Chili Chutney

Chili peppers contain antioxidants and a lot of health benefits. There are different varieties of chili peppers available, which have their own unique factors like the taste, shape, color, the level and degree of pungency.

This is a green chili chutney, in which Serrano peppers are used as a main ingredient. Select fully dark green colored peppers for this chutney. Other chili peppers can also be used to make this chutney. Got this chutney recipe and suggestions, from a good friend of mine. Chutney goes very well with dosa, idli, rice, chapati and bread. Even though a lot of serrano peppers are used to make this chutney, it is not very spicy as one might conclude.

Ingredients

10 - Serrano pepper, slit lengthwise and chopped
2 tbsp - White sesame seeds
small key lime size - Tamarind
1/2 tsp - Jeera /Cumin seeds
2 flakes - Garlic
1/4 cup - Water
Salt to taste

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
1 tsp - Urad dal
1 tsp - Chana dal
1 sprig - Curry leaves
1/4 tsp - Hing
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
1 - Whole red chili

Method

1) Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped green chili to it. Fry for a minute and then close with a lid and cook on low heat till the chili is cooked and soft. Add salt to taste when cooking.

2 ) Meanwhile, dry roast the sesame seeds in another pan to a light brown color. Take off heat and cool.

3 ) To soften tamarind - Place tamarind in a microwave safe bowl, add little water and cook for less than a minute.

3 ) To a blender, add cooked chili, sesame seeds, jeera, tamarind, garlic and salt to taste. Grind to a smooth paste. Add water little by little as needed.

4 ) To season, heat oil in a pan and add mustard, urad dal, chana dal,curry leaves, whole red chili, hing & turmeric powder.

5 ) Add this seasoning to the prepared chutney and serve.

Serve as a side dish to go with dosa, idli, rice, chapati or bread.

This is my entry for JFI - Chillies. The ingredient chosen is chillies by Nandita of "Saffron trail " fame, who is hosting JFI for the month of August.

A post that hit a century with a homemade cookie !

It's simply delightful to look back on the recipes i blogged and feel nostalgic. I was awe struck seeing very impressive food blogs before i started on my own. Over this period of eight to nine months, i have been able to make and meet some wonderful friends through the blog world. I appreciate all those who visit my blog, try out my recipes and sometimes give me a feed back that keeps me motivated to continue. I was so thrilled when two of my recipes were tried by Pecos Blue of East of the Pecos River fame and posted a post titled "Simply Spicy." Thank you Pecos Blue.
Now in Seattle, I got together with my good friend Lakshmi, who is by her own rights, a great cook. She told me about this simple homemade biscuits / cookies that is quite popular in her hometown. With minimal ingredients and less baking time, this cookie tastes simply awesome. It's something that you can do in a jiffy. This could be something you could bake with kids.

Ingredients

1 cup - Maida / all purpose flour
1/2 cup - Sugar
1/2 cup - Melted ghee ( at room temperature)

Method

1 ) Add maida, sugar and melted ghee into a mixing bowl.



2 ) Combine the ingredients to make a dough.

3 ) Take a small amount of the cookie dough, shape it to a small ball and then flatten it. Then shape with a cookie cutter or you can shape the cookie even with a glass as shown in the pictures below.

4 ) Transfer the shaped cookie dough to a baking tray. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake the cookies for 15 minutes. The bottom of the cookies will be lightly golden in colour.

Transfer the cookies from baking tray to a wire rack and cool.

Treat yourself and your kids with this delicious cookie.

Note : Use only melted desi ghee for this recipe. Do not melt butter and use.