Kottimeera/Cilatro chutney

The leaves of the Coriander plant are referred as coriander leaves, cilantro .fresh leaves and the dried seeds are the most commonly used in cooking.The fresh leaves are an essential ingredient in many South Asian foods (particularly chutneys), in Chinese dishes and in Mexican cuisines. Chopped coriander leaves are also used as a garnish on cooked dishes such as dal and many curries. As heat diminishes their flavour quickly, coriander leaves are often used raw or added to the dish right before serving. In some Indian and Central Asian recipes, coriander leaves are used in large amounts and cooked until the flavour diminishes.The leaves also spoil quickly when removed from the plant, and lose their aroma when dried or frozen.The dry fruits are known as coriander seeds or coriandi seeds.(source :google)

check health benifits of cilantro here ..

I make this cilantro chutney in 2 ways.one is first fry the cilantro and grind this fried cilantro with all other ingredients like tamarind,salt n jaggery and do tadaka at last onther one is just blend raw cilanto and fry the paste in tadaka.Here is the recipe for second one....

Ingredients:

cilantro-2 bunches
tamrind paste-small lemon size or 2 to 3 tsp thick paste
chilli powder- 3/4 th tsp
salt to taste
sugar /jaggary-1 tsp
seasoning ingredients:urud dal,chan dal, cumin and musturd seeds,dry red chillis,curry leaves
oil-2 tsp

Preparation:

1.Cook tamarind paste on a low flame until it becomes thick like paste or till its raw smell is gone.

2.Take a mixi bowl,add cilantro leaves,cooked tamarind paste ,salt, chilli powder and jaggary grind to a smooth paste along with few table spoons of water.

3.Heat oil in a pan add all seasoning ingredients ,fry till golden brown and then add cilantro paste and fry till raw smell of cilantro gone .

4.Serve with Rice,dosa,chapathi etc.

This is my entry for JFI - JHIVA FOR CILANTRO @ Cilantro and the event started by Indira of Mahanandi

Note:Check Good info on cilantro Here

Aratikaya/Plantain perugu pachadi & Tulip Pics

This is very tasty and takes very less time too...you can make this chutney within 15 minutes itself.

Check our tulip photos @ Skagit valley

Ingredients:

Plantain-1 medium size
salt to taste
green chilli-4
turmeric powder-1/8 th tsp
curd-2 cups
Talimpu/seasoning ingredients
Cilantro leaves

Preparation:

1.wash n cut the pantain with outer cover.Cut each plantain into 3 or 4 parts.Boil these pantain pieces in a microwavable bowl in microwave for about 10 min.Dont overcook them.

2.Meanwhile you just take a pan and do tadaka ,once it is completed,keep a lid on the pan,after 10 min Peel the outer layer of cooked plantain pieces and keep it aside.

3.Take a mixi bowl add salt,turmeric,green chilli and grind it into a paste,then add palntain pieces and grind well and then add curd into it and just blend it for 1 min.Take whole mixture into a bowl.

4.pour tadaka into perugu pachadi and mix well....that set..aratikaya perugu pachadi is ready !!

I am sending this to "WYF- Side dish" hosted by Easy crafts and "15 Minute Cooking" hosted by Mahimaa @ Mahimaa's kitchen

Zucchini chutney

The zucchini can be yellow, green or light green, and generally has a similar shape to a ridged cucumber.This can also be round or bottle-shaped fruit/vegetable.It does go well with cakes,bread,pizza,pasta and use with other vegetables like tomato too.Zucchini looks like a cucumber, but doesn't taste like cucumber.Mild in taste and texture, the uses are endless, from eating fresh to grilling to grating and baking in breads.

The zucchini vegetable is low in calories and contains useful amounts of folate,potassium,and vitamin A, recommended amount of manganese.

Check the other health benifits of zucchni here.. http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/benefits-of-zucchini-1313.html

Ingredients:

Zucchini-1(medium size)
green chillies-4
cuminseeds-1 tsp
garlic -4 cloves
tamarind -lemon size

Turmeric powder-1/8th spoon
salt to taste
oil-2 tsp
seasoning/talimpu ingredients

Preparation:

1. Wash zucchini and cut the zucchini into medium size cubes and soak tamarind in water.
   
2. Take a pan ,heat oil and put whole gren chillies and fry for 2 min and remove chillies from the pan and then add zucchini pieces into it and fry the pieces till they are completely cooked, in between add turmeric powder too(Usually no need to put a lid on pan becoz the zucchini itself oozes lots of water,if you wish you can keep the lid for sometime) but don't cook it too much becoz it will become mushy.
   
3. In the mean time cut garlic into small pieces and take a mixie jar and put cumin seeds, chopped garlic,fried green chilles and just tamarind( without adding water) and grind all these for a min then add cooked zucchini pieces to it and grind it for 1 or 2 min.Take this chutney into a bowl.
   
4. Do talimpu/tadaka and pour that into chutney.You can also put cilantro/coriander leaves for garnishing.Enjoy the chutney with rice /chapathi's.

Note:1. Because of the high water content of zucchini, be cautious when adding extra liquids to any recipe.

2. Test a zucchini before use by tasting a small bite. If it is bitter, do not use.

3.The smaller and younger fruits (1”-8”) offer a truer zucchini taste experience. Larger squash acquire a bitter taste along with tough seeds that should be scooped out.

Lemon cucumber/dosakaya ooragaya chutney

This vegetable is called lemon cucumber(in English)/dosakaya(in Telugu).This is also belongs to cucumber/keera family but it is hard and sour in taste.

chutney made with lemon cucumber is called dosakaya ooragaya chutney.This chutney is my favourite and this is very good in taste.It tastes like mango pickle!! I have learn't this pickle from my mother. Usually everybody brings cucumber to put it in dal or just make curry alone or combine with other vegetables like tomato or alu.Sometimes cucumber can be bitter becoz of cucumber seeds are bitter or it might be cucumber(it's muscle) itself is bitter.In the later case, we can't do this chutney.This is usually done when cucumber seeds are bitter or cucumber is not at all bitter.

Ingredients:

Medium size lemon cucumber (dosakaya)-1
chilli powder-4tsp
Garlic cloves-10(slightly mash them using mortar and pestle)
fenugreek seeds /Methi powder -1/4thspoon
Mustard powder-2tsp
oil -half of small glass(50 ml)
salt to taste
Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp

Preparation:

1.Wash the cucumber and wipe it with kitchen towel (shouldn't be a drop of water on it) and cut a small portion of it and taste to see whether it is bitter or not.

2.If the cucucmber seeds are bitter first cut the cucumber into half & remove the seeds out of it and slice the cucumber (without peel cucumber) into small cubes/long slices .Add salt and turmeric powder to these pieces and mix well and let it for 5 to 10 min and then squeeze all the pieces with salt and turmeric powder to remove bitterness(bitterness becoz of attached seeds to the cucumber) .Take squeezed cucumber pieces into another bowl and all other ingredients except oil & mix well.

3.If the cucumber is not bitter the squuezing is not required as in step 2,just cut it into small cubes/long pieces(dont peel the skin and remove seeds) and take those cucumber pieces into a bowl and add turmeric,chilli powder, mustard powder, methi powder, salt, garlic cloves (slightly mash them) and mix them nicely.

4.Take a small pan and heat oil and add all seasoning/tadaka/talimpu ingredients .Add this seasoning mixture to the above cucumber pieces. Mix all the ingredients properly and keep in a dry jar and rest it for a day. It stays for 2 weeks . Tastes good with upma, rice, chapathi, dosa etc.

Note:You can also add raw oil directly to the pieces like in mango pickle or just add heated oil without talimpu/seasoning.

Tomato with bottle gourd/tomato with beerakaya chutney

This chutney is too gud with the rotis/white rice..

Ingredients :

tomato 1/4 kg
bottle gourd ---->small one or beerakaya 1
whole greenchillies 6
chopped garlic cloves -4
turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
jeera 1 spoon

Talimpu ingredients :

Jeera 1/2 spoon
Urud dal 1 spoon
chana dal 1 spoon
mustard seeds 1/2 spon
curry leaves & coriander leaves
salt
oil

Preparation:

1.first peel the bottle gourd(sorakaya) or beerakaya and cut into small cubes.

2.cut the tomatoes into medium size

3.Take a pan and put that pan on medium heat and pour 1 spoon of oil.once the oil gets heated put greenchillies(whole chillies)and fry till those are done.Remove those fried green chillies into a seperate bowl.

4.Later add one more spoon of oil and add bottle gourd piece to the pan and cover the pan with lid and let it fry till all the bottle gourd pieces are cooked.

5.stir the pieces after every 4 to 5 minutes.

6.once the bottle gourd cooking is done..just take the pieces into a previously taken bowl.

7.Then add tomato pieces and fry it by keeping the lid on the pan..if necessary add oil otherwise no need becoz tomato had lot of moisture and if you want you can add salt for easy cooking.During this fring/cooking add turmeric powder.

8.once all frying is over..take a mixi jar add jeera/cumin seeds and garlic and greenchillies first and let it gring for 1/2 min and then add bottle gourd pieces to it and grind it for another 1 min then add atlast salt & tomato pieces and grind it for one more min.

9.Take that whole mixture/chutney into a bowl.

10.Atlast do talimpu( I assume that evrybody knows talimpu) and pour that talimpu onto the chutney.

tomato with bottle gourd chutney is ready to serve..