Category: Pickles & Chutneys

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 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

Indian Maharashtrian Pickles & Chutneys Snack

Garlic chutney

Whenever you eat Vada Pav, this chutney is absolutely essential. It is very simple recipe made with a few ingredients but adds a necessary kick to the Vada Pav. It is almost like a dry rub in the texture and needs to be consumed pretty quickly since it has raw uncooked garlic.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dry coconut, slightly roasted
1/2 cup roasted peanuts
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp kashmiri red chili powder

1 tbsp deghi mirch powder

1 tsp Kanda lasoon masala( I sometimes use Kolhapuri masala)

Method:

Chop the garlic in the food processor. Add all the rest of the ingredients together while pulsing the food processor. A lot of people do not add peanuts and make it just with coconut, I feel like the taste of peanuts. Also, Kanda lasoon masala is a very typical Maharashtrian spice mix, the Kolhapuri masala I make come close so sometimes I use that.

Also, it is the Kashmiri red chili powder that gives it that tempting red color, so I mix Deghi for spice and Kashmiri for color.

Enjoy with Vada Pav!

Tags chutney, indian burger, street food, vada pav

Indian Pickles & Chutneys

Stuffed spicy green chilies

Post author By Anagha
Post date September 4, 2014
No Comments on Stuffed spicy green chilies

I come from a place where we eat spicy food. I can not have a meal without a green chili and I am always looking for recipes that use fresh green chilies. This is one of my favorite recipes. Those days when your subji just does not come out tasty or you need something to perk up your leftovers or you need an accompaniment to your curd rice, this stuffed mirchi comes to the rescue.

I make it with these thin thai chilies. In summer we get beautiful produce in the farmer’s market and this is one of the recipes that allows you to enjoy the fresh bounty. These are somewhere between thai chilies and serrano, and they do pack a good amount of heat. This dish is somewhere between subji and pickle. If you are a chili/ spice lover and if you want to bring some heat to the table, this is a perfect dish for you. you will love them!

Stuffed Green chilies…spicy yet you can not stop eating it.

Ingredients:

Dry coconut- ½ cup
Coriander seeds- 2 tbsp
Methi seeds- 0.5 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
Ginger-garlic paste( I grate it)-1 tsp combined
Lime juice to taste
Sugar – 1 tsp( to taste)
Salt

Method:

Dry roast the first three ingredients coriander seeds, mustard seeds, methi seeds on a low flame. Make sure you add the methi seeds at the end so they dont burn. If the methi seeds are over roasted they will be very bitter.

Dry roast coconut until golden brown, take it out on a plate and let it cool.

Grind the roasted spices along with the coconut into a fine mix.

Mix in the rest of the ingredients to the ground spices. Add Salt , sugar and lime juice as per your taste.

Wash and dry the green chilies. Make a slit and fill it up with the spice mixture.

If the chilies are spicy you will need these to balance the spiciness of the chilies. I always make extra masala since everyone loves the masala. I like to eat it with ‘curd rice’.

Add about a tsp oil( for 15-20 chillies) in a pan and heat till warm. Layer the chilies gently and cover with lid, cook on low flame. You do not want the chilies to burn , and they should cook. After 5-7 min turn them over gently with a pair of tongs. After another 3-4 min, add the extra masala and add a tsp of water. Cook for another 3-5 mins.

Tags flavorful, green chilies, pickle, spicy