Zucchini Chutney

This is one of the recipes I came up with when I was out of coconut :) I raided the fridge to find a substitute and man..did I find it!! Healthy, refreshing and pretty close to the original with coconut.

Ingredients:

Zucchini - 2 medium sized chopped blender size

Chana dal /Split yellow gram- 2 table spoons - roasted till golden brown

Garlic - 2 medium sized pods
Coriander  - 1 cup washed and coarsely chopped

Green Chilies - 6-7 (add per taste)

Salt - 1 table spoon (add per taste)

Tamarind paste - 1 tea spoon

Water - 1 cup (adjust per thickness)

For seasoning:

Olive oil - 1 table spoon
Mustard seeds - 1 tea spoon
Curry leaves - 10-12

Method:

Add all the ingredients in the 'Ingredients' section except Green chilies to a blender and grind it till the chutney mixture is almost fine.  Take some aside for the non spicy version.  Add the Green chilies and blend it till the Green chilies are mixed well.  Dish out the chutney into a serving bowl. To season it, to a small sauce pan on medium heat, add the Olive oil.  Once the oil is heated, add the mustard seeds, let them splutter. Add the curry leaves and take it off the heat.  Add this seasoning to the chutney.  Zucchini chutney is ready to be served!!  It goes really well with any kind of dosa, roti, chapati, etc.  I served it with Ragi (finger millet) dosa that day.

Note: Due to Chana dal, the chutney thickens when you leave it for a few minutes.  Adjust the water per thickness needed.

Garlicky Cornish Hen

Hello All, sorry for such a long silence.  Life has been a little bit crazy.  Well, no complaints though.  This recipe for Cornish Hen is very simple and easy and takes less than 30 minutes to make.  I like the Cornish Hen with skin on.  You can remove it if you do not like it.  I personally think that the skin adds amazing flavor!

 

Ingredients:

Cornish Hens - 2 (each cut into 4-5 pieces)

Garlic paste - 3 table spoons

Salt - 2 table spoons

Black Pepper - 2 table spoons (crushed)

Turmeric - 1 tea spoon

Amchur (dry mango powder) - 1 tea spoon

Cumin powder - 2 tea spoons

All spice - 1 tea spoon

Olive oil - 2 table spoons

Water - 1 cup

Method:

To a non-stick pan on medium heat, add the Olive oil.  Once the oil is heated, add the Cornish hens, Salt, Turmeric, Garlic and water.  Let it cook covered on low heat for about 20 minutes till the chicken is fully cooked.  Open the lid, add all the remaining ingredients and mix in well.  Add a little more water if necessary.  Stir fry it till all the water is evaporated and the chicken is fried till slightly brown.

Note: You can substitute Cornish Hen for Chicken.

Raw Mango Moong Dal

This is one of the dals I tried recently.  Both my daughter and I love anything that is sour!!  So, when I saw raw Mangoes in frozen section of Indian grocers, I bought it not knowing what exactly I was going to make out of it.  Then, thought of trying this.  We loved it!! It was a little sour for my parents-in-law.  When I was cutting Raw Mangoes to make this dal, I remembered college days when we used to buy raw Totapuri Mango cut and spiced with salt and chili powder outside college and eat it during language class.  My mouth waters even thinking of it.

Ingredients:

• Moong dal (split yellow gram) - 2 cups
• Raw Manago - 1 cup cut bite size (I used the frozen. Do adjust this quantity per sourness of the Mango)
• Onion - 1 medium sliced long
• Jeera / Cumin seeds - 1 table spoon
• Garlic pods - 2-3 chopped fine
• Water - 6 cups
• Curry Leaves - 10-12
• Mustard seeds - 1 table spoon
• Olive oil - 2 table spoons
• Salt - 2 table spoons (add per taste)
• Green Chilies - 8-10 split into half (add per taste)

Method:

To a pan on medium heat, add Olive Oil.  Let it heat.  Add Mustard seeds and let them splutter.  Add Cumin seeds and Curry leaves.  Add the dal.  Saute it till slightly golden.  Add the rest of the ingredients and bring it to a boil.  Cover and cook until the dal is cooked thoroughly.  This takes about 20-25 minutes.  Serve it hot with rice, roti, chapati, etc.  Add a few drops of Ghee to dal before serving.  It smells heavenly!!