A simple chutney that works as a lovely side at a meal. If you have a hibiscus plant at home, makes it all the more easy especially if you run short of ingredients in the pantry or want something different and interesting to serve.
Ingredients
10-12 hibiscus petals, rinsed with water
6 garlic cloves
2 tsp roasted sesame seeds
1/2 cup chopped tomato
6 dry red chillies, soaked in water for ten minutes
Salt, to taste
1 tsp sesame oil
Instructions
1. Blend all the ingredients until smooth.
2. Heat the sesame oil and pour over the chutney. Add salt, mix well.
Serve as a side with a curry and dal along with rice or rotis.
Raita is a side dish made with curd/yoghurt. It can be paired with breads or rice. A simple tempering keeps flavours mild and it’s an easy & quick fish to whip up.
Ingredients
1 medium sized radish, peeled & grated
1 – 1.5 cups yoghurt
Salt, to taste
For tempering 2 tsp oil 1/4 tsp mustard seeds 1/2 tsp urad dal 1/2 tsp chana dal 1-2 dry red chillies, broken 8-10 curry leaves
Instructions
1. Whisk yoghurt in a bowl until smooth. Add salt and radish.
2. Prepare tempering in a small pan by heating oil and spluttering mustard. Then add the dals, dry chilli, green chilli and curry leaves. Pour over the yoghurt-radish and mix well.
Note:
1. A pinch of hing can be added to the tempering 2. You could substitute curry leaves with finely chopped coriander leaves. Both have very distinct flavours and best not to combine.
Variation
1. Skip the tempering entirely. Simply add 1/2 tsp cumin powder, green chilli and coriander leaves to the yoghurt-radush mix.
Korivi kharam or Pandu mirapakaya pachchadi is a chutney made with fresh red chillies and can be preserved for the entire year. The tempering is added when needed.
Winter is the season for the red chillies (simply green chillies left to ripen) and Andhra being one of the largest producers of chillies, obviously has much to do with them:)
Ingredients
1kg fresh red chillies
Orange sized tamarind ball
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp roasted Fenugreek powder
Salt, to taste
For tempering (for one cup chutney)
2-3 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp hing/asafoetida
Instructions
1. Wash the chillies and dry well. There should be no trace of moisture.
2. Chop chillies into two inch pieces. Add the tamarind to a bowl and top with the chillies. Let it rest for 24-36 hours; do not cover as it can lead to fungus formation.
3. Grind to a coarse consistency.
4. Add salt, turmeric powder, roasted fenugreek powder and mix well. Keep it in the sun for 1-2 days, cover with muslin cloth.
4. Store in an airtight glass jar at room temperature. When required, take a portion out to temper and make fresh chutney.
For the tempering (for one cup chutney)
1. Heat til oil in a small tempering pan. Add mustard and when they start spluttering, add hing. Pour over the red chilli and the chutney is ready to eat.
Best eaten with rice and ghee. It works well also as a side with rotis, dosa, upma or even as a spread on toast.
The coconut chutney is a lovely side with South Indian breakfasts and some snacks like the vadas & bajjis. It is made with the fresh coconut meat, roasted chana dal and spices. There are multiple variations that are possible, but here’s one that’s a classic!
Ingredients
Grind to a smooth paste:
1 cup grated fresh coconut
2 tbsp roasted chana dal
1 inch ginger, roughly chopped
2-3 green chillies, roughly chopped
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
Marble sized tamarind (de-seeded)
Salt, to taste
Water
For tempering:
2 tsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp chana dal
A pinch hing/asafoetida
2-3 dry red chillies, broken in half
8-10 curry leaves
Instructions
1. Grind together the ingredients listed above (except those for tempering) adding tbsps of water, as required, to obtain a thick consistency.
2. Transfer the chutney to a bowl.
3. In a small pan, heat oil for the tempering. Crackle mustard, then add fenugreek seeds, urad dal and chana dal. When the dals start turning golden, add hing, dry red chillies and curry leaves.
4. Pour the tempering over the chutney, give it a gentle mix and serve.
A family friend had given us a large batch of star fruit from their farm. Mum always used to try making some different dishes with any ingredient. And so was born this simple pachchadi or chutney that is versatile and a great side dish to have.
Star fruit pachchadi
Ingredients
5 unripe star fruits, chopped roughly
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
3 dry red chillies, broken
2 green chillies, chopped
2 tbsp coriander leaves & stems, chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
A pinch hing/asafoetida
2 tsp oil
Salt, to taste
Instructions
1. Heat a tsp of oil and fry the star fruit with turmeric and salt until tender. Let it cool.
2. Heat a tsp oil in another small pan for tempering. Add mustard and once it crackles, add fenugreek, urad dal, hing, dry red chillies. Take off heat once the dal turns brown and rest the chillies and coriander on this.
3. Once cool, grind the tempering coarsely. Then add the star fruit and grind until desired consistency (can be smooth or if you want a bite, just give it a couple of whips in the grinder).
Notes
Ripe star fruit can also be used in the same manner. However, since it won’t be as sour, add tamarind (the size of two marbles) along with the green chillies.
I regret the many time I have thrown away the bottle gourd peel; the only saving grace is that it went into my compost bin so wasn’t entirely wasted.
The peels can be simply sauteed with masala and eaten, but I made a pachchadi with it and it was lovely with rice & ghee.
Ingredients
1 cup of bottle gourd peels, washed and dried
2-3 tsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
A pinch hing/asafoetida
3-4 dry red chillies
2 green chillies
A small lime sized tamarind
2 tbsp coriander leaves & stems
Salt, to taste
Instructions
1. Heat oil in a pan, crackle mustard. Add urad dal, hing, dry red chillies. Then add the green chillies and bottle gourd peels. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add tamarind and coriander. Saute for a minute. Take off heat and let it cool.
3. Grind until coarse, add salt and grind again to desired consistency. I didn’t make mine too smooth.
Serve with rice and ghee. Or as a side with rotis. You could use this as a stuffing to make a simple, but filling paratha.
Sujatha Jayaram had shared this simple, but absolutely delicious chutney recipe with me. She usually pairs this with pongal, rava rotti or ragi rotti.
This, she calls, the kothaali pota red chutney (red chutney with coriander leaves). This is how they used to identify the chutney, as children, to their mother. And it reminds me again of how we build so many memories around food and how that makes a dish more special for us.
Kothammali pota red chutney
Ingredients
2 medium sized onions
1 medium sized tomato
A gooseberry/marble sized tamarind
3-4 green chillies (do adjust for spice)
2 tbsp coriander leaves & stems
2 tsp oil
Salt, to taste
6-8 curry leaves
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
Instructions
1. Heat a tsp oil in a pan. Add onions and once the raw smell disappears, add tomato, chillies and coriander. Just saute for a 3-4 minutes, add the tamarind and salt. Take off heat and let it cool.
2. Once cooled, grind to a coarse consistency. Transfer to a serving bowl.
3. Heat a tsp oil for tempering. Crackle mustard, add the curry leaves and pour over the chutney.
And it’s done! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did:)
Note
1. The measures give you one small cup of chutney and can be proportionately increased for larger quantity.
2. I also added a couple of dry red chillies in step 1. This is because the green chillies I had were not very spicy. Also adds a lovely colour.
The beetroots growing in the garden give me ample opportunities to experiment! Made a traditional Andhra pachchadi or chutney which can be eaten with rice or rotis or as a spread on toast.
Beetroot pachchadi
To retain the colour, I avoided using green chillies or coriander. I also roasted the beets instead of steaming them. The roasting also added a lovely flavour.
Ingredients
1 cup beetroot, diced
1 tsp oil
3-4 dry red chillies
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
A pinch of hing/asafoetida
A small lime sized tamarind
Salt, to taste
Instructions
1. Roast the diced beetroot in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until tender at 180C. Just layer a foil on a baking tray and add a couple of garlic pods as well if you like. You could also steam them until tender.
2. Heat oil in a small pan to make the tempering. Add mustard, urad dal, dry red chillies, hing. Let it cook; leave the tamarind on it just for it to absorb some heat.
3. Once the tempering and beets are cool, blend together with salt. You can grind to a coarse consistency or smooth as preferred.
A raita is a yoghurt based side dish that is usually paired with a spiced rice dish like a biryani or pulao or the South Indian puliyogre or pulihyora, lime rice etc. A raita can be made with a variety of vegetables; the most commonly used are cucumber, onion and tomato. A raita not only works as a lovely accompaniment to a rice dish balancing the spice, but is a healthy and cooling dish. Sometimes, just eating a bowl of it on its own during a hot summer day works wonders.
Cucumber raita
How to make cucumber raita
Ingredients
1 medium sized cucumber
250g curd
1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder
Salt, to taste
1 tbsp of chopped coriander leaves or mint leaves
Instructions
1. Peel and grate the cucumber. You can also finely chop cucumber. Or add in both ways.
2. In a serving bowl, add yoghurt and beat until smooth. Then add the cucumber, roasted cumin powder and salt. Mix well.
3. Add the coriander or mint leaves, give it a stir and serve chilled.
Variation 1
Instead of roasted cumin powder, add 1/2 tsp of crushed pink or white pepper and crushed pink salt to taste.
Variation 2
Instead of roasted cumin powder, add 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper and kala namak (black salt) to taste.
Variation 3
Add a tsp of ginger juice to the original recipe. Grate the ginger and press it to obtain the juice. You can use your fingers or press the ginger in a tea strainer.
Pumpkin is highly nutritious, being rich in iron, fiber, zinc, vitamin C and beta carotene. The seeds are also an excellent source of protein, fiber, iron, and other minerals.
There is also no wastage absolutely…you can consume the peels, flesh, seeds and use the stem to grease the tawa when making dosas!
I usually save up the peels for use in food. The seeds are sund tied and stored. They stay well for weeks in an air tight container (at room temperature). Initially, I stored them because they work as a great dewormer for the dogs, but now I also incorporate them into our meals. My domestic help’s kids also love this as a simple snack – roast, toss in some salt and red chilli powder.
This chutney/masala can be used in various ways – as a chutney on its own, add to whisked curd to make a delicious raita, add to hung curd to make a dip, add to rotis either as a stuffing or blend in the dough to makes spiced rotis, add to curries as a spice blend…the options, honestly, are endless!
Pumpkin peel & seeds chutney/masala
Ingredients (to make one cup masala/chutney)
50g pumpkin peel
1 tbsp sun dried seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
3-4 dry red chillies (byadige for colour, Guntur for spice. I usually mix the two)
A pinch hing/asafoetida
Marble sized tamarind
A pinch jaggery powder (optional)
2-3 green chillies
1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
1-2 tsp oil
Salt, to taste
Instructions
1. Wash the peels and leave on a cloth to dry fully. Moisture could lead to chutney getting spoilt faster.
2. Heat oil in a pan; crackle mustard and then add fenugreek, urad dal, dry red chillies and hing. Once the dal starts turning brown, add the green chillies, jaggery, pumpkin peels and seeds. Fry until the seeds start changing colour. Take off heat, add the tamarind and coriander. Let it cool.
3. Blend together with salt until smooth. You can also blend it to a coarse paste and use. Works either way.
The chutney can be made without the sun dried seeds as well. Just omit and follow the recipe. However, the seeds add a lovely flavour so maybe remember to sun dry for next use:)
☘️ Serve as a chutney with idlis/dosas/rotis/rice
☘️ Add to whisked curd to make a raita. You can also add some grated fresh coconut to this.
☘️ Add to hung curd to make a dip
☘️ Add as a stuffing to rotis or blend it with the dough. Serve with a simple cucumber raita.
☘️ Use as a chutney on toast or as a spread on dosas instead of the regular chutney podi.
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