Green Chili Thokku (Preserve)

My garden was bursting with green chilies and we kept collecting in the hope that we would get some spicy ones - Alas to our disappointment, although they were extremely aromatic and flavorful and raised our expectations no end about its spiciness. Ironically, they lacked the sting which is a quality all of us proper South Indians look for in our green chilies.  We have learnt now that we have to plant the different varieties of chilies at least a 10 feet away from each other because what can happen if you plant spicy ones and sweeter peppers side by side, one takes over the flavor of the other, in our case the sweet dominated the spicy :(  So a lesson learnt for next year. Joke is I had to use store-bought green chilies and a few red chilies to spice up my chili chutney (lol)  But it smells phenomenally good and and tastes incredible, esp with thachu mammu or yogurt rice; a fab spread on sandwiches and with chappatis and cheese...

Presenting to you my Green Chili Thokku/Preserve - also sharing a couple of fun art I made with them.

Ingredients

• 3lbs of Fresh green chilies 
• 4 thai green chilies (not required if you have spicy chilies already)
• 1/2 cup of urad dal
• 1tsp of tamarind paste
• 1/4 tsp of asafetida
• 1tsp turmeric
• 5tbsp Gingely/sesame oil
• salt
• Tempering with mustard seeds

Method

1. de stem the chilies and keep ready
2. In 2 tbsp of oil roast the urad dal until golden brown
3. In a wide pan add 2 tbsp of oil and add the green chilies and allow them to cook until lightly browned
4. Add the salt, tamarind and asafetida to this and stir for a little longer
5. Cool and grind 
6. Add a tbsp of raw sesame oil to the top to keep it preserved. Enjoy in any which way you want to :)

Chili Thokku

Chestnut Hummus

OK – I know that is a grammatically wrong way to start a sentence, but here is my narrative about how this hummus came to be. Enjoying a beautiful pre-fall day with good friends who had brought along some chestnuts to roast in the oven and serve.

Dinner was done and we decided it was time to roast these babies – I was really excited since this would be the first time I am tasting chestnuts – We have heard the Christmas song “chestnut roasting on an open fire..” crooned by several greats like Bing Crosby,  Nat King Cole and more recently, Michale Buble. But that was simply a song and in all my 19 years in North America, never once did I think to try it – Two years ago I may not have, but since I started the blog, my mind suddenly opened up like a never-ending avenue or better, promenade and I am enjoying so many new experiences.

Right… So here we are sitting on the carpet with a bowl of HOT chestnuts waiting to be cracked open fully (more labor than peeling boiled unshelled peanuts). Popped the first one in my mouth…. I was told my face was expressive enough to convey that I doubted my feelings for this and the best I could come up with was that these were a cultivated taste – I got some grief about that and our friend even jokingly mocked me – “now you will add some chili and other stuff to it and make it into something to submerge the taste of the nut.”

Not one bit true! Most of what I cook I take care does NOT lose itself and blend into the spices –

For starters, I just dipped them in Nutella and already it was tasting better. We do challenge ourselves to like certain things after a certain point in our lives, correct. I knew plain old chestnuts would not do it for me. We had a few nuts left behind from that night and this is what came out of it – A fabulously healthy and delicious hummus, where the taste of the nut prevails above all else, thank you very much!

Ingredients

• 1 cup of roasted and shelled chestnuts (about 20 nuts)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1tsp of brown roasted sesame
• 1red chili
• salt a pinch
• 2tsp olive oil
• ¼ cup of water
• 2tsp lemon juice
•  

Method

1. In a pan, add the oil and the chili first followed by all the ingredients
2. Cook for a couple of minutes only until the chili turns brown
3. Grind to a fine paste
4. Garnish with Basil or mint (optional)
5. Serve with warm bread or with a veggie platter

Chestnut Facts:

Gluten free

Complex Carbohydrates

Low to no fat

Low Cholesterol Food

Good protein albeit not very high

Rich in Vitamin C

In short, one of the best nuts to eat :)

This is a perfect post for my blog event FAST FOOD not FAT FOOD guest-hosted this time by my sweet friend, Archana of The Mad Scientist's Kitchen - Do send you entries to her if you have a healthy recipe you've made - 

Gongura Chutney/ Sorrel Chutney/Spread

I have been saying it with Chutney's and spreads this summer from figs and goji berries to cherries and pesto. I now present Gongura chutney, a native dish of Andhra Pradhesh, well loved by Indians from all other parts of the country too :) For those who are not familiar with these beautiful greens, they have large crinkly leaves with a burgundy red stem and veins.  I had no idea what their English name was and got to it after several google searches. These greens have an innate sourness to them, something I was NOT aware of until after I added some tamarind, like we normally do for green leafy chutneys. I will not add tamarind to the recipe I have noted down for you. They are deliciously flavorful and serve as a great addition to the table in more ways than one - As a side to be had with yogurt rice, in the true south Indian style; to mix in with hot basmati rice and devoured; as a spread over a french baguette or with Indian lentil crepes, aka, Dosas, just to name a few.

Here is the recipe for this deadly delicious chutney

Ingredients

• 1 bunch (about a pound) as sold in the Indian store
• 1/4 cup of urad dal (black gram - ulundhu)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 3 tbsp Sesame Oil
• 2 Tbsp bengal gram (channa dal - Kadalai paruppu)
• 6 really spicy dry red chilies (I got mine from the mexican store)
• 1 lemon sized ball of jaggery (powdered)
• 1/4 tsp asafetida
• salt to taste

Method

1. Wash the leaves several times to get rid of all the dirt off it and shake off the water
2. In a wide (preferably non-stick pan) add the sesame oil and heat. 
3. Add and pop the mustard seeds. 
4. Add the chilies and allow them to roast for a minute without getting burnt
5. Add the asafetida urad dal and the channa dal and roast until brown
6. Add the leaves and turn it until they become a deep green bordering on brown. 
7. Now add the powdered jaggery and the salt. 
8. Turn for a minute until the jaggery melts.
9. Grind in a food processor until the leaves are ground to a gritty paste.
10. The Dals may not grind completely and may be semi-broken, but this is just fine because it add to the texture of the chutney. 
11. DO NOT use any water to grind- the water from the leaves will suffice - 
12. I used an additional 2 tsp of sesame oil and gave the processor one last turn before transferring to a bowl.

Enjoy in any way you want. And hope you'll like it as much as we did! It goes all too fast!