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Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Cilantro Chutney and Microwave Cooking

Microwave has become a part and parcel of modern kitchen. My initial use of a microwave was mainly for reheating food like many of us. Slowly i started doing some basic cooking in the microwave, which helped speed up cooking. Here is a chutney that is cooked in a microwave and then ground to a smooth paste in a blender.

Ingredients

1 small bunch - Coriander / Cilantro leaves, chopped
1 or 2 - Serrano pepper, chopped
1 medium size - Shallot, chopped
2'' inch piece - Tamarind, seedless
1/2 tsp - Jeera / cumin seeds
Salt to taste

Method

1 ) In a microwave safe bowl, add little oil and mix with chopped chili. Cook for one minute. Always keep checking in between cooking. Chili has to be fried. Add the fried chili into a blender.

2 ) In the same bowl now add coriander leaves with little oil and cook for one minute. Stir and again cook for one minute. Coriander leaves have to be cooked. If not cook for 30 seconds more.Add the cooked coriander leaves to the blender.

3 ) Now add chopped shallot into the same bowl and cook for one minute. Transfer from the bowl into the blender.

4 ) Then add tamarind and little water and cook for 30 seconds. Transfer into the blender.

5 ) Now grind all the cooked ingredients in a blender along with jeera and salt to taste to a smooth paste with little water.

Serve this chutney with samosa, vada or idli.

Note - Instead of cooking in the microwave, you can fry all the ingredients one by one in a pan on the stove top and grind to a smooth paste too.

Variation


  • Add little jaggery to get a sweet & sour tasting chutney
  • Instead of onion, add 2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds to make this chutney. Do not add jaggery when using sesame seeds.

Microwave easy cooking event is been organised and hosted by Srivalli of 'Cooking 4 all seasons'. Here is one or two basic cooking, i do in the microwave.

My morning's start with a cup of tea made in the microwave.

To make a cup of tea in the microwave - In a coffee mug, add half cup of water and add 2 tetley tea bags. Cook for 2 minutes. Tea will be boiling, if not cook for 30 seconds more. Then add milk and again cook for one minute. Now take out the tea bags, add sugar and enjoy the tea.

Cook pappad in the microwave - For one pappad - Place pappad on a paper napkin in the microwave and cook for 40 seconds.

Cook thayir milagu ( curd chillies ) - For one curd chili, it took one minute to cook and be firm. The chilies were big, so for a small one it will take less time.

Boil milk in the microwave - In a big microwave safe bowl, add 5 cups of milk and cook for 10 minutes. Cook till milk boils and raises up. A thin layer forms once the milk cools and that indicates the milk has boiled well. For one cup of milk cook for 2 minutes.

To make yogurt - Once the milk has cooled down a bit and is lukewarm, add 2 tbsps of yogurt /curds and set it in a warm place for the curds to set. Use whole milk for a rich yogurt or 2 % milk to get good thick yogurt.

25 comments:

Sig said...

Wow, you really use your Microwave, don't you? :) ... I still use mine for mainly reheating, and to make rice... :)
Howz life? Seattle weather is turning really bad, city is missing you I guess :)

Roopa said...

the chutney is looking delicious and mouth watering!

zlamushka said...

Hi Pravs,

wow, nice chutney pic,. i make the same one, but add a few mint leaves, too...I love papad. Any ideas on how to make them from scratch ???

Seena said...

Prave, sure it would be tasty..
still I wouldn't do any microwave cooking, only reheating ..will follow your instructions. Thanks.............

Srivalli said...

thats really cool...thanks for the lovely entry...

FH said...

Great idea to make Chutney in MW!! Great tips too. Good one girl!:))

Anonymous said...

i love the "simply spicy" that's resting on the cilantro leaf - looks damn cute

Mishmash ! said...

Thayir mulaku or kondattam mulaku prep is what I wanted ....i love that but never ysed to buy coz of the frying part...my mother does the papadam part in m/w....for me its mainly tea and rice...u can use tea leaves tooo..just mix everything and heat for 2 or 2.10 mts...and strain it....

Shn

Siri said...

Hi Pravs,

The chutney pic is too good and creative..:D.. and I use the MW a lot for papad , warming stuff like everyone else... :)... nice post..

Tee said...

wow..chutney in microwave, never thought of it! looks delicious! :)
Thanks for all the helpful tips on microwave use.

Suganya said...

I was just going to ask you whether you have tried roasting mor milagai. Thank you for the info.

Anonymous said...

I need to use the microwave more. I only use it for reheating and an occasional tea.

bha said...

chutney looks nice.
Micorwave papad is the easiest way of roasting a papad, i apply some oil on the papad before putting it in the microwave, to give it a fried taste....

Pravs said...

Hi sig : Oh yeah..some friends of mine in seattle say the same too :)

Hi Roopa : Thanks :D

Hi Zlamushka : Making pappad from scratch is not so easy..always get from store.

Hi Seena : Microwave makes cooking chores easier.

Hi Srivalli: Thank you too.

Hi Asha: Thank you !! :)

Hi Lakshmi: Thanks :)

Hi Mishmash : That's a good suggestion. Will try that out.

Hi Siri : Thanks :D

Hi Tee : Thank you :)

Hi Suganya : I think every one does all this i mentioned in the microwave.Just thought of posting what i know and cook in the microwave :)

Hi Gini : Everyone starts with reheating and then discovers,others things that can be easily done in the microwave.

Hi Bhags : Hey that's a good idea. Will try with oil applied next time.

Anonymous said...

Good tips.I would like to try the papadoms in MV. Thanks for sharing the ideas

Anonymous said...

Chutney looks good.Quick question.....how about cooking everything together in the microwave? Have u tried that? Will it taste as good?

Anonymous said...

This is really a new way to make chutney. Will surely try it soon.Thanks

Pravs said...

Hi Jayashree : By cooking everything together,ingredients will not be fried and cooked evenly.Even when frying in the pan, fry each ingredient separately.

Sia said...

u r becoming a MV cooking pro pravs:) i still use it for reheating and making rice... i got to try ur ciliantro chutney to test my MV cooking abilities;)

Bharathy said...

Me too use micro for reheating..I am a lover of corinader chutney and still use the pan for sauting!!Will def try with micro next!Thanks for sharing the wonderful step by step illustrations..:)

MR said...

My mornings also start with microwaved tea...
will try ur microwave chutney!!

Padma said...

NIce tips & Ideas with m/w
Can even imagine that chutney came out of m/w, nice picture

amna said...

cant believe thats m/w cooking. and by the way, have i mentioned that i love the way you label your pics?

neroli said...

Deliciously beautiful!
Thank you, and bravo, Pravs :)

Pooja Na(i)rayan said...

I never knew curd chilies could be made in microwave. I thoiught they would burn. You have made my day.

Almost near getting the award of laziest cook