Coconut chutney

Again I thought of hibernating for sometime and then wake up with a new set of recipes. It was not actually hibernating but a series of cold and cough. All three of us were taking shifts and taking medicines. I've been trying many dishes but became too much lazy to draft it and publish. The snaps are there and so will soon appear here. When I brood it is very difficult to bounce back. This time there was another tension of sending my son to playschool. I had a bad time for almost a week sitting at home without him and adjusting. He also had difficulty to stay away but is ok now. I've been trying different kinds of coconut chutneys and this is one them.

Ingredients

• Coconut grated - 1 cup
• Chana dal - 2 tsp
• Kashmiri chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Shallots - 2
• Garlic - 1 clove 
• Salt to taste
• Water - 1/2 cup

For tempering

• Oil - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Shallots - 2
• Curry leaves - as required

Method

• Dry roast chana dal
• In the small jar of mixer put all the ingredients and the roasted chana dal. Grind to a very fine paste
• Move to a clean bowl

For tempering

• Heat oil
• Add mustard seeds and allow it to splutter
• Add sliced shallots and curry leaves
• Saute for a minute or until shallots turn lightly brown. 
• Switch off the flame

Pour the above into bowl of chutney and mix well. Serve with warm idli.

Tomato Capsicum Chutney

I'm still brooding. I was supposed to post this long back. It is a tangy yummy chutney which you can make on a lazy day. Try this and enjoy your mornings with fluffy idlis.

Ingredients

• Garlic - 2 small pods
• Tomato - 1
• Capsicum - 1 
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Chilli flakes - 1/2 tsp
• Coriander leaves - 3-4 twigs
• Oil for sauteeing
• Salt to taste

Method

• Heat oil
• Chop garlic and add to the hot oil. Saute until it becomes light brown.
• Add the chopped tomato and capsicum. Saute until it becomes soft. 
• Add the chilli powder and chilli flakes. Saute for a minute. 
• Add little water. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. 
• Switch off the flame and allow the mixture to cool. 
• Wash and chop coriander leaves and add to the above mix.
• Once cooled transfer it to a blender and blend well. 
• Have with yummy idli or dosas. 

Rava Idli with Coriander chutney

Rava Idli is a quick simple idli. It makes life so easy. I love this because you get a flavourful idli in a jiffy. This doesn't require any fermentation. You can make the batter and use it then itself. Enjoy the weekends with this super fast idlis

Rava Idli
You need

• Rava/Semolina - 1 cup
• Curd - 1 cup
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Baking soda - 1 tsp
• Urid dal - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1 pinch
• Oil for sauteeing
• Salt to taste

 Method

• Heat oil in a thick bottomed vessel
• Add mustard seeds. When it starts spluttering add cumin seeds. Saute for a few seconds
• Add urid dal and saute until light brown. 
• Add rava into the above mix. Saute for 2 minutes and switch off the flame. Allow it to cool 
• Mix together curd and baking soda.
• When the rava is cool, add the curd mix, asafoetida & salt. Blend well.
• If required add little water to get a pourable consistency. It shouldn't be too loose. 
• Pour the batter into idli pathram and steam for 10-15 minutes

Coriander chutney

You need

• Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
• Shallots - 2
• Ginger - a small piece
• Green chilli - 2
• Coriander leaves - 1 bunch
• Salt to taste

Method

Grind together all ingredients in a mixie and temper with the below ingredients (I usually don't like tempering this chutney and have skipped it here)

Tempering

1. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
2. Shallots - 2 sliced
3. Oil - 2 tsp

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. When it starts bursting add shallots and saute until golden brown.
Add to the chutney

Dry prawns tomato chutney

I had a packet dry prawns and was confused what to make of it. Today morning there was a shortage of coconut and so as the saying goes "necessity is the mother of all inventions", this chutney happened. My family likes tomato chutney, but then to give a twist/surprise I thought of adding roasted dry prawns to it. I used coconut oil here. Many will say unhealthy but still, it can be forgotten once a while right.

Ingredients
For roasting dry prawns

1. Coconut oil - 1 tsp 
2. Tiny Prawns dried - a handful (or may be 10gm)
3. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Dried chilli pieces - 1 tsp

• Coconut oil - 1 tsp 
• Shallots - 6 nos
• Ginger - a small piece
• Chilli powder - 2 tsp (or as per your tolerance)
• Tomato - 2 medium sized (pureed)
• Salt to taste 

Method

• Heat oil. Add 2, 3 and 4 of the ingredients and roast the prawns well. Let it cool.

Now to make the chutney

• Heat oil in a pan
• Add chopped ginger and shallots. Saute this until the onions are transparent.
• Add chilli powder and saute. Switch off the flame and allow to cool
• Now in a mixer grinder, grind the above (ginger- shallots - chilli) with the roasted prawns adding a little water into a fine paste.
• Again switch on the flame and put the pan back. Pour the fine paste and the pureed tomato.
• Add salt to taste,  leave on slow flame stirring in between until all the water dries off. 

Serve with dosa/idli :-)