Pudina Chutney with Coconut | Mint Chutney recipe with Coconut | Pudina Chutney for Idly/Dosa

Chutneys with mint and coriander leaves appear often in my mom's menu. I make them slightly rarely coz greens in chutney is not much accepted in my house :D But this one with coconut is a slight exception. It is an easy chutney recipe with nice flavours from the mint and also coconut is added which does not overpower the strong mint flavours (strictly for those who are not a fan ;)) So let's check out how to make this easy chutney then. 

The other chutney recipes that might interest you are 

Onion Tomato Kara Chutney

Easy Onion Chutney 

Pudina Chutney (without coconut) 

Pudina-Verkadalai Chutney
Red Coconut Chutney

Recipe Source: Ma

 

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

 

Serves : 3-4 persons

I Used:

Pudina	-	1 cup (tightly packed)
Coconut	-	½ cup
Urad Dal	-	1 tbsp
Ginger	-	1 tbsp (a 2 inch fat piece)
Green Chilly	-	3 nos
Asafoetida	-	¼ tsp
Tamarind	-	1 tsp (a small blueberry sized)
Salt	-	As Needed

The Way:

1. Separate the mint leaves from the stalk. Rinse them nicely in water so that all the mud or dirt is removed

2. In a pan heat oil. Add the urd dal, chopped ginger and green chilly and fry till the dal turns golden in colour. Keep in flame in medium low

3. Now add the mint leaves and saute. Do not keep in flame for long. They have to just get wilted

4. When they get wilted add asafoetida and tamarind and allow them to just get warm. Don't have to saute for long. Remove from flame and allow them to cool

5. Now take them in a mixie and add grated coconut and salt. Grind them smoothly by adding little water. When ground, transfer them to a bowl. You can add more water as per your required consistency. Check for salt after adding water and add more if required

6. For the tadka, heat oil in a tadka pan. Splutter mustard. Then add curry leaves and off the flame

7. Add the tadka to the chutney and serve with idly or dosa !

Notes:

• You can add red chilly instead of green chilly. Taste may vary slightly but both variations taste great

• Can omit urad dal. Then the chutney will be more smooth. Urad dal imparts a crunchy texture to the chutney

Cheers,

Chitz

Methi Dal | Methi Dal Fry | Methi Dal recipe with fresh Fenugreek leaves

So this is the third recipe on the back-to-back series on fresh fenugreek leaves. And today I bring a dal recipe with fresh methi leaves, Methi Dal. This is a simple and yet flavourful preparation with methi leaves. Instead of making plain dal fry, you can add a handful of methi leaves and you get the nutrients from the leaves as well as a variation to that monotonous dal recipe as well :) In this recipe I have used tur dal. You can use moong dal or channa dal or a combination of dals as well. This is yet another recipe where the bitterness of the methi leaves is very subtle and is balanced well with the sweetness from the dal. Hence this recipe sneaks it's way often into my menu :) The other methi recipes in the blog are Methi Paratha, Methi Malai Matar & Aloo Methi

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

 

Serves : 2-3 persons

I Used:

Tur Dal	-	½ cup
Methi Leaves	-	½ cup - tightly packed - chopped
Oil/Ghee	-	3 tbsp
Cumin Seeds	-	1 tsp
Ginger	-	1 inch piece - finely chopped
Garlic	-	3-4 nos - finely chopped
Onion	-	1 small sized - chopped
Tomato	-	1 small sized - chopped
Red Chilly powder	-	½ - 1 tsp
Asafoetida	-	1 pinch
Garam Masala	-	½ tsp
Water	-	1 - 1.5 cups ( As Needed)
Salt	-	As Needed
Turmeric Powder	-	½ tsp

The Way:

1. Take the tur dal in a bowl. Rinse it well 2-3 times and then soak in water (1.5-2 cups) for ½ an hour

2. Then take the soaked tur dal along with that water in a pressure cooker. Add turmeric powder and salt and pressure cook till it is soft and cooked. It takes 3 whistles in high and 3-4 whistles in medium for me. If you do not have time to soak then the cooking time could be more and you should cook them for 8-9 whistles

3. Pluck the fenugreek leaves and discard the stem. Rinse the leaves in water nicely for 2-3 times so that all the mud and dirt sticking onto the leaves get removed. Then chop them finely and keep aside

4. Heat oil/ghee in a pan. Splutter cumin seeds

5. Add the finely chopped ginger & garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes on a low flame

6. Then add the finely chopped onions (and salt) and saute for 3-4 minutes

7. When they become translucent, add the red chilly powder and asafoetida and give a quick stir and saute for another 2 -3 minutes till the raw smell of red chilly powder goes away

8. Then add the chopped tomatoes and give a quick stir. Allow the tomatoes to soften and turn mushy. Saute in between

9. Once the tomatoes turn mushy, add the chopped methi leaves. Saute till the leaves wilt and oil starts to leave the sides 

10. When done, add the cooked dal to this. Then add required water for your desired consistency). Check salt and add more if needed

11. Stir well and then simmer for another 8-9 minutes

12. Finally add garam masala and give a quick stir. Switch off the flame

Serve hot with rotis or parathas or steamed rice!

Notes:

• To reduce the bitterness of the methi leaves, soak the leaves in salt water for 10 minutes. But if you can, omit this step as the nutrients will be lost by soaking the leaves in salt water. But for this recipe, it will taste good without doing this as the bitterness of the methi leaves is well balanced by the sweetness from the tur dal

• Instead of tur dal you can use moong dal or channa dal or a combination of 2-3 lentils

Cheers,
Chitz

Aloo Methi | Punjabi Aloo Methi Ki Sabji | Potatoes with Fenugreek Leaves

I started using methi leaves extensively in my routine after coming to Pune :) And I'm loving it. Both for it's health benefits as well as for the yummy dishes that can be made with them.. Aloo Methi is one such recipe that I'm absolutely in love with. In fact I started liking this more after our trip to Dapoli and having it there in the home stay. You pair anything with potato, it sure is going to taste yum right ;) But this one was very simple with minimal ingredients and the flavour of the methi being beautifully balanced by the slightly fried potatoes. It was just yum. So from then on, I keep my aloo methi simple with minimal flavours and it's definitely very yum with just plain parathas or rotis or rice & dal as well. 

Some other Methi recipes that might pick your interests might be

Methi Paratha

Methi Malai Matar
Methi Dal

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

 

Serves : 2-3 persons

I Used:

Aloo	-	2 medium sized - cubed
Methi	-	2 cups heaped (before chopping)
Oil/Butter	-	2 tbsp
Cumin seeds	-	½ tsp
Green Chilly	-	2 nos - slited
Asafoetida	-	¼ tsp
Salt	-	As Needed

The Way:

1. Pluck the fenugreek leaves and discard the stem. Rinse the leaves in water nicely for 2-3 times so that all the mud and dirt sticking onto the leaves get removed

2. Then soak the leaves in salt water for 10 minutes to remove the bitterness of methi. This step is optional. You can omit this step if you do not want. After 10 minutes, squeeze the leaves in your palm to remove water. Then chop them finely and keep aside

3. Rinse, peel and chop the potatoes into bite sized cubes

4. Heat oil/butter in a pan. Splutter the cumin seeds. Then add the cubed potatoes

5. Saute the potatoes for a few minutes till they turn crisp and the edges start turning slightly golden in colour

6. Then add the slit green chillies and asafoetida and give a quick stir

7. Now add the chopped methi leaves and salt and give a stir. Allow the methi leaves to cook on a low flame

8. The methi leaves will start to leave water. Allow them to cook further (5-6 minutes) till the water dries up and the leaves are wilted

9. Saute for another 2-3 minutes after the water has dried up. The sabzi should become completely dry

Serve with parathas or dal-rice combo!

Notes:

• You can use normal potatoes or baby potatoes for this recipe

• To reduce the bitterness of the methi leaves, soak the leaves in salt water for 10 minutes. But if you can, omit this step as the nutrients will be lost by soaking the leaves in salt water

• Instead of green chilly, you can use ½ tsp of red chilly powder as well

Cheers,
Chitz

Panchgani & Wai - When the day trip plans to Mahabaleshwar went south :)

If there is one thing that I learnt from the one day trip that we planned to Mahabaleshwar last weekend, it is not to plan any trips to the popular destinations during the festive season or long weekends. It is just a waste of time and effort, not to mention the petrol that is burnt by waiting for minutes and sometimes even hours together, for the traffic to move a few (read 2-3) kilometers.. Yes, that is exactly what happened to us last weekend. We planned for a one day trip to Mahabaleshwar and started as early as 8 am (as we could :)) from Pune. 

We stopped for a quick breakfast at one of the many Vithal Kamat restaurants that don the Pune-Bangalore highway. But as this weekend was just two days after Diwali and since the schools were closed for these two weeks, it was just a throng of people everywhere. What was planned as a pitstop turned out to be a long wait of nearly an hour of breakfasting for us. Lessons learnt, always pack food when you are on a short trip as this saves a lot of time and helps you to cover more places in a day ;)

Though there were more vehicles (cars) plying than usual, the traffic up till Wai was smooth. We even rode up the ghat road in the normal pace. But just about five kilometers before reaching Panchgani, the traffic almost came to a standstill. It took us nearly half an hour to move two kilometers and Google Map was showing even worse traffic ahead. It showed nearly 2 hours to reach the Mapro Gardens in Mahabaleshwar which was just 15 kilometers from where we were. That is when we decided to take a detour and visit the Table Land in Panchgani (Satara district of Maharashtra). 

View from the Table Land

A table land is nothing but a plateau or to put it even more simpler, is a mountain with a flat top. That is what this table land in Panchgani is too. It is a vast expanse (around 6 km) of flat laterite rock surrounded by hills. It is the highest point in Panchgani and this volcanic plateau is Asia's second longest mountain plateau after Tibetan plateau. The table land offers an aerial view of Panchgani and the valleys nearby. You need to pay a pollution tax of Rs 50 (for car) for the entry to Panchagni and.... 

This place is much hyped coz of some of the Bollywood movies like Taare Zameen Par, Raja Hindustani and many more that were shot here. You can spend a decent 30-45 minutes here walking to the far end or the other side of the plateau. During the day time it is a bit hot and can be a little uncomfy walking in the plateau. But I have read in some other blogs that a walk through the plateau in the evening is very pleasant and watching the sunset from here is also a nice sight.

Horse riding is quite famous here but if you are travelling with kids I suggest you to be little more careful as we ourselves saw a father-daughter duo fall off from the horse while they were trying to ride the horse. Also a few years back, a girl was killed in an accident as the horse carriage fell off the table land and horse riding was banned here for a while, back in 2012. 

We spent around 1 1/2 to 2 hours here in Table land walking through the plateau, clicking pics and having some tender coconut and all. Then we started back to see if the traffic had become better and if we could reach Mahabaleshwar. But it was as worse as before and we saw that the return traffic was also getting equally worse and so we started back to Pune. We rode down the Ghat and reached Wai and stopped there to have lunch.

It was then that we decided to visit Nana Phadnavis Wada in Menawali. Menawali village is just about 3 kilometers from Wai. Nana Phadnavis, an influential statesman of the Maratha empire, settled here in this village in the late 18th century and built his large residence on the banks of the Krishna river. It has a Wada (mansion with an inner courtyard), a Ghat (steps leading from the mansion to the Krishna river) and two temples, one dedicated to Lord Shiva (Meneshwar) and another to Lord Vishnu. 

Menawali Ghat

Rear entrance to the Wada

This place became quite famous as many Bollywood movies like Swades, Dabaang, Bajirao Mastani were shot  here. It is a beautiful location but not at all maintained. It was quite a feat to cross the dirty water and reach the Shiva temple in the Menwali (Krishna) Ghat. You then ascend some steps to reach the landing of the Shiva temple and again descend some steps (It was quite dark and we had to use mobile light to find our way down) to reach the Shiv Linga below. 

Shiva (Meneshwar) Temple

You will never realise that there is such a beautiful (yet very poorly maintained) place when you ride through the village (but looks more like a town). We parked our car in a small open ground and walked around what looked like the backyard of some houses and landed upon the Menwali Ghat (steps). We did not enter the Wada but spent around 30-40 minutes visiting the Shiva temple and clicking pics and checking around :)

It was close to 6 pm by the time we were done with the wada and so decided to get back home as we did not want to get stuck in the traffic again :) If you plan to visit on a normal weekend when the traffic is less, there are many more places to be visited in Panchgani. Maybe some other time when possible. Hope you enjoyed reading what we did when our plan to visit Mahabaleshwar went south :) Till next time when I'm back with my practical travels..

Cheers,
Chitz

Methi Paratha | Methi Roti | Methi ka Paratha | Fenugreek Leaves Flat bread

Are you a fan of methi? Well, I looove kasuri methi (dried methi leaves).. It definitely takes the North Indian dishes up a notch :) But the raw methi leaves? I like it if they do not have the bitter taste. The 'Methi Malai Matar' is one of my fav recipes using methi. So what many suggest is to soak methi leaves in salt water for 10 minutes and then to drain and use so that the bitterness is reduced. But what my mom says is that the nutrients will be lost if we are doing like that :D 

Still at times I do soak the methi in salt water and use coz otherwise it is very difficult to get me and my family to finish the dish :D And the exception is this paratha.. Here I use fresh methi leaves as such and I do not get that bitter taste in the paratha at all. And that's one more reason why I love making this paratha often :) I sometimes make in bulk and have them as a snack when hunger pangs strike :) It is healthy and also methi reduces your blood sugar level and is really good for diabetic patients as well as those with PCOS. But do not go overboard in a day too :) And now off to the recipe then..

Other methi recipes that might interest you would be Methi Malai Matar, Aloo Methi & Methi Dal

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

 

Makes : 6 small sized parathas

I Used:

Atta/Whole Wheat Flour	-	1 cup
Fresh Methi Leaves	-	½ cup - chopped
Green Chilli	-	1 small sized - finely chopped
Ajwain/Carom Seeds	-	¼ tsp
Garam Masala	-	½ tsp
Oil	-	2 tsp
Salt	-	As Needed
Water	-	Slightly less than ½ cup
Oil/Ghee	-	To roast the Chapathis

The Way:

1. Pluck the leaves off the stalks of the methi. Rinse the leaves well (2-3 times) in water. Drain them completely. Then chop the methi leaves finely and keep aside

2. In a bowl, take the atta and salt. Mix well

3. Then add the finely chopped green chilly, ajwain, garam masala, chopped methi leaves and 2 tsp oil and mix

4. Pour water little by little and knead to a smooth dough

5. Now once kneaded, divide them into 4-6 equal sized small balls. I love them small and hence make 6 parathas out of this quantity of atta

6. Dust the dough ball with some flour and then roll the parathas using a rolling pin. You can roll it thin or thick as desired. I keep it as thin as I can :)

7. Meanwhile heat a tawa. When the tawa is hot enough (you can see the flames starting to come), place one rolled paratha on it and allow it to cook

8. After a few seconds (around 15-20) flip the paratha and apply the oil/ghee (a few drops) and allow to cook for a few seconds

9. Then flip again and apply oil/ghee on the other side as well

10. Flip again a couple of times till the paratha is evenly cooked and has brown spots. Press the edges of the paratha with a spatula so that it gets cooked 

11. Repeat the same with the other dough balls and serve them warm with pickle and curd

Notes:

• You can make the atta and methi leaves ratio as 1:1 as well. I like it 1:½ so keep it that way

• If you do not like ajwain, you can omit them

• Can add chopped garlic (2-3 cloves) if you like. Play around the flavours as you like

• Use fresh methi leaves for a good tasty paratha

Cheers,

Chitz

Kothamalli Thogayal | Thick Coriander leaves Chutney | Kothamally Thovaiyal without coconut for Rice

Back in Chennai, I used to get coriander leaves for even as less as some 8-10 stalks. But here in Pune, it is not like that. You get to buy only a whole big bunch and that too doesn't stay great for a long time even after refrigerating. That was when my mom suggested making thogayals with them for storing them better :) Deeps is a fan of this thogayal and he loves to pair it with curd rice. And you know what I would like to pair it with.. Yes, rasam sadam :) Or simply mix it up with rice and add a little bit of sesame oil too to the rice and that too would taste yum and heavenly. And for many it doesn't actually feel like having greens as such coz the other spices does that effect to the coriander and leaves you with a yummy condiment. Not that I do not like coriander leaves, ok :) So let's see how to make this then..

Recipe Source: Ma

 

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

 

Makes : ¾ cup

I Used:

Oil	-	4 tsp
Coriander leaves	-	2 ½ cups (tightly packed)
Urad Dal	-	4 tbsp
Red Chilly	-	3 nos
Asafoetida	-	¼ tsp
Tamarind	-	½ tsp
Salt	-	As Needed

The Way:

1. Clean the coriander leaves by removing the roots and a little bit of the thick stem at the bottom. We need only the tender ones and not the thick stem. Then rinse them well in water to remove the mud and dirt. Drain them and keep aside. Use fresh leaves for making this thogayal. Avoid the yellow coloured leaves or the old ones

2. Heat the oil in a pan/kadai. Add the urad dal and red chilly and saute on a medium flame. Keep roasting them till the urad dal turns to golden colour. This should take around 3-4 minutes

3. Now add the asafoetida and give a quick stir

4. Then add the tamarind and saute for 2-3 minutes till they become soft and moist

5. Now add the cleaned coriander leaves and saute for a minute or two till the leaves wilt. Once done switch off the flame and allow them to cool

6. Once cooled, take them in a blender/mixie and add needed salt and grind them coarsely. If needed you can grind to a smooth paste. But we like them coarsely ground. Do not add water (if needed, maybe 2-3 tbsp but not more). This reduces the shelf life and changes the texture 

7. Transfer to a bowl and serve with rice and rasam or curd 

Notes:

• Use fresh coriander leaves for a tasty thogayal. Old leaves will surely compromise the taste

• This thogayal will stay good for 3-4 days if refrigerated in a clean container

• You can add coconut also to this thogayal. But would recommend to have it the same day itself

• Can add channa dal too. If adding adjust the urad dal quantity accordingly.  Would need around 4 tbsp of both the dals combined 

• Can add jaggery too if preferred. Adjust quantity to balance to the level of sweetness that you need. Would recommend around 1 tsp

Cheers,

Chitz

Eggless Pumpkin Muffins | Halloween Special Pumpkin Cupcakes | Eggless Pumpkin Cupcakes

It's that time of the year when it starts to feel the chill and the kiddo's rhymes are always beginning and continuing and ending with Halloween :) And occasionally I can hear "Where's Santa Claus?" too from him ;) We live in India but with those rhymes and those carved pumpkins and everything he sees on TV, he's slightly obsessed with Halloween. Always asks me now to keep Halloween rhymes or asks me to sing them for him :) And he loves cakes. 

So to make it little bit more exciting for us, I decided to make a pumpkin muffin for us. It's an easy peasy recipe, like my most recipes.. Mix the dry ingredients and mix the wet ingredients. And mix them both. Voila. The job is done.. And it is eggless too.. And what's that made me more happy was that Deeps too loved it, see he has not got a sweet tooth especially for cakes. That made me really happy and the 9 cupcakes that I made in the evening got over by the night :) So shall we see how to make this yummy tasty pumpkin muffins..

Recipe Source: Here

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 10+25 minutes (pre-heat+baking)

Makes : 9 medium sized muffins 

I Used:

Unsweetened Pumpkin Puree*	-	1 cup
All purpose flour/Maida*	-	1 ½ cup
Baking Soda	-	¼ tsp
Baking Powder Cinnamon powder Dry Ginger powder Salt	- - - -	2 tsp 1 tsp 1 tsp A pinch
Sugar	-	1 ¼ cup
Unsalted Butter (melted)	-	6 tbsp (approx 3/8 cup)
Butter Milk*	-	½ cup
Apple Cider Vinegar	-	½ tsp
The Way:

1. For 1 cup of pumpkin puree, you need 1 cup of cubed pumpkins. Peel the skin and remove the seeds. Then cube them and take them in a pressure cooker. Add ¼  cup of water and pressure cook them for 2 whistles. Once the pressure is released, see if any water is remaining. If then drain them and mash the pumpkins to a puree. You can do that in a blender or use a masher. Once done, keep aside

2. Pre-heat the oven o 180 degree C

3. Take all the dry ingredients - all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon powder and dry ginger powder and salt in a bowl and whisk well. Then set aside

4. In another bowl take the melted butter, sugar, pumpkin puree, apple cider vinegar and  butter milk and whisk them well

5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Do not over mix

6. Line the muffin tray with the muffin liners. Spoon the batter into the liners. About 2 tbsp for each liner should be good enough

7. Bake them at 180 degree C in the pre-heated oven for about 25-30 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted at the centre comes out clean

8. Once done, cool them for about half an hour and serve

Notes:

• The original recipe calls for self rising flour. If you are using them then omit the salt and reduce the baking powder to 1 tsp

• If you have pumpkin spice powder then use 2 tsp of them instead of the cinnamon powder and dry ginger powder

• Instead of buttermilk I mixed ½ tbsp vinegar in ½ cup of milk and allowed it to stand for 5 minutes. Then used this in place of buttermilk

• You can use normal vinegar too instead of apple cider vinegar

Cheers,

Chitz