Tomato and Peanut chutney

I know I have been missing in action lately. Let's just say I got preoccupied with some other stuff. Some important, and some not so much. But as I tell others, I might jump from one hobby to another but cooking, baking and food passion never really leaves me. And I realized that today when I made four new stuff in a row. Obviously I have to write about the whole thing which takes time, but watch out for some cool things I whipped up today.
This chutney was half impressed by a north karnataka chutney recipe and half my own imagination and the necessity of using up the stuff. I don't like raw garlic that much so I sauteed it. You can use it raw and add favorite herbs like cilantro or mint.

One Year Back - Vegan Butternut squash muffins
Two Years Back - Asian Style Dill Rice
Ingredients:
Crushed tomatoes - 28 Oz can or use about 1 1/2 lb of tomatoes (If using fresh tomatoes, chop them into chunks)
Pineapple - about 1 cup cubes (optional - I had it so I used it)
Red Onions - 3 medium chopped into chunks
Garlic - 4 pods crushed
Green chillies - 10 - 12 whole, stalks removed
Peanuts - 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup
Cumin - 1 tsp
Sesame seeds - 1 TBSP
Jaggery or Brown sugar - 1/3 cup or to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste

Tempering:
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - few

Method:
In a pan, heat 2 tsp of oil. When hot, add cumin seeds. When they pop, add garlic, green chillies and peanuts. Stir frequently to toast the peanuts well. After few seconds, add sesame seeds and stir well so they get toasted too. When peanuts are toasted, add chopped onions and sprinkle some salt. When onions are cooked, add tomatoes, pineapple if using and jaggery or brown sugar. Mix well and let the tomatoes get soft. Turn off the heat and let it cool a bit. Take the contents and grind into a paste. You will not need any water so don't use any. Adjust the salt if needed. Heat the remaining 1 tsp of oil. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they pop, add curry leaves and pour it on to the chutney. Serve with idlis, dosas or it is delicious mixed with rice too.

Enjoy.

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Tomato, Mint and garlic chutney

Are you all enjoying warm weather? We definitely are. And I can say that some of my plants are so happy about the warm weather. My mint plants are growing like crazy. I keep pulling them and they grow faster than I can use them up. I had to make a chutney to go with the Paniyaram and it was a perfect opportunity to use up that mint that is growing out of control.

One Year Back - Sourdough Chocolate Zucchini cake
Two Years Back - Hawaiian Cobbler
Ingredients: 
Tomatoes - 14 small or 8 medium to large chopped into big chunks
Red Onion - 1 large chopped into chunks
Mint leaves - tightly packed 1 cup (just leaves and tender stalks)
Green chillies - 8 - 9 or as per taste (This is a spicy chutney)
Garlic - 15 cloves chopped coarsely
Ginger - 1/2" peeled and chopped coarsely
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 TBSP
Cumin - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Jaggery - 2 TBSP (or brown sugar - optional)

Method:
In a pan, heat oil. When hot, add cumin seeds followed by garlic, ginger and onion. Sprinkle some salt and let it wilt. When the onions are cooked, add tomatoes, green chillies and mix well. Let tomatoes cook about 5 - 8 minutes. Add mint leaves, jaggery and let it simmer till almost all the water from tomatoes has evaporated. Turn off the heat and let it come to room temperature. Take the entire content in a blender or mixie jar and churn it into a paste without adding any more water. Check for the salt and adjust if needed. Serve with dosa, idli. This makes a good base for sandwiches too.

Enjoy.

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Onion Cream Cheese Spread

Have you ever wondered how much money the manufacturers make by selling stuff that anyone can make in minutes? Best example is pasta sauce. They sell them (basic ones) for more than a dollar whereas you can make two bottles of it (approximately) for about 75 cents with 5 minutes of time. Read more about that here if you want. Same goes with any cream cheese spread that is flavored. If you can get a block of cream cheese for about 90 cents, these specially flavored ones cost you about twice the amount. I still haven't figured out why. This is inspired by the Chives cream cheese that is sold in the stores. I have never tasted it, but I went by my taste palate. These make excellent sandwich spreads.

One Year back -  Quinoa Chickpeas Pulav
Ingredients:
Cream cheese - One 8 Oz block at room softened but not mushy (I used 1/3 fat. Fat free will work just fine)
Olive Oil - 2 tsp
Red onions - Chopped very fine about 1 1/4 cups (I used two medium ones)
Green Chillies - 4 chopped fine or per taste (Use red chilli flakes instead if you like that better)
Cilantro - 2 TBSP chopped or mint would work too
Salt - to taste

To serve: Bread or bagel or pita bread. This makes a great base for a wrap too.

Method:
Heat oil in a pan. When hot, add green chillies. When they are almost toasted, add onions. Sprinkle some salt and let it wilt. You want to cook the onions till there is no more water bubbling, but not to the stage of caramelizing them. Add chopped cilantro and turn off the heat. Let it come to room temperature.
Mash the block of cream cheese with a fork. You may use the beater, but isn't really necessary. Add the onion mixture to it and mix well. Check for seasoning and adjust the salt if necessary. Spread on bagels, or toasted bread. I used it to make pita sandwich for breakfast. If you like your spread to be a little thinner, add a TBSP of two of yogurt or plain milk to make it thinner.

Variations:
You could use green onions or chives. In that case, you don't need to cook them. Just mince and add to softened cream cheese. Use any favorite herb of choice.
Enjoy. Pin It

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Everyone has different passions. People who like to dress up probably want to hit the stores the moment a new styled dress is advertised. Some men can stand in queue in early hours to get their favorite video games. Some women want to have the newest makeup and so on. Foodies want to try out different things. If I could, I probably would make 5 different new things every day. I can't. But, when I saw this dip on Kalyn's kitchen, I so badly wanted to make it right away. I didn't have one ingredient that she has used on hand. That didn't stop me from making it either. I used ricotta cheese instead of feta and made this dip. Totally awesome. This is an easy appetizer for parties too. You can make it in less than 10 minutes and is delicious and loaded with goodness of roasted peppers and mint.

Since I like my dips spicy, I added jalapenos and some black pepper. These are completely optional.

One Year Back - Banana Chocolate Chip Bread, Eggplant Curry
Adapted from - Kalyn's Kitchen
Ingredients:
Roasted red bell pepper - 1 bottle (Drained weight 12 Oz)
Cream cheese - 4 Oz or half a block (I used 1/3 fat but you can use fat free also)
Ricotta cheese - 1/4 cup (I used part skim fat free will work fine)
Yogurt - 1/4 cup (I used home made)
Garlic - 2 pods
Mint - Chopped about 2 TBSP
Lime juice - Half of a lime or about 2 TBSP
Olive Oil - 1 TBSP
Salt - to taste
Black pepper - to taste
Jalapeno peppers - Drained 2 TBSP or fresh 1 or 2 based on spice level (remove the seeds and rib if you can't take the heat) - optional

Method:
Drain the peppers. If you are roasting the red bell peppers yourself, use about 4 - 5 large ones for this proportion. Chop the mint. Coarsely chop the garlic, jalapeno peppers if using. Place the cream cheese, coarsely chopped bell peppers, jalapenos, ricotta, yogurt, garlic, mint in the bowl of the food processor and process till smooth. Add the lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and run for couple more seconds till everything comes together. Serve with veggies or pita chips or any kind of chips.

My Father-in-law who doesn't like anything but Indian food loved it. It was that good. My 4 year old called it 'chutney' and had a blast eating with pita chips I made with this dip.

Enjoy. Pin It

Apricot Chutney (Microwave version)

Feed anything to your kid dipped or covered with ketchup.
They'll eat it without complaining.
Same goes with some adults. Not with ketchup though. With hot sauce or some spicy chutney. In our house, one such chutney is used a lot by someone.
That is tamarind chutney. I make it often, but this time when it was time to make it again, I decided to make a little change and come up with this apricot chutney. If you like tangy taste, you will love this.

One Year Back -  Spicy Mint Sourdough Muffins, Sourdough Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:
Dried apricots - 50 chopped coarsely
Water - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Cayanne  - 1 tsp or to taste (You could use red chilli powder instead)
Chat masala - 1 tsp or more if you like the spice smell and taste (optional)
Red wine vinegar - 1/4 cup (Or use lime juice instead)
Sugar - 1 TBSP

Method:
In a microwave safe bowl, take chopped apricots. Pour 1 cup of water to it and microwave for 3 - 5 minutes. Let it cool. Take it in a blender and puree. You won't need more water, but if you do have to add more, use the vinegar or lime juice that is part of the recipe. Transfer it back to the microwaveable bowl and add salt, cayanne, chat masala if using and the vinegar or lime juice. Mix well. Microwave for another minute. Stir and add oil, sugar and microwave for another minute. Check for the salt and spiciness and adjust if needed. Cool and store in a clean jar. Refrigerate and use within a month. This goes well not only some bread but can be a nice topping on crackers too.

Enjoy. Pin It

Spicy Peanut Spread and a game day appetizer

"Hobbies of any kind are boring except to people who have the same hobby. " - Dave Barry.
When I moved to this country after my marriage, I had no clue about how addicted my husband was and is about foot ball. To be honest, it was very difficult for me to understand how a person can spend more than 12 hours straight watching a game. We couldn't go out on Sundays when there was a game. He was not a fan of one team. That would be far too easy. He watched and watches every game played by every team. In the beginning, without having anything else to do (I didn't have kids then), I started watching it too. At one point, I knew the names of every quarter back and running back, coach names, souper bowl winners' history and all kinds of related stuff. I still know the rules of it but don't watch it anymore. But eventually, I stopped watching and found things to do by myself. If I were into watching foot ball like my better half does, there wouldn't be this blog for sure.

We had couple of friends over for dinner on Super Bowl day.  It was  a small crowd and I kept the food very simple. I made this spread and made an appetizer out of it.

One Year Back - 
Ingredients:
Adapted from Peanut Sauce recipe.

Coconut - 1/4 cup (fresh or frozen not dried)
Green Chillies - 5
Garlic - 4 pods
Ginger - 1/2" piece peeled and chopped
Soy Sauce - 3 TBSP
Salt - to taste
Hot chilli sauce/ Hot sauce - 4 TBSP (or to taste)
Lime - 3 limes juiced
Peanut butter - 1 1/2 cups (I used regular. If you use natural, read Notes)
Cilantro - 1/4 cups packed

To Assemble:
Sesame Bagels halved and toasted in a toaster (See Notes)
Above spread
Salt and pepper to taste
Green onions sliced or any other crunchy veggies (optional)

Method:
Take green chillies, coconut, garlic, ginger in the blender and turn it on. It will be coarse paste. Add cilantro, lime juice, soy sauce, hot sauce and run it to make a smooth paste. You could add peanut butter to the blender itself, but I took the contents from the blender and added peanut butter into the bowl and mixed with a fork. Adjust the salt if needed. If you want to use this as a sauce over noodles or rice, thin it down by adding some hot water or warm coconut milk.

Take the toasted bagels, spread with peanut butter spread. Sprinkle with chopped scallions, a bit of salt and pepper and close it with the other half. Cut into 4 or 6 pieces and serve.

Notes:
If you are using natural peanut butter, go easy on hot sauce and green chillies. Also, add about 2 TBSP of brown sugar or regular sugar while pureeing the ingredients. Since the regular peanut butter has so much of sugar, I had to keep adding to get it spicy. Even then many folks didn't feel it spicy at all. If you are not using sesame bagels, mix about 1 TBSP of tahini to the puree and peanut butter mixture.

Enjoy. Pin It

Tamarind Date Chutney /Sweet Chutney

I had a big bag of rice crispy cereal. I make rice crispy treats for the kids with that. But, off late, they haven't been interested in it much. When I was sorting things in my pantry, I decided to use up some without making rice crispy treats. So, I made a spicy snack salad out of these. I used them instead of puffed rice in Bhel puri which is a street food in India. I kept it low in fat by not adding any deep fried crunchies to it.

One Year back - Ricotta Cheese Doodh Peda

Ingredients:
For the chutney (Makes about 2 1/2 cups and stores for a month in the refrigerator):

Dates - 25 Pitted and chopped coarsely
Tamarind - 1/2 cup soaked in enough water to get 2 cups of extract (See Notes)
Salt - to taste
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp or to taste (For milder heat, use paprika)
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp dry roasted and ground into powder
Jaggery or brown sugar - 1/2 cup or more to taste.

For the Rice Crispy Bhel:
Rice crispy cereal - 2 cups
Red Onion - chopped fine 1 small
Tomatoes - 2 small chopped fine
Cilantro - chopped about 2 TBSP
Roasted peanuts - 3 - 4 TBSP (optional)
Salt - to taste
Green chillies - 1 chopped fine (If you cannot take heat, remove seeds or skip it entirely)
Tamarind date chutney - 1/4 cup or more to taste

Method:
To make Chutney:
Soak tamarind in warm water and extract the juice. You can do it multiple times but limit the total water to about 2 1/2 cups and not more than that. Set aside. In a skillet, dry roast 1 tsp of cumin seeds. When they pop, take out and let it cool. When cool, powder in a mortar and pestle. Set aside. In a sauce pan, take chopped dates. Add tamarind extract and bring it to a boil. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes or till dates are soft. Add  brown sugar or powdered jaggery, salt, chilli powder and roasted cumin powder. Simmer for 2  - 3 more minutes and turn off the heat. Let it cool down a bit. Take the entire mixture in a blender / mixie and make a puree. If you feel the chutney is too thick, you can bring the whole mixture to a simmer adding a bit of water to thin down. Adjust the seasonings. When completely cool, store in a non-metallic container in the refrigerator. This will stay fresh for a month.

To make the rice crispy bhel:
Mix chopped onion, tomato, green chilli (if using), rice crispy cereal, salt. Garnish with cilantro, roasted peanuts. Add the tamarind date chutney and mix to coat everything. Taste and add more chutney if required. Serve/eat immediately.

Variations:
You could add boiled diced potatoes. You can even add some cut up apples. Could use raisins along with roasted peanuts as garnish. Idea is to make it a healthy snack.

Enjoy. Pin It

Coconut, Pineapple and Cranberry Chutney

I like makeovers.
But not on me.
I like house make overs, kitchen makeovers and food make overs.
Since house make over and kitchen makeover costs too much money, I am very partial to food make overs. They are cheap and you get to eat yummy stuff out of it.
I gave a make over to coconut chutney.
I made coconut chutney friends with pineapple and cranberry chutney.
Result was awesome in taste, but not so pretty to look. Me think. What do you think?

One Year Back - Ragi Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients:
Cranberry Sauce - 1 can
Crushed Pineapple - 1 20 Oz can drained and juice reserved
Coconut - 1 cup (I used dry, you could use fresh)
Chana dal / Bengal gram dal - 3 TBSP
Urad dal / Black gram dal - 3 TBSP
Curry leaves - few sprigs divided use
Red chillies - 1 broken
Green chillies - 10 - 12 (You could use red chillies instead - this was plenty spicy. Scale down if you don't like spicy food)
Salt - to taste
Oil -2 TBSP
Hing - a generous pinch
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Method:
In a skillet, dry roast bengal gram dal, black gram dal, chillies (green or red) and curry leaves reserving 4 or 5 leaves for tempering. Roast till the dal is golden. Set aside. In the same skillet, take oil. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add hing, broken red chilli, reserved curry leaves. When they are all toasted, add the drained crushed pineapple. Stir well. Add salt and the cranberry sauce. You will have to stir and mix the cranberry sauce with pineapple. While they are cooking, take the roasted ingredients in a blender / mixie with coconut and grind into a fine paste. Use reserved pineapple juice or water. Set aside.

When the pineapple and cranberry sauce have combined together, add this ground paste to the skillet. Stir to combine all of them very well and keep on low flame. Adjust the salt if needed and after about 2 minutes, turn off the heat.

Serve with Dosa, Idli or even as a spread on bread.
In the picture you see this chutney served with gundupongal/appe/paddu/paniyaram. This is made with dosa batter. But this particular one is made with brown rice dosa batter. If you have never tasted brown rice dosa, try it. It is so much tastier than white rice one is healthier too.

Enjoy. Pin It

Cranberry Thokku / Cranberry Pickle

If you have been reading food blogs, it is kind of a norm to make something sweet as a New Year post or the first post in the year. I am deviating a bit and posting a savory dish as my first post. But, even when it is savory, I wish you all loads of sweet things in your life this year and in future years.

This is the first cranberry preparation I ever tasted. We were invited to a dinner by a nice lady and she had made this. From that time onwards, I have been making it at least once every cranberry season. You could use frozen berries when these berries are not in season.

One Year Back - Thengol
Ingredients:
Fresh Cranberries - 3 cups rinsed and picked
Oil - 3 TBSP (Any oil except olive oil)
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Hing - generous 2-3 pinches
Turmeric - a big pinch
Dried Red chillies - 14 divided use (Alter per taste)
Fenugreek seeds/ methi seeds / menthya - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste

Method:
Heat a skillet. Dry roast 12 red chillies with fenugreek seeds. Keep moving the contents in the pan as fenugreek burns easily and gives a bitter taste. When the seeds start popping and are golden, remove from heat and set aside. In the same skillet, heat oil. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add the remaining two chillies (broken) and hing. Now, add the cleaned cranberries. Stir. Add salt, turmeric. Keep stirring often so that all the berries pop. When most of the berries have popped and made a mush, reduce the heat. Take the roasted red chillies and fenugreek and powder them in a blender/spice grinder. Add it to the pan. Mix well. Adjust the salt if necessary. Leave on low heat for a minute or two and then turn off the heat. When cool, store in an air tight container in the refrigerator. This stays good for about 1 month in the refrigerator. About 3 - 4 days at room temperature. Goes well with idli, dosa, rice.

Notes:
Not everyone likes the tang /tartness of cranberries. If you are one of those who do not like it, this dish might not appeal you since there is no sugar involved in this to mellow down the tang. On a side note, you could add some brown sugar or jaggery to it to mellow down the tartness.

Enjoy. Pin It

Pita chips with Green Peas and Ricotta Dip

I don't watch a lot of TV, but when I do, 50 % of it is food network. My typical bed time routine is to turn on the food network and write the posts for the blog. I don't even watch TV constantly but I just like the sound of it. One such night, I was watching 'Unique eats' on Cooking Channel. They were talking about a place in NY which sell crostini with different toppings. One vegetarian topping that they were praising was with green peas and ricotta. For some reason, that stayed in my mind and when we were invited for dinner this weekend, I made this to take it. (Lucky me the host asked me to get an appetizer) I did use green chillies to spice it up a bit since we like food with heat. You can definitely omit it if you don't want the heat.

One Year back - Methi Subzi with split green peas
Ingredients:
Frozen peas - 3 1/2 cups
Ricotta cheese - 1 - 1 1/4 cups (I used part skim but fat free would work too)
Sour cream - 1/4 cup (I used low fat but fat free would work too)
Olive Oil - 3 TBSP
Salt - to taste
Pepper - to taste
Green Chillies - 10
Cilantro - 1/2 cup chopped
Lime juice - from one lime

Method:
Nuke the frozen green peas in the microwave for about 3 - 5 minutes. You are not cooking it, just warming it up. Place the green peas, olive oil, green chillies, cilantro, lime juice, salt, pepper in a food processor and process till coarse paste. Add ricotta cheese and sour cream and pulse couple more minutes till everything is incorporated. Adjust the seasonings if required and serve with pita chips or plain corn chips. I kind of made it into a smooth paste since my intention was to serve with chips. If you want to use it as a topping for bruschetta or crostini, make a coarse paste. Measurements in this is just to give an idea. You could increase or decrease the ricotta and sour cream depending on your taste.


To make pita chips:
Ingredients:
Pocket less pita bread - I used whole wheat pita bread (1 pita would serve 2 people)
Olive oil - for brushing
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Take two cookie sheets. Place pita one at a time on the cutting board. Brush the pita with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. (Try to hold the grinder at a good height so that the salt and pepper sprinkles evenly) Using a pizza slicer or a very sharp knife, cut into 8 wedges. Place them on the baking sheet and bake for 12 - 14 minutes rotating mid way. Cool on the wire rack. Keep in an airtight container if using later. It stays crisp if stored properly for at least 4 days. Serve with the above mentioned dip or Guacamole or Hummus. This is one of those appetizers which can be made in advance and is pretty healthy too.

Enjoy!! Pin It

Apple Chutney / Spicy applesauce??

"Necessity is the mother of invention" - This quote is one of my favorites. My house was flooded with fruits apples in particular last week after Gokulashtami / Krishna Jayanthi. When I went to give the goodies I had made to friends, I included couple of apples. They gave me back more apples. So, I ended up having so many apples than I needed or knew what to do with. I didn't want to bake any sweet dish using it since I already had so many sweets at home. You probably will think why didn't she refrigerate them? That is because my two refrigerators were full with all kinds of stuff from the festival and the vegetables for the company I was expecting for the weekend. Anyway, I used those apples and made chutney and everyone liked it. Well, I shouldn't say everyone because my father-in-law who is very picky and a conventional food lover didn't like it. But others did. Since everyone liked it, I ended up making it again. Please note that this chutney doesn't have any texture since cooked apples are mushy. If you like some texture, add some roasted peanuts or roasted gram dal and grind. In that case, you might have to add some liquid.

Ingredients:
Apples - 6 medium any variety cored and cut into chunks.
Green chillies - 7 or to taste (This was plenty spicy for us)
Oil - 2 TBSP divided use
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Hing - a pinch (optional)
Curry leaves - a few
Salt - to taste
Turmeric - a pinch
Tamarind - a marble sized or 1/4 tsp tamarind paste (I used the paste)

Method:
In a pan, heat 1 TBSP of oil. When hot, add green chillies (whole) and apple chunks. Add turmeric, some salt and let it wilt. When the apple pieces are soft, turn off the heat. If using the tamarind, soak in some warm water to soften. Do not try to extract juice. We don't need any water at all for this chutney. When the apples have cooled a bit, take them in a blender and blend with tamarind or tamarind paste. Remove to a dish and adjust the salt as needed. In a small pan, heat the remaining 1 TBSP of oil. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add hing and curry leaves. Pour this on to the ground chutney. Mix well and serve with dosa, idli or gundu pongal as in my case.

Notes:
You could roast some fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds or both and powder them and add to this chutney. You could use red chilli powder instead of using green chillies. If you love some herbs, use that. Grind with some mint or cilantro.

Enjoy!! Pin It

Zucchini Chutney

I am seriously thinking of writing a book '50 different dishes using Zucchini'.
Yes, I am serious. If I do write it, will you buy the book? I promise it won't be very expensive.

Funny how I have put up so many different things with Zucchini so far when I could hardly pronounce the word Zucchini a decade back.

This is a quick and healthy chutney which can be served with dosa, idli or with plain rice. If mixing with plain rice, you might want to add little bit of oil or ghee while mixing it. Do read the Notes which gives you many variations of the same dish.

Ingredients:
Zucchini - 1 large quartered lengthwise and sliced (I left the skin on, but you may opt to remove it)
Tomatoes - 2 medium cut into chunks (optional - see notes)
Oil - 2 TBSP divided use
Green chillies - 15 or as per taste
Salt - to taste
Tamarind - a small key lime size or 1/2 tsp of tamarind paste
Dalia/Hurigadale/roasted gram dal - 3/4 cup
Curry leaves - a few
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Hing - a big pinch

Method:
In a skillet, heat 1 TBSP of oil. When hot, add green chillies, curry leaves and the cut zucchini. Sprinkle with some salt and let it cook. When it is almost cooked, add tomatoes. Let them cook together for couple of minutes and turn off the heat.
When they have cooled down a bit, place them in the blender. To the blender, add tamarind paste (if using tamarind, soak in very less water and let it soften before adding to the blender), dalia. Grind all the ingredients with no additional water (zucchini has so much water, you don't need any).
In another small skillet, heat the remaining 1 TBSP of oil. When hot, add mustard seeds, hing. When the mustard seeds have spluttered, turn off the heat and pour the oil on the ground chutney. Mix well and serve with idli, dosa or plain rice.

Notes:
I used tomatoes because I had bought too many tomatoes from the farmer's market. I have made this before without tomatoes. You will have to add a little more tamarind if you don't use tomatoes.
For a change, you can add couple of cloves of garlic, omit hing and saute chopped red onion along with zucchini to get zucchini onion chutney.
I used dalia or roasted gram dal since I was short on time. If you have time and patience, you can roast chana dal (use just 1/2 cup) and use that instead. It will give you another taste variation.
While grinding, you can add about half a cup of chopped cilantro or some mint.
If you are a coconut lover, add about 1/2 cup of shredded coconut while grinding.
If you like cumin smell and taste, add some cumin before adding zucchini to the oil. It will be a totally different flavor all together. 
If you cannot find zucchini, this can be made with long squash or doodhi or lauki.

Enjoy!! Pin It

Hummus

This has been in my draft for more than a month now. I totally forgot that I had not posted this recipe until one of my friends called for the recipe. I had made this for my younger one's birthday party. Remember the 'Mermaid Cake'. I had served this with pita chips (Toasted Pita bread). I was in such a hurry when I made this, dish is not even presented well.
I cannot call this a recipe since every ingredient listed can be altered to suit your palette. But here is what I did.

Adapted from Sunny Anderson's Hummus recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 (16-ounce) cans garbanzo beans, drained (I soaked the garbanzo beans overnight and cooked myself)
• 1/2 cup sourcream
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 pods of garlic crushed
• Chopped cilantro - 1/4 cup
• Salt - to taste
• Cayanne pepper powder - to taste
• Black pepper powder - to taste (optional)

Method:
In the food processor bowl, add all of the beans reserving about a cup. Turn the food processor on. Add garlic and slowly start adding olive oil to facilitate the motor. When you are out of the required quantity of olive oil, start adding the yogurt till it is ground finely and is creamy. Now add the reserved beans and pulse couple more times to get them ground coarsely. Remove to a serving bowl. Add salt, cayanne pepper, black pepper powder (if using), lemon juice, cilantro and mix well. Serve with toasted pita bread or just as a dip with chips.

Happy Cooking!! Pin It

Strawberry Cranberry Gojju

What will you do if you have a box of strawberries sitting which no one wants to eat? I don't know what it is with kids. They love some fruit at one moment and when you buy a big box of it feeling happy that they like it, they decide they don't like it anymore. My older one used to love strawberries and she asked me to get more. I did. Then, after eating a couple, she says 'I don't like strawberries anymore'. I am left with a box of almost 2 pounds of strawberries. I ate some, and made milk shake with some. Even then, I had 1 pound of strawberries to be used up before they went bad. Then I thought, who says you need to make only sweet stuff with strawberries. If you have been reading this blog, you'll have seen recipes which are savory using mango, cranberries, pears, apples and now it is Strawberries' turn.
I kind of used what I had on hand and came up with this quick side dish for rotis, savory spread for bread or to be served with plain rice.

Ingredients:

• Strawberries - 1 pound cleaned and chopped 
• Whole berry cranberry sauce - 1 can
• Oil - 2 TBSP
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Red chillies - 2 broken
• Curry leaves - a few
• Hing - a big pinch
• Turmeric - a big pinch
• Salt - to taste
• Rasam powder - 1 tsp or to taste

Method:
In a pan, heat oil. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add red chillies, hing, cumin and fenugreek. When they are toasted, add chopped strawberries. Add some salt, turmeric. When it softens a little (about 3 minutes), add the cranberry sauce. Mix well. It will become watery. Don't worry about it as it thickens when it cools. Now, add rasam powder. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Adjust the salt and turn off the stove. This tastes great with Dosa, Idlis, rice, roti or bread.

Variations:

1. Instead of putting cumin and fenugreek in oil with other seasonings, dry roast them separately and powder and add it at the end.
2. Omit the rasam powder and use garam masala or chat masala or just red chilli powder.

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Guacamole - My way

If you are looking for an authentic 'Guacamole', don't read further. I am a person who believes in modifying a recipe to suit my taste. Many Indian friends/relatives who have eaten my version have liked it a lot. This is my way of making it and I usually serve it with Pita toast - Oven toasted Pita bread.

Tomorrow is my younger one's birthday party and we are having about 30 people for dinner. You'll bee seeing lot of party recipes next week provided I take pictures. I am making a mermaid cake (that's what my 3 year old is asking for) and I don't have someone who will take pictures when I stack the cake. But, I might right something up about it in a post for those who might be interested.

Long time back, I had put a poll on this blog asking if people are interested in me writing about 'cooking for parties'. It was open for more than a month and I got only 6 votes out of which 4 said 'Yes' and 2 said 'No'. I gave up the idea of writing a series about 'Cooking for Crowd'.  Following recipe is for serving 20 + people along with another dip. I am planning to make 'Hummus' tomorrow and I'll be serving Pita toast with these two dips.

Ingredients:

• Ripe Avocados - 6
• Key Limes - 3 or use 2 limes if regular size
• Salt - to taste
• Sour Cream - 1 - 11/2 cups (You can use low fat and vary the quantity as per your taste)
• Scallion - 6 both green and white parts chopped finely
• Garlic - 5 pods crushed
• Pepper - 1 TBSP or more powdered (Suit to your taste)
• Cayanne - 1 TBSP (You can omit it or increase it to your taste)
• Cilantro - 1/4 cup chopped

Method:
Cut the avocado and scoop the pulp into a bowl. Add the juice of lime (try not to use the bottled one). Mash them. Add Sour cream, salt, pepper powder, cayanne, crushed garlic and mix well. Add chopped scallion, cilantro and mix. Check for the seasonings and add more of what ever is required. Refrigerate till serving. Serve with tortilla chips or pita toast.

A close up..

And the final product..

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