Double Fun!

I learnt this recipe from my mother, who is a wonderful cook! Amma's simple rasam and potato fry, my all time favourite comfort food :-) Anyways, this is one of the yummilicious things amma makes - Ridgegourd/Star Melon Chutney. (I use the peel for this and the flesh, I simply chop it up and add it to my dal recipe, great way to make full use of the vegetable!)

• Ridgegourd/Star Melon, 1
  
• Fresh coconut, grated, 1/2 cup
• Dry red chillies, 3-4
• Chana Dal (split yellow lentils), 2 tbsp
• Urad Dal (split white lentils) 1 tbsp
• Coriander seeds (1/2 tbsp)
• Jeera (whole cumin) 1 tsp
• Tamarind, 1/2 tsp
  
• Jaggery (molasses) 1/2tsp
  
• Oil, 2 tsp
• Curry leaves, hing (asafotieda), mustard seeds, jeera for tempering
• Salt

1. Wash the ridgegourd/star melon and shave off the peel. Get most of it, but keep off the flesh as much as possible.
2. Dry roast red chillies, Chana Dal, Urad Dal, coriander seeds and Jeera.
   
3. Heat a wok or frying pan and put in the peel and let it sweat a bit. Keep tossing it. If you feel it is too dry then you could add a tspn or so of water. This step is just to get rid of the raw smell of the peel.
   
4. Add tamarind paste and jaggery and saute for a couple of minutes. Turn off heat and let it cool.
5. Then, combine with the grated coconut and roasted ingredients and grind to a smooth paste.
6. Add salt to taste and temper with oil, mustard seeds, jeera, curry leaves and hing.
   

Chutney on the side!

Here are two chutney recipes. I made these with the dosas when we had friends over. Easy peasy and great tasting.

Green Coconut Chutney -

• half a fresh coconut
• 4-5 fresh hot chillies
• half a bunch fresh coriander/cilantro
• a small piece of ginger
• chutney dal (a creamish lentil kind of thing, don't exactly know what it's called)
• 1/4 tspn tamarind extract (optional)
• 1/4 tspn jaggery (molasses) or sugar, again optional
• salt to taste
• for tempering - oil, mustard seeds, jeera (whole cumin), hing (asafotieda) and curry leaves.

1. Simply grind all of the above with a litttle water until well amalgamated. I use my knife to carve out chunks of coconut from the shell and then further chop them into smaller bits and run it once in the blender before adding the rest of the ingredients. You could grate the coconut if you have the required equipment :-)
2. Heat oil and add in the ingredients needed for tempering and pour over the chutney. That's it, all ready to be served!

Onion 'n' Tomato Chutney -

• 2 medium sized onions, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 3-4 red dry chillies
• 1 tsp chana dal (yellow split lentils)
• 1/4 tsp urad dal (white split lentils)
• 1/4 tsp jeera (whole cumin)
• a pinch of hing (asafotieda) and turmeric powder
• salt to taste
  
• 2 tbspns oil

1. Heat oil in a pan and add jeera, hing, chana dal, urad dal and red chillies. Saute for a couple of minutes.
2. Next add chopped onions and cook till tender.
3. Put in the chopped tomatoes and cook till soft.
4. Add turmeric powder and salt and mix well.
5. Once cool, transfer the mixture into the blender and blend to a smooth paste.
6. All done!
   

Pudina Chutney/Mint Chutney - a fridge essential if you snack often...

It's a good idea to have a jar of pudina chutney in your fridge. It's very versatile and you can dish up some really nice 'n' tangy snacks with it in no time...

• 1 large bunch mint leaves
• 1/2 bunch fresh coriander/cilantro
• a thumb sized piece of ginger
• 3 green/red fresh chillies (it's really up to you to either make it really hot or go easy on the spice)
• salt

Simply grind all of the above into a smooth paste, with very little water. Store this in an airtight container in your fridge.

• you can use it in sandwiches (see the following two recipes)
• you can use it as a dip for bhajias/pakoras (deep fried fritters)
• you can use it to spice up a salad
• it is used in most chat recipes
• and you can find a million other uses for it, just think, be creative and add some zest to your snacks!