Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Strawberry Sasive | Strawberries in coconut-mustard sauce


 Life is taking unexpected turns from the last few months or so. I'm still coming to terms with it. We are having not so good days and hoping that the ray of light is not far away. All I can say is, God is helping us and he will definitely be with us.

Hopefully, I will start blogging frequently from now on. We went strawberry picking and got a whole basket of strawberries home. So, I started experimenting and made lots of new recipes using strawberries. I'll try to post all of them. 

One of the first recipes that I tried was this strawberry sasive, I loved it thoroughly. 

Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 5-7 mins
Serves:4-6


Ingredients:
Strawberries:6-8 nos, refer notes
Salt: As needed
Water: About 1/4 cup
Whisked yogurt: 1/4 cup
Jaggery: 2 tsp, optional

For coconut-mustard paste:
Fresh or frozen coconut: 1/4 cup, grated
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Green chili: 2 nos, according to taste
Water: As needed

For tempering/oggarane:
Cooking Oil: 1 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves: 3-5 nos, torn
Red chili: 1 no, broken (optional)



Method:
Wash the strawberries thoroughly and roughly chop them.
Add about 1/4 cup of water, salt, jaggery to the chopped strawberries and bring it to a boil.

Strawberries get cooked pretty fast. In less than 5 minutes, strawberries will be done.
Allow the strawberries to cool.
Make a fine paste of the items mentioned under the coconut paste. Add very little water. You could use the water used for boiling the strawberries.

Add the cooked strawberries to the coconut paste and crush it coarsely.
Scoop out the mixture to a bowl. Add the whisked yogurt. Mix well.

Prepare the tempering. Add oil in a small pan. When oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. When mustard seeds crackle, add the cumin seeds. When cumin seeds turn golden brown, add the curry leaves and red chili. Remove from the heat and pour it over the saasive prepared. Mix well and serve with steamed rice.


Notes:
Do not use very sour strawberries. Try to use sweeter ones. If the strawberries are very sour, try using 3 or 4 only. 

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Pudina Chutney | Mint Chutney | Pudina Thogayal : Iyengar Style



Pudina Thogayal is a South Indian version of the mint chutney that is popularly consumed as a side dish for steamed rice. It is very flavorful and goes well with so many South Indian items like dosa, akki rotti, or uttappam. I make this chutney mostly in summers as I harvest mint once in 15 days (I grow it in my balcony garden). Also, mint helps cool down your body in hot and humid summer days.

Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 10 mins
Serves: Makes about 1.5 cups of thogayal



Notes: 
  • Pick only the leaves from the mint leaves and discard the stem
  • Cilantro can be washed and used along with the tender stems. 
  • The stems of the cilantro adds volume to the thogayal and also makes it flavorful.
  • Do not add more water while making a coarse paste. The thogayal needs to be thick. Add a teaspoon of water at a time and continue grinding.


Ingredients:
Pudina | Mint leaves:1.5 cups tightly packed, refer notes
Coriander leaves | Cilantro: 1/2 cup, refer notes
Dry coconut: 1/4 cup
Green chilies: 4 nos, adjust accordingly
Tamarind: a big grape sized or about 1 tsp of thick tamarind extract
Urad dal | Black gram dal | Uddinabele: 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Oil: 1 tsp
Salt: As needed
Water: As needed

For tempering:
Oil: 2 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: 4 nos, torn
Broken red chili: 1 no



Method:
Wash the mint and coriander leaves thoroughly and roughly chop them.

In a broad wok, heat oil. When oil is hot, roast the urad dal until golden brown.

When the dal is golden brown, add the green chili and saute for 15 secs.

Add the roughly chopped mint and cilantro. Saute till the leaves wilt and become soft.

When leaves are soft, add the turmeric powder, salt and the tamarind. Turn off the heat and allow the leaves to cool for about 5 minutes.

Scoop out the cooked mint mixture to a blender or mixie jar. Add the grated dry coconut and make a coarse paste out of it. Add couple of tablespoons of water, if needed.
Heat oil in a wok. When oil is hot, add the mustard seeds.

When seeds crackle, add curry leaves and broken red chili.
Scoop out the chutney paste to the wok that has the tempering and heat the chutney until the extra water is absorbed. Cook the thogayal on a low heat for about 3-5 mins.

Turn off the heat. Allow it to cool and serve it with rice or dosa.



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