BottleGourd Peel Chutney

Bottle gourd peel chutney is  delicious chutney among all the other chutney. It is the blend of cooked bottle gourd peels, coconut and some roasted spices. This chutney can be served with rice or any Indian bread.

INGREDIENTS

• Peel of  1 medium Bottlegourd , cut into pieces – ¾ cup
• Coconut, grated – 1cup (fresh/frozen)
• Tamarind of marble sized soaked into water
• Salt to taste

Spices To Roast

• Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp
• Cumin seeds – 1tsp
• Dry red chillies – 4
• Urad dal – ½ tbsp
• Oil -1 tbsp

For Tempering

• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Dry red chillies – 2, cut into pieces
• Garlic cloves – 2 large, sliced
• Curry leaves – few
• Asafoetida – a pinch
• Oil – 1 tbsp

PREPARATION

• Wash the bottlegourd peels and cook them along with tamarind pulp and salt. Also add little water and cook the peels until soft. Once the peels are cooked , allow them to cool down.
• Meanwhile heat oil  into one pan and fry  all the spices  till they are light golden in colour.
• Transfer the cooked peels, fried spices, and grated coconut into blender and blend it to smooth paste.
• Take out the paste into one bowl Add salt and little water depending on the desired chutney consistency. Mix well.
• Now it’s the time for tempering. So heat oil into pan and add the tempering ingredients one by one. Fry  them till light golden in colour. Transfer the tempering in the chutney and mix well.
• Bottlegourd Peel chutney is ready to serve along with rice or chapati

Beetroot Sasam

Sasam is actually a name origin from ingredient – Mustard seeds. Yes, mustard seeds is the key ingredient in the sasam recipes. These sasam recipes can be prepared with any vegetable. Method of preparation remains the same. As you know Beetroot has a beautiful color and also makes the dish to look pretty and also they are great on tastebuds In this recipe, cooked beetroot pieces are mixed in the mustard flavored yogurt gravy. The flavor of gravy by the ground mustard seeds to the entire dish is superb and quite addictive. Such recipes goes well with plain rice and sometimes also with rice and dal. Altogether makes a wholesome and tasty meal.

INGREDIENTS

• Beetroot, finely chopped- 1 medium sized
• Thick yogurt -1 cup
• Salt to taste

INGREDIENTS TO MAKE A PASTE

• Grated coconut (fresh/frozen) – ½ cup
• Mustard seeds – 1  tsp
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Green chilly - 1
• Oil – 1 tsp

INGREDIENTS FOR TADKA OR SEASONING

• Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
• Asafoetida – ¼ tsp
• Dried red chilly - 1
• Curry leaves – 5
• Oil – 1 tsp 

 PREPARATION

• Finely chop the beetroot and put it into pot along with little water. Cover  and cook till beetroot pieces becomes soft and tender. This may take about 6 to 8 minutes. Allow it to cool down.
• In a seasoning pan , heat oil and fry green chilly until you see white spots on it.
• Then grind coconut, mustard seeds, tumeric powder and fried green chilly to a fine paste using 3 to 4 tbsp of water.
• Now in a bowl, combine yogurt, cooked beetroot, grounded paste and salt. Mix everything well.
• In a same seasoning pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds and let it splutter for 15 seconds.
• Then add asafetida, dried red chilly (cut into pieces) and curry leaves. Fry for 10 seconds.
• Pour this seasoning over the yogurt- beetroot mixture and mix well.
• Beetroot sasam is ready to serve along with rice  or some time as a side dish along with rice and dal.

Baigan Raita

Raita always brings a twist in our meals and also increases the taste. It is also said that raita apart from increasing the taste of the meals, it also helps in digestion purpose. Before I was not too fond of raita, but now a days I feel my meals are incomplete without any raita or any plain salad. So tried this raita recipe known as Baigan Raita or Dahi Baigan . This is the one delicious yogurt based seasoned salad made with eggplants or brinjal. This is very simple and easy to prepare if you have eggplants handy in your kitchen.

INGREDIENTS

• Small eggplant, thinly diced - 5 nos (as shown in above image)
• Thick yogurt - 1&1/4 cups
• Cilantro, chopped - 2 tbsp
• Crushed red chillies  - 1&1/2 tsp
• Tumeric powder - 1/8 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1&1/2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/8 tsp
• Curry leaves - 5
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Salt to taste
• Oil - 1 tsp +1 tsp

PREPARATION

• Wash and thinly dice the eggplants into small pieces. Microwave the pieces along with pinch of salt and 1 tsp of oil until the eggplant pieces are soft and tender.
• Beat the yogurt till you get smooth texture. Add in cooked eggplant pieces , another pinch of salt and chopped cilantro. Mix everything well.
• Heat oil in the seasoning pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, crushed red chillies, asafoetida, curry leaves and tumeric powder. Fry everything for 1 minute and pour it into yogurt mixture and mix well.
• Baigan raita is ready to serve

Pudina Chutney - Mint Chutney

Mint is  named as Pudina in Indian Language. This herb gives the lovely green colour to the chutney. Pudina chutney recipe is a very easy and quick recipe.
Apart from  cooking, Mint has many health benefits such as it helps in  relieves cough, cold, fever and throat ailments, digestion , boosts immunity , reduces the growth of fungus, cleanses the blood, relieves sprains and muscle cramps.


INGREDIENTS

• Pudina(Mint) leaves  - 1& 1/2 cups
• Coconut (Shredded) - 1/4 cup
• Green chillies - 3 nos
• Ginger - 1 inch
• Cilantro - 1/4 cup
• Curry leaves - 5 to 6 nos
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Lemon juice - 1 tsp
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Salt to taste

PREPARATION

• Add all the ingredients into the blender and blend it to the smooth paste.
• Adjust water and salt.
• This chutney can be served with any type of dosa or snacks