Capsicum Tomato Thokku

Instead of just making onion tomato thokku/gravy, adding capsicum to the mix was definitely a flavor enhancer. The whole dish seemed like a brand new one :-)

 

Ingredients (2-3 servings):

 

Onions - 1 big finely chopped

Tomatoes - 2 medium sized finely chopped

Capsicum/green pepper - 1 finely chopped (you can use any colored pepper)

Cooking oil - 3 tablespoons

Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Split white urad dhal - 1 teaspoon

Curry leaves - a few

Green chillies - 2 slit length-wise

Asafoetida - a pinch

Turmeric powder - a pinch (optional)

Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Water - 1/2 cup

Cilantro/coriander - 2 teaspoons finely chopped (optional)

 

Procedure:

 

1. In a pan, heat the cooking oil, pop mustard seeds, add the urad dhal, curry leaves, green chillies, asafetida, turmeric powder and fry until the dhal turns light golden brown in color.

2. Add the chopped onions to step 1 and fry until they become translucent.

3. Add the chopped tomatoes and capsicum to step 2 and fry until the tomatoes and capsicum are cooked.

4. Add the red chilli powder, salt and water. Mix everything well and bring it to a boil. You can add more red chilli powder if you like it spicy.

5. Adjust salt and turn off the stove and garnish with finely chopped cilantro/coriander.

 

This goes very well with all types of idlis, dosas and also rotis. You can make it as a wet dish instead of a gravy too.

Instant Raw Mango Pickle

When I saw these utterly fresh raw mangoes at the Indian grocers, I instantly knew what I was going to make. My first thought was, "Oh my!!! I has been ages since I had that pickle with yogurt rice".

Ingredients:

Raw mango - chopped into small pieces
Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon (vary this to suit your taste)
Cooking oil - 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Asafoetida - a couple of pinches
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Take a bowl, add the chopped mango pieces to it and some chilli powder, but DO NOT mix.
2. In a small pan, heat some cooking oil, pop mustard seeds, add asafoetida and immediately pour the hot oil right over the chilli powder in step 1.
3. Add some salt and mix everything well.

Your instant pickle is ready to go!!!!

Simple Peanut Chutney

I was way too hungry the moment I finished making idlis today and had initially thought I'd have them with yogurt or sugar, but then I changed my mind and started craving for some chutney to go with my idlis and owing to the extent to which I was hungry, didn't want to make anything complicated that would take some time to prepare. While I was thinking of a really quick chutney to make, I saw this unopened can of lightly salted, roasted peanuts lying in my shelf and instantly knew what I was going to make. Having roasted peanuts at home came in handy today :-).

Ingredients (about 2 - 3 servings):

Roasted peanuts - a cup (using a measuring cup)
Green chillies - 2 to 3 cut into pieces (vary this to suit your taste)
Tamarind - 1/4 inch piece if fresh/less than 1/4 teaspoon if using paste
Salt to taste

For seasoning:

Cooking oil - 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Urad dhal - 1/4 teaspoon
Asafoetida - a pinch
Dried red chilli - 1
Curry leaves - a few

Procedure:

1. Grind the roasted peanuts, green chillies and tamarind to a paste along with salt and set aside. 2. In a small pan, heat some cooking oil, pop mustard seeds, add asafoetida dried red chilli, curry leaves and urad dhal and fry until the urad dhal turns light golden brown in color. Now, transfer the contents to ground peanuts from step 1, mix and serve.

Tip:

I usually have some seasoning (mustard, asafoetida and urad dhal) handy. It saved me the extra few minutes today!!!

To contribute more to the flavor, you can add a couple of cloves of crushed garlic in the seasoning or while grinding. You can serve this chutney with idli, dosai, chappathi and upmas.

This goes to 15 minute cooking @ Spices etc... hosted by Mahimaa.

Puli Inji

Inji is ginger in Tamil and puli is tamarind in Tamil. Puli inji is the easiest pickle that I know of as it does not take more than 10 minutes. My Grandma says that including the right amount of giner in the diet helps keep the skin young. There you go ladies. A damn good reason for you to try this :-).

Ingredients:

Ginger (Inji) - about two 3" x 1" sticks peeled and chopped into small pieces
Fresh tamarind - 1 inch piece soaked in little warm water to get the juice out
Salt to taste

For seasoning:

Cooking oil - 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Green chillies - 1 cut into small pieces

Procedure:

1. In a bowl, mix the soaked tamarind, the chopped ginger and salt by hand, breaking the tamarind in the process (the friction from the salt and ginger makes it easier).
2. In a small pan, heat some oil, pop some mustard seeds, add asafoetida and cut green chillies and transfer the contents to the ginger bowl from step 1. Mix everything well and the puli inji is ready.

This not only makes for a quick and instant pickle, but also serves as a great side for varuthha upma and moar kili (once again, those are whole new posts themselves :-)). Tastes great with curd rice as well.