Basil Pesto

I have been planning to make this from such a long time and then I made it atlast yesterday. It came out good and I can use it so many different recipes.
In a blender add 2 garlic cloves, 4 to 5 peices of walnuts , 250 gms basil, salt, juice of half a lemon and 2 tbsp cheese grated. Start blending it and add around 2 to 3 tbsp of olive oil and blend till smooth.
Store it in a bottle and just add some tbsp of olive oil on top if it.
U can ise this in pasta, sandwich,  pizza, as a dip……

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Pasta/Pizza Sauce

This sauce is so easy and you can use it so many ways. Make in this when tomatoes are in abundance and you can store it in the fridge for a fortnite or freeze it for longer duration.
Blanch 1 kg tomatoes, peel and puree them. Chop 2 onions and 4 garlic cloves finely.
Heat oil in a pan, add some chilli flakes and some pasta seasoning. Add onion and garlic and saute for a couple of mins.
Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper,  little sugar ,a big spoon of tomato sauce.
Mix and let it cook for 10 to 15 mins covered.
Once all the water has been reduced store it in a bottle.

Tomato Chutney

I love having different type of chutneys, podi’s or achars in my everyday meal. This recipe is from Aparna’s blog and is a quick and easy method. I loved eating this with hot rice and roti’s but the best was spreading it on a hot dosa ..totally  yum.

Method

Chop1 kg tomatoes into small pieces, I just did it in a processor 🙂

In a pan, heat the  oil. Add the 1 tsp mustard seeds and 1 tsp methi seeds,  when they splutter, add a big pinch of  hing.

Stir a couple of times and add 5-6 curry leaves and the  tomatoes.

Mix well, add the turmeric and chilli powder and stir well.

Add  salt and 2 tbsp Sugar. Add little more sugar if you feel your chutney is a little too tangy.

Mix well and let it come to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium and let the mixture cook down until most of the liquid has evaporated and the oil surfaces.

Once cooled, transfer it to a airtight bottle .
I have kept the bottle in the fridge.

Chutneys – The Basis of Indian Snacks.

 

Chutneys are a integral part of out daily food and Coriander Mint Chutney, Tamarind Chutney and Garlic Chutney are a main part of indian street food snacks. Without these any snack will lack the punch required in taste. My fav among these is the coriander chutney and it is always there in my refrigerator. Tamarind Chutney and Garlic Chutney is prepared very occasionally depending upon the snacks. So Lets head to the recipes directly. 

Coriander Mint Chutney

Ingredients

1 cup coriander leaves (Cleaned and chopped)

1/2 cup Mint leaves 

3 Medium G.chillies 

1″ Ginger Chopped

Roasted Jeera 1/2 tsp

Jaljeera Powder 1 tsp (You can chat masala as well)

Rock Salt 1/2 tsp

Juice of half a lemon

Method

Add all the ingredients in a blender and make it to a smooth paste. Add little spoonfuls of water if required.

Transfer it to a air tight back and this can be stored in the fridge for upto 2 weeks.

Notes

I never add regular salt in  this chutney as the color of the chutney changes to a darkish color after a couple of days.

Adding rock salt gives it a different taste as well and the chutney will stay in green color for a longer time.

This chutney has a tangy taste due to the addition of chat masala and lemon juice.

Skip any one of these if you want to reduce the tanginess.

Tamarind Chutney

Method

Tamarind  cup

Jaggery 1/4 cup grated

Rock Salt 1 tsp

Roasted Jeera Powder 1/2 tsp

Method

Soak tamarind in warm water for 1/2 hour.

When the tamraind is fully soft remove the pulp by pressing it between your fingers.

Transfer the pulp to a pan add all the remaining ingredients and cook it till it reaches a semi thick consistency.

Cool and transfer to a air tight box and store in the fridge.

This can be stored for upto a month as well.

Garlic Chutney

Recipe Source Tarla Dalal

Ingredients

2 whole garlic pods cleaned

1 tbsp Chilli Powder

Salt

Method

Combine all the 3 ingrediets in a blender along with some water and prepare a smooth chutney.

Transfer to a box and store this for upto a week.

Notes

garlic chutney can be prepared in many different ways , i had prepare this along with a famous gujrathi street food (recipe coming soon)

So try out these lip smacking chutneys and tickle your tastebuds!

These Chutneys are off to “The Big Chutney Chowdown” event hosted by Priya of Now Serving.

Til Chutney

I love preparing different types of chutneys and i  have them with rice, dosas or even as a base spread for sandwiches, so any new recipe is always welcome for me to give it a try. At present i think i have 5 different chutneys on my kitchen shelf and each and every chutney powder is good and makes a great addition to my meal.

This week i am paired with Nisha’s Kitchen and the Til chutney is what i prepared for this weeks Blog Hopping. I have followed the recipe as the same and have not made any changes.

Til Chutney

Ingrerdients

Til (Sesame Seeds) 2 tbsp

Groundunts 11/2 tbsp

Dry grated coconut 1 tbsp

Oil 1/2 tsp

Garlic Cloves 4

R.chillies 4

Tamarind small ball

Salt

Method

In a small kadai dry roast til, groundnuts and coconut separately till light brown and you get a aroma of the ingredients.

Let cool.

In the same kadai heat oil and add garlic cloves, tamarind and r.chillies and saute them till garlic turns into a light brown color.

Let this cool completely

Grind all the ingredients togeather along with salt till a fine powder.

Store it into a dry bottle and enjoy it with any dish for a special kick.