Dry coconut chutney

This one is for keeps. It is extremely simple to make and has an extraordinary taste. Don't presume that its simplicity means a lack of depth in flavours. This one is a total surprise package. Served to me by Thrisha, a dear Mangalorean friend on several occasions with Neer dosa. I have currently no clue how to make those so I serve them with idlis,masala idlis and regular dosas. It is a convenient chutney to carry while travelling as it is dry so no chances of leaking.


Ingredients:
Fresh coconut-1
Whole dried red chillies- 2-3 according to taste
Garlic pods- 2 if you use the big chinese garlics and 4-5 if you use the smaller ones
Tamarind- 1 one inch by one inch piece
Jaggery/Gur/Molasses-  same as the tamarind.
Salt- according to taste

Process-
Just churn all of it together in a mixie.
Yes, that is it. :)

Coconut Chutney

Idli or dosa for me is incomplete without nariyal/coconut chutney. There are many varieties and ways in which every house hold makes its chutney. This recipe was handed over to me by my dearest friend Divya, who was responsible to take care of my south-Indian food cravings while she was my neighbour :)

Ingredients:

Coconut-1
Green chillies- according to taste
Garlic pods- 2
Ginger- a 1inch piece
Coriander leaves (optional)- a handful
Curry leaves- 10 to 12
Cumin seeds- 3-4 pinches
Mustard seeds- 3-4 pinches
Oil- 1/2 teaspoon
Curd- 1 cup
Salt- according to taste


Process:

Remove the hard skin of the coconut and cut it into pieces and put it in a mixie.

In a small pan take 1/2 a teaspoon of oil, add Cumin seeds, mustard seeds, ginger, green chillies garlic and curry leaves. Fry for a few seconds and turn off the heat.

Now add this to the mixie along with all the other ingredients and churn it into a paste. Your delicious chutney is ready.

* You can adjust the quantities of all the ingredients according to taste.
** You may need to increase or decrease the quantity of curd depending on the consistency of chutney you want.

Curd Rice

This recipe was shared with me by my dear friend Charu on What's app. Why I wanted it so urgently that she had to give it to me on chat ? The answer to that is a story:

One Saturday afternoon my dearest neighbour came home and shared with us (me and my husband) the story of her visit to an Indian store. My neighbour is a German lady and We live in Munich. She told me how she went to buy XYZ but when she did not get it, she thought she must not leave the shop without buying something. What she bought was a bottle of MTR Mango Avakali, which is a super spicy pickle from Andra Pradesh. She said that she could not even think of eating it again after the one attempt she had already made. So the bottle came to us.

That bottle of pickle was the reason I wanted to learn how to make curd rice.


Ingredients:

Rice- 1 cup
Water - to boil the rice
Curd
Full cream milk
Salt
Red chilly powder
Cucumber
Carrots
Onion
Tomatoes
Any other vegetable or fruit that you want to add

 Method:


Boil rice and throw away the extra water. Keep it to cool in a large pan.

Dice all the vegetables you wish to add.

Beat curd with little water and full cream milk. It should be not too thick not too liquidy.

When the rice is completely cool, add this mixture of  curd, milk and water to the rice. Mix well and add salt and red chilly powder.

Mix well and add cucumber, tomatoes, onions, carrots, anar, anything you like. Mix well and then in a little oil, fry some mustard seeds and add to this.

Mix well and keep it in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving. It helps the rice to soak in the milk-curd mixture and the other flavours.

Serve cold with pickle

Extra:

When you are frying the mustard seeds, you can also add peanuts/curry leaves/ginger jullians/ or whole dry red chillies for an added twist. 

Vegetable stew- Veggies cooked in South Indian style with Coconut Milk

My all time favorite order when I go to a South Indian restaurant is Appam and Veg Stew. I have no clue how to make Appam, so I replaced it with Malabari Paratha. I like it with rice too. You could choose to make a thin grave and have it like a soup.

When I love the taste of a dish, I always experiment on my own and try to create the dish without referring to a recipe. That's how this vegetable stew came into existence. It is easy to make and delicious to taste. Try it and tell me how it turned out.

Ingredients

2 Medium sized Potatoes
1 Onion
Carrots
Beans
Peas
Any other vegetable that you would like to add
Ginger-garlic paste
5 Black peppercorns
Curry leaves
Mustard seeds
Coconut milk
Salt
1 1/2 Tea spoon Coriander powder
1/2 Teaspoon Red chilly powder
Oil
Water


Process

Peel the potatoes,carrots, onions and cut the vegetables as you desire.

In a wok/ kadhai, heat oil (Try coconut oil for enhanced flavour, I used Sunflower oil as I had that at home) When the Oil is hot add Mustard seeds and Curry leaves. Add the ginger garlic paste and cook. Next add the Potatoes and carrots. Cover the pan and let them cook for a while. Next add the beans and the peas and cook.

Crush the peppercorns.

At this stage add Salt, Coriander powder, Chilly powder and the freshly ground/ crushed black pepper powder to the cooking vegetables.

When the vegetables are almost done, add the onions. I add the onions in the end because I dont want to over cook them.

Next you add coconut milk. I use a store bought one. If you want to go that extra mile then you can make coconut milk at home. Of course your dish will taste better with the fresh milk. 

If you want a very thick gravy then don't add any water, if not then add some water. I am not defining the quantity of coconut milk or water because it is up to you how much you want to add and how thick you want the gravy to be. 

Bring to a boil with a lid, and your dish is ready. Super simple and super delicious. Serve it with Appam, rice,as a soup or with Malabari paratha like I did.

Extra:

You can also add cinnamon sticks to the Oil after putting the Curry leaves and mustard seeds. It adds a whole new flavour to the dish.