Mint Chutney/Pudina Chutney with Coconut

Today's recipe is a flavorful mint chutney with coconut.I have shared a version of no coconut version here.
Though I make this chutney often,never had a chance to click it for the blog.Last week I had lots of home grown fresh mint and made this chutney.This chutney is a perfect accompaniment for idly,dosa,rava dosa and paniyaram.This recipe I noted down from my mom when I came to U.S after marriage.Off to the recipe...............

                                                             

                                         

                                                                              
                 Mint chutney/Pudina Chutney

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   Basic Information

   Preparation time ~ 10 minutes
   Cooking time ~ 10 minutes

   Serves ~ 4(generously)

  Ingredients

  

Ingredient	Quantity
Mint leaves/pudina	1 cup(tightly packed)
Coriander leaves/kothamalli ( finely chopped)	2-5 stems(optional)
Green chilly/pachamilagai	4-5
Coconut(grated)	5-6 tbs
Roasted gram dhal/pottukadalai	1 tsp
Cashews/mundiri	3-4
Turmeric powder/manjal podi	a pinch
Tamarind/puli	a small gooseberry size
Salt	1 tsp or to taste
Oil	2 -3 tsp

 For Tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Mustard seeds/kadugu	1/2 tsp
Urad dhal/u;utham paruppu	1/2 tsp
Asafoetida/perungayam	a pinch
Curry leaves/karivepillai	few leaves

  

   Method 

• Heat around a tsp of oil in a pan,to this add the green chilly,mint and coriander leaves,saute it till the leaves change its color.Put off the flame,let it cool down. After cooling,take the green chillies,coconut,cashews ,salt and tamarind in a blender jar. Grind it to a coarse paste with water as needed.

• Now add the mint leaves and grind it well.Transfer the ground paste to a bowl.Heat the rest of the oil in a small pan and do the tempering with the given ingredients and add it to the ground chutney.

•  Serve it  with idly or dosa,paniyaram

• The amount green chilly given here is for a bit spicier version.It can be altered according to personal preference. .
• This chutney stays good for 2 days if it is stored in the refrigerator.

Enjoy................

This recipe is off  to Cook Book Challenge for August,Week#2.

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Chocolate Almond Clusters/Almond Chocolate Clusters

For the final day I made kids favorite almond chocolate clusters.These clusters can be made with any nuts,as my kids love almonds I made with it.
Here I used the semi sweetened chocolate and also topped it with kosher salt and sugar granules.Its purely optional.Also I melted the chocolate and toasted the almonds in microwave oven .White chocolate can also be used to make this yummy clusters.

                                                                    

                                                            
                                                                                                                                                                                                    Almond Chocolate Clusters

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   Basic Information

   Preparation time ~ 10 minutes
   Cooking time ~ 2-3 minutes

   Makes ~ 10 -12 clusters

 Ingredients

Almonds/badam	1/2 cup
Semi sweetened Chocolate	1/3 cup
Sea salt	a pinch
Granulated sugar or raw sugar	1 tsp(optional)

 Method

• Roast the almonds in a MW for 2 -3 minutes or till it becomes crisp.Let it cool down completely.Line a baking tray with parchment paper and keep it aside.
• Now in microwave safe bowl add the semi sweetened chocolate and keep it for 1-1.5 minutes or till its melted.Mix it in between every 30 seconds.Once the chocolate is completely melted add in the toasted almonds.

•  Mix it well and scoop up a spoonful of mixture and keep it on the lined baking tray.Let it sit on the counter for 1-2 hours or refrigerate for 30 minutes.Once the chocolate sets remove it from the paper. 

• Store it in an air tight container.

• Dark or white chocolate can also be used.
• Instead of topping it with salt and sugar,white chocolate can be melted and drizzled on the top to give a nice look.
• Toast the nuts to get a nice crunchy clusters.

Enjoy..........

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#67

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Spicy Roasted Peanuts

For day 2 recipe in Blogging Marathon 67 th edition themed under Go Nuts is spicy roasted peanuts.Peanuts is a great snack option and we love to munch salted peanuts.I always stocked up,peanuts in my pantry to make some snacks.This spicy roasted peanuts is a quick snack,can be made in no time.All you need is to roast the peanuts and spice it up red chilly powder and black pepper powder.Its a perfect evening snack along with a cup of tea or coffee.Its a great option for party snack.Off to the recipe............

                                                                    

                                                            
                                                                                                                                                                            Spicy Roasted Peanuts

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   Basic Information

   Preparation time ~ 15 minutes
   Cooking time ~ 2-3 minutes

   Makes ~ 1.25 cups

 Ingredients

Roasted Peanuts/verkadalai	1.25 cups
Red chilly powder/milgai podi	1/2 -3/4 tsp
Turmeric powder/manjal podi	1/2 tsp
Black pepper powder/milgu podi	1/4 tsp(optional)
Asafoetida/perungayam	a pinch
Curry leaves/karivepillai	few leaves
Salt	1 tsp
Oil	1 tsp

 Method

•   Roast the peanuts in a MW for 2 minutes and remove the skin by rubbing between palms.Keep it aside.

• Now heat a pan with oil and toast the curry leaves.Once the curry leaves are toasted add the spice powders,salt and asafoetida.Mix it well for 30 seconds and put off the flame.

• Now add the roasted peanuts and mix it well till the spices coat the peanuts evenly.Let it cool down completely.

• Store in an air tight container after cooling.

• After adding the spice powder,immediately switch off the flame,otherwise it may burn. 
• After mixing the nuts in the spice powders mix it well to coat evenly.
• A clove of crushed garlic can also be added along with curry leaves for extra flavor.
• The roasted peanuts may not be crunchy when it is hot,so let it cool down completely.
• If you are using the raw peanuts then roast it in a MW for few minutes and turn it in between.

Enjoy..........

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#67

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Mixed Nuts Brittle/Mixed Nuts Chikki

Entering the second week of Blogging Marathon 67th edition with 'Go nuts' as theme.Nuts are everyone's favorite and for the day 1,I decided to make chikki/brittle with mixed nuts.As we love the the famous Lonawala chikkis I tried to make it at home.The brittle/chikki came out super good and had couple of pieces before even clicking.The chikkis are so crunchy and addictive and my kids loved it to the core.Off to the recipe.....

                                                                    

                                                            
                                                                                                                             Mixed Nuts Brittle/Mixed Nuts Chikki

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   Basic Information

   Preparation time ~ 5 minutes
   Cooking time ~ 10 minutes

   Makes ~ 12-14 chikkis (depending on the size)

   

  Ingredients

  

Ingredient	Quantity
Mixed nuts (almonds,cashews,peanuts  and pistachios)	1.25 cups
Sugar	3/4 cup
Baking soda	a pinch
Ghee/nei	2 tsp

 Method

•   Chop the almonds,cashews and pistachios and keep it aside.Heat a pan and  toast the   chopped nuts and remove it from the pan.Let it cool down.Meanwhile grease an aluminium foil or tray and a rolling pin with a tsp of ghee.

•  Coat the pan with the rest of the ghee and add the sugar on top of the ghee and keep it on a medium flame.

• Let the sugar melts and slowly the sugar caramelizes and changes to a amber color.Now add in the baking soda and mix it well.

• At this stage add in the nuts and give it a mix.Put off the flame and mix it well.Transfer the mixture to the greased surface and roll it with the rolling pin to the desired thickness.

• Let it cool for a minute,now with a sharp knife or pizza wheel,mark the lines .After cooling break it into pieces.

• Store in an air tight container

• After adding the baking soda the sugar syrup becomes frothy then immediately the nuts needs to added and mixed.Otherwise it will be difficult to handle.
• After adding the mixed nuts on the greased tray or foil,it needs to be rolled immediately.

Enjoy..........

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#66

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Chicken Kurma -South Indian Style Chicken Kurma

Be it with hot and fluffy idlys or  roti,chicken kurma pairs very well.In our households its mostly made for breakfast to accompany with idlys.But I make it for lunch or dinner as my kids like to have it with rice also.
This chicken kurma doesn't need much of spices and ground coconut and green chilly paste is used.This is my family recipe which I had noted down in my recipe booklet long time back.Last week I made this for our lunch and the left over kurma we had it with idly for dinner.Off to the recipe.................

                                                                    

                                                            
                                                                                                     Chicken Kurma-South Indian Style

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   Basic Information

   Preparation time ~ 20 minutes
   Marination time ~ 30 minutes

   Cooking time ~ 30-35 minutes

   Serves ~ 3(generously)

   

  Ingredients

  

Ingredient	Quantity
Chicken(with bone or boneless)	1.5 lbs
Onion(thinly sliced)	2 medium size
Tomato(finely chopped)	1 medium size
Green chilly/pachamilagai	2-3 (slit lengthy)
Ginger&garlic paste	2 tbs
Coriander powder/dhaniya podi	2 tsp
Curry leaves/karivepillai	1 -2 sprigs
Garam masala powder	1/2 tsp
Lemon juice	2 tsp
Salt	1.5 tsp
Oil	3 tbs
Coriander leaves(chopped)	2 tbs

  For the tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Clove/lavangam	4-5
Cinnamon/pattai	2 inch piece
Bay leaf	1
Star anise	2 petals
Green cardamom/ellakai	1
Black stone flower/kalpaasi	a small piece

  
 Fry and grind it to fine paste

Ingredient	Quantity
Coconut(grated)	6 tbs
Green chilly/pachamilagai	7-8
Fennel seeds/sombu	1.5 tsp
Poppy seeds/kasakasa	1/2 tsp
Cashews/mundiri	5-6(whole)
Roasted gram dhal/pottukadalai	1 tsp

  

 For the marination

Ingredient	Quantity
Red chilly powder	1/4 tsp
Ginger&garlic paste	1 tsp
Turmeric powder/manjal podi	1/8 tsp
Salt	1/2 tsp

  Method 

• wash and clean the chicken and cut into bite size pieces.Add the ingredients given for marination to the chicken and mix it well.Keep it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes..

• Meanwhile heat a pan with 2 tsp of oil and fry green chilly,fennel and poppy seeds.Then add the grated coconut and fry it for a minute without changing the color.Finally add the cashews and roasted gram dhal,give it a mix.Put off the flame and after cooling grind it to a smooth paste along with water and keep it aside.

• Now in a pan heat the rest of the oil and do the tempering with the given ingredients.Add the sliced onion,green chilly and curry leaves.Saute it with a pinch of salt till transparent.Add in the chopped tomato and cook it until mushy.

• Add the marinated chicken and fry it for 2-3 minutes or till the color of the chicken changes.Add the coriander powder and salt.Cook it in a medium flame for 2-3 minutes.

• Now add the ground paste and mix it well.Add around 2 cups of water and cook it covered in a medium flame for 20-25 minutes or the chicken becomes tender.Stir it in between 3-4 times.

• Finally sprinkle some curry leaves and coriander leaves.Put off the flame and add the lemon juice and mix it well.

• Serve it with idly,roti or rice.

• The color of the kurma needs to be in the lighter shade so don't use too much of turmeric powder and tomato.
• The same recipe can be followed to make mixed veggie kurma or potato kurma.
• A tsp of ghee can be used along with oil for an extra rich flavor and taste.
• The amount of green chillies give is for a medium spice level,can be adjusted as per preference.

Enjoy.................

This recipe is off  to Cook Book Challenge for August,Week #1.

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