Apple Thokku

Pickles, pickles and more pickles - that's what I would answer if my mom or grandmother would ask what is the one food item I would want them to make for me to bring here to my house! Sure, I can hear my doctors words "You need to stay away from hot spicy food" - but do you seriously expect your truly to take that to heart? No way!

So, here I go making another jar of pickles to be stored in the refrigerator and eaten with anything - be it dosas, parathas, curd rice or even toasted bread. I love this particular one as it has a tangy taste. It's not just the heat from the red chilli powder, but also the tartness and sweetness from Granny Smith apples (the slightly sour green apples).

The spice level can be adjusted to taste. For those who have a mild palette, you can reduce the quantity of red chilli powder. Then it will be more like a chutney. Also, this recipe requires a lot of salt to balance the heat from the red chilli powder. The sesame oil gives the thokku a wonderful flavor. You could use any other oil if you don't have sesame oil though.

When I was in high school, my mom once took me to visit her aunt. It was at her place that I first tasted apple thokku, and absolutely loved it! Well, high school feels almost like another lifetime, so you can imagine how much I must have loved it for the memory to stick after all these years!

Anyways, once I got my own lab - err I mean kitchen - I set about trying my hand at different pickles. The first time I made apple thokku, it was more sweet and sour than spicy! When I was pregnant, during my first trimester I had a craving for the tart green apples. That was about the only thing I could tolerate during my bouts of nausea. So, DH always made it a point to stock a few Granny Smiths in the refrigerator. But as the second trimester rolled in, the craving turned into an aversion (don't ask me why, I am as clueless as the next person!). So, now I was left with a few apples that I did not want to eat and neither did hubby dearest. That is when I started looking for recipes to make something out of it. The rolling in my stomach said no way to apple pies. Then I thought why not pickles. I would just make it less spicy as I did not want too much heat in my diet. I tried it and it turned out quite tasty.

Since then I have made it a lot of times and with loads of chilli powder in it! Here goes the recipe...

Preparation & Cooking: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Granny Smith Apples - 2
Fenugreek/Methi Seeds - ½ teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder - 2 heaped tablespoons (reduce the quantity if less spicy food is preferred)
Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Sugar - a pinch
Hing/Asafoetida Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Sesame Oil - ¼ cup

Method:

• Dry roast the methi seeds till they turn a reddish tinge. Cool and grind it into a smooth powder.

• Peel, core and grate the apples. I use the shredding blade in my food processor to grate the apples.

• Heat half the oil and add the mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add in the hing powder, fenugreek seeds and red chilli powder.
• Give this a quick stir and immediately add in the grated apples. If you delay adding the apples, the red chilli powder will burn and give a bitter taste.
• Add in the turmeric powder, salt, sugar and the remaining oil and give it a good mix.
• Reduce the flame, cover and cook till the oil begins to ooze out. Keep stirring in between to prevent the apples from burning and sticking to the pan.

Finally switch off the gas, wait for it ti cool down and transfer the contents to a dry, airtight container/jar. Store in the refrigerator.

Milagai Mangai

My refrigerator is never without a pickle in it. Either store bought or homemade, something just has to be there. I love these spicy hot, shall we say side dishes? Well yeah, my husband always looks at the quantity of pickle on my plate and exclaims, it is meant to be used as a small accompaniment to food, not as a main dish! 

I love them with curd rice, sambar rice, parathas and dosas.

I really miss the old days when grandma would make jadis & baranis of pickles to be consumed by the entire family. These days, all we get to see are the ready-made ones. Not to sound my own trumpet, but I do prefer the ones I make at home over most of the store bought ones. 

This is one of the easiest pickle recipes, and the best part is, you can start eating as soon as you make it - no need to wait for the juices to start doing their job, of course it does taste better the next day - milagai mangai or raw mango pickle.

Preparation: 10 minutes (not including the time to chop the mango)

Ingredients:

Raw Mango - 1, chopped fine
Fenugreek Seeds - 2 teaspoons
Red chilli powder - 2 tablespoons
Salt - to taste

Tempering:

Sesame Oil - ¼ cup

Mustard Seeds - 2 teaspoons 
Asafoetida (Hing) - a pinch

Method:

1. Choose a small raw green mango. It should be firm and sour. If it is soft to touch, it might be on the sweeter side, and will not suit our requirement. Chop it into small pieces.





2.  Roast the fenugreek seeds until they turn a reddish tinge. 


3. Cool these and powder them using a dry mixer or a coffee grinder.





4. Add this powdered fenugreek along with the red chilli powder and salt to the cut mangoes. While adding the salt, use your judgement, you are going to need more salt than you would normally need, to compensate for the heat from the red chilli powder.





5. Heat the oil and add the ingredients for tempering. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the tempering to the mango mixture. Mix it thoroughly.


6. Cut mango pickle or milagai mangai is ready. Store it in an airtight container. They last really long when refrigerated.

Sending this across to 

Peerkangai Skin Thogayal (Ridge Gourd Skin Chutney)

I have made Peerkangai Thogayal very often but I had no idea that the skin of ridge gourd could also be used for the same till I read this guest post from Nutmeg!

  Prep & Cooking 20 minutes  Serves 5-6

Ingredients:

1. Skin of 1 big ridge gourd 
2. Urad Dal – 8 – 10 tsp
3. Dry red chilies – 8 nos
4. Tamarind – 1 tsp
5. Grated coconut – 4 tsp
6. Salt to taste

Seasoning:

1. Mustard seeds -1/2 tsp
2. Curry leaves

Method:

1.      Peel the the skin of the ridge gourd. The vegetable can be used for something else, we'll just be using the skin for this recipe.

2.      Heat a tsp of oil in a pan and add urad dal, dry red chillies and coconut. Once the urad dal and coconut become golden brown, add the ridge gourd skin and cook till it becomes soft, stirring occasionally.

 

3.      Let it cool and grind to a fine paste along with tamarind and a little water (if required)

Spicy thogayal is ready to serve with white rice or you can serve it as side to rasam, sambar or curd rice.

- Nutmeg

Tomato Chutney

For us south Indians, any number of chutney recipes are welcome. It always helps to have a wide range of accompaniments for our staple diet of idlis & dosas! Here is a guest post from Nutmeg...

Prep & Cooking time: 20 minutes  Serves – 4-5

Ingredients:

1. Tomatoes - 4 nos
2. Chilli Powder – 1/2  tsp
3. Pinch of turmeric
4. Salt to taste
5. Small onion -1
6. Urad Dal -1/2 tsp
7. Mustard seeds -1/2 tsp
8. Green Chillies (Slit length wise) – 3 nos
9.  Pinch of Asafoetida
10.  Curry Leaves

 Method:

1.      Place the tomatoes in boiling water, until they are soft and mushy

     

2.      Grind the tomatoes into a smooth puree.

3.      Heat the oil in a cooking vessel, add all the ingredients (except the tomato puree).

4.      Then, add the tomato puree and a little water and cook on a low flame for 5 – 10 minutes.

Spicy tomato chutney is read to be served with Idly or Dosa.

-Nutmeg

Mint Coriander Chutney

There are some basic recipes that my kitchen can simply not do without! Mint coriander chutney is one of them. I find it so handy so always have some in my refrigerator. I usually make a container full every 2 weeks or so. They go in my sandwiches, as a side to samosas and other snack items, in some stuffed parathas and even raitas. This is a very simple recipe but with a lot of versatility in its uses. I make it extremely spicy, you could reduce the chillies to bring down the heat.

Preparation: 5 minutes 

Ingredients:

Coriander/Cilantro - 1 bunch (approx 2 cups)

Mint - a handful
Green chillies - 15-20 (reduce number for a milder version)
Ginger - 1 small bit
Asafoetida - a pinch
Cumin Powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Lemon juice - 2 tablespoons

Method:

1. Clean the mint and cilantro leaves, discard the stems.
2. Put everything in a blender and grind it to a smooth paste. That's it!

Badam Chutney

For most people, chutney is a must when eating idli, dosa, upma, vadai or pongal. Though some of us like peanut chutney, tomato chutney etc, coconut chutney is typically preferred. I once visited a friend who served sevai with chutney that tasted just like the regular coconut chutney, but I was told that it wasn't coconut but badam/almond chutney! I was intrigued and tried it out myself at the first opportunity! Needless to say, badam chutney has replaced coconut chutney as a favorite at my dining table!

Preparation: 10 minutes                     Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

Almonds/Badam - 15-20
Chana Dalia/Roasted Bengal Gram Dal/Pottu Kadalai - 2 tablespoons
Green chillies - 4-5
Ginger - a small bit
Lemon Juice - 2 tablespoonsSalt - to taste

For tempering:

Mustard - 1 teaspoon
Urad Dal (Black gram dal) - 1 teaspoon
Curry Leaves - a few
Red Chillies - 2
Asafoetida/Hing - a pinch
Oil - 1 tablespoon

Method:

1. Blanch the almonds in a microwave for 1 minute. Remove the skin.
2. Put the almonds along with the rest of the ingredients (except those for tempering) in a blender and grind it to a smooth paste, adding a little water, if needed.





3. Heat oil and add the ingredients for tempering in it.





4. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add this to the chutney. Badam chutney is ready to be served.