Category: Condiments

Green Tomato Chutney

In Solapur dry chutneys are more popular. Of course the most famous one, Peanut chutney along with Flaxseed and garlic chutney often grace the dinner plate. They have a long shelf life and that’s critical in the hot arid weather of Solapur. However there are a few wet chutneys that are also made often here, and one of them is this Green Tomato chutney.

I am not sure why but its called Bel Vangyachi chutney as well. This recipe is a classic example of how a few simple, humble ingredients can create magic. You take a bite of this and there is a burst of flavor in your mouth. It comes together real quick too

Often times in Solapur when the jowar bhakri (sorghum flat bread) is made on the wooden chulha, the bhakri is kept to get crunchy. While that’s happening, on the same iron pan on which the bhakri is made, this chutney, or Pithale, or Mirchi Kharda (Green chili chutney) are made. I feel its such an efficient way of cooking.

I love growing vegetables and every summer when the tomatoes are growing in the garden, I look forward to making this recipe. My Mom says, the perfect tomato should be not 100% green, it should have a tinge of yellow. So I make sure I pick such tomatoes for the chutney.

I pick green ones to make Fried Green tomatoes, Louisiana style

The recipe is super simple but I guarantee you will love it

Solapur style Green tomato chutney

Super easy to make recipe using fresh green tomatoes that packs a flavor

Course Appetizer, condiment

Cuisine Indian, Maharashtrian

Keyword Chutney, Green tomatoes, spicy chutney

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Oil
2 Almost green tomatoes see the details above
5 Green chilies adjust the amount to your taste
2 Garlic cloves
1/2 Tsp Turmeric
1 Tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Roasted Peanut Powder

For the Tempering

1 Tbsp Oil
1 Tsp Cumin Seeds
1/2 Tsp Turmeric
1 Tbsp Chopped cilantro

Instructions

Chutney

Heat the oil in the pan
While the oil is heating, chop the tomatoes in medium size pieces. Chop garlic and green chilies in big pieces
Add turmeric to the oil
Add the chili and garlic to the oil, make sure the oil is not too hot. We don’t want any color on the garlic or the chilies. We just need to soften them
Add tomatoes and sauté on medium heat. Add salt.
Cover and let the chili, garlic and tomatoes soften
Now using a pestle mash the ingredient to a coarse consistency right on the pan. You can also use a blender or mortar pestle to do this. You can want to have a coarse texture and not a paste

Make the tempering

In a small pan, heat the oil. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and turmeric.

Assembly

Add the peanut powder and the tempering to the tomato mixture
Garnish with chopped cilantro

Condiments

Candied Orange Peel

A super easy recipe for making candied orange peel at home. This can be used in so many recipes like Christmas cakes,ice-creams and even Persian dishes like Shirin Polow.

All you need is some patience

You can use the orange peels many ways, will share some more recipes as well

Candied Orange Peel

Ingredients

2 large oranges 1/4 inch of top and bottom cut off
3 cups sugar divided
2 cups water

Instructions

Cut off 1/4 inch of top and bottom
Cut peel on each orange into 4 parts. Remove each segment (including white pith) in 1 piece. Cut into 1/4-inch-wide strips. Cook in large pot of boiling water 15 minutes; drain, rinse, and drain again.
Bring 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water to boil in medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add peel. Return to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until peel is very soft, about 45 minutes. Drain.
Toss peel and 1 cup sugar on rimmed baking sheet, separating strips. Lift peel from sugar; transfer to sheet of foil. Let stand until coating is dry, 1 to 2 days. DO AHEAD: Wrap and freeze up to 2 months.

Recipe Notes

Based on the recipe from Epicurious

Tags cakes, dessert, orange peel

Condiments Goan Indian Pickles & Chutneys Vegan Vegetarian

Pineapple sasave- sasam

Summer vacations are even more focused on food in my household. We love making new dishes using abundant produce. We all look forward to elaborate meals on the patio accompanied with some jazz in the back ground. I have been meaning to blog this for a long time, but when I was planning the menu today, this just fit right in, so here it is

Last time when we visited India, we visited family in Goa. For those who dont know where Goa is, it is a western coastal state of India. Known for its beautiful vibrant beaches and amazing sea food, this state offers a great cuisine. Since Portuguese settled here, the goan cuisine is influenced by the Portuguese cuisine. There are some recipes that are typical of the christian household and some that are more Hindu cuisine. No matter which one you pick, it is great food for sure .

The family we visited, Didi who is the lady of the house, is amazing cook. She had made a spread that we enjoyed so much. Her home is also very beautiful, courtyard, brick walls, it is so inviting and warm. One of the recipes she made is Ananas Sasave- pineapple curry.

In summer, I love cooking with fruits and Pineapple goes so well with so many things. Tangy, sweet I love it in many dishes.

This dish has everything, a bit of sweet, a bit of sour, a bit of spice and everything nice. It is very easy to make and tastes good hot or room temperature. I love to eat it with piping hot rice and a dash of ghee. It is very easy to make, comes together in 15 mins.

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I made this as a part of the meal, prawn curry, raw banana Kaape, rice and papad.

Ingredients:

Paste

1 cup of fresh grated coconut

1 tsp of mustard seeds

1 small piece of tamarind

1-2 green chilies

For tempering

1 tbsp oil ( I used coconut oil)

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 pinch of asafetida

1 spring of curry leaves

1 dry red chili

Other

3 cups of cubed pineapple

1 tbsp jaggery

salt to taste

Method

Make a fine paste of all the ingredients listed under paste. The finer the better, but use as little water as possible.

You can add water later, but try to grind with a little amount.

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Heat the pan and heat coconut oil, make sure you cook on medium heat otherwise the oil can smoke.

Add mustard seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves and dry red chilies. saute for a few secs, and add pineapple pieces. Add salt, stir and cook for a few minutes covered.

Add the ground paste and cook on low heat. Add jaggery and taste for salt.

Your sasave is ready.

This dish awakens all the senses, it is a riot of flavors in your mouth.

Tags coconut, curry, goa, Goan, Indian, vegan

Condiments Indian Maharashtrian Pickles & Chutneys

Cilantro pesto-Dhaniya chutney

Post author By Anagha
Post date September 25, 2015
No Comments on Cilantro pesto-Dhaniya chutney

Do you know anyone who has the ability to just brighten up the room the minute they enter in. It is their smile, genuine nice attitude or even the way they crack jokes, they just makes the situation nicer.

I cherish such friends, very thankful to have them in my life.

If I had to relate this back to the food, I think condiments are like these special friends. Anytime if it seems like what you have cooked for dinner is just blah, a nice chutney, salsa, dip can come to the rescue and help revive the meal.

I love condiments of all kinds. I love making yogurt based dips, spicy chutneys, fresh salsas of various kinds. My favorite of all are the spicy condiments.

When my kids were younger everything I cooked was very mild. I am lucky that my kids eat all the vegetables ever since they were babies so I wanted to make sure it stays that way. As a result I would also have to eat very mild food, that was really hard. So I started making chutneys and relishes, these were spicy and complimented the mild food well.

One such chutney is the ‘Cilantro chutney’. You can also call it Cilantro pesto. My friend Uma taught me this one. What I love about this recipe is all the things needed are usually available easily at home. It takes only a few minutes to make and stays well in fridge for a week, although I must warn you, it is so yummy that it barely lasts a day, usually it is cleaned up quickly.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup of washed , cleaned Cilantro
1 tbsp roasted peanuts
2 garlic cloves
8-10 spicy green chilies ( I use thai chilies since I like it spicy)
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp oil

Method

Dry roast the peanuts
Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds and turmeric powder
Add chopped green chilies and chopped garlic
Saute for 30 seconds, don’t let the garlic or chili burn or brown.
Add cilantro and turn the heat off. Add salt. Cover and leave it to warm through.
Grind the peanuts to a powder.
Add cooled cilantro mixture and grind to a paste. I like to keep it a little coarse and not grind it super fine.

It can be used in many ways. I love serving it in the pretty yellow bowl. I bought it in Nepal, we visited Bhaktapur darbar. Amongst many other beautiful carvings and handicraft we also got to see beautiful pottery. It was amazing to see the potters turn the wheel and make these beautiful art pieces.

1. Mix it with some sour cream, yogurt or Greek yogurt to make a quick dip. I love it with pita chips.

2. Mix it with butter to make a great sandwich spread. I love to add some sliced avocado and make an open faced sandwich. I also like to add alfalfah sprouts to this, add a nice crunch to this already tasty sandwich.

Tags chutney, cilantro pesto, dip, pesto, spicy, vegan, vegetarian

Condiments French Jam & Preserves

A tale of two friends-Apricot lavender jam

Post author By Anagha
Post date May 16, 2015
3 Comments on A tale of two friends-Apricot lavender jam

I love spring. The weather is perfect, there are blossoms everywhere and the air is fragrant. I go the farmer’s market every week. And when you start seeing fresh green pea shoots, you know that Spring is here. A few weeks go by and then suddenly you see heaps and heaps of fresh spring peas, sweet, tender and just plain delicious. Right about this time you also see fresh apricots in the market. Although I am not a huge fan of apricots as a fresh fruit, especially when compared to nectarines and peaches, I love dried apricots.

This week I got two gifts from my friends..my neighbor gave a bag full of Apricots and my farmer’s market friend gave me a bunch of Lavender. Last year she had told me about this place not to far from where we live, ‘Lavender Hollow’. As the name can tell it is a Lavender farm and the visit was just amazing. The air was filled with the beautiful lavender frangrance adn there were bunches of fresh cu lavender everywhere.

I thought it was very sweet of my friends to share these things with me so I decided to make something that I can share back with them. So here is how I combined the two to make one yummy preserve.

Apricot jam with fresh apricots, dried apricot, Fresh lavender & Riesling!

First time tried it with lavender and it was delicious.

Apricot Lavender Preserve

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds fresh apricots

• 12 ounces dried apricots

• 4 cups sugar

• Juice of 1 lime

• Juice of 1 orange

• Zest of 1 orange

• 10 ounces of Riesling

• 1 tsp Lavender flowers

Method

Chop dried apricots, place in glass bowl, add wine and soak overnight.

In a new bowl, quarter fresh apricots, remove seeds, chop to a bite size bit

In nonreactive pan, add fresh apricots, sugar, orange zest/juice, and lime juice.

Simmer about 10 minutes, mixing all ingredients together until sugar dissolves

Remove from heat, cover, refrigerate overnight. Next day, add dried apricot mixture to fresh apricot mixture . Stirring, simmer until thickens

Add Lavender Flowers

Put the jam in jars and seal in water bath

I tend to simmer only for a short time and shut off the heat, letting the jam cool. I reheat for a short time again to thicken the jam. I usually make just enough to last for a few weeks so dont necessarily can it.

I love serving it with some creamy mascarpone cheese on crackers. It makes for a very fancy looking appetizer.

Condiments Jam & Preserves Pickles & Chutneys Rajasthani Uncategorized

Lehsun-mirch ki chutney

If you observe food from any particular region, you can start learning a lot about the people, the weather, the produce available etc. It is very evident in the various cuisines from across India.

One such cuisine is the cuisine of Rajasthan.

I am in love with everything about this place . This land is known for its sand dunes, colorful dresses, camels and palaces. It is the western state of India, the dessert state, water is very scarce here and fresh fruits and vegetables are not readily available all the time, so a lot of the dishes from this region use ingredients that are available easily. Things like lentils, grain flours, dried chilies, dried vegetables and milk products.

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I have been to Rajasthan a few times and fell in love again with its people and food. I have learnt a few recipes on my visits and would be sharing them here.

Today’s recipe- Chili Garlic Chutney

I love spicy food. Today’s recipe is easy and can be made very easily, most of the ingredients should be available in your pantry. It is one of those dishes that can perk up any dull meal or add a bit of spice to it. 2015/03/img_2445.jpg

Ingredients:

10-15 Red Chilies

6-8 fresh garlic cloves

2 tbsp Kashmiri red chili powder

1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp Fenugreek Seeds

2 tbsp Oil

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp tamarind pulp( optional)

Method:

Some people also add onions, I feel that they make the chutney sweet so I don’t add it.
Soak dry red chilies in warm water for 1 hour.

In a blender grind the garlic & soaked chilies with little water.

Heat oil in pan, add mustard seeds. When they splatter, add the cumin seeds. Add fenugreek seeds and fry for 10 secs. Add the red chili powder. Add the chili garlic paste. cook till you see oil separating,mix salt & sugar and mix well. Add tamarind pulp to taste.

Chutney is ready, serve it with any Indian meal.

Note:

I mix it with greek yogurt and use it as a dip for fresh vegetables.

I also mix it with a little bit of butter and use it as a spread for sandwiches.

Tags Indian, spicy, vegan

Condiments Indian Kashmiri Pickles & Chutneys

Smoked Walnut chutney- a treat from Kashmir

Post author By Anagha
Post date December 3, 2014
1 Comment on Smoked Walnut chutney- a treat from Kashmir

Indian food for non-Indians is naan, butter chicken, chole, saag, as that is the only food they have been exposed to in the restaurants. You would think Indians would know everything about different types of indian foods but Indian food is so diverse and regional that many a times you only know about the food from yours and may be neighbouring region. So even though I grew up in India, there are many indian delicacies that I had not even tasted. For example, Assamese food, Bengali Food or Kashmiri Food.

So when I came to think country, I not only learnt about different cuisines of the world but also different regional cuisines of India as well. The Indian grocery stores here carry things that are used in Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab and many other Indian cuisines. One such item was ‘Lotus Stems’, growing up I had never eaten a lotus stem. It is very commonly used in Punjabi & Kashmiri cuisine. In Kashmir they call it ‘Nadru’. So when I started reading about how to cook Nadru, I came across many Kashmiri delicacies. I make many kashmiri dishes now, and I will be sharing a few here.

Today’s recipe however is from a facebook food group. When I saw this post, I knew I had to make it.

I love anything smoked, I love onion, green chili and I love walnuts…so this recipe was just too good to ignore.

Smoked Walnut Chutney

It is so simple to make yet fantastic flavors

Ingredients

1/2 cup walnuts

1/3 cup onion chopped

2 green chilies

1/2 tsp crushed red chilies

1 tsp jeera

1/2 cup or more chopped cilantro

salt to taste

For smoking:

1 piece of coal

Few drops of mustard oil

Method:

Dry roast the walnut and jeera slightly.

Add all the ingredients to a mortar and pestle. On a related note, I am obsessed with the mortar & pestles, I have many in my collection 🙂

Pound all the ingredients till you get a coarse paste. I feel that the coarse texture add to the taste of this dish.

Now take out the chutney in a bowl.

Cover the bowl with a leaf. If you don’t have a leaf, you can use a aluminium foil and poke a few holes in it.

Now take a piece of coal and burn it on the gas flame till it is bright red.

Now place the coal on top of the leaf.

Pour a couple of drops of mustard oil and cover immediately with a bigger bowl.

You will see that it smokes up quickly.

After a few minutes when the smoke has died down, open carefully and enjoy. The recipe looks very easy, but I was amazed how delicious it tastes. Give it a try.

You can even serve it with pita chips as a dip.

Tags chutney, healthy, kashmiri, spicy, vegan, walnut

Condiments Tunisia

An amazing condiment- Harissa

Post author By Anagha
Post date November 12, 2014
4 Comments on An amazing condiment- Harissa

As I started exploring new foods and new cuisines, i started noticing the similarities between these cuisines and the Indian Cuisine I grew up with. For example the cuisine of North African countries, be in Morocco or Tunisia, there were many dishes that looked identical to what I have seen in some parts of India like Rajasthan . In such areas where the water is scarce, there is abundant use of dry spices and dry vegetables. That cuisines also uses a lot of lentils. So when I stumbled upon Harissa, it reminded of the garlic chutney we typically get in Rajasthan, the desert state of India.

So anytime I see fresh red chilies in the market, my first thought is, let’s make harissa.

As with many dishes, there are many variations of Harissa. My version is based on what I ate and then added some more heat since I love spicy food. I have made it with just fresh chilies and a mixture of fresh and dried chilies. I like the version with the dried chilies better. If you make it with just the fresh chilies the color is a vibrant bright red, whereas if you add the dried chilies, you get more of a brick red color. I also add roasted bell pepper sometimes if I want a mellower harissa.

Ingredients:

2 Dried guajillo chilies

1 Dried Chipotle chili

1 dried ancho chili

1 dried Negro chili

2 cup of boiling hot water

7-8 fresh red chilies

2 cloves of garlic

1 tsp caraway seeds

1tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

Olive oil

salt to taste

Method:

In a large bowl place all the dried chilies and pour the hot water over these. Let them sit and get soft for about 20 min. I love using the dried smoky chipotle and guajillo, these lend not only the heat but a nice smoky flavor to the dish. I also use these chilies in the enchilada sauce I make

Chop the fresh red chiles, try and shake off as many seeds as you can. If you don’t like much spicy food, you can remove all the seeds.

Dry roast the caraway seeds, coriander seeds and cumin seeds. Using mortar and pestle make powder.

Take out the stem and seeds from the dried-rehydrated chilies. In a food processor blend the dry chilies,fresh red chilies, garlic with salt. Add as much oil as needed. Add the roasted and ground spices.

Your Harissa is ready.

I will be making a couple of things with it-

Chicken kabob with yogurt and Harissa

Shrimp-pumpkin curry with harissa

Harissa Cheese Muffins

Variations:

A. With Red bell pepper- You can add a roasted red bellpepper to make a milder version of Harissa

1 Red bell pepper

Roast the red bell pepper on an open fame till it has black spots, turning occasionally to get a good roast all around. Cover them in a bowl, this makes removing the skin easy. Add with the rest of the chilies in the food processor.

B. Mint:

I love mint, sometimes I add 1/2 tsp of dried mint to my Harissa. You can add it at the end with the rest of the ground spices.

Tags chili, chili paste, condiment, harissa, Harissa Paste, kabab, spicy, tunisian, vegan

Condiments Egyptian Vegan Vegetarian

Dukkah- an egyptian spice blend

Post author By Anagha
Post date October 17, 2014
2 Comments on Dukkah- an egyptian spice blend

There are many things I love about California and particularly San Francisco. The weather, the people, abundance of opportunities, various cultures and the list can go on…but
the best thing I like is the amazing varieties of foods I get to eat and make. Visits to the farmers market, local ethnic grocery stores or eating at the food trucks..all present a great treat to not only my taste buds but also give me an opportunity to learn about people. Last week when I went to the farmer’s market, I chatted with a gentle man who runs an organic farm. He has so many beautiful varieties of beans amongst other interesting produce. We started talking and fifteen minutes later I walked away with a box of gooseberries in exchange of a gooseberry pickle recipe.

One more such visit is when I first tasted Dukkah ( can also be spelt as Duqqa), mixed with an earthy local olive oil..I just fell in love with it. I bought a small packet and it was consumed in the next couple of days. I just loved how quickly it added a fancy touch to a humble olive oil. Since I could not have enough of it, I decided to make my own 🙂

As I researched I realized that there are probably thousands of various dukkah recipes out there. Just like each mexican household as a unique recipe of the enchilada sauce or each Indian household makes a certain variation of ‘Garam Masala’, there are various combinations of spices used for making Dukkah. There are some common elements like sesame seeds, corriander seeds, cumin seeds and soem type of nut ( liek hazlenut or pistachio) across all Dukkah recipes.

Dukkah comes from an arabic word for ‘To pound’, and true to its name it is made using traditionally using mortar and pestle. Since I love making things the traditional way, I decided to make it with mortar & pestle.

I love collecting such ethnic gadgets, I fear that one day these will disappear. Here is one such collection of mortar and pestles.

I use each one of them for a different purpose. I have three that are made up of stone but my favorite is the tiny white one which I use for grinding saffron and the brass one which I use every morning to pound the fresh ginger to add to my Chai. By the way, I am crazy about my cupaa chai in the morning. I function well only after I have had a cup.

Dukkah

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Pistachio( sometime I do half hazelnut had pistachio)
1/4 cup coriander seeds
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon dried mint leaves
1 teaspoon salt

Method

Dry roast and chop the nuts roughly. Do not make a powder but more like a fine chop.
Lightly roast the sesame seeds.

Dry roast coriander,cumin & caraway seeds.
Grind them in the mortar & pestle.
Mix in the salt, sesame seeds and nuts and crushed dried mint.

Tags Dukkah, Egyptian, nuts, seasoning