Tomato Onion Chutney for T&C

This is my first time participating in Taste and Create, an event started by Nicole of ForTheLoveofFood and currently hosted by Min of BadGirlsKitchen. I was paired with Padmajha (she is known as PJ to a lot of you) and loved the chance to explore her blog Seduce Your Taste Buds.
Recently, T has developed distaste for all things coconut so making PJ's delicious tomato chutney from PJ's blog was a no-brainer. It was tangy and little bit spicier than I expected but it was consumed with relish.

Ingredients:
1 ripe tomato, roughly chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 tsp gram dhal
1 tsp Urad dhal
3ct dry red chilies
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste

For tadka or seasoning:
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 curry leaves
A pinch of asafetida

Method:
Heat ½ tsp of oil and put in the gram dhal and urad dhal. Fry till golden brown and keep aside.
Heat the remaining oil and put in the tomato, onions, red chillis and cook till the onions are soft and the tomatoes are mushy. Keep aside to cool.
In a blender, grind the dhal first and then add the tomatoes and onions. Grind to a coarse paste and transfer to a bowl.
Heat oil for the seasoning and add mustard seeds. As they start to pop, add the rest of the ingredients and turn off the heat when the curry leaves start to crisp. Pour the seasoning over the chutney and serve.

Seduce your taste buds with Taste and Create

This is my first time participating in Taste and Create, an event started by Nicole of ForTheLoveofFood and currently hosted by Min of BadGirlsKitchen. I was paired with Padmajha (she is known as PJ to a lot of you) and loved the chance to explore her blog Seduce Your Taste Buds. Since she lives in China for the time being, her blog has nuggets of Chinese cooking, street food and culture. It was a treat to explore a facet of country and life I have little or no knowledge of. If you want to see China from the eyes of a South Indian foodie, hop on over to PJ’s blog. A lot of you do know her through the themed events she hosts regularly. Those of you, who don’t, check out her blog.

Pressed for time I made some simple but delicious recipes from her blog but I will be going back for more soon. I made Aqua Fresca, Tomato Onion Chutney with lentils and Vata Tea.

Refreshing Watermelon Fresca

The Watermelon Fresca was a result of a lot of leftover watermelon not to mention never having had fresca of any kind. I loved the refreshing sweetness with just a hint of the tanginess of lemon added to it. Just like PJ, I did not add any sugar to it.

Ingredients:
2 cups cubed watermelon (I used seedless)
1 tsp juice of a lemon
Sugar optional

Blend the watermelon and lemon juice in blender till smooth. Serve chilled.

Weight Watching: Day Eight

Guacamole
Yesterday being a day of not so healthy eating, I decided to eat as healthy as possible. Here’s the food log:
Breakfast: A bowl of bread upma and a cup of tea.
Lunch: Left over pav bhaji with a bun toasted in olive oil and a small bowl of yogurt with a teaspoon of sugar.
Late afternoon: A cup of tea.
Dinner: Shredded rotisserie chicken on a toasted bun with guacamole and a few cassava chips.
Dessert: A pear.
Exercise: Brisk 30 minute walk and 10 minutes of stretching.
Ingredients:
2 avocados
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1 small tomato, deseeded and chopped fine (optional)
1 green chilli, chopped fine
1 tbsp of cilantro, chopped fine
Half a juice of lemon
Salt and generous black pepper

Method:
Scoop out the avocado pulp into a bowl. Add the chopped onions, tomatoes and green chili. Sprinkle salt and fresh black pepper. Mix and mash with a spoon. Add cilantro and lemon juice, smear on sandwiches or eat with corn chips.

Few Weddings and a Chutney (Till Kuttaa)

I have always enjoyed attending weddings especially the ones in my family. Every time one of my numerous cousins would get married our whole family would converge to participate and help in the wedding preparation. While the kids were busy running around and the bride-to-be shopping all over town, my mom and aunts would gather in the kitchen and cook food while catching up on family gossip. Through all those scrumptious meals the one constant for me was my mom’s sesame and peanut chutney or till kuttaa as it is called in Maharashtrian households. She would make a big jar of it and everyone had it by the spoonful with their meals. It is also a dining table staple in our house the rest of the year as well.


It is one of those things you get so used to you never pay much attention to it -- till you have to make it. When I decided to enter Think Spice – Sesame event, hosted by Padmaja and originally started by Sunitha , I immediately thought of my mom’s sesame chutney. Of course, my mom always eyeballed the ingredients so all I could get from her over the phone was “a handful of seasame and a bowl of peanut, some red chili and some grated coconut.” I experimented with different proportions of peanuts and sesame till I found the right match. Here’s my mom’s sesame peanut chutney.

Sesame Peanut Chutney

Ingredients:

1 cup peanuts, roasted and crushed

¼ cup sesame seeds

4 tbsp shredded dry coconut

1 clove of garlic (optional)

1 tsp red chili powder

1 tsp sugar

Salt to taste

Method:

Dry roast the sesame seeds on low heat till they start to pop. Separately dry roast the shredded coconut till it turns a light brown color.

Let the sesame seeds and coconut cool down. Grind all the ingredients in a mini food processor or blender to a coarse consistency.

Caution: Do not grind it too much or the oils from the sesame, peanuts and coconut will make the chutney lumpy.

The chutney will keep in an air tight jar for up to two weeks if you don’t finish it off first.

This chutney also goes off to Pavani of Cook's Hideout who is hosting JFI -- Peanuts this month, originally started by Mahanandi .

Green Coconut Chutney

This is a variation of the coconut chutney which is generally eaten with Dosa. My husband grew up in a Konkani household and his mother made coconut chutney to go with dosas and idlis. Since the kids didn’t like the white color of the chutney my mother-in-law started adding cilantro to it, which gives it its appetizing green color. We eat this chutney not only with dosa but also smear it on potato sandwiches and crusty German bread. I usually eyeball my Chutney ingredients but for the sake of this blog I roughly measured the ingredients. You can still adjust the ingredients to your liking or what you have available in the fridge.

Ingredients:

1 cup grated coconut (I use frozen grated coconut)
1 cup washed and prepped cilantro
2 – 3 green chillis
2 tbsp urad dal
1” piece of ginger
1 tsp cumin seeds
Salt to taste

For Tempering:

1tsp mustard seeds
4-5 curry leaves

Dry roast all the ingredients except the cilantro. This makes the chutney last a little longer and brings out the flavor of the coconut.
Grind all the ingredients in the blender till smooth. You may have to add some water to get the ingredients moving.
On cold weather days, I add warm water. It helps the coconut grind smoother.
Take out the chutney in a bowl and temper it with mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Hummus with Roasted Red Bell Peppers

This humus is not only healthy and easy to make, it looks very appetizing. I always have it in the refrigerator and I eat it smeared on some whole grain bread or pita or add it to my sandwiches or use it as a dip for carrots and cucumbers.

1 can of garbanzo beans
1 clove of garlic
½ jar of a 15 oz jar of roasted red bell peppers
1/8 cup of olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste

Blend all the ingredients in the blender till smooth. Depending on the strength of your blender you may have to add a little bit more or less of olive oil.
If you don’t have access to jarred red bell pepper it’s ok. You can add some cilantro and green chilies. Squeeze juice of ½ a lemon to give it a tangy flavor.