Coconut chutney

Coconut chutney is a great accompaniment to many foods. Chutney is defined a sauce/relish of Indian origin. In the US chutneys are usually associated with sweet/spicy sauces made of fruit and spices like a mango chutney which comes in a bottle like a jelly/jam. South Indian chutneys are usually savory and made from fresh ingredients. It can be served with idli, dosa, pongal, upma, bajji, vada, etc. It really is a versatile side dish and it is very tasty. There are many variations of this chutney and I am going to give you the basic recipe for coconut chutney made with green chillies.

Ingredients:

coconut ( grated)- 1 cup

green chillies ( small indian/thai green chillies) – 2 (de-seeded if you want it less spicy)

Roasted skinned split chickpeas ( pottukadalai/ Channa dal/bengal gram)- 1 to 2 tbsp

Salt – 1/2 tsp (to taste)

Water – as needed

Optional:

Tamarind paste – a pea size glob ( or a pea size of real tamarind fruit)- you can add this to the chutney so it keeps for a few days to prevent it from spoiling

Garlic – 1 to 2 cloves — you can add this to the chutney if you love garlic

Ginger – 1 inch piece – you can add this to the chutney if you want a little zing

In the place of green chillies

dried red chillies- 1 large or 2 small to get a red chutney

Black peppercorns- 1 tsp – to get a peppery chutney

There are numerous other variations to chutney .

To garnish:

Black mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Urad dal ( split skinned black gram)- 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida – 1 pinch

Curry leaves – 5 to 10

Oil – 1 tbsp

Instructions:

1. Grind the coconut , roasted split chickpeas, green chillies, salt ( and tamarind) together in a blender. Add a little water to start with and add more water as you go depending on if you want the chutney coarse/thick or thin/ watery.
   

   

   
   
   
   
2. Place this chutney in a bowl and taste it and add additional salt and mix well

 3. Now in a separate small pan add oil and heat it up. Add the mustard seeds, urad dal, asafoetida, and curry leaves to the oil until they sizzle / sputter ( just a few seconds) without burning them and add this mixture to the chutney and mix well.

4. Coconut Chutney is ready to serve as an accompaniment with your dish !

Peerkangai thuvaiyal ( ridge gourd chutney)

Ridge gourd is a long green vegetable. The skin is green and rough and there are these ridges which is what gives the vegetable its name. The inside is fleshy and resembles a cucumber. Typically people cook the inside of the gourd. However growing up my mom always used the skin to make this yummy chutney and It is one my absolute favorites! This is a chutney that can be used as a side to dosa, idli etc. it can be also used to mix in with rice or as a side with other mixed rice dishes. 

Here is a little information about 

ridge gourd

Ingredients

To grind 

Ridge gourd - 1 long 

Urad dal ( dehusked split black gram) - 1 tbsp

Chana dal ( split bengal gram ) - 1/2 tbsp

Dried red chilly - 1-2 

Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp 

Tamarind paste - 1/2 to 1 tsp ( for desired tartness)

Salt to taste 

Oil for sautéing 

For seasoning 

Black mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Onion medium - 1/2 chopped into small pieces

Curry leaves - 4 or 5

Asafoetida - pinch

Instructions :

1. Wash the gourd really well
2. Cut the gourd into 4 pieces 
   
   
3. First use a peeler and peel of the thin sharp ridges. These do not cook well. Discard these
4. Then use a knife a cut the the green skin with a little bit of the white flesh stuck on to it and save these. 
   
   
   
   
5. Then take these peels and chop them into small pieces and set aside 
   
   
6. Place  a sauce pan on medium heat  and put a tbsp of oil in it and sauté the urad dal , chana dal, red chillies , asafoetida for a minute or two and set aside 
   
   
7. Now put another tbsp of oil in the pan and place the cut up peels in the oil and sauté it. 
   
   
8. Place a lid on the pan and lower the heat and let it cook for 3 to 5 minutes. 
9. Sauté the peels until it is soft and partially cooked 
10. Now grind the mixture of the dal and chillies in blender and then add in the peels and grind this. Add water little by little to get the chutney into a paste. 
11. Add a small blueberry sized tamarind paste to the chutney and grind it in 
12. Place a saucepan on medium heat and add a little oil to it, sauté onions until translucent , add the mustard seeds and let them sputter and add the curry leaves and asafoetida. Finally add the ridge gourd chutney to the mixture and sauté it until it’s light brown in color. 
    
    
13. Peerkangai thuvaiyal is ready to serve 
    
    

Idli/dosa ( steamed rice cake/ savory crepe)

In Tamil Nadu idli and dosa are common breakfast foods. Idli is a steamed rice cake and dosa is a savory thin crepe.  Growing up I had both for breakfast quite a bit and I always preferred dosa over idli since dosas have more oil/ ghee added to them which makes them crispy and extra tasty !  But as an adult I have come to appreciate the humble steamed idli which is better for my health and tasty in its own way. 

Ingredients:

Idli rice ( par boiled rice )- 3 cups

Whole Urad dal (dehusked black gram)- 1 cup

Salt - 1 tbsp (to taste)

Water 

Instructions:

1. Soak the idli rice and urad dal in two separate bowls overnight or for at least 6 hours. 
   
   
   
   
2. Now drain the water from the urad dal and place it little at a time into a wet grinder ( you can use an American blender but may end up with coarse batter . I have used an indian ‘mixie’ like  preethi which works really well. It likely has to do with the type of blade it has). 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Grind the urad dal adding a little bit of water at time until it is a thick fluffy paste ( consistency of cake batter). This takes almost 45 minutes. Once this is ground take this out and set it aside in the urad dal bowl.
   
   
4. Now grind the rice adding a little at a time and adding a little bit of water at a time. Grind until smooth to the consistency of wet corn starch. This takes almost 1 hour. 
5. Add the rice batter to the urad dal batter and mix it well with your hands. Ensure the bowl is large so that the batter is only filling half the bowl. This will give it space to rise after its fermented.
   
   
6. Usually the batter is left out in a warm place (kitchen counter) overnight to ferment . During the winter you can ferment it overnight in the instant pot in the yogurt setting.
   
   
7. Add salt to the batter and mix well
8. Now batter is ready to use !

Idli

1. Idlis are made in a idli mould which is then put in an idli pot.2. Grease the idli mould with a little bit of oil so that the batter doesn’t stick to it.3. Use a deep spoon to get the batter and place them in the greased mould 

4. Now add water to the idli pot ( fill 1/3 of the pot ) and place it on the stove on medium heat and let the water come to a boil.

5. Now place the mould in the idli pot and close the lid

6. Allow the idlis to cook for about 15 minutes. They should be cooked by now. You can use a toothpick to check if the idli is done ( like you would cake). If the toothpick comes out clean the idlis as cooked

7. Take the mould out and let it cool.

8. You can use a spoon to scoop out the idlis 

9. Idlis are ready to eat and can be served with idli powder, coconut chutney, sambar, tomato chutney, onion chutney etc.

Dosa 

1. To make dosa take the batter and dilute it with some water. 

2. Heat a griddle pan or a crepe pan on medium heat on the stove 

3. Now pour a ladle of batter on to the middle of the pan and spread it in a thin circle as you would a crepe 

4. Put some oil on the edges to prevent the dosa from sticking to the pan. Let it cook until there are holes in the dosa (maybe about 15-20 seconds)

5. Now use a spatula to lift up the edges to see if it is golden brown.

6. Flip the dosa over and let the other side cook for a few seconds. 

7.Now take it off the pan and put it on a plate.

8. Dosa is ready to serve with idli powder , chutney , sambar etc.

Indian Sloppy Joe's

 I use vegetable kurma (vegetable kurma)to make these tasty sandwiches!

Ingredients:

White bread

Mint chutney

Tamarind sauce / ketchup

Vegetable kurma

Ghee/butter

White cheese ( pepper jack/Muenster/havarti)

1. Take two pieces of white bread and spread ghee/ butter on it on the outside.
   
   
   
2. Next spread mint chutney/mint powder and tamarind sauce/ketchup on the inner side of the bread
   
   
   
3. Place cheese on the inside of the bread
   
   
   
4. Place vegetable kurma on top of the cheese
   
   
   
5. Toast the bread on pan until the cheese melts and the outside is golden brown!
   
   
   
   
   
   

This is a tasty way to use the vegetable kurma !

Rava dosa

Rava dosa is a quick breakfast or dinner that you can make. Dosa is a savory crepe. Traditional dosa usually takes many hours to prepare ( from soaking the ingredients overnight to grinding them, fermenting them etc.), however rava dosa can be made in under

30 minutes . One of the websites my sister often refers to has a good recipe for it (

the chutney life)

Ingredients 

Sooji ( rava / cream of wheat)- 1/2 cup

Rice flour - 1/2 cup 

Maida ( all purpose flour)- 1/4 cup

Plain yogurt - 1/4 cup

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Black peppercorns - 1 tsp 

Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp 

Curry leaves - 10

1/2 Onion cut into small pieces 

Green chilly - 1 deseeded and cut into pieces 

Water -3 cups 

Salt to taste 

Instructions :

1. Mix the sooji, rice flour, maida, yogurt, onion, cumin , black peppercorn, asafoetida, curry leaves together and pour a cup of the water and mix it.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Keep adding water until the batter is watery - the consistency of milk. Add salt to taste.
3. Let the batter sit for atleast 20 minutes 
4. Place a griddle/ flat pan/ tawa on the stove on medium heat and let it heat up. Splash the batter on the hot pan in a circle so that there are holes in the dosa. Add oil on the sides so the dosa doesn’t stick to the pan. 
5. Let it cook until the bottom is golden brown 
6. Then use a turner to flip it over and let the other side cook 
7. Now the rava dosa is ready to serve with coconut chutney or sambar 
8. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. Here is a video that shows how to splash the dosa and make the rava dosa on tawa