Uppumanga Chalichathu / Salted Mango with Shallots, Chillies and oil

A tongue tickling chutney made with Uppumanga (Salted Mangoes in Brine). It is great when you do not have much side dishes for rice or kanji and also a great substitute for pickle too.... This dish gives a distant taste when sour and salty mangoes mixed with shallots, green chillies and oil..... Heavenly dish for Keralites with kanji....

Uppumanga Chalichathu / Salted Mango with Shallots, Chillies and oil

Recipe Source: Mrs. K. M. Mathew

Ingredients:

Salted Mangoes in brine – 2

Shallots / Chumannulli – 6 to 8, cut into thin slices

Green Chillies – 3, cut into thin rounds

Curry leaves – few, chop the leaves fine

Coconut Oil – 1 tsp

Method:

• Smash the salted mangoes with hand (If not soft enough cut it into fine pieces).
• Add chopped ingredients and oil to the mango.
• Mix well with hand and transfer into a serving bowl.
• Serve with rice or kanji.

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Spinach Basil Pesto Sauce Recipe

Pesto sauce is handy when you want to make a quick meal. It is good as a spread on plain or toasted bread, you can make this as a filling for bread rolls, you can marinate chicken or fish with pesto sauce and grill them and also the famous pesto pasta, it is even good with chapathi or basmati rice too! This pesto is really tasty with a blend of spinach, basil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic and cheese.... The original recipe asks for pine nuts but you can substitute with almonds.... It is perfect for freezing in an ice cube tray and you can add to a pasta dish for a quick and easy meal.....

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Chicken Biriyani / Kozhi Biryani

Like I said in my Mutton Biriyani post there are plenty of ways to make biriyani and every household has their own unique recipe for the same. This recipe is from my mom which many moons ago was published in Vanitha magazine. Whenever I make chicken biriyani I stick to this recipe as it is easy to make and can be prepared ahead of time and baked just before serving. So if you are planning to make biriyani on Christmas or New Year try this one and let me know :)

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Pacha Manga Chammanthi / Raw Mango Chutney

Pacha Manga Chammanthi, every Malayalis’ favorite with a bowl of kanji and pappadom.... This simple tongue tickling dish is best when prepared on an Arakallu but in modern kitchens we have to make do with the small wet grinding jar of our mixer grinder.... This is best when made with Kanthari mulaku/ bird’s eye chillies and if that’s not available you can use green chillies or dry red chillies.... Make sure not to add any water while grinding.... usually manga chammanthi is serverd with rice but it can be eaten as a quick snack by spreading between bread slices....

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Pink Strawberry Dip ~ for PINKTOBER

"Every person has 1000 wishes, a cancer patient only one: to get better"

October or PINKTOBER, is the National breast Cancer Awareness Month. The NBCAM organization is a partnership of national public service organizations, professional medical associations, and government agencies working together to promote breast cancer awareness, share information on the disease, and provide greater access to screening services..... I lost my mother; the most precious women in my life due to breast cancer. She was only 44….A loss that is still difficult to accept even after 13 long years…. A sudden loss that still has the same bitter pain, a loss that completely changed my life…. This post is dedicated to those who lost the battle with cancer, to those who bravely fought and won and to those who are still fighting…. Our prayers go out to all those families that are affected by this dreaded decease…

Pink Strawberry Dip

Ingredients:
(Adapted from Nita Mehta’s Mocktails & Snacks)

Yogurt - 1 cup
Strawberries - ½ cup, chopped
Mint leaves - 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Honey- 1 tsp
Mustard paste-1 tsp
Chaat masala-1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Lemon juice- 1 tsp


Method:

• Tie the yogurt in a muslin cloth and hang it to drain for 1 hour.
• Blend strawberries for a few seconds to make a strawberry puree.
• Beat the yogurt till smooth. Mix strawberry puree and all the other ingredients to the beaten yogurt. Keep in the refrigerator till serving.
• Served with peeled carrots and cucumber cut into sticks, celery sticks, capsicum and blanched broccoli or cauliflower florets with long stalks.
• Arrange the vegetables in a plate with the dip in the centre.
• A little milk may be added to the dip if it appears too thick.
• Sprinkle chaat masala, lemon juice and toasted sesame seeds on the vegetables.
• Enjoy!

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Poodina / Mint Chutney

This chutney goes very well with grilled Indian platters.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Poodina Leaves (Mint Leaves) (1/2 bunch)
1 cup Hara Dhania (Coriander), chopped along with the stem
2 Green Chillies, chopped
1 Onion, Chopped
1 1/2 tsp Amchoor (Dry Mango Powder)
1 1/2 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt

Method:

• Wash coriander and mint leaves.
• Grind all ingredients with just enough water to get the right chutney consistency.

This goes to Chutney / Dip Mania at Mane Adige

Recently JZ of Tasty Treats conducted Santa's Holiday Challenge Event and I got 3rd place for my Lemon Meringue Pie. This was my first ever win in the blogsphere. My heartfelt thanks to all those who voted for me.

It is very common for us to get to see a lot of snow photos and now it’s my turn to show you what we have today in Kuwait:)

Yes it is a Sand Storm and it looks like this at 1pm local time!!! My entire flat is covered with dust. My God please help me clean up this mess :(

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Brinjal Dip/ Baba Ghannouj/ Moutabal

Ingredients:
1 large aubergine (Brinjal)
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons tahini (Sesame paste)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons natural yoghurt
2 teaspoons olive oil, for garnishing
Juice of half a lemon, for garnishing





Method:

• Preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF) for five minutes. Place whole Brinjal on a baking tray and bake for 45 minutes until outer shell is crisp and inside is soft. Set aside to cool for 20 minutes.


• Split open the brinjal by cutting in the centre, and scoop out the flesh into a medium sized bowl. Discard the skin.


• Next add the garlic, salt, lemon juice, yoghurt, tahini and mash by hand until a smooth puree is achieved, or place in a blender and pulse for 5 seconds.


• Spoon onto a serving dish. Garnish with olive oil and lemon juice. Decorate with parsley, olives or paprika. Serve chilled or at room temperature with pitta bread.

This goes to Chutney / Dip Mania at Mane Adige

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Dill Chutney

Ingredients:

1 Cup(1/2 bunch) Dill leaves, chopped along with stem
1 Cup Coriander leaves, chopped along with stem
2 green chillies
1 Onion, chopped
1" piece ginger
1 tsp amchoor ( dried mango) powder or lime juice to taste
1/2 tsp salt

Method:

Wash Dill and coriander leaves. Grind all ingredients and serve with Dosa, Kebabs, Tikkas etc

This goes to Chutney / Dip Mania at Mane Adige

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