Tomato Chutney

This is a very simple chutney to go with Idlies,Dosas,Adais and what not.

INGREDIENTS:

Roma tomatoes- 1.5 nos, cut coursely and ground into a paste
Onion-1/2 cubed finely
Green chillies- 4 nos, slit
Mustard seeds, urad dal-1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Chilli powder- 1 to 2 tsp depending on your spice level
Curry leaves and Cilantro- For garnish

PROCEDURE:

1. Grind the tomatoes into a smooth paste.
2. In a pan, add mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves, asafoetida(optional) and allow to splatter.
3. Now add the cubed onions, green chillies till golden brown.
4. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder,salt and mix well.
5. Add the tomato paste and cook for 3-4 mins until the color changes to dark red and raw smell goes.
6. Serve hot with idlies, dosas,adai.

Red Pearl Onion Chutney

This chutney is definitely worth a try. Its a bit of work to peel the pearl onions and saute the chutney till raw smell is gone but I can guarantee that you will not regret the effort taken.

INGREDIENTS:

Red Pearl Onions- 2 bags, peeled
Red Chillies-5 or 6. You can add more if you want more spicier
Jaggery or Brown Sugar-1 tsp
Tamarind paste-1 tsp
Salt-According to taste

Temper:

Mustard Seeds-1/2 tsp
Split Urad dal-1/2 tsp
Channa dal-1/2 tsp
Curry leaves-3 or 4 leaves
Sesame Oil-2 tbsp
Asafoetida-1 puff


PROCEDURE:

1.In a mixie, finely grind to paste the raw pearl onions, red chillies and tamarind paste and salt.
2.In a pan with sesame oil, temper with mustard seeds,curry leaves,split urad dal,channa dal and asafoetida.
3.Now add the ground paste from step 1 and saute till the raw smell goes away.Now add salt and jaggery.
4.Turn off stove.
5.Serve with hot idlies and dosas and lick the plate clean.

Note: You will notice that the chutney will reduce half in quantity after stirring for a while. The water will evaporate.

Eggplant Gojju/chutney

This is one of the dishes that everyone likes in our family.In particular, my Father-in-law is a big fan of this dish. Its really awesome with hot and soft idlies and also goes well with crispy dosas too. The jaggery gives a twist to this dish.


INGREDIENTS:

Baby eggplant-5 nos or Big Eggplant-1 no cubed
Onion-1 small,chopped fine
Tomato-2 small,chopped fine
Green chillies-3 slit
Garlic(optional)-1 pod,chopped fine or smashed well
Tamarind paste-1 blob
Jaggery-1 small bit
Sambar powder-1 tbsp
Turmeric powder-1 tsp
Asafoetida-1 puff
Curry leaves,Mustard seeds,split urad dal-For tempering
Cilantro-For garnish.

Procedure:

1. In a pressure cooker,add some oil, fry onions,tomatoes,eggplant,green chillies and then add some water enough to immerse the entire mixture.
2. Keep the whistle for 2-3 whistles depending on your pressure cooker.
3. After the pressure has subsided. Open the cooker.Add the tamarind paste and some jaggery and let boil.
4. Now in a separate pan,add oil,mustard seeds,urad dal,curry leaves,asafoetida.Add the turmeric powder,sambar powder and salt and mix it with the ingredients in the pressure cooker.Allow to come to a boil.This gojju/chutney is supposed to be a little thick. You can add water accordingly.Do not make it too watery.
5. Serve hot with idlies or dosas.

Peanut Chutney

Ingredients:
Peanuts-Unsalted Roasted, 1 cup
Red chillies-2 or more according to your spice level
Tamarind paste-1/2 tsp

Onion-1/4 of a medium or 2 cloves of Garlic

Salt-According to taste

Asafoetida-Few puffs

Curry leaves-For garnish

Procedure:

1.Grind all ingredients in a mixie or blender until smoothe.Add curry leaves after washing for garnish. No need to do tadka for this one.

2.Serve with idlies,dosas,pongal,upma,lemon rice or pulihora.

Red Capsicum Chutney Version 2

INGREDIENTS:

Red Capsicum-2
Garlic-4,5 pods
Red Chillies-3 or 4
Urad dal,Channa dal-equal proportion
Tamarind-A small ball

TADKA:

In a pan,add oil,mustard seeds,urad dal,channa dal,curry leaves and asafoetida and let splatter.

PROCEDURE:

1.Fry capsicum,dals,chillies,garlic and grind with tamarind and salt after cooling.
2. Add tadka to the chutney and serve hot with idlies/dosas.

Nivi's Red Capsicum Chutney Version 1

INGREDIENTS:

Red Capsicum-1
Tomato-1 big
Green chillies-2
Garlic- 4 pods
Tamarind paste- 1/4 tsp
Urad dal and Channa dal-equal proportion- Appr 1 tsp each
Salt

TADKA:
Mustard seeds,split urad dal,channa dal,asafoetida,curry leaves in oil

PROCEDURE:
1.Fry Red capsicum,garlic,tomatoes,green chillies and dals in a pan with little oil.
2.Grind with tamarind,salt.

3.Add tadka and serve with hot idlies/dosas.

Non Brahmin version of Peerkankai Thovaiyal/chutney

We had this chutney with rice in one of our neighbours house. It was amazing. I got the recipe from them. From then on,Vignesh absolutely hogs on this whenever I make it. Its excellent with dosas and hot rice with sesame oil.Pretty easy too.

Ingredients:
Peerkankai/Ridge Gourd-Peeled
Garlic cloves-2 or 3
Red chillies- 5-6
Channa dal-1 tsp
Mint leaves- A handful
Tomato-1 medium optinal
Tamarind-1/2 tsp
Asafoetida
Procedure:
1.In a pan of little oil,add the peerkankai peel,red chillies and saute well till it almost loses its rawness.
2.Add asafoetida,garlic cloves,channa dal,mint leaves, tomato and saute them too along with the peerkankai peels.Make sure that the peerkankai peel is completely done or the taste is not that good.
3.Once its done ,switch off the stove and add salt and tamarind paste to the pan and let it cool.
4. Use mixie and dry grind the above with little or no water as possible. There will not be a need to add water if you add tomatoes.The chutney should be thick/solid and not watery.Its more like a thovaiyal and is meant to be thick.
5.Garnish with a few curry leaves and pour little sesame oil on top and eat with either plain hot rice or dosas.

I am never throwing lauki peel away again!

My mom makes a chutney out of Lauki peel. I was very apprehensive and hence added a lot of other ingredients but still the wonderful flavor of the peel stood out and appealed.

Skin (peel) of 1 lauki (soraikkai, dhoodhi)
coconut and cilantro to taste
1 tbsp ural dal (black gram lentils)
tamarind to taste (1 spoon)
red chillies to taste
salt

Dry roast urad dal and red chillies and saute the lauki peel.
Grind all ingredients with coconut, cilantro and tamarind. Serve with rice/paniyaram etc.

Green Chutney recipe

@tKe's recipe
cilantro - 2 bunches with all the green stems
mint - 1 bunch with all the green stems
roasted peanuts - 2 handfuls (1/2 cup)
cumin seeds - 1-2 tsp
lime juice (1.5 limes)
kala namak - 1 tsp
green chillies - 3 large
grated ginger - 1-2 tsp (if using powder limit to 1 tsp)
salt to taste

Grind together and add lime juice in the end.

Fennel Bell Pepper chutney (thogaiyal)

What I wanted to make was this - Bellpepper chutney. But I had gotten a fennel bulb and wanted to use it. Surprisingly it has a nice crunchy taste even eaten raw. Once I sauteed it, it morphed into a slightly sweet tender interesting vegetable. The original plan was to make chutney just with the fennel. I tried that but it tasted a tad sweet and mostly bland and lacked the chutney's 'together' texture. So sauteed a bell pepper and blended with very little coconut and some cilantro. The end result was quite tasty with chawal ki rotis which were more like papads than rotis (was okay taste-wise though). So no point posting that recipe.



Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 green bell pepper, chopped (roughly)
equal amount of fennel (fennel bulb) chopped (roughly)
1 tblp ural dal
2 tbsp chana dal
3-4 dried red chillies
2 tbsp coconut
1/4 cup cilantro
1 tsp dry tamarind/ 1/3 tsp tamarind paste
2 tsp oil

Dry roast urad dal, chana dal, red chillies and transfer to blender/mixie.
Add a tsp of oil and saute the bell pepper and fennel till slightly tender (until they start browning a little bit and release the flavors)
Blend the sauteed vegetables with the dry roasted ingredients, coconut, cilantro, tamarind and salt and water as required.
Transfer back to pan with a tsp of oil and cook till any raw flavor is gone. (just for a few minutes)

Enjoy with rice, dosa or rice roti.


My guess is the fennel tempered the bell pepper's 'peppery' flavor and sweetness while imparting a very subtle 'celery' like favor to the dish.

Onion tomato chutney version 2

Ingredients:

Onions- 1 big
Tomatoes- 2 small
Tamarind paste
Red chillies
Asafoetida

Procedure:

Grind all ingredients without frying to a smooth paste.

Then fry the gravy/paste in a pan till the raw taste disappears and it thickens.

Fry in sesame oil for added flavor.

Tips:

Try with small red onions.Amazing with soft fluffy idlies.

Onion tomato chutney version 1

Ingredients:

Onions- 1 big
Tomato- 2 medium or 1 big
Garlic- 2 cloves
Red chillies- 5 pieces
Asafoetida

Regular thadka

Fry everything in oil,cool,grind and season.

Tip: Onions and tomatoes must be equal proportion.

Coconut chutney-Tamil nadu style

Ingredients for chutney:

Coconut flakes- 1.5 cups
Roasted chana dal( Pottu kadalai)- 0.75 cups
Green chillies-3-5
Coriander stems/leaves- to disguise the yukky brown color of dry coconut
Asafoetida- 3 puffs
tamarind paste

Ingredients for seasoning(thadka)

Mustard seeds
chana dal
split urad dal-more urad dal the crunchier
curry leaves

Tip: You can soak some almonds for sometime and grind along with the chutney for some extra texture and health.

You can also add a little bit of sesame oil after grinding for extra taste.