Ivy Gourd Chutney (Kovakai Chutney)

Ivy Gourd is commonly used in South Indian cooking. We call it Kovakai. I have usually tasted Kovakai Chutney at the Andhra Mess that I normally eat from. We make different dishes from this vegetable, but never the chutney, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I found this recipe online and made slight variations to the original recipe. But I really do not remember whose blog I found this recipe on to actually thank the source.

Tomato Pickle

I simply luuuuurrrrveee this one and I can use it to have almost anything. I mix it with plain rice, curd rice, any rice :). Have it with idly, dosa, uthapam and even roti's. It is fairly simple to make and you can store it for a long time. If you refrigerate it, the shelf life will be obviously longer.

It is best that you use ripe tomatoes for this. You can either cut the tomatoes and marinate with vinegar, chilly powder, turmeric and salt, sun dry it and then make this or simply grind the tomatoes and finish quickly. The first method obviously takes time and I made this on a sudden impulse today, so I chose the second method.
The only downside if you grind the tomatoes and then cook is that you will have to bear with the spluttering and will have to spend some time in cleaning your kitchen tiles. Alternatively, you can chop the tomatoes and prepare with out the sun drying etc.

Chammanthi Podi - Spicy Coconut Powder

This is the mallu equivalent for Andhra Pappu Podi - yeah, when it is the mallu equivalent, it goes without saying that it is loaded with coconut. This podi, called the Chammanthi Podi is made from coconuts and other spices. Chammanthi is the mallu term for Chutney/Thogayal in Tamil. We make varieties of Chammanthi's to go along with rice and Kanji (rice gruel - a staple mallu food). If I am not mistaken, we have one Chammanthi made out of every seasonal veggie that we know of. My favourite ones are the ones made with Ginger, Garlic and Raw Mango. I can have Rice and that Chammanthi for days together without getting bored. Add a papadam to it and it becomes a wholesome meal :-)

This Chammanthi Podi though is predominantly a south Kerala preparation (that's what I was led to believe as my parents are not too aware of this yet). I googled and borrowed this recipe from various blogs and prepared my desired concoction yday. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients:

• Grated Coconut - 1 shell
• Red Chilly - 15 nos.
• Ginger - 2" piece
• Garlic - 5-6 cloves
• Shallots - 15-20
• Curry Leaves- a handful
• Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Split Urud Dal - 1 tsp
• Channa Dal - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
• Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp
• Coconut oil - 2 tsp
• Tamarind - small ball
• Salt - to taste

Method:

• Heat coconut oil in a pan.
• Add red chillies and fry.
• Slowly add all other ingredients one by one and finally add the coconut.
• Fry till all items are brown and crispy.
• Set aside to cool.

                          

• Dry grind them with salt.
• Preserve in an airtight container.

Note: You could fry and grind the items separately but you need to make a larger quantity to be able to do that. The problem when you grind them together is that the shallots, garlic and ginger bring out moisture that makes this look more of a chutney than a chutney powder.

Sweet and Spicy Chutney

                         

Let me start with how I thought of this chutney in the first place. My colleague N who hails from Andhra Pradesh, brought to office one day, a ginger chutney that was out of this world. Promptly I asked for the recipe and she just replied saying grind ginger, chilly and jaggery together. That inspired me to add jaggery to the next chutney I made and it so happened that we had Rava Idli's for breakfast yesterday. So it was the ideal time to try this chutney. I'll let you in on what all I used for this.

Ingredients:

• Shallots - 15
• Tomato - 1
• Green Chilly - 2
• Red Chilly - 2
• Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
• Corriander Leaves - 1/4 bunch (2-3 stalks)
• Tamarind - i inch piece
• Garlic - 10 cloves
• Ginger - 2 inch piece
• Jaggery - the size of a tennis ball
• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Method

• 
  
  Heat oil in a pan.
• Add shallots, curry leaves, green and red chillies, ginger and garlic and fry well.
• Add tomato, salt and cook covered till the tomatoes are mushy.
• Add curry leaves and corriander leaves and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Cool, grind with tamarind and jaggery.
• 
  
  Add more salt if requred and serve.

Onion-Tomato-Corriander Chutney

I love this one and given this, I could eat a ton of idly's or dosa's any day.

Ingredients:

1. Shallots (Small Onions) - 100 gms (or) Big Onions - 2


2. Tomatos - 3 big ripe ones


3. Red Chilly - 3-4 depending on your taste


4. Green Chilly - 1-2 depending on your taste


5. Corriander Leaves - 1 small bunch


6. Curry Leaves - 1 sprig


7. Tamarind - 1 inch piece


8. Coconut Oil - 5-6 tblsp (You could use any oil of your choice, I prefer coconut oil for this chutney)\


9. Salt to taste.

Method

1. Heat coconut oil in a pan.


2. Add curry leaves, red chilly and green chilly and saute.


3. Add shallots/onions and saute till translucent.


4. Add tomatoes and cook till tomatoes are soft and mushy. I add salt at this stage as it helps cook the onions and tomatoes quicker.


5. Add the tamarind piece and corriander and cook for 3-5 minutes.


6. Take off flame and cool.


7. Beat in blender till smooth. You could check salt at this stage and adjust.

This goes very well with Idly's and Dosa's. I also like it with Upma.

Red Pepper (Capsicum) Chutney

I got this recipe from a recipe blog that I regularly follow. (http://sugarandspiceandallelsenice.blogspot.com). This is the original recipe. I made mine with mild variations to suit my taste, but it came out very well. Tasted yummy infact.

Ingredients

1. Red Pepper - 2


2. Garlic - 3 pods


3. Onion - 1


4. Tamarind - 1 inch piece


5. Curry Leaves -  a handful


6. Corriander Leaves - a handful


7. Red Chilly - 3


8. Green Chilly - 1


9. Salt to taste


10. Oil


11. Urud Dal and mustard for seasoning.

Method:

1. Heat oil in a kadai.


2. Saute onions till translucent.


3. Add curry leaves, garlic, red chilly and green chilly.


4. Fry for 1-2 mins.


5. Add cut red pepper and tamarind.


6. Add salt and cook till red pepper is done (you may decide if you want it crunchy or soft).


7. Add corriander leaves and toss for 2-3 mins.


8. Remove from flame and cool.


9. Puree in a mixer/blender.


10. Heat oil in a small frying pan.


11. Splutter mustard and urud dal.


12. Add to the chutney and serve.

Note: You may not want to add the onions - depends on your liking and taste.