Garden Fresh Salsa

When you have a garden that gives you the freshest ingredients to make the finest salsa, I say, heck why not make the most of it! :) The garden truly is on its way out with the chill of Autumn setting in. Nevertheless that chilies are putting out their last produce for the season as are the tomatoes. The cilantro is still going strong although not for much longer, perhaps and the bell peppers are finally making an appearance. So whatchya waiting for? That's right! Get that salsa made already, will you?!
Chop up some onions and garlic and squeeze some fresh lime juice into the above ingredients and a smidgeon of salt and voila - And what is the secret ingredient? Habanero peppers of course :)
A quarter goes a looooooooong way so be judicious in your use of this dynamite pepper

Ingredients

• 2- 3 medium sized tomaotes
• 1 small onion
• 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro
• 1/2 habanero
• 1/2 bell pepper
• 2cloves of fresh garlic
• 1-2 tsp of lime/lemon juice
• salt

Method

1. Chop all ingredients finely if you do not have a mixer that can make the salsa for you
2. Otherwise, chop roughly and put in your vitamix or magic bullet and let it go until it is blended but retains some texture
3. Refrigerate immediately if you are not using right away

NOTE: this tastes best fresh or made half an hour before use - keep refrigerated for best taste.

Enjoy amigos!

Chestnut Hummus

OK – I know that is a grammatically wrong way to start a sentence, but here is my narrative about how this hummus came to be. Enjoying a beautiful pre-fall day with good friends who had brought along some chestnuts to roast in the oven and serve.

Dinner was done and we decided it was time to roast these babies – I was really excited since this would be the first time I am tasting chestnuts – We have heard the Christmas song “chestnut roasting on an open fire..” crooned by several greats like Bing Crosby,  Nat King Cole and more recently, Michale Buble. But that was simply a song and in all my 19 years in North America, never once did I think to try it – Two years ago I may not have, but since I started the blog, my mind suddenly opened up like a never-ending avenue or better, promenade and I am enjoying so many new experiences.

Right… So here we are sitting on the carpet with a bowl of HOT chestnuts waiting to be cracked open fully (more labor than peeling boiled unshelled peanuts). Popped the first one in my mouth…. I was told my face was expressive enough to convey that I doubted my feelings for this and the best I could come up with was that these were a cultivated taste – I got some grief about that and our friend even jokingly mocked me – “now you will add some chili and other stuff to it and make it into something to submerge the taste of the nut.”

Not one bit true! Most of what I cook I take care does NOT lose itself and blend into the spices –

For starters, I just dipped them in Nutella and already it was tasting better. We do challenge ourselves to like certain things after a certain point in our lives, correct. I knew plain old chestnuts would not do it for me. We had a few nuts left behind from that night and this is what came out of it – A fabulously healthy and delicious hummus, where the taste of the nut prevails above all else, thank you very much!

Ingredients

• 1 cup of roasted and shelled chestnuts (about 20 nuts)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1tsp of brown roasted sesame
• 1red chili
• salt a pinch
• 2tsp olive oil
• ¼ cup of water
• 2tsp lemon juice
•  

Method

1. In a pan, add the oil and the chili first followed by all the ingredients
2. Cook for a couple of minutes only until the chili turns brown
3. Grind to a fine paste
4. Garnish with Basil or mint (optional)
5. Serve with warm bread or with a veggie platter

Chestnut Facts:

Gluten free

Complex Carbohydrates

Low to no fat

Low Cholesterol Food

Good protein albeit not very high

Rich in Vitamin C

In short, one of the best nuts to eat :)

This is a perfect post for my blog event FAST FOOD not FAT FOOD guest-hosted this time by my sweet friend, Archana of The Mad Scientist's Kitchen - Do send you entries to her if you have a healthy recipe you've made - 

CherryKachal/ Thokku (Spicy Cherry Preserve)

When first tasted it after making this rather incredible thokku, almost in unison, my hubby and I declared it was cherry kachal - let it be known he said pulikachal  and gave me the idea to call it a cherry kachal.
Memorial weekend and nothing to do - WRONG - we went to a beautiful orchard set in a very scenic place about 45 minutes from where we live - the weather was perfect and there we were, six of us, my little one leading the pack, all armed with plastic bags. Long story short, we got SO carried away, we ended up with 20 lbs of cherries- Since they expect you to buy all of the cherries you pick, we ended up buying $80 worth of cherries :) !!! Not an issue since my head was immediately buzzing with the different things I can make with them - The pie was the first of course. When we came home, we got busy washing and sorting them into grades of ripeness. Before we made our way to the actual trees with the dark fully ripened cherries, our enthusiasm had led us to pick not so ripe ones - My three year old went about it with clear intent and picked a bunch of red, pink and semi-rotten ones - all part of the deal folks.
My kids, hubby and mother-in-law (who is visiting) took the lead role in washing, sorting, pitting process. While I got busy listening keenly to my good friend Stephanie from Joy of Baking, refreshing my pie-crust recipe.

That will be a post to follow. The semi ripe ones are the ones that I decided to make this thokku with.  I decided on a really simple recipe and let the cherries take on the spices and do what they will with it. And we ended up with a tangy, tongue-tickling thokku, perfect as a side for bondas, doasi and idli, or to mix with freshly prepared fluffy white rice :)

here is my recipe

ingredients
2lbs pitted semi-ripe cherries
5 green chilies
5 red dry chilies
1tbsp whole black peppers
2 tsp urad dal
2 tsp crushed rosemary
a small pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup of gingely oil (sesame oil) (approx 6 tbsp)
salt

Preparation

Dry fry the green chilies, red chilies, peppers, urad dal and rosemary and dry grind into a powder.
Take 1/3 of the cherries (aprrox) and grind them coarse -
Add 2 tbsp of oil and and add the powder and roast for a minute.
Add the ground up cherries and the remaining pitted cherries into the pan
Add salt (about 3 tsp) and all it all to simmer and simmer and simmer in a low flame
in intervals of 5-7 minutes, keep adding a tbsp of oil until you've exhausted the oil
You will have a finely simmered thokku in about 45 minutes.

Allow it to cool down. Transfer into a mason jar. Refrigerate and use as needed.

Hummus Fest For Super Bowl

OK... Here's a BIG post from me - A lot of work with not just the recipes, but the photo-editing and posting - But this is a special occasion and trust me when I say I really don't care about the game although as between the two, I am rooting for the Pats, Superbowl is a time for new ads, great half-time shows - Madonna kicked some a.. and for food bloggers it is a time to try out new stuff in the kitchen - because isn't everything ultimately centered around food? So I decided to have a Hummus Fest at our place for the event and here are the 7 different kinds of hummus I made - Easy but takes time esp if you are making so many in one go - Hope you will enjoy this labor of love as much I have posting it.

The common ingredients in all are 1/2 can of garbanzo beans per type washed & strained -
I interchanged between green & dry red chilies & black pepper for spice - 2 red chilies for most that were not already chili based
I interchanged between tsp lemon juice & 1/2 tsp of tamarind paste for the tartness
I used 1-1.5 tbsp of olive oil for each type - 1 tbsp for drizzling and 1/2 tbsp for sauteing the ingredients.
I used 2 tsp of tahini paste in most except the green chilies & garlic and caramelized onions
The rest of the ingredients are as see in the pictures



Roasted Pepper Hummus

1 red pepper
1tsp lemon juice
1tbsp black pepper
roast in oil & grind

Roasted Garlic & Olive Hummus

I used olives stuffed with garlic (about 15-20)
3 Red chilies
Saute and grind

Caramelized Onion Hummus

1 Red onion cut long
2-4 red chilies
raost until caramelized and grind

Green Chilies & Garlic With Thyme

4 green Chilies
2 springs of Thyme
2 cloves of garlic
saute and grind

Jalapenos & Pine Nuts Hummus

2 Fat Jalapenos
2 tbsp pine nuts
Saute & grind
1/2 tsp Tamarind paste

Sun Dried Tomato Hummus

6-8 sun-dried tomatoes -soaked in hot water and softened
1/2 tsp of tamarind paste
2 red dry red chilies
saute and grind

Dates & Honey Hummus

Ending on a sweet note with a sweet Hummus and I think this was my favorite one:)

6 dates soaked in hot water
4tbsp of honey

A few last looks - The white out is a face paint in honor of the game :)

Linking this to Spicy Treats Show me your Hits and Sizzling Tastebuds' Valentines Event..

Sesame Cucumber Chutney & Event Announcement

I am happy to announce a new event on my blog - The Big Chutney Chow Down - This was an idea that struck me as I have been making a bunch of different chutneys and said to myself - Superbowl weekend - and I'm pretty sure people will be dipping and spreading so --- let's make an event of it and see how imaginative my friends are - This will give us a good collection of all kinds of chutneys, Thogayals, spreads, pastes, marinades, dips, hummus and anything ground that is used as a side or mix - - I am including all the things that chutneys are called in different parts of the world - how's that :)

Rules are simple
1) Link your entry to my event using Linky tool below- and please run the logo on your blog along with the recipe  - Any number of entries are welcomed -
2) New and exceptional old recipes that you think must get more recognition are allowed -
3) Please provide an active link to this post on your blog post.
4)NO PRESERVES OR PICKLES please!
5) Please DON'T email your entries to me
6) If you have any questions about the event, feel free to email me at priyamahadevan@hotmail.com

Aside - Please provide accurate measurements of ingredients with photos so that your photos will corroborate with the written recipe - this helps a lot of non-Indian followers who like the visual understanding of it -
Go ahead and have a blast :)

Look forward ...

I am kick starting this event with my promised Cucumber -Sesame Chutney - which i made as a side for my last previous post Green Moong Bondas


Sesame Cucumber Chutney

Ingredients
1/2 cup Cream colored Sesame seeds
1 Long cucumber peeled and de-seeded
2 tbsp Urad Dal
3-4 Dry red chilies
A pinch of asafetida
2 tsp of sesame oil

Preparation
Heat oil and add the ingredients and roast until the sesames & urad dal are popping and turning golden.
Remove from flame, cool and grind adding desired salt
Temper by heating 1 tsp of sesame oil and spluttering a few mustard seeds and curry leaves

NOTE: If the cucumber or sesame seems to add a slight bitterness (which I LOVE) and you don't like it, just dissolve 1/2 tsp of sugar in 1-2 tsp of lemon juice to the chutney after you have ground it
This is a great dip for a variety of dishes, including dosais or with raw cucumbers themselves:)

This is the first of many to come so stay tuned and do link your wonderful, innovative, chutneys to this event.