Cashew Chutney

As typed by Milo…

This is an inspiration from one of Vineet Bhatia’s Twist Of Taste programmes.
The recipe on television looked simple and the taste was intriguing. When I made the
dish it indeed turned out to be delicious.

Cooking time less than 10 minutes if you have all the ingredients in stock!

1) 2-3 handful de-skinned and broken cashew nuts. Recommended to use fresh ones as older/stale
ones tend to have a slight bitter after taste.
2) Carom (Ajwain) seeds 1.5 tea spoons
3) Mustard oil 2 table spoons
4) Asofetida 1 tea spoon
5) Jaggery 2 table spoon

Heat the pan until it starts smoking in a flat pan. Add the Carom (Ajwain) seeds and let them all
pop ensuring the aroma gets released.
Now add the Asofetida.

Add the jaggery. Let it stand on the flame until the jaggery cubes melt. Reduce the mixture by
a 10th (not to be read as to 10th). Add the cashew nuts at this time. Stir continuously as this
easily sticks to the bottom. Cook for the next 5 minutes to allow the cashew nuts to soften.

Serve this sweet nutty preparation as a replacement for pickle.

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Tomato Pickle

Tomatoes were very cheap in the market last week and they were a plenty at my home. I wanted to put them to good use and I remembered reading this recipe year ago on Aayis recipe. I noted down the ingredients, made minor modifications and tried it over the weekend. The result was amazingly yummy tangy tomato pickle. My house smelt good while I was making it and we finished almost half of the jar in 2 days. The quantity listed below yields approximately ½ kg of the pickle. The pickle remains good for approx. a month in the fridge.

Ingredients –

1 kg ripe tomatoes chopped into fine pieces,

4 tsp oil,

5 dried red chilies,

3 tsp tamarind pulp,

2 tsp mustard seeds,

2 tsp sesame seeds,

1 tsp turmeric powder,

1 tsp fenugreek seeds,

½ tsp asafetida powder,

4 tsp red chili powder (vary as per your liking),

Salt to taste.

Method –

Heat oil in heavy bottom pan and fry the dried red chilies for ½ a minute.

Add chopped tomatoes, tamarind extract and salt to this and allow it to cook. (Keep in mind to add a little extra salt).

In a separate pan heat 1 tsp oil and crackle mustard seeds. In half a minute add sesame seeds, fenugreek seeds and asafetida. Fry for a few seconds and switch off the gas. Add turmeric and red chili powder. Mix well. Allow it to cool completely and blend to a coarse powder. Keep aside.

Keep stirring the tomatoes in between. The tomatoes should get fully cooked and mashed up.

Continue cooking till all the juices dry up and a semi solid mass has been formed and oil starts leaving. At this stage add the ground spice powder. Mix well and check for salt.

Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes and switch off the gas. Allow it to cool completely and store it in a clean glass jar under refrigeration.

Mixed Mango Pickle

Making pickles and preserves are my Mom’s specialty and I have learnt it from her. I remember my childhood days when Mom used to make pickles in big jars to last the entire year and I just loved eating it. I made this pickle using my moms pickle masala recipe. I had heard from someone that North Indians put garlic and chick Peas in Mango Pickle and I wanted to try it. So this Mango season I tried this pickle and it turned out fabulous. Unlike my mom I just made a small jar of it and allowed it to mellow for a week in a cool dark place of my kitchen and put the jar in the fridge for the fear of it catching fungus. This pickle has become an instant hit at home and almost half of the jar is over. Now next mango season, Milo wants me to make this in bulk to distribute among close family and friends 🙂

Ingredients –

2 cups raw mango pieces,

½ cup peeled garlic cloves,

½ cup dried chick peas (kabuli chana),

1 cup til oil or refined sunflower oil,

½ cup salt,

½ cup red chili powder,

1 tbsp turmeric powder,

2 tsp fenugreek seeds,

1 tsp asafetida,

2 tbsp split mustard (mohari dal)

1 tsp oil

Method –

Mix together mango pieces, garlic, chick peas and salt. Fill it up in a clean glass jar.

After 2 days, empty all the jar contents in a glass bowl.

Heat 1 tsp oil and fry fenugreek seeds. Remove from heat and grind to a powder using a motor and pestle.

Put this powder on the pieces in the glass bowl.

In the same oil fry split mustard for a few seconds. Add asafetida and switch off the gas. Pour this on the pickle.

Now add red chili powder and turmeric powder. Mix well.

Heat one cup oil and allow it to cool. Add this cooled oil to the pickle. Mix well and fill in a clean glass jar.

Pickle is ready to eat after a week.

Goan/Konkan Style Eggplant/Brinjal Bharta (Vaingyan che Bharit)

Here is another Goan/Konkan bartha recipe that my Mom makes out of the Goan variety of big fat round purple brinjals. These brinjals are available in Goa only during season (I think Jan-Feb) and have a very good taste. The brinjal in this recipe should be cooked over direct flame or can be grilled or can be placed on a griddle. This bharta has a mild taste so should be served as an accompaniment with rice and It will not go well with chapattis.

Ingredients-

1 large brinjal,

1 large onion finely chopped,

1 small tomato finely chopped,

1 green chili finely chopped,

Few strands of coriander leaves,

Salt to taste

Method –

Wash the brinjal and smear little oil on the surface of the brinjal. Place it on a griddle and cover it fully with a vessel. Keep the griddle on a low flame. At frequent intervals turn the sides of the brinjal.

Follow the above step till the entire brinjal is cooked thoroughly. Allow it to cool.

Peel the brinjal completely. Add salt to the flesh and mix well. Mix in all the other ingredients and serve.

Radish Greens Salad

Hello everyone!!! I am back after a long time…. We were on a small vacation to Goa the whole last week. We all had an amazing time there. Ate a lot of goodies prepared by my Mom and not to forget the cakes of Goan bakeries :-). So my next couple of recipes will be the ones made by my Mom on our visit there. So here is a Radish Greens Salad recipe for you. It’s a very simple salad made in most of the Goan households. Use very tender Radish leaves to make this. (Choose the leaves whose radish is very small and tender). So off to the recipe…

Ingredients-

15 to 20 radish leaves,

1 onion,

1 green chili,

2 tsp lime juice,

2 tsp grated coconut (optional)

Salt to taste

Method-

Finely chop radish leaves, onion and green chili.

Add lime juice, salt and coconut and mix well.

Strawberry Jam (Pectin free)

This is the jam I was talking about in my previous post. It can be used as a bread spread, rolled with chapattis and can also be used as strawberry sauce drizzled over pancakes. Your kids will love it.

Ingredients-

30 to 35 strawberries cleaned and washed,

½ cup sugar

Method –

Blend strawberries to a smooth paste, mix in the sugar.

Transfer the contents to a heavy bottomed pan and keep on low flame.

Keep stirring till the pulp becomes thick. Check for sweetness. Add more sugar if required.

Allow it to cool completely and store in airtight jars under refrigeration.

Pineapple Jam (Pectin free)

We had a lot of sugar syrup remaining of the Gulab Jamuns. This time when my parents visited us I told my mom to put the syrup to use. My dad came up with this idea of making jam so he got one big pineapple. Mom made it and we all liked it so much that the jar was empty in no time.Milo liked the idea of making home made jams so he took the initiative of making this in bulk. He also made Strawberry Jam.The recipe for this will be in another post. This jam remains good in the fridge for a month.

Ingredients-

1 large pineapple peeled, cleaned and grated,

1/4th cup sugar

Method –

Put pineapple pulp in a heavy bottomed pan, mix in sugar and keep on low flame.

Keep stirring till the pulp becomes thick. Check for sweetness. Add more sugar if required.

Allow it to cool completely and store in airtight jars under refrigeration.

Green Chili Pickle

Pickles are my weak point and especially when it comes to home made ones. This one is a very easy method of making chili pickle adapted the recipe from my sisters MIL. This pickle needs to be stewed for 8 to 10 days before consuming else it will taste pungent and bitter. But at my place Milo started consuming it right from day 2 of making it. I always store my pickles in the fridge as I don’t want to get it spoilt and I always make it in less quantity. So here is the recipe for you….

Ingredients-

¼ kg green chilies,

1 cup fresh lime juice,

1 cup any refined oil,

1 tsp oil,

1 cup split mustard (mohair dal),

1 cup salt,

1 tbsp fenugreek seeds,

1 tbsp asafetida

Method-

Heat 1 cup oil till smoking point, switch off the gas and allow it to cool completely.

Cut green chilies in medium sized pieces and mix in the lime juice, salt, heated and cooled oil and mustard dal.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a small skillet and fry fenugreek seeds and asafetida. Take care not to burn the spices.

Once cooled, powder and mix it with the pickle.

Store the pickle in an airtight glass jar in a dark place.

Let the pickle stew for 8 to 10 days.

Indian GooseBerry/ Amla Pickle

 

As you all know Amlas are a good source of vitamin C. It’s compulsory at my place to eat a few pieces of it whenever it is available in the market. It used to be a punishment for me to eat them. Milo started making fresh amla juice on the weekend. That was again a pain to drink. Last time when my parents visited me they got amlas from the market and my mom made this pickle. It tasted superb and we all liked it. It’s a good way to consume amlas if you are fond of pickles. This pickle gets spoilt if kept out, so always store under refrigeration.

Ingredients-

½ Kg Amla (Indian Goose Berries),

1 cup lime juice,

2 tsp turmeric powder,

4 to 5 tsp red chili powder,

3 tsp mustard seeds,

½ tsp asafetida,

2 tsp oil,

Salt approx 2 to 3 tsp

Method –

Deseed amlas and slice them. Apply salt, turmeric and lime juice and let it marinate for 7 to 8 hours at room temperature.

Keep tossing the pieces after every hour.

After 7 to 8 hours mix in the red chili powder with the amla pieces.

Adjust salt.

Heat oil and splutter mustard seeds and add asafetida.

Remove from oil, allow it to cool. Pour the oil in the amla mix.

Coarsely crush the mustard seeds with a mortar and pestle and mix it well with the amla pieces.

Mix the pickle well, store it in airtight clean jars under refrigeration.

Tomato Chutney

 

This is a good accompaniment for people like Milo who do not like much of coconut in their food. Use ripe red tomatoes and a little more of green chilies to make it spicy. It can be served with anything – rice, chapattis, dosa, idly, snacks…

Ingredients-

4 large ripe tomatoes,

1 small onion,

4 garlic pods,

2 green chilies,

½ tsp cumin seeds,

½ tsp mustard seeds,

5 curry leaves,

1 red chili,

Salt to taste,

2 tsp oil

Method-

Heat 1 tsp oil, splutter cumin seeds and fry green chilies, garlic for half a minute.

Fry roughly chopped onion for half a minute and add roughly chopped tomatoes.

Add salt, cover and cook till tomatoes are soft and mushy.

Once cooled grind it to a smooth paste. Add 1 to 2 tsp water if required.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds, add curry laves and dry red chilly.

Mix in the tomato paste and adjust salt.

Serve with dosa/idli or chapattis.