Amla chutney / Nellikaai chutney

Though am not so fond of amla from my childhood,  I came to know about its health benefits from my gynaecologist and so I have slowly started to use it. My first attempt is this simple chutney which came out really tasty and went on very well with dosa.

Here goes the recipe.

Items required:

Amla - 6
Coriander leaves - a bunch
Green chilly - 2 (adjust according to taste)
Ginger - a small piece
Salt

For seasoning:

Oil - 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon

Method:

Clean the amla and boil them in water for 10 mins. When the amla starts to seperate itself, then switch off the flame. Remove from water and deseed them.

Now take a kadai and add few drops of oil. Slightly saute the coriander leaves, green chilly and ginger for few mins. Remove from flame. In a mixer jar, put the deseeded and cooked amla, coriander leaves, green chilly, ginger and salt. Grind them to a smooth paste.

Transfer the paste to a container. In a kadai heat a teaspoon of oil. Once the oil is heated, add the mustard seeds and wait till it starts to splutter. Then switch off the stove and add the seasoning to the chutney.

Serve it with Dosa and let me know your comments :)

Peanut chutney / Verkadalai chutney

I have not heard of this chutney till i got married as my mom has not done this before my marriage. I got surprised to know that chutney can be prepared from dry roasted peanuts when the first time when my co-sister prepared this for Dosa/Idly. It was heavenly when i tasted the chutney. It goes very well with Dosa, Idly and Chapathi.

Items required:

For grinding:

Dry roasted peanuts - 1 cup
Green Chilly - 5-6. If the chilly is too hot, reduce the nos.
Tamarind - very little
Garpic pods - 3-4
Salt - as required

For Seasoning:

Hing - a pinch
Oil, mustard seeds and urad dhal
Curry leaves

Optional:

Small onion - 4-5 cut into small pieces

Method:

Grind all the items under 'for grinding' into a smooth paste. Use a bit more water as this chutney tend to go to a very thick consistency. After grinding, transfer the chutney to a container. Heat oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the urad dhal. Once the dhal becomes golden brown, add the curry leaves and a pinch of hing and add it to the chutney.

If required, add some water to make the chutney a loose consistency.

Optional: Add the cut small onions to the chutney for an amazing taste and a more health benefit. Thanks to my friend Manju Padmasekar who suggested this tip to me.

Coconut Chutney

This chutney is one of our favorite one, which goes very well for almost all tiffin items. This is also the most quickly and easily made chutney.

Items required:

Coconut pieces
Green chilly - according to taste
Ginger - 1 small piece
Garlic pods - 4-5
salt
Mustard seeds, urad dhal, curry leaves - for tadka

Method:

Grind all the items given above( except the tadka items )in a mixie. Once the chutney is nicely ground, transfer the chutney from the mixie jar to a vessel. Now heat little oil in a kadai and prepare tadka and add it to the chutney.

Onion Tomato Chutney

We all love this chutney at my home as it goes very well with almost all south indian tiffin items. I even love to have this with curd rice :) My mom's preparation of this chutney is without garlic, but garlic do surely enhance the taste and flavour of this chutney. Do try this and let me know your comments :)

Items Required:

Onion - 1 big or 2 small ones
Tomato - 2 medium sized ones
garlic pods - 3 to 4
Ginger - small piece
Tamarind - small amla size
red chilly - 5-6
Channa dhal, urad dhal, jeera - little amount

Method:

Heat oil in a kadai and add red chillies, tamarind piece, channa dhal and urad dhal to it. Once the dhals turn to golden red colour, add the jeera seeds. Remove the content from the kadai and put it in a plate. Let it cool for some time. Now in the same kadai, add the chopped onion, garlic and ginger piece to the oil and fry till the onion becomes golden colour. Add the tomato pieces to it. Simmer the flame and leave it till the tomatoes are nicely smashed. Switch off the flame and let it cool for sometime.

Now grind all the above with required amount of salt. Finally season it with mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Delicious onion tomato chutney is ready :)

Tomato Chutney

Items needed:
Juicey tomatoes - 6
Green chilly - 4
tamarind - a small piece
garlic - 8 pods
ginger - small piece
curry leaves - a small bunch
Oil, salt and turmeric - as needed

Method:

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds. After 2 mins channa dhal and urad dhal each a little more than 2 teaspoons. Once the dhal becomes golden brown colour, add jeera to it. Now add chilly, garlic, ginger, tomato and tamarind to it. Mix them nicely for a min. Now add the entire bunch of curry leaves to it. Mix them nicely and add salt and turmeric powder to it. Keep the flame in sim and mix all of them nicely and close the kadai with a lid. For every 2 mins, open the lid and keep mixing it nicely. Repeat this for 10-15 mins. Do not add any water. The mix should be mashed nicely on its own and should not be too dry also. At this stage, switch off the gas.

Now grind the mix and tomato chutney is ready. This tastes so nice for idly, dosa, chapathi and paniyaram.

This can be stored for a day in fridge and used. Without grinding also, we can use the mix as it is.

For richness, cashew can be added along with tomato.

Groundnut Chutney

Ingredients: (for 2 people)

Groundnut - 50 gms
Green Chilly - 5-6 depending on the taste
Garlic - 3-4
Tamarind - little quantity
Salt for taste

Method:

Grind all the above to a nice paste. Adjust chilly/salt according to the required taste. Deep fry mustard seeds, urad dhal and channa dhal with curry leaves and add it to the chutney.

Variation:

Take small onions and peel off the skin. Crush it lightly and add it to the chutney.

This can be served as a nice side dish for Idlies, Dhosa and Chappathi.