Chow Chow skin Thogayal - Chayote skin Chutney

My mom used to make this chutney back then. After I started my life here, I dint try that for a long time. My husband is not for chow chow. Not his kinda veggie. Thats when this struck me. Why not try it as chutney. Actually I never bought this veggie for about 2 yrs. But now, considering health factors and reducing on junk food, I started to try almost every vegetable that is nutritious. Today I made this thogayal. It came out well . Its full of fiber as it is made with the skin of the vegetable.  You could saute the vegetable with some salt and pepper or make some curry with the vegetable. When you make the vegetable do not throw the skin. It can be used to make this chutney.

Chayote is said to contain vitamin C. It is fat free, cholestrol free, sodium free. It has diuretic, cardio vascular and anti inflammatory properties.

Ingredients:

Skin of  1 chayote peeled.
Channa Dhal - 1 tbsps
Urad dhal - 2 tbsps
Salt - to taste
Red Chilli - 1
Asafoetida - a pinch
Oil - 2 tbsps
Tamarind -  small marble size

Preparation:

In a pan  heat one tbsps oil and fry urad dhal, channal dhal along with asafoetida , red chilli until urad dhal turn golden brown. Let it cool for sometime.

Meanwhile, heat another tbsps oil in the same pan and fry this peeled skin until they become tender.

Grind the skin along with the roasted dhal and tamarind to a fine paste.

Serve it with hot rice, roti or poori. Tastes good with dosa or idly too... The best is my husband dint know what this chutney had in it. ;-)

Sending this to Taste of Pearl City's "Anyone Can cook Weekly event"

Happy Cooking!!!

Bell Pepper Chutney

I went to San Francisco in 2008. My second cousin lives there so we visited her and went around SFO. When we went to her place, she made this red bell pepper chutney... It was very new to me but it tasted really good. Very simple recipe but it was very nice. She made bread sandwich and she used this chutney as the spread. It was so good!!! From then I have been telling all my friends and relatives about this chutney and they all loved it. It has a sweetish tinge but when we combine it with red chilli, it tastes so good...

Nutirtional benefits: (http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=50)

Bell peppers are rich source of Vitamin C and A. Red bell peppers have protective effect against cataracts. Also they protect against macular degeneration, the main cause of blindness in the elderly. Proctects against rheumatoid arthritis and many more great values. 

Ingredients

Red Bell Pepper - 1 big
Urad Dhal - 3 tbsps
Channa Dhal - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Asafoetida - Pinch
Red Chilli - 2
Oil - 2tbsps

Preparation:

Cut bell peppers into small cubes and fry it in a tbsps oil untill it becomes tender.

In the same pan, heat another tbsps oil and fry urad dhal, channa dhal along with chilli, asafoetida untill golden brown.

Grind the peppers with the roasted dhal along with salt into a coarse paste.

Serve it with rice or roti or make it as a spread for your sandwich. Enjoy cookin!!!!

Sending this to Jagruti's CMT - Chutney and to Akhila's DNSW - B

Peanut/ Groundnut Chutney

I learnt this chutney form my neighbor. we used to have fun cooking and sharing recipes. She was a very good cook and when I came to US after my wedding, she used to give me hints and help me in recipes. It used to be fun those days. Now she lives in San Francisco and I really miss her food :-( Anyways, we still share recipe over phone. So this one is from my friends kitchen... 

Ingredients:

Groundnuts / Peanuts - 1 cup (with ot without skin. both works fine)

Salt - to taste

Tamarind - Small lime size

Asafoetida - a pinch

Red chilli - 2
Oil- 1 tbsps
Mustard- 1 tsps
Urad dhal -1 tsps
Curry Leaves - 6-8

Roast ground nuts / peanuts in a tbsps of oil untill golden brown.

Grind all the above said ingredients into a fine paste with water. You can dilute by adding more water as per requirement.

Season with mustard curry leaves asafoetida and uradh dhal fried in oil. Tastes great for Dosas, idly, roti. 

Sending this to Jagruti's CMT - Chutney Event

Mullangi Thogayal - Radish Chutney

Hello!!! I am back with more now. To begin with let me give a small recipe which is really easy and delicious. It is just very very simple. Tastes good with rice, chapati, poori or good even for sandwich. Many people do not like radish. But radish has such great medicinal values. It is an excellent source of Vitamin C.. When you make it this way, no one will know its radish. Its yummy!  Let me finish this recipe before my husband is home for lunch so that he will not know about this. He doesn like radish ;-). 

Ingredients: 

Radish - 8-10 (Small red radish bunch)

Channa Dhal - 2 tbsp

Uradh Dhal - 2 tbsp

Tamarind - Small marble size

Red Chilli - 2 

Oil- 2 tbsp

Asafoetida - 1/4 tsps

Heat oil in a pan and add urad dhal and channa dhal. fry for few seconds and add asafoetida and chilli. fry till golden brown. 

In the same pan heat another tbsp oil and fry radish till they become tender. 

Grind these ingredients together along with tamarind and salt. Make it a coarse paste making sure the dhal is well ground. 

The chutney is ready. You can serve it with hot rice, chapathi. Tastes great  but very simple to make. 

Happy Cookin!!!

Sending this to Jagruti's CMT- Chutney Event

Corriander Coconut Chutney - Reposting

We usually make coconut chutney as side dish. Most common chutney i nour kitchen.  Somehow I dont like the plain coconut chutney so much. May be the white color makes me feel that its a bland dish. So whenever I make coconut chutney, I always make this one. It tastes great and gives good color and aroma to the dish. Simple ingredients, simple recipe, great taste....

Ingredients:

Group 1:

Coconut - 1 cup grated
Green chilli or Red Chilli - 2 (depends on spice level)
Salt - To taste
Roasted Gram - 3 Tbsp
Cilantro/ corriander leaves - 1/2 bunch. (Use the stem also)
Tamarind - marble size
Pearl Onion - 7-8
Ginger - 1tsps chopped

Seasoning:

Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1 tsps
Urad dhal - 1 tsps
Curry Leaves - 7-8
Asafoetida - A pinch

Preparation:

Grind group 1 ingredients into a corase paste. I like the chunky bites in my chutney. If you like it more fine paste, you can grind it fine. But coarse grind adds more taste to the food.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard. When it splutters, add urad dhal, curry leaves and asafoedita. When it turns golden brown remove from heat and garnish on the chutney.

Tastes good with dosa, idly, also with rice.

More to come!!! Sending this to Herbs and Flowers in my Platter" - Coriander leaves/Cilantro Originally hosted by PJ of Seduce your Tastebuds

Citron Sweet and Sour Pachadi - Chutney

I was having a chat with my grand mom yesterday and she told me about this citron sour and sweet pachadi (chutney). Initially I was hesitant to taste it but once I tasted it I liked it so much. For people who like the flavor and taste of citron, this is a great receipe. It is easy and its so delicious. U can store this for many days and eat it as side dish for anything.

Health Benefits: 

It cleans the spleen and purifies blood in the body. Helps in digestion. Vitamin C content and hence fights against cold and flu. Also improves immunity.

Ingredients: 

Citron finely chopped - 3 - Medium Sized as seen in picture

Oil - 2 Tbsp

Jaggery - 1/2 Pound

Tamarind  paste - 3 Tbsp (or 1 lemon sized tamarind squeezed as thick paste)

Dhaniya (Corriander seeds) - 2 Tbsp

Channa Dhal - 2 Tbsp

Dry red chilli - 3 ( depends on individual spice level)

Urad Dhal - 2 Tbsp

Salt - one pinch

Take oil in a pan and sautee the cirton well untill it looses color. Soak the same in the tamarind paste for about ten mins. When the citron absorbs the paste well, cook it in a pressure cooker upto 3 sounds (the sounds depend on the cooker capacity to cook the citron). After the citron gets cooked, cool it and grind it to a thick paste. Now add jaggery to the paste and bring it to boil. Add a pinch of salt to it and let it boil until the mixture thickens. Now dry roast dhaniya, channa dhal, dry chilli, urad dhal to fine powder and mix it with the boiling paste. Let it boil for another 2-3 mins and turn off the heat.

Serve it with Chappathi, Poori, Adai, Curd rice. It tastes well with everything.

Meet you soon!!!!

I am sending this post to Suma's (Veggie Platter's) Ongoing event " Indian side dishes other than subzi / dals"