Hema's recipe: Tindora/Kovakka Chutney

Kovakkai is good for making curry. It has good medicinal properties. It is rich in minerals, low in calories and more good for diabetics. I learnt to make kovakka curry from my mother-in-law.

oneday when I was cleaning the fridge I saw some leftover pieces of kovakka which was not enough for curry. Did not know what to do with these left over pieces.Then I remembered one of my friend had told me about kovakka chutney. I did it for the dosa and it was so nice. so whenever I buy kovakka I keep some of them separately for this chutney.


INGREDIENTS:

1) Kovakka - 7-8 Nos.
2) Jeera - 1 tsp
3) Tamarind - small piece
4) Green chilli - 3-4
5) Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
6) Curry leaves - a few
7) salt to taste
8) Oil - 2 tsp


METHOD:

1)Wash kovakka and cut them into round pieces.
2)In a pan, heat oil, add jeera, greenchilli, tamarind, kovakka and salt. Let it cook for sometime.
3)Once done, take them in a plate and let it cool. Then grind them in a blender as you grind for chutney.
4)Now in a pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds and curry leaves. Once it sputters, add it to the chutney and mix well.
5)Serve it with idly or dosa.

Hema's recipes - Tamarind chutney

Tamarind chutney also called as 'sweet chutney' can be served with any chaat like samosa, french fries, papdi chaat or any other chaat. The jaggery gives a tangy flavour to this chutney which is sweet & sour and just tastes great. It can be stored in refrigerator for 1-2 months. INGREDIENTS: 1) Tamarind - 2 lemon size 2) Jaggery - 1/4 cup 3) Salt - 1 tsp 4) Red chilli powder - 1 tsp 5) Black pepper - 1/2 tsp 6) Cumin powder - 1 tsp 7) Water - 1 tumbler METHOD: 1) Soak the tamarind in hot water for 30 mins and take out the pulp from it. 2) Take a vessel, pour this pulp and add water. Bring it to a boil. 3) Add the powered jaggery and lower the flame to medium. The jaggery should mix well in that tamarind water and the water should reduce to half. 4) Add salt, cumin powder, black pepper & red chilli powder. Stir it well. keep it for 2 mins and then remove from flame. 5) Serve it with samosa or any chaat.

Capsicum chutney

My MIL gave me the recipe for this chutney.I tried this chutney, as a side dish for dosa, and it turned out to be very tasty and had a different taste. Its, quite different from the usual, coconut or tomato chutney. Can certainly, give it a try.

The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

Capsicum 2

(Fry the below items in little bit of oil)

1 spoon mustard
hing
2 tspn urud dhal
2 green chillies ( can add more if you want it to be more spicy)
3 dried red chillies

Also finally ,add capsicum and saute till its half cooked.. switch off the stove. Let it cool for 5 mins.
Add salt as per taste and grind the above , like chutney.
finally add 1 or 2 tspn of curd and mix well.garnish and serve.

It goes well with Dosa, Idli, Adai..

Cheers,
Vima