Tag Archives: Recipes

Recipes: Green Coriander Chutney

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An extremely versatile chutney, this green coriander chutney is also sometimes referred to as Bombay Sandwich chutney as this one is found almost everywhere where you have the roadside sandwich sellers (super yumsđź‘Ť). I’ve been making this chutney for ages and I remember friends telling me to make this when they come over for a meal when we were in college. And now, both BB & GG also love it, especially as a spread for sandwiches..

Green Coriander Chutney

IMG_4554[1]Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch fresh green coriander leaves, chopped, washed and drained of water
  • 1 large onion or 2 small onions, roughly chopped
  • 4-5 pods of garlic (optional)
  • 4-5 green chillies ( more or less depending on your spice tolerance)
  • 1 tsp sugar or sweetener
  • 1-2 tsps lemon juice
  • Salt to taste

Method:

This is very easy. Just put all the ingredients except sugar, salt and lemon juice in a blender and  blend till it’s a smooth purĂ©e. Add water a bit by bit, just to get the blender going. Avoid adding too much water to make it thicker. Add the lemon juice, sugar and salt to taste and blend till you achieve the right consistency. Remove and put in a bowl with a lid and refrigerate. This should keep for a week (if it lasts that long that is)

NOTE: Refrigerating the chutney will cut down the spiciness a bit, so if you like it a bit spicy, adjust the green chillies accordingly.

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Receipes: Plum Chutney

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I first made this plum chutney on a whim last week. S loved it so much that today he brought loads of Plums for me to recreate it. That’s when I knew it was a winner. This recipe is inspired by Sanjeev Kapoor’s Aloo Bhukare ki Chutney, which I then tweaked to make it my own! This is a super easy recipe with just a handful of ingredients, so read on and enjoy!!

Plum Chutney

IMG_4542[1]Ingredients:

  • 4 red/purple plums
  • 1 small cup raisins
  • 2 tsps cumin seed powder
  • Red chilli powder to taste
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • In a small bowl, soak the raisins in water for while till they plump up and soften. Using hot water may speed this up.
  • Next chop and deseed the plums and blend the plums and raisins together untill they become a smooth purĂ©e.
  • Next take a thick bottomed pan and pour this purĂ©e in it. Add salt and red chilli powder and let it start boiling.
  • Once it reaches a rolling boil, and cumin seed powder and stir well.  Let it boil for a while till it thickens.
  • At this point, the colour was slightly brownish with a glaze to the mixture. Once it has thickened to your satisfaction, remove from heat and cool. Once cool, it becomes this rich purple colour.
  • Transfer to a covered dish and refrigerate. This should keep well for upto a week in the fridge.

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This chutney tastes sweet, salty and a bit spicy. If you need to make it more spicy, just increase the chilli while cooking it. It goes well with most Indian food and I also loved having it with bread as a sandwich spread.

Milagu Kozambu (Pepper Sauce)

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My Bible and go-to book for everything in traditional Iyer cooking is the “Cook and See (Samaithu Paar)” series by S. Meenakshi Ammal. The series of three book was originally written in the late sixties/early seventies. I refer to them all the time, especially when I want to make traditional food. This book takes the place of calls to my mum, especially since international calls are so expensive!

The recipe I made today is Milagu Kozambu or Pepper Soup as Meenakshi Ammal calls it. I am copying the recipe exactly as it was in the book and I made it also the exact same way it said in the recipe.

Milagu Kozambu

(This recipe prepares 1 cup)

 Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp Peppercorns
  • 6 Red Chillies
  • 1 tsp Black Gram Dal (Urad Dal)
  • 2 tsps Bengal Gram Dal (Chana Dal)
  • ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
  • 2 tsps Coriander Seeds
  • 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
  • Tamarind as big as a small piece of lime
  • Salt
  • A handful of curry leaves
  • Asafoetida
  • Oil

 Method:

Heat oil in a kadhai and fry peppercorns, red chillies, Bengal gram dal, 1 tsp black gram dal, cumin seeds and coriander seeds. When the dals turn red, add the curry leaves and fry till the curry leaves are crisp. At this point, add the asafoetida. Grind to a smooth paste with the tamarind, salt and a little water. The paste should be very smooth.

Heat oil and fry 1 tsp mustard seeds and 1 tsp black gram dal. Mix the paste with enough water to make 1.5 cups of the paste. Add this to the oil and let it cook on a slow flame till it reduces to 1 cup.

This kozambu will keep for about 2 days outside and about a week in the fridge. Eat with hot rice and some papad. So soul satisfying on a cold or rainy day!

Curry Leaves Chutney

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I had a load of curry leaves today and while talking to my mum, told her about this chutney I make sometimes using these leaves. Now curry leaves are mostly used in South Indian cooking as part of the tadka, but you can also make chutneys and thogayals out of it. Here is my version.

Curry Leaves Chutney

Ingredients:

1 cup curry leaves
1/4 cup black raisins
A small sized ball of tamarind
6-7 green chillies
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves
1/2 cup raw peanuts
1 inch piece ginger
Salt to taste

Method:
Dry roast the curry leaves until they just start becoming crisp. In the meantime, put
the raisins and tamarind in a small bowl and pour just enough hot water to cover. Once the water has cooled a bit, grind everything together – the curry leaves, raisins, tamarind, chillies, coriander leaves, peanuts and ginger. Add water as needed and  grind it to a fine paste. Add salt to taste and you have yummy curry leaves chutney

This is yummy even with bread, idli, dosa etc.

Pav Bhaji

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Mention the word ‘Pav Bhaji’ to a Mumbaikar (a native of Mumbai) and see them go into a food swoon, thinking about their favourite Pav Bhaji thela (street stall) or restaurant. I remember this restaurant very close to my college which was supposed to have one of the best pav bhaji’s in our part of Mumbai and people used to come from near and far to eat this.

Pav Bhaji, which is a complete meal in itself started life as a quick on-to-go meal for the mill workers in what was then Bombay in 1850s. According to Wikipedia, “The mill workers used to have lunch breaks too short for a full meal, and a light lunch was preferred to a heavy one, as the employees had to return to strenuous physical labor after lunch. A vendor created this dish using items or parts of other dishes available on the menu.” In time this dish, along with a few others like Vada Pav, have come to become ubiquitous dishes that define Mumbai.

Since we had the long CNY break last week, I decided to make Pav Bhaji on one of the days. So without much further ado, here’s my take on the Mumbai street-food.

Pav Bhaji

IMG_3432[1]IMG_3436[1]Ingredients:

  • 1 head cauliflower, chopped into small pieces
  • 3 carrots, peeled and chopped into small pieces
  • ½ head broccoli, chopped into small pieces
  • 3-4 potatoes, peeled and chopped into small pieces
  • 1 cup frozen green peas
  • 1 cup French beans, finely chopped
  • 1 green capsicum, finely chopped
  • 8-10 red onions, finely chopped
  • 7-8 ripe red tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp ginger paste
  • 2 tbsps garlic paste
  • 1-2 tbsps green chilli paste
  • 2 tbsps red chilli powder
  • 2 tbsps Kashmiri red chilli powder (optional, for the colour)
  • Salt to taste
  • 3-4 tbsps Pav Bhaji Masala
  • Ghee or butter (optional, but if added gives a delicious taste to the bhaji)
  • Pav (We usually don’t get Pav, so use Burger or Hotdog bread)
  • 2-3 tbsps oil

Method:

Finely chop all the vegetables. In a pressure cooker, cook the cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, potatoes, French beans and peas for 3-4 whistles with little water, just enough that it does not burn. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, cook in a large pot until they become mushy. Do not add a lot a water as then the bhaji will become watery. Once the pressure is released, mash the vegetables till you get a nice consistency, none of the vegetables should be really seen.

In a separate pan, pour oil and when it heats up, add in the ginger, garlic and chilli pastes. Fry it for a while till the raw smell goes away, then add the onions, fry for a minute and add the capsicum. Once the raw smell of the onions and capsicum is gone, add the tomatoes and cook till they turn mushy. You can add some salt here to help the process. Also mash them so that they have the same consistency as the vegetables.

Once both the vegetables and the onion-tomato paste is of the same consistency, pour the paste into the vegetables. Add salt to taste, then add the pav bhaji masala and the Kashmiri red chilli powder. After a few minutes, add the ghee/butter and your bhaji is ready!

To serve, cut the bread into halves and toast lightly. You can also add butter to this to make it authentically Mumbai, but I prefer to dry toast it. Serve with loads of finely chopped onions and coriander with a dash of lime.

Enjoy and imagine you are in Mumbai!