Beetroot Yogurt Chutney

Curd Chutneys are simple & easy to make. They take very less time & you don't have to be a expert to make one. Beetroot Yogurt Chutney is one of my favorites & love making it very often. Probably it's the goodness of the beetroot that motivates me to make it more often. The recipe I shared is one way of making it. You can add in fried onions & can flavor it up with mustard, sesame or your choice of dressing too. I make eggplant chutney regularly, but it is very similar to this chutney what I'm sharing here. The other one is the tomato sesame chutney, which is flavored with sesame paste along with yogurt & it is simply superb. Give this chutneys a try & I'm sure you will simply love them. These chutneys can be paired with rice, roti & many other south indian tiffins. 
For this week theme on BM I'm presenting "Cooking for One". Enjoy the dishes & don't miss the update. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#49.

Prep Time-5mins 
Cook Time 10mins 
Serves-2People
Ingredients 
2Cups grated beetroot
1&1/2Cups thick yogurt/Curd
1Tbs lemon juice
Salt to taste 
Tempering 
1Tbs oil 
1Tsp chana dal 
2Tsp urad dal 
1Tsp mustard seeds 
1Tsp jeera
3Red chili's broken in to half 
2Green chili's chopped
1/2Tsp hing
Few curry leaves 
Directions 
- Heat pan with oil. To that add in chana dal, urad dal & fry them till they turn light brown in color. Next add in mustard, jeera, red chili's, green chili's & curry leaves. Fry them till mustard starts jumping & last add in hing. Switch off heat & transfer it to a plate. 
- To the same pan add in grated beetroot & sprinkle with little salt. Close pan with lid & cook for 5mins on low heat. Switch off heat & transfer to a bowl. 
- Once the beetroot is cold enough to handle add in curd & enough salt to it. Add in lemon juice & tempering to the curd. Mix them well. 
- Let it sit for sometime before you serve, so that the flavors will mingle perfectly.
Note 
- If needed cook beetroot for more than 5mins.  
- Lemon juice is optional. 
- If the curd is too thick add little water to get the perfect consistency.

Here are the other 2chutneys I was mentioning above which are very similar to the recipe I'm sharing here. 

Tomato Sesame Yogurt chutney

Eggplant Yogurt Chutney

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Dalia Coconut Chutney | Fried Gram Dal Chutney | Putnala Pappu Pachadi

Dalia coconut Chutney is one of the quickest & easy to make dish. This chutney includes very less ingredients & tastes yummy when paired with south Indian breakfast dishes. This chutney can be customized using peanuts, coriander leaves, fried tomatoes or garlic for a flavorful variation in taste.

Pairs well with south Indian breakfast dishes like Idli, dosa ,upma & for some traditional rice dishes like pulihora, tomato rice, bisi bele bath, vangi bath too. My favorite pairing of this chutney is with poori's.

Prep Time-2mins
Cook time-5mins 
Serves-2people
Ingredients 
1/2Cup grated coconut {Fresh or dried}
1/4Cup dalia {fried gram dal}
1Tsp fried cumin/jeera {optional}
4Green chili's {Adjust acc. to your spice level}
Salt to taste
1Tsp oil
For Tadka/Popu/Tempering
1Tbs oil 
1Tsp mustard
1Tsp jeera 
Few red chili's cut in to pieces
Few curry leaves
Directions 
- In a blender add all ingredients other than "Tadka" ingredients. 
- Grind them while adding little water at a time to make a smooth paste. Adjust salt if needed & transfer chutney to a bowl.
- For tadka, heat pan with oil. Add mustard, jeera, red chili pieces & curry leaves. 
- Fry them till mustards starts jumping. Switch off heat & add tadka to chutney. Mix well.
- Dali coconut chutney is ready to serve.
Note
- You can fry jeera & red chili's (Instead of green chili's) in little oil & grind them along with other ingredients. It adds a nice flavor to the chutney.

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Tomatillo Pickle | Pachi Tomato Pachadi

Pickles & Chutneys are a must for any Indian meal. South Indian style pickles are spicy, tangy, pungent & flavorful. The preparation might vary from state to state, still they are delicious in their own way. Pickles have a longer shelf life than chutneys & can be made ahead of time & store them as needed. I prefer refrigerating pickles, but my mom believes in no refrigerating as it reduces a little taste to them. 

I love experimenting pickles with different veggies & when I came across tomatillo's at a local grocery store I just couldn't resist make a pickle out of them. They are sour in taste & are perfect to pickle them. Tomatillo's are kind of green tomatoes, but little juicier than the green tomatoes. They can be replaced with green or red tomatoes. Green tomatoes are widely available in India & rarely you can find them in US too. 

Prep Time-10mins 

Cook Time-30mins
Serves-4 to 5people
Pairs well with rice.

Ingredients

1Kg green tomatoes/tomatillo's sliced
1Tbs size tamarind
4Tbs oil

Tempering/Popu/Tadka
4Tbs oil 
1Tbs mustard 

Few curry leaves
5Garlic pods chopped

4Red chili's cut broken into half
1Tsp hing 

1/4Cup red chili powder {extra hot}

2Tbs menthi podi / methi powder
Salt to taste 
Directions

- Heat a wide pan with oil. Add in chopped tomatoes & tamarind. Cook them till they are soft. Switch off heat & allow tomatoes to cool.
- Once tomatoes are cool grind them coarsely.  

- Heat pan with oil. To that add in red chili's, mustard, chopped garlic & curry leaves. Once the garlic turns to light brown in color add in hing, methi powder & red chili powder.
- Fry for 2 seconds & add in the tomato paste to pan along with enough salt. Mix them well while cooking on low heat.
- Once the mixture comes together switch off heat. Adjust salt if needed.

-  Allow pickle to cool before serving or before transferring to a container.
Note

- Don't cook tomatoes with a closed lid.
- If you like a chunky pickle then don't grind cooked tomatoes.
- I used an extra spicy chili powder as mentioned above. Adjust the chili powder according to your taste & the quantity might vary. 

Hurali Chutney | Ulavala Pachadi | Horse Gram Chutney

Hurali / Horse Gram chutney is a Karnataka dish, which is nutritious & tasty. This chutney can be paired up with rice or any South Indian tiffin you like. 
Horse Gram is well know as a staple for cattle & because of the same reason many hesitate on consuming this bean. This bean has medicinal values that can help in reducing insulin & it is also very good for weight management too.
The very familier recipe using this bean is a Andhra delicacy "Ulava Charu". Though you won't use the bean as it is, but we use the water of boiled beans in making this rasam. But this chutney has the full flavor & nutrients of this beans in it.  

Prep Time-10mins | Cook Time-10mins | Serves-3people

Adapted : Vegetable Platter

Ingredients
1/2 cup horse gram dal {Ulavalu}
1Tsp jaggery {Bellam}
2Tbs coconut grated
1Tbs tamarind pulp
2Tsp oil
7 Red chili
2Tsp jeera {Cumin}
1/2Tsp coriander seeds {Dhaniya}
1/2Tsp hing
2Garlic pods

Few curry leaves

Salt to taste
Seasoning 
1Tbs oil
Few curry leaves
2Red chili cut equally
1Tsp jeera
1Tsp mustard seeds
1/2Tsp hing {Asafetida}
Directions
- Dry roast dal for 1min or till you get a good aroma from the roasting. Switch off heat & transfer on to a plate.
- Heat pan with oil & to that add red chili's, jeera, garlic, coriander seeds, curry leaves & hing. Fry them till jeera turns little brown. Switch off heat & allow them to cool.
- In a blender add dal & fried spice mixture, tamarind pulp, jaggery, salt & coconut. Blend them coarsely by adding little by little water. Adjust taste if needed.
- Transfer chutney to a bowl.
- Heat pan with oil & to that add mustard, jeera, red chili, curry leaves & hing. Once the mustard starts jumping switch off heat & add it to chutney.
- Serve with rice along with ghee.
Note
- Garlic is optional in this dish.

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Vankaya Perugu Pachadi | Brinjal Yogurt Chutney

For this week theme on BM I'm  presenting "Summer Special". Enjoy the dishes & don't miss the update. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 41.

Yogurt chutneys are the regular dishes in summer. It is believed that yogurt helps in keeping your body cool & helps beat the heat of sun. Lassi's, smoothies, cool drinks & ice creams are the few things you can enjoy having on summer days. 
Yogurt Chutney or Perugu pachadi has many variations & I'm sharing the simple version of making it. In this chutney I simply pan fried brinjal along with tomatoes, but to make it much flavorful you can roast brinjal {As you do for baingan bartha} & make this dish. Though that process is elaborated it tastes delicious.

Prep Time-5mins | Cook Time-30mins | Serves-3people
Ingredients
2Cups yogurt {Curd}
2Indian eggplant chopped
1Tomato chopped
3Green chili's sliced 
Salt to taste 
Few coriander leaves to garnish
1Tbs oil
1Tsp mustard seeds
1Tsp jeera 
Pinch of hing {Asafetida}
Directions
- Heat pan with oil & too that add mustard, jeera & hing. To the pan add tomatoes, green chili's & eggplant.
- Cook them with a closed lid until they are soft and done. Allow them to cool.
- In a bowl take yogurt, salt & cooked veggies. 
- Mix them well & adjust if salt needed. 
- Garnish with coriander leaves. 
- Serve with rice or roti.

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Tomato Pickle | Tomato Avakaya

For this week theme on BM we are "Pickling". I decided on making 3 Andhra style pickles for this week.Enjoy the dishes & don't miss the update. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 41.

Pickles are a comforting dish in our house. When I'm not in a mood of cooking I depend on pickles, combined with simple dal along with yogurt. I get few pickles from India & some temporary one's like this dish when in need. This particular pickle is a sun dried version & super tempting too. 
Tomato Pickle is a saver for busy days. I always make sure that I have a box of it in my refrigerator ready to go. There are many ways of making this pickle & here I'm sharing the recipe of my mom. This version has both the methi powder & mustard powder in it. The flavor is tempting with the spice mix added in it.  

Prep Time-2Days | Serves-3people
Ingredients 
6Red tomatoes 
1Tbs + 1Tsp salt
1Tbs + 1Tsp chili powder
1Tbs + 1Tsp mustard powder
1Tbs + 1Tsp methi powder
Seasoning 
3Tbs oil 
1Tsp mustard seeds
1Tsp chana dal
1Tsp urad dal
4Red chili's 
Few curry leaves
1/2Tsp hing {Asafetida}

Directions
- Clean tomatoes with water & pat them dry with a dry towel. Leaves on counter for 1hr. 
- Chop tomatoes to small pieces. 
- In a bowl add tomatoes, salt, chili powder, mustard powder & methi powder. Mix them well & cover up with a lid. 
- Allow it to sit for 24hrs on counter. 
- On a plate layout the tomato pieces along with the oozed juice. 
- Sun dry it for 2 days, until tomatoes are little dried. 
- Heat pan with oil. To that add chana dal, urad dal, red chili's & mustard seeds to it. 
- Once the mustard starts jumping add curry leaves & hing to pan. 
- Switch off heat & add it to pickle. Mix it well.
- Adjust salt & chili powder if needed. 
- Serve with rice & a dollop of ghee.
Note
- Don't over dry tomatoes. 
- Chop tomatoes in to small bits. 

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Cauliflower Pickle

For this week theme on BM we are "Pickling". I decided on making 3 Andhra style pickles for this week.Enjoy the dishes & don't miss the update. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 41.

Cauliflower Pickle has been on my to make list for long time. I tasted this pickle at my aunt's place & liked the flavor of it. So I decided on trying this pickle & we just loved it.
Cauliflower is one of those veggies I keep a little distance from. I never liked the smell of them so much & hardly will buy this veggie. This time I decided on trying this pickle which I liked & bought a small flower with much hesitation. I learned that the blend of spice mixes & garlic has dominated the smell of this flower & made the pickle much flavorful. I used much less of oil than needed & it didn't made any difference to the pickle.

Prep Time-24hrs {Prepping + Sitting} | Serves-3people
Ingredients 
3Cups cauliflower florets
1Tbs + 1Tsp red chili powder
1Tsp methi powder
1Tsp mustard powder
1/4Tsp turmeric
1Tsp size ball of tamarind / 2Tsp lemon juice
2&1/2Tsp salt
2Tbs oil
3Garlic cloves sliced
Few curry leaves
Seasoning 
1Tbs oil
1Tsp mustard
Few red chili's 
Directions
- Clean florets with water & lay them on a towel. Allow them to dry completely. 
- After 4hrs to 5hrs pat them one with a dry towel & keep aside.
- Heat a pan with 2Tbs oil. To that add garlic cloves & curry leaves. 
- Fry till garlic starts to brown a little. 
- To pan add tamarind & cauliflower florets. Fry them for 3mins-4mins & switch off heat.
- Allow the florets to cool completely. 
- To pan add chili, mustard, methi, turmeric & salt.
- Mix them well & allow it to sit for overnight. 
- Adjust salt & chili powder if needed. 
- Heat pan with oil & to that add mustard seeds & red chili's. 
- Once the mustard starts jumping switch off heat & mix it to the pickle.
Lemon juice - If you are using lemon juice instead of tamarind, add it along with all the spice powder & mix it well. If needed more adjust accordingly.

Note
- Florets shouldn't become soft. 
- Florets should be cut in to small pieces.
- Feel free to add little more oil if needed.
- Day by day the pickle gets delicious. 
- You can use either lemon juice or tamarind in this dish.

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Dosa Avakaya

For this week theme on BM we are "Pickling". I decided on making 3 Andhra style pickles for this week.Enjoy the dishes & don't miss the update. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 41.

Dosa Avakaya is a delicious Andhra pickle made of yellow cucumbers & spice mixture. It is a year round pickle & can be made in small batches for much fresher pickle & also for temporary use.
Mustard Powder is what makes it a avakaya. The flavor is strong & powerful because of mustard powder. At home it is one of those pickles that will be made regularly. I got this recipe from my mom. she generally leaves few seeds with the cucumber pieces & she says they give a nice bite & also infuse some tangy taste to the pickle.

Prep Time-24hrs {Prepping + Sitting}  | Serves-2people
Ingredients
1Cup bite size chopped cucumber pieces {Dosakaya}
1&1/2Tsp salt 
1&1/2Tsp chili powder
1Tbs mustard powder
2Tbs oil
1Tsp mustard seeds
Few red chili's 
1/4Tsp hing {Asafetida} 
Directions 
- In a bowl add cucumber pieces, salt, chili & mustard powder. 
- Mix them well & keep aside. 
- Heat a pan with oil. To that add mustard seeds & red chili's.
- Once the mustard starts jumping add hing & switch off heat. 
- Allow the the oil to cool completely & then add it to the cucumber mixture. 
- Allow pickle to sit in a air tight container for one day. 
- You will see some water oozed out by the cucumbers & the pickle is ready to eat. 
- Adjust salt & chili powder if needed. 
- Serve with rice & a dollop of ghee. 
Note
- Always store in a airtight container. 
- Don't scrape the skin of cucumber.
- Refrigerate it for increased store life. 
- You can avoid mustard & heating the oil totally.
-  Just mix hing & oil to mixture & rest remains the same. 
- For little tangier taste add 1/2Tsp tamarind to the mixture.

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Coriander Peanut Chutney

Coriander Peanut Chutney is a delicious chutney accompanies well with any South Indian Tiffins & also pairs well with rice too. In this chutney peanuts are the star & they can be felt in every bite along with other ingredients. This is a mildly spiced chutney & can be adjusted as per your requirements. 

Prep Time-10mins | Cook time-10mins | Serve-3people
Ingredients
1/4Cup peanuts
2Cups chopped cilantro / 1Bunch coriander leaves
2Tomatoes chopped
2Green chili's sliced
2Red Chili's
2Garlic cloves chopped
1Small onion chopped
1Tbs oil 
Seasoning 
2Tsp oil
1/2Tsp mustard 
1/2Tsp jeera
2Red chili's 
Directions 
- Heat pan with oil, peanuts & red chili's. 
- Fry peanuts till they turn light brown. 
- Transfer peanuts & red chili's to a bowl. 
- To the same pan add onions, garlic & green chili's. 
- Fry them on medium heat & to pan add tomatoes.
- Cook for 2mins or till tomatoes are just soft enough. 
- Now add in cilantro to pan & cook for 2secs. {Don't over cook cilantro}
- Switch off heat & allow it to cool. 
-  Now grind peanuts & red chili's to a smooth paste.
-  Next add the veggies & grind them smooth chutney. 
- Heat a pan with oil & to that add mustard, jeera & red chili's. 
- Once mustard starts jumping add seasoning to chutney. 
- Serve chutney with Idli, dosa & vada or enjoy it as you like.
Note
- Add little water if needed while grinding. 
- Add cilantro to pan before switching off heat. 
- You can add a little tamarind for a much tangy taste. 

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Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 41