Most Thursdays we cook without onions and garlic as this is S does not eat these as part of his religious belief. Most Thursdays, lunch is not a problem, but dinner takes some thinking. We usually make idlis or dosas for dinner, but chutneys without coconut which do not have onions or garlic is a bit tricky.
This week, I also ran out of some coconut, and found I had just a few tablespoons of peanuts, so I came up with this chutney which incorporates ingredients I found in my pantry.
Peanut, Ginger and Sesame Chutney
Ingredients:
- 3 tbsps raw peanuts
- 1 tbsp chana dal
- 2 tbsps white sesame seeds
- 2 tbsps ginger, peeled and chopped
- 5-6 dried red chillies
- 1 lemon sized ball of tamarind
- 5-6 curry leaves
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tbsp oil
- Salt to taste
- Water to blend the chutney
Method:
- In a dry pan, dry roast the sesame seeds and keep aside.
- Put ½ tsp oil in the same pan and when the oil heats, fry the chana dal and the peanuts until the chana dal becomes slightly brown and the peanuts crisp. Remove and keep aside.
- In the same pan, heat the remaining oil and fry the mustard seeds, curry leaves, ginger, dried red chillies and the tamarind and fry until the curry leaves becomes crisp.
- Let everything cool down completely and blend until smooth in a blender or mixer. Add water to help you blend.
- Salt the chutney according to taste and serve with idlis, dosas or even as a dip.
Ingredients:
Indian vegetables are a staple in my house, especially when we have done shopping in the Little India district. And Snake Gourd somehow makes it home every time this happens. Normally I make a stir-fry with this vegetable and honestly, even I was bored with that every single time. I decided to search and see if anything else can be made and found people had experimented with dal with this vegetable. So I also decided to make a dal and did a very simple dal with hardly any seasoning. The result was a delicious dal which would go very well with both rice as well as rotis and flatbreads.
This is a common vegetable in India and because it’s long and slim (like a snake, it is called Snake Gourd). The vegetable has many health benefits too, including its ability to improve the strength of the immune system, reduce fevers, detoxify the body, improve the digestive processes of the body, increase hydration in the body, treat diabetes, boost the strength and quality of the hair, and aid in weight loss. More information on this vegetable on 
Ingredients:
This is something my mum used to make all the time growing up and I always assumed it was typical tambram food. Maybe not and this is something she learned. But I think many communities across India have a similar recipe. My mum’s recipe does not have raisins, which is something I usually add – I saw something similar at a dinner at S’ aunt’s place aeons ago and started using it since then.
Ingredients:
