Curry In Kadai ~ An Indian Cooking Blog

Last weekend, I got my dosa batter and potato curry ready for the breakfast but to my surprise i found that i didn't have a coconut for the chutney... Hmmm what to do, just called mom for her spicy fresh onion chutney. ( Thank god, i atleast had some sweet vidalia onions on hand ). Yep fresh sweet onion chutney with green chillies, tamarind, cilantro and curry leaves is so easy to make and tastes so yummm!! This chutney goes very well with dosa and idly, i never had it with rice. Mom asked me to make this only if the onions do not have strong flavor and too much water. Best option would be either shallots or red onions and Sweet onions would be the next option. Usually mom prefers mortar and pestle for this chutney instead of regular mixer/blender. One tip from mom, run the blender under pulse mode to get chunky texture you get from using mortar and pestle.

Coconut and Tamarind In Fresh Coconut Chutney is a delicious marriage made in my mom's kitchen! Yep Coconut and tamarind gel so well in this tangy spicy fresh coconut chutney. I remember my first culinary adventure started with this coconut chutney and potato fry during my school days! This chutney is super simple yet tastes great! You can whip up this chutney in minutes and make sure you keep some of the chutney just for yourself before you bring it to the table, no kidding!! This chutney where Fresh coconut is ground with green chillies and tamarind and topped with tadka along with hing and curry leaves is definitely worth a try!!


Ingredients:

• 1/4 of a shelled coconut
• 2-3 green chillies
• 1 inch of tamarind
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp urad dal
• 5 - 10 curry leaves
• 1 tbsp oil
• a dash of hing /asoeftedia
• salt to taste

• Chop fresh coconut into thin slices
• In a chopper/blender grind coconut, green chillies, tamarind and salt without adding any water( Note: Use pulse mode in the blender if you have one , and it should be roughly ground )
• In a separate kadai or pan do the tempering or tadka with oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and urad dal. Once the mustard seeds start to crackle switch off the heat and add curry leaves.
• Add the above tempering to the ground coconut and chilli chutney and mix everything together, adjust salt to taste and finish it off with cilantro( optional )

This chutney tastes so good with steaming hot rice along with some ghee/ butter. You even have this chutney along with Dosa, Idly, Upma, Pongal or anything you would like to! Don't plan on storing the leftover chutney as you wouldn't end up with some.. yep its that good.. Never forget to add the tempering as it adds so much depth and flavor to the already delicious Fresh Coconut Chutney.

I know how boring it is to have same old Idly and Dosa for breakfast almost everyday. My moms Pappu Upma and Allam Pachadi aka Rice Ravva( rice couscous ) cooked with moong dal(lentils ) served with Ginger and chilli chutney comes to the rescue .This pappu upma is flavored with ginger, cashew nuts, and green chillies and is packed with lots of protein from the lentils. Mom usually serves this Ravva pappu upma along with sweet and spicy ginger chutney. Ginger has been used for ages for its medicinal benefits. Its aids in digestion and suppresses cold and cough a lot. Mom tries to use ginger in her cooking a lot. In curries, chutneys, and breakfasts like upma, pongal etc. Since this tiffin ( recipe ) is loaded with protein from Moong dal and flavored with fresh ginger, pregnant women can have as much as they want. I remember, mom made this for me whenever i ask for Upma( when i was pregnant ). And the best part its very easily digested.

• 1 cup Rice Ravva / Biyyam Ravva / Rice Couscous
• 1/4 cup Moong Dal / Pesara pappu / Split green gram
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 inch grated ginger root
• 4-6 green chillies
• 4 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp chana dal
• 10-15 cashew nuts
• 10 curry leaves

• In a heavy sauce pan, add oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chana dal and cashew nuts.
• As the mustard seeds start to crackle, add curry leaves, ginger green chillies, water and moong dal
  
• Once the dal is cooked, add salt and stir in the rice ravva / rice sooji making sure no lumps are formed.
• Reduce the heat and close the lid.
  
• Once the water has been absorbed completely and the ravva cooked, remove from heat and finish with cilantro( optional )

• 4-6 green chillies
• a big lemon sized soaked tamarind
• grated gur / jaggery / bellam or sugar to taste
  
• 1 inch peeled ginger
• salt
  

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 6 curry leaves

• In a blender add all the chutney ingredients and grind to a smooth paste
• For tempuring or tadka, in a kadai/pan heat oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal and once they start to crackle add curry leaves and add the popu/tempuring to the chutney
• You can store this chutney in the refrigerator for upto 3 days.

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Nethi Beerakaya aka Silk squash ( Chinese Okra ) tastes more like Ridge gourd except for the smooth skin and the texture similar to zucchini. Nethi/Neyyi means ghee or clarified butter in telugu, this ridgegourd is called so because of its buttery texture when cooked. The flesh is so smooth and spongy, it took just a few minutes to cook completely. We actually found a small farmers market ( just a couple miles away ) with all the Indian vegetables for which i have been searching for years. Yes i do love this place, the produce was so fresh and the prices very cheap compared to an Indian grocery which was actually very far. I have bought Aribut( introduced by my hubby ), Fresh raw peanuts, baby bananas( amruthapaani ), Sorakaya, Kakarakaya, Bendakaya, Dondakaya, Nethi beerakaya, Beerakaya, Eggplants( green, red, long ) and more... Finally the hunt for good Indian groceries has been over... Thank God..

I brought these cuties( silk squash ) home thinking of making some dal and pachadi. After tasting this Silk Squash chutney i made only this chutney every time i buy them.. yep tasted that good. I am gonna make dal next time . This is a very simple chutney with some tamarind, onions and green chillies and the best part the chutney will be done in no time..

This will be entry for weekend herb blogging event started by Kalyns Kitchen and this week hosted by Anna from Morsels and Musings.

For the chutney you need:

1 Silk squash / Beerakaya

1 small onion

4-6 green chillies

3-4 stalks of coriander

2 tbsp oil
salt to taste

For tempuring or tadka:

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds

1 tsp aavalu/mustard seeds
1 tsp minapappu/urad dal
few curry leaves
a dash of hing

Method Of Preparation:

Wash and lightly peel the silk squash and chop into 1 inch cubes

Chop onions into 1 inch pieces

Soak tamarind in warm water along with little salt

In a pan heat oil and add onions and green chillies

Saute for 30 sec and toss in silk squash cubes

DO NOT ADD SALT WHILE COOKING( Salt removes a lot of water from the squash )

Switch off the heat once the squash is completely cooked

Once the mixture is cooled, transfer to a blender and grind along with soaked tamarind and some coriander to either a coarse or smooth paste

YOU can adjust the spice by adding the chillies one by one

Mix the salt according to taste
In a small kadai/saute pan add oil followed by urad dal, cumin and mustard seeds
Once they start to pop, add hing and curry leaves
Add this seasoning to the ground chutney and mix well..

Serve this spicy nethi beerakaya pachadi / Silk squash chutney with steamed hot rice( with some home made ghee ) or chapathis. You can use regular beerakaya or ridgegourd instead of Silk squash, both the chutneys taste great!!!

Gongura aka Sorrel is called Andhra Maatha( Mother of Andhra Pradesh, India ). Serving gongura pickle(chutney) for any guest is like giving honor to him. Yes its that important. Gongura is full or iron and tastes very sour just like tamarind. Normally tamarind is a must in most of the indian / andhra pickles or chutneys, but this one with sorrel leaves is an exception. I find myself very lucky that day, if i find this one in indian grocery.


I am proud owner of this plant. Yes, I have gongura(sorrel) plant in my backyard now, and i made this chutney using the same. Theres a funny history behind planting this plant. Actually my husband doesnt eat any chutneys or pickles, the only green leafy indian vegetables he eat are Amaranth leaves and spinach. Since it was so hard for us to get amaranth leaves here, i bought some seeds saying ( paala thotakura ) Amaranth Leaves seeds and planted them.Once the tender leaves started to sprout i was surprised to find them to be Sorrel plant instead of Amaranth as it says on the packet. And now i am reaping the fruits of this plant. It was so funny, I shared this story whenever someone intrigues about the plant in my backyard.. The sorrel leaves have special distinct sourness which leaves you craving for more once tasted. It actually revives your taste buds, if u havent had anything lately that has special zing!

• 4 cups of tightly packed cleaned and washed sorrel leaves( just pluck the leaves, discard the stems )
• 1 large onion
• 5-6 green chillies
• 2 red chillies
• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 2 tbsp urad dal / black gram beans
• 2 tbsp channa dal / yellow split chickpeas
• 1 tsp cumin seeds( jeera )
• a dash of hing / asofetida
• 10 curry leaves
  
• 1 tbsp oil
• salt to taste
  

• Heat kadai or pan and 1 tsp oil and roast urad dal, coriander seeds, red chillies, cumin seeds, hing.
• Dont brown them, fry them until the starts to release flavors and the lentils turn to golden hue.
• Once cooled down powder them and set aside.
  

• Pluck the leaves from the stems, wash clean and drain them and remove excess moisture using a kitchen towel.
• In the same kadai add remaining oil and sorrel leaves and green chillies
• Cook these leaves under low heat until the raw smell disappears( check the picture )
• Once the leaves are cooked thoroughly , the leaves color changes from green to nearly black switch off the flame and let it cool
• In a blender run the spices first and once powdered finely, add the greens and blend to a paste
• Chop the onions and add to the ground chutney
• Your sour leaves aka gongura chutney is ready to relish!
  

Ginger has an earthy taste that raises the flavor quotient of many(Indian) dishes. Ginger had been proved to be effective in reducing cold, flu and headaches. It is compared to work as effective as aspirin in thinning the blood. Dried ginger with salt( we used to call Bhavana Allam) aids in digestion too. Ginger is being used for ages for its medicinal values.


Coming to the Tomato Allam(Ginger) Nuvvula(Sesame seeds ) chutney, its my husbands one and only favorite chutney he likes to eat with rice. It has been passed down to me from my MIL. Adding sesame seeds and ginger to this chutney add an unique flavor to the basic tomato chutney. For this chutney you need to make sesame seeds spice powder first!


To prepare Sesame Seeds Spice Powder( Nuvvula Daniyala Karam ), you need:
1 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup coriander seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
6-8 red chillies


In a pan or kadai take a dab of oil and saute sesame seeds, coriander seeds and red chillies. Remove from pan and cool once the sesame seeds turn to golden hue. In a spice jar or blender powder the toasted seeds and store it in an airtight container. You can use this spice powder in tomato chutney, spinach chutney and ridgegourd chutney.


To prepare Tomato Ginger Chutney, you need
6 ripened tomatoes
1 inch ginger root
2-3 cloves garlic
1/2 small onion
2-3 green chillies( optional for even spicier chutney )
3 stalks of coriander aka cilantro
10 curry leaves
3 tbsp oil
2-3 tbsp of the above prepared sesame powder


Method of preparation:
Peel ginger and chop onions and tomatoes
In a kadai or frying pan, heat oil and add curry leaves, onions, ginger, garlic and tomatoes
Fry until the tomatoes are cooked and soft
Once cooled, in a blender grind the sauteed tomato paste along with the sesame powder and cilantro
Normally you dont need water to blend, you can add a little if you want though
Adjust salt and spice powder to taste


Serve this tomato chutney with ginger and sesame seeds along with hot ghee rice , dosa, idli, chapathi or roti. This stays good in the refrigerator for upto 3 days. This is my entry for Think Spice: Ginger event!

This onion chutney is so easy to make yet very delicious. This is my favorite chutney for dosa and idly. My sister and brother likes boiled onion chutney( I should ask my sister for this recipe ). My mom is expert in making this red chutney. Though i have been making this chutney for more than couple of years yet could not replicate that taste exactly. That's why they say 'Mother is the best teacher and the BEST COOK too'. And for now let me blame the onions we get here in US.. hehehe, its not me anymore. This onion chutney takes just 5 minutes to make with very few ingredients.


I would suggest using red onion for this chutney. If you use yellow onion it makes the chutney taste bitter. I have very bad experiences making this chutney with yellow onions. I would better prefer to switch to cooked version of onion chutney if i don't have red onions on hand.

You need:

• 1 large red onion
• 10 curry leaves
• 4 stalks of coriander
• 1 tbsp -2 tbsp red chilli powder( RCP spiciness varies )
• 1/2 lemon sized tamarind
• a pinch of sugar
• salt to taste

• Microwave tamarind with some water for 30 sec
• Chop onions ( should fit your blender )
• In a blender add onion, tamarind, curry leaves, coriander, red chilli powder and salt
• Do not add water from tamarind add the soft pulp, otherwise the chutney would become watery
  
• Grind coarsely( i use chopper to get the effect of using mortar)

I cant imagine any thing else as the best compliment to Indian breakfasts be it dosa, idli, vada, upma or pongal. None of these are complete without the mighty COCONUT CHUTNEY. I know many people prefer to have this chutney without fail along with these tiffins or breakfasts. And in that list my dad and my husband fight to stand first. I learnt the basic chutney from my mom and when my dad tasted my version he asked my mom to learn this chutney from me, hehehe( I was in seventh heaven then )! I can tell it loud, no one can beat my mom in making a horizon of chutneys. She does so many and the best part, in different colors! So we call by color like green chutney, white chutney, red chutney ,orange chutney etc even now. Hope one day i could make these rainbow of chutneys at a time just like mom . Love you MOM!

The lovely inseparable pair, Green And Red Chutney!

You need:

• 10 1 inch chopped fresh coconut pieces or 1/2 cup scraped fresh/ thawed frozen coconut
• 3-4 green chillies
  
• 1/3 cup split chick peas(putnala pappu, thine chenaga pappu/pottu kaadalai )
  
• 1/2 lemon sized tamarind soaked in warm water
• 5 curry leaves
• 1 cup chopped coriander
• salt to taste
  

• In a blender add coconut pieces and run it until its fine. You can omit this step if using scraped coconut
• Optional: You can add 1/2 inch cube of peeled ginger at this point
• Add split chick peas and green chillies and run until they are chopped into powder
• Now add tamarind with the water ( Note: please remove the seeds from tamarind ) and run until it becomes fine paste
• Add coriander, curry leaves. Blend it into fine paste
• Adjust salt to taste
  

Erra karam aka Onion Chutney is commonly used for Masala Dosa/ Karam Dosa. It is usually spread over dosa along with some ghee( clarified butter ). You wouldnt find the raw smell from the onions since we saute the onions first and then grind it. The onion chutney makes the simply delicious plain dosa Finger Licking Good! Lemme move onto the recipe.



Ingredients:

• 2 big yellow onions or red onions
• 6 red chilles
• 2 garlic pods
• 10 curry leaves
• 1/2 lemon sized tamarind soaked in warm water
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• salt to taste
  

• Chop the onion as shown in the picture
• Peel off the skin of garlic pods and chop them too
• Heat oil in kadai or pan, and add onions, red chillies, curry leaves and garlic pods
• Fry them until onion are golden brown just like shown in the picture above.
  
• Switch off the heat let the mixture come to room temperature
• Grind into fine paste adding soaked tamarind, sugar and salt
  
• Adjust salt to taste.

I am here with my Indian Raw Mango Chutney( Pachi Mamidikaya Pachadi ) recipe. Since ripened magoes are sweet we use raw mango for this chutney. This mango chutney is very authentic recipe in India. In India we make this chutney all year long since raw mangoes are available 365 days a year. This mango chutney is sour and spicy and goes well with rice and chapathi( indian whole wheat bread ). I promise your taste buds will revive after tasting this chutney.


For a 3/4 cup of chutney you will need,

• 1 small raw(green) mango
• 1-2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  
• 1/2 -1 garlic clove
• 1tbsp chopped coriander leaves
• salt to taste

• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• a pinch of Asafetida(hing)
• 5-6 curry leaves

• Chop mango into 1/2 inch cubes.
• In a food processor add garlic, mango pieces, salt, red chilli powder, coriander leaves and run the chopper under pulse for 15-20 seconds.
  
• Take the chutney in a bowl keep aside.
• Heat kadai and add oil for tadka.
• Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds and add hing.
• Switch off the flame once the spluttering stops and add the curry leaves.
  
• Garnish the chutney with the tadka.