Recipe : Bangalore Thela style Green Coconut Chutney (Vegan)

Having lived and worked in Bangalore in two separate stints as a bachelorette :), on the rare occasions that I needed breakfast before office (normally an after effect of partying too hard on a week night), there used to be these thelawalas or cyclewalas who would serve just idli, vadas and a watery chutney.

I suspect that this chutney is more Tamilian in origin, since growing up in Mangalore, right next to Udupi, I'd not seen this particular chutney. Or maybe it was just the thelawalas ingenuity to let a little chutney go a long way and avoid having to carry a tin of sambhar too which would also need to be kept hot .

 

It is however, quite delicious and this is a chutney I made based on nostalgic memory which may be off the mark, but I loved it and that's what food is about right?

Ingredients :

1/2 cup channa dhal (split pigeon peas)

1/2 cup grated coconut

1/2 cup corriander leaves and stems

5 green chillies (spicy - adjust to your taste)

2 cloves garlic

Salt to taste

1 tsp coconut oil (or any neutral oil)

pinch of hing

1 tsp urad dhal

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp sesame seeds (optional - I just felt like using them today)

1 dry red chilli

a few curry leaves

 

Method :

Dry roast the channa dhal on a medium flame and cool. Be careful not to burn it.

Grind the roasted dhal, coconut, corriander, chillies and garlic to a fine paste.

Add water as needed when grinding.

Transfer the ground chutney to a large bowl.

Add 1 - 2 cups water depending on how liquidy you want it. (Feel free to rinse your mixi with plain water and add it to the chutney - its what our grandmas taught us after all)

Adjust salt to taste and mix well.

Heat oil in a tempering vessel.

Add tempering ingredients quickly and don't let any of them burn.

Pour the seasoned oil and spices over the chutney. 

I made double the quantity of tempering and used the same one for both chutneys today.

 

Serve at room temperature with hot idlis / dosas.

Recipe : Chattambade / Dalwada/ Parippu Vadai/ Masala Vada - Vegan

Chattambade/ Dalwada/ Parippu Vadai/ Masala Vada with Green Coconut Chutney.

This vegan fried snack made with split channa dhal / split Bengal gram / split chickpea lentils is made across India and is called different names across the country. Each household uses their own spicing and ratios. Some add a mix of different lentils to their wadas.

This one is my method and suits our tastebuds best.

Ingredients:

2 cups channa dhal / split chickpea lentils

1 chopped onion
2-10 chopped green chillies depending on spice tolerance
1 handful chopped coriander
2 tbsp chopped ginger
2 tbsp chopped curry leaves (optional)
Salt to taste

Oil to fry

Method:

Soak 2 cups channa dhal / split chickpea lentils overnight (8 hours at least)

Drain to remove as much of the water as possible.

Some people coarsely grind the entire lot. We like the crunch from the whole bits, so I coarsely grind 80% of the dhal and use 20% whole.

Mix the ground and whole lentils together.

Add all other ingredients except oil

The mix should be dry enough to form vadas/cutlets.

If it’s too wet, you can add besan/chickpea flour.

My batter was just a bit wet (I didn’t have time to leave the soaked dhal to dry), so I formed the wadas (slightly flattened balls) and left them on a sheet of kitchen roll to get rid of the slight excess.

Deep fry in hot oil on medium flame until golden.

Don't be tempted to increase the heat, you will get burnt outsides and raw insides.

Serve hot with chutney / ketchup.

Nana occasionally made these as a tea time snack, but we had these for brunch on a cold winter day.

Kim’s tip : If grinding fresh chutney, do that first and then grind the dhal in the same jar without rinsing/washing. The leftover chutney imparts good flavour to the dhal. 

Recipe : Instant Mango Pickle (Vegan) - Tamilian Green Mango Curry

This is a recipe that a Malyali friend told me about ages ago. I end up making it almost every summer (multiple times) as soon as green mangoes are available in the market.

Edited on 27 Mar 13 to add:
Once I posted this recipe, I was told by 2 different Tamilian friends (with absolutely no connection to each other) that this is a summer staple at their home and its called Mango curry.

The trick to making this pickle that is instant (no sunning, brining etc required) is to choose green mangoes that have the right amount of tartness for you. If they aren't sour enough, add some vinegar or lime juice to the mix, but its best to get sour mangoes.

You can make this in as high or low a quantity as you feel like. I make quarter to half kilo at a time and refrigerate it for the week. Longer than that, and it tends to soften and lose its crunchiness.

Ingredients :
250 gms of chopped green mango (if the seeds in the type of green mango you are using are very large, then use more)
1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp jeera (cumin)
sprig of curry leaves
1 tsp of coconut / sunflower / mustard oil (whatever you prefer)
salt to taste
chilli powder to taste (I use around 2-4 tsps depending on the sour spicy balance I want)

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan.
Add the mustard and jeera.
When it splutters, add the curry leaves and chilli powder.
Turn off the flame, and add the mango pieces.
Stir well and add salt to taste.
Stir well again and keep aside for awhile to let the mango absorb the flavours.
If the pickle isn't sour enough for you, add lime juice or vinegar.

Serve at room temperature with your meal.
It goes best with curd rice on a hot summer afternoon.

You can refrigerate the leftovers and serve slightly chilled whenever you want a spicy side with your meal.

Recipe : Rasam / Mulligatawny Soup - Vegetarian / Vegan

Rasam is a dish that is commonly believed to be a part of every South Indian's diet along with curd rice, sambhar and idli-dosa. Surprise, surprise! Neither my mum nor my grandmum ever made this soup for us!

I learnt to appreciate it much later in life with the influence of Tamilian friends whose mums served up some awesome variants.

I love to have this soup on cold winter evenings, on rainy days and when I have a cold coming on.

If you prefer, you can season the soup with curry leaves and mustard seeds in the end and serve it with rice. You can garnish it with coriander leaves if you like. My husband prefers this soup with all the mashed up tomatoes and onions. My sister and I prefer to have it completely strained through with no bits and bobs in it.

I use a lot of spices in this which have medicinal qualities in them and I love a lot of pepper + chilli in my rasam. You can tone it down if you prefer a milder version. Rasam is great as an appetiser or even as a digestive, that's why it features so prominently in so many menus in the South.

Ingredients:
1-2 tbsp black pepper
a pinch of methi (fenugreek) seeds
1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
1 tsp oil
1 tbsp rasam powder or paste (optional - it just adds )
1 sprig curry leaves
1 inch ginger slightly crushed
2-3 cloves garlic slightly crushed
2-6 green chillies slit down the center
2 onions finely sliced
4 tomatoes finely sliced.
1 litre water

Method:
Semi crush the pepper, methi and jeera.
Heat the oil, add the crushed spices to the hot oil, when they sputter add the curry leaves.
Then add the green chillies, onions, tomatoes, ginger and garlic.
Fry on a low flame until they are all soft and mushy.

Once mushy, add the water and increase the heat.
Let it bubble and roil until the water reduces to 3/4th original consistency.

You can now either serve it hot by
1. straining it and drinking it out of a cup/glass.
2. garnish with chopped coriander leaves and drink it straight or eat with rice.
3. season with mustard seeds and curry leaves and eat hot with rice.

Recipe: Mummy's White Coconut Chutney

This is my mum's recipe. She too is an excellent cook and I may not give her enough credit on this blog, as nana takes centre stage among my cooking idols. Nana had a retinue of household help. Mum does it all on her own. She turns out dinners for 40-50 people and makes really elaborate dishes.

When I'm cooking for larger groups, I automatically cook simpler recipes because of the quantities involved and I want everything to be fresh. Mum will forego a few hours of sleep and do the grating, grinding, coconut milk extraction of 10-12 coconuts, cleaning of the fish and meat etc, grinding of poli (dosas) batter and still be smiling when the guests arrive.

Ingredients:
5 green chillies
1/2" ginger
1-2 cloves garlic
1/4 coconut
1/2 tsp salt
tamarind marble sized ball (substitute lime juice / vinegar for color - tamarind will turn the chutney dark)

Method:
Grind with a little water.
Season with curry leaves and mustard.

Other items on the plate are sambhar, Chutney pudi chutney, idlis & dosas