a minute or until the onion turns translucent and add gongura leaves.

Saute it for a another couple of minutes in a low flame or until the leaves gets cooked well.

Once done, remove from the flame and cool the sautéed mixture.

Grind into fine paste by adding the required quantity of salt and water.

Transfer to a bowl and keep aside.

For Tadka, heat oil in a small pan and add cumin seeds followed by urad dal, dry red chillies and hing powder.

Fry and add it to the prepared chutney.

Serve.

Serving Options :

Serve with hot plain rice or Idly or Dosa.

Goan Fish Curry

You all must be wondering, how come a regular post in the middle of chutney series on my blog. When this recipe goes to my favourite event Shhh Secretly Cooking Challenge group, how can I miss it :) If you are following my page, then you must be familiar with this group which I have been posting every month. For others, this is an amazing event hosted by few co-bloggers in which, the bloggers are paired and shared their secret ingredients among them. Using those ingredients, a recipe is prepared and posted on every month end. And the best part of the event is guessing the secret ingredients of other bloggers by seeing their food picture. For February month, I was paired with a wonderful blogger Aruna Panangipally who blogs at aahaaramonline.com and our theme was Goan cuisine. Like the name of her blog, her page is also filled with loads of delicious aahaaram ( food ). Do visit her page and try out her yummy recipes.

And coming to the secret ingredients, Fish and Coconut milk were given to me by my partner Aruna. And using those ingredients, prepared a delicious and tasty Goan Fish Curry. Click HERE to view a yummy dish prepared by my partner using the secret ingredients given by me.

When it comes to Goan cuisine, Seafood is the first thing which pops up in our mind. Generally, there is a saying that Goan cuisine is incomplete without Fish. Though there are varieties of Goan fish curry, this one is a tangy and spicy version. After doing some research on Goan curry finally ended up the recipe with handy ingredients. I have used tamarind in this recipe for the sourness but kokum can also be included instead of tamarind. And also, I have used tamarind as such in the masala paste whereas few soak them and add the tamarind extract. Since both green chillies and red chillies are used, adjust the quantity of it according to taste bud.

Ingredients :

300 gms Fish ( I have used Pomfret ) 
1 1/2 Tsp Oil 
1 Onion, finely chopped 
2 Green chillies, slitted 
1/4 Tsp Turmeric powder 
1/2 Tsp Cumin / Jeera powder 
Salt to taste 
1 Cup Coconut Milk 

For Masala :

5 - 6 Dry red chillies ( Adjust according to taste bud ) 
1 1/2 Tsp Ginger garlic paste 
1 Tbsp Coriander leaves 
4 - 5 Pepper corns 
1/2 Tsp Cumin seeds 
1/4 Tsp Methi / Fenugreek seeds 
Small gooseberry size Tamarind 
1/4 Cup Coconut, grated 

Method :

Grind all the ingredients given in "For Masala" into fine paste by adding water.

Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onion followed by green chillies.

Saute it for a minute and add the ground masala along with 1 - 1 1/2 cups of water and the required quantity of salt.

Let it boil until the raw smell of masala goes off in a low - medium flame.

Now add the coconut milk and boil it again for 5 - 7 minutes.

Add fish pieces and cook until the fish gets cooked.

Garnish with curry leaves ( optional ) and remove from the flame.

Serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve with hot plain rice.