Coriander Chutney and Food Fiction

Coriander chutney was the first thing I ground when I got my Mixer!

 Fig. 1. Coriander Chutney

Many long years had I spent without a mixer and without great chutney. Finally the day came when I got myself a mixer and I lost no time getting together some coriander, (some mint is optional), green chillies, garlic, jeera, coconut, lime juice, salt and ground myself some green heaven! It went on idlis, dosas, sandwiches, you name it and it was slathered with this chutney! In a matter of days I became desperately dependent on my mixer. Now I simply cannot do without it any more! If anything happens to my mixer I will have to get down on my knees and beg for its well-being, "Bhagwaan, mainey aaj tak tumsey bohot kuch maanga hai... Ek aur cheez mujhey de de Bhagwaan!"

You can see that there is lots of nonsense overflowing with my chutney today. Sometimes it just cannot be contained. And if you give me events like "Of Chalks and Chopsticks", hosted this month by Sra of "When my Soup Came Alive", then I grab them with both hands and let the nonsense begin. (Disclaimer: The following story is free-flowing fiction with no commercial affiliations.)

The Princess and the Chutney

According to the legend..

..it was Princess Sumeetrangini who first discovered coriander. The distressed damsel was lost in the woods, when she chanced upon this divinely scented jadibooti. She was so enamored by the delicate 'erb, that when she returned, the bravest and the best were commissioned to procure coriander and satisfy her craving for its chutney. But the perils of the journey were so great that few remained to tell their tale.

Prince Vikramaditya was the Crown-Prince of the illustrious kingdom of Adityapore. When he heard about Sumeetrangini's unparalleled beauty and the legend of her desire for coriander chutney, he decided to undertake the perilous journey to obtain the mystic 'erb for the craving beauty.

The brave Prince scaled mountains, swam rivers, pierced forests, fought terrors and finally obtained a bunch of coriander!! Armed with the rare bouquet he arrived at the Palace to meet the enchanting Princess...

Zucchini Pachhadi / Chutney

Hey everyone.. Zucchini Pachhadi today.. a surprisingly delicious dish! Great find for me!

 

Fig. 1. Zucchini Pachhadi

 
I like Zucchini as a vegetable. It is like french beans or green peas for me. It has a fairly neutral taste. Goes well with anything. So I use it as a filler vegetable to add body to my mixed veggie dishes. I don't think most of the family like the name Zucchini. So it is very important to disguise it. But they all happily eat it, no questions asked, when mixed with miscellaneous vegetables.

My grocery store, for some strange reason, prefers to stock items in batches. You have to buy a whole bag of several zucchinis at a time. No single pieces. But, I just need one or two pieces. Not more than that. Sorry, no such option. So I have to get a whole bunch at a time. I do easily use up about two in some or the other mixed vegetable dish, dosa, etc. But there are only so many of those to be made in one week.. so then I have to rack my brains as to how to consume the remaining zucchini!! Unfortunately zucchini goes bad fairly rapidly.. I would give it a week at most. By the end of 7 days the Zucchini in the refrigerator is already screaming for attention.

I had noticed Priya's Zucchini Pachhadi a few days ago and kept in mind for the next time I have excess zucchini. Rare (and risky) for me to try a zucchini-only dish. But that is the best way to consume a whole bunch of it at once! Can darling Zucchs pull off flying-solo?!! Priya confidently stated in her writeup that even her husband liked this one. I figured that was good enough for me. Let's give it a shot! :)

And voila...!! This pacchadi is truly worth its salt! The garlic and seasoning give it a very fragrant and flavourful taste. Totally worth the trial! Thanks for this recipe, Priya! My family consumed this pacchadi quite happily. And given my grocer's incorrigible habits, I will certainly be making this pachhadi again! :)

Roasted Garlic Hummus

Hey everyone.. snack-time. I don't know why it took so long, but it was only recently that we got a taste of hummus at a party somewhere. And I'm glad for this discovery..

 

Fig. 1. Roasted Garlic Hummus

Hummus is one of the the most diverse chutneys or dips out there. It's tasty, it's filling, it goes with any bread, chips or salad-veggies like a dip. It doubles up as a great sandwich spread. And the best part is that it is reasonably healthy. Has a lot of protein from the chick-peas. And the olive oil makes it healthy and flavorful. So the last few weeks we have been buying a tub of hummus every time we do groceries. Hummus with pita is a far better alternative to chips for a snack.

I figured if we are going to consume it so frequently I should look into the recipe. It turns out that hummus needs only a few primary ingredients. Everything else is just variations on the base. Cooked chick-peas, olive oil, sesame seeds (or tahini), salt and lemon juice or vinegar. Grind them all up and you have hummus. The variations could be adding all sorts of spices to this.

The hummus I have made here today has turned out so delicious that I will definitely be making this very frequently at home adding variations every time. Honestly, if you have the ingredients and a mixer then hummus is so easy to make, a caveman could.. uhmm.. let's just say it's easy.

Mom's fresh garlic chutney

Hi everyone, this is my very first post. I am hoping to start off this blog as a place where I write about things that I like and do in my spare time.. probably food, birds, nature, learning and travel. Here's to a good beginning!

I have been reading and using recipes from food blogs for a while now. I am a so-so cook, not particularly spectacular. So this is not an expert's "how to make.." blog. I just want to archive some of this food I am making. Maybe sometime in future I will look at these recipes and pictures and hopefully be inspired to cook more. Some of these recipes are my Mom's or Grandma's, some are from other members of the family or friends, some are from other blogs. I give thanks to them in advance! :)

The recipe I post today, my very first blog recipe, is my Mom's fresh garlic chutney.

 Fig 1. Mom's fresh garlic chutney

Ingredients: (quantities here are rough measures, taste and see if you need more or less.)
Fresh grated coconut - about 1 cup
Fried red chillies (I used red chilly powder) - about 1 teaspoon or to taste
Tamarind (I used Tamarind paste) - about 3/4 teaspoon
Garlic (peeled) - about 3-4 medium pods
Salt - to taste
Water - as needed

Procedure:
Grind fresh grated coconut + red chilly powder + peeled garlic pods.Add water as little as needed to grind. Add slightly diluted tamarind paste and salt and mix/grind once more to make sure it's all well homogenized. That's all! Its the yummiest accompaniment to dosa, idli or bhakri. For accompaniment with bhakris, add finely chopped onions to chutney.

Tip:
I make this chutney in bulk on weekends. I pour it in an ice cube tray and seal it with Press-n-Seal plastic wrap so that the freezer doesn't smell of garlic. The frozen cubes of chutney can be kept in a ziplock bag later. Then later in the week or month, when I make dosa or idli and don't have time to make chutney or fall short on sambar or other accompaniments, I take out 2 cubes of chutney per person and defrost just that much. Saves me time.

 Fig 2. After freezing chutney into cubes can store in ziplock bag.

By the way, this tip about freezing chutney is something I have heard others do and have also read generally in other blogs. Here is where I heard about making it into ice cubes: Manjula's Kitchen/Hari Chutney. Nice idea.

Well that's that. First post down. Happy cooking!