Chinna Vengaya Thokku / Shallot Pickle - South Indian Style

I am travelling to India tomorrow. This time it is going to be a long vacation which is going to last for a few months. My son and I are excited to meet my family and looking forward to spend some quality time with them. I have scheduled some posts to keep this space active. Keep visiting and enjoy the recipes!
There are some foods that grandma makes for us to carry back from India. Goodies from India are always special and are like carrying memories back from the trip. One thing that grandma always does not forget to make for us is this Onion Pickle. The first time she made it was when I was newly married and DH absolutely loved it. Not a surprise, he is a pickle fan and can eat South Indian Pickles with almost any food. Since then she never forgets to make some specially for the greatest pickle fan, DH.
It never occurred to me that I can try and make her pickle recipes at home by myself until now. I frantically called her up and asked for this onion thokku and Tomato Thokku recipes. And yeah again my DH loves this onion thokku more :)

Ingredients:
Chinna vengayam / Shallots / Sambar Onions - 1/2 kg (a little more than a lb)
Tamarind - size of a lemon (pick over the fibrous veins and seeds)
Dry Red chillies - 15
Gingelly (sesame) oil - 1/3 cup + 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Salt - 1 tsp or to taste

Method:
Peel and halve the onions. If the sambar onions are bit too big, cut into quarters. Heat 3 tbsp of oil and fry the chillies until it take a darker shade. Drain the chillies to a plate. In the same pan fry the tamarind for a minute or so and transfer it to the chillies plate. Add the cut onions and fry until it turns transparent but not too dark. Allow it to cool in the oil. Meanwhile pulse the chillies and tamarind in a small mixie jar into a fine powder. Add the sambar onions with salt and pulse a couple of times to form a not a smooth paste. Heat 1/3 cup of oil in a sauce pan and splutter the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add the ground paste and cook in medium heat for about 20 minutes. Stir often to avoid the thokku sticking to the bottom of the pan and getting burnt. When the thokku comes together as a single mass and the oil starts oozing out. Remove from heat and allow to cool, covering with a mesh plate. When cooled for about a day, transfer to a clean and dry glass bottle. This stays good in room temperature. But I prefer keeping it in the fridge. Always use a dry spoon to serve.

Linking this to Priya's Vegan Thursdays.

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Tomato Thokku / Tomato Pickle - South Indian Style

Summer reminds me of the summer vacation spent at grandma's place. While we kids will be busy having non-stop fun, grown-ups will be busy making the summer goodies. Different types of pickles, vathals (sun dried vegetables), vadams (dried ready to make fryums) are made and stocked up for the year. While the vathals and vadams are prepared to make an ample use of the sun in summer, the pickles are made for the availability of the seasonal produce. That being said the market is overflowing with tomatoes and I am making a great use of them. 

Ingredients:
Ripe Tomato - 1/2 kg
Garlic - 10 small cloves
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Tamarind - lime sized
Dry Red Chillies - 12-15
Salt - 1-1/2 tsp or taste
Gingelly oil / Sesame oil - 1/3 cup
Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
Asafoetida / Perungayam - 1/2 tsp
Dry red chillies - 1

Method:
Soak the tamarind in a little water. Dry roast the fenugreek seeds until it slightly changes in color. Allow to cool and powder. Add the dry red chillies in a blender and pulse until almost fine. Add the soaked tamarind and make a smooth paste. In a heavy-bottom saucepan, add the chopped tomatoes, salt, ground paste and fenugreek powder. Allow to boil in medium-high heat until the mixture boils over and the tomatoes cooks through. Heat oil in a separate pan and splutter the mustard seeds, asafoetida and one dry chilli. Pour over the tomatoes and cook in medium heat. Mix occasionally and continue cooking until it comes together and the oil oozes out. Allow to cool completely and store in a dry glass container.
Notes: 
It is not recommended to store pickles in plastic container since the oil could react with plastic. Glass or ceramic jars work perfect.

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Puli Kaichal / Home made Puliyogare / Tamarind Rice | Indian Rice Recipes

Puli Kaichal meaning "boiled tamarind" is one of the ready to eat rice mixes. Puliogare/Puliodharai is known for its long shelf life and is a perfect food for packing during travel. This is DH's favorite and since MIL is here she has been making it quite often. Actually she has been making a lot of her son's favorites.. talk about 'pampering' :). This time I managed some time to click few pictures.

Ingredients:
Tamarind (seedless) - 1/4 kg
Gingelly oil - 120 ml
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Tempering:
Mustard seeds - 2 tbsp
Urad dhal - 1 tbsp
Chana dhal - 1/2 cup
Curry leaves - a few
Red chillies - 4 broken

Roast and grind:

(1)
Coriander seeds - 1 cup
Chana dhal - 2 tbsp
Red chillies - 10
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 twig

(2)
Fenugreek - 1 tbsp
Sesame seeds - 1 1/2 tbsp

Method:
Soak the tamarind in warm water for about 1 hour and take a thick extract. This enables extraction of more juice. Roast the ingredients in the list one by one. Roast red chillies and asafoetida with a little oil. Let it cool and grind group (1) ingredients and group (2) ingredients separately to a fine powder. Heat oil in a kadai and add the tempering ingredients. When the chana dhal is roasted (about 3-4 mins) add the tamarind extract with 2 cups of water, turmeric powder and salt. Allow it to come to a rolling boil. Now add the ground powders and mix well without lumps. Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow it to simmer until the mixture thickens and oil starts oozing out. This may take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. Allow it to cool and store in a dry airtight container. Mix with cooked rice as required. This mixed rice keeps well for couple of days in room temperature. The Puliyogare itself keeps good for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator. Just make sure you use only dry spoon when mixing.

Sending this tangy concoction to Serve It - Boiled event happening at my space and Denny's.

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Spicy Ginger Pickle / Easy Inji Thokku

After I made the Tomato Thokku, I wanted to try my hand at making other variety of pickles. After all DH is a huge pickle fan and would not take his lunch without pickle. So to begin with I made a simple ginger pickle. I saw this recipe in a magazine and bought extra ginger on my grocery shopping last week. This is an easy to make pickle with simple ingredients.

Ingredients:
Ginger - 50 g - 1 cup - roughly chopped
Red chillies - 6
Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp or to taste 
Tamarind - Size of a strawberry
Garlic - 2 fat cloves
Salt - 1/2 tsp to taste
Gingelly oil - 50 ml - 70 ml - per need
To Temper:
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Jaggery - size of a blueberry

Method:
Heat 2 tbsp of oil and saute ginger, garlic, red chillies and tamarind. When the ginger cubes are cooked (should cut through when cut with a spoon) remove from heat and let it cool. Transfer to a blender/mixie and make a fine paste. Heat the remaining oil and add mustard seeds and asafoetida. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the ground paste with salt and red chilli powder. Cook in medium heat until the paste is cooked through and oil starts separating from the sides. Add the crushed jaggery and mix well. Remove from heat and allow it to cool. When it is cool transfer to a dry glass container and store.


I am sending this to Serve It - Preserved event happening at my space and Denny's.
Also sending my All-purpose Tomato Thokku, Fenugreek Coriander Thokku and Dried Figs and Dates Spicy Jam to the Serve It - Preserved event.



I am also sending this Ginger pickle to EP Series - Ginger & Pepper Powder event by Julie and also to Pickles & Preserves fest by Kalyani.

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All-Purpose Tomato Thokku/Pickle/Chutney | Side Dish for Idli Dosa

I had been recently trying to make jams and chutneys to preserve and to come in handy for that very-hungry-want-food-immediately days. After my successful attempt at the Dates and Figs jam, I made this Tomato thokku from Denny's site. This all-purpose thokku is a great side to idli/dosa/upma/Adai and also to bread/chapathi/parathas/rotis/curd rice. The below proportions lasted for a couple of weeks for me and I am making a batch again today as I am typing this. 
For my new readers, Denny of Oh Taste N See and I are college buddies who share the common interest of food blogging. I always wonder how she manages to cook up a storm every week. Yes, she has guests or friends over for lunch/dinner every weekend. If she is not having guests for a weekend, she goes to some potluck :). Do check out her space for a colorful treat!

Ingredients:
Yields about 2 cups of finished thokku
Crushed Tomatoes - less than 2 cups - I used half of a 28 oz can of organic crushed tomatoes (Check out what I made with the remaining half of the canned tomatoes here)
Onions - 2 cups - approx one big onion halved and thinly sliced
Garlic - 3 cloves - sliced thin
Gingelly oil - 2-3 tbsp (available in Indian grocery stores)
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Split Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 - 3/4 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig - optional - I didn't add
Salt - to taste

Method:
Heat oil in a wide non-stick pan over med-high heat. Add the mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves (if using). When the urad dhal changes color, add the sliced onion, garlic and a dash of salt. Cook till the onions turn soft and golden brown, stirring once in a while. Reduce the heat to medium and let the onions caramelize, about 5 minutes. Add the turmeric powder, chilli powder and garam masala and fry for a minute. Add the canned crushed tomatoes and salt to taste.
Allow the mixture to boil and check for salt/seasoning. Here comes the "be patient" part. Reduce the heat to med-low to allow the tomato to cook slowly (uncovered). Stir every 5 mins and cook for about 30 to 40 mins until all the water has evaporated and the chutney comes as one big mass and starts leaving the sides of the pan. At this stage the oil would start oozing out of the mixture. Add the lemon juice and fold to mix. Remove from heat and let it cool. When cool transfer it to a sterilized container. This can be stored in the fridge for weeks. Serve with idli/dosa/chapathi/bread/rice or anything you wish. As the name indicates this is an all-purpose side dish.
Note: Always use dry spoon when taking the chutney. Do not compromise on gingelly oil while making this chutney. It enhances the taste and acts as a natural preservative. If the canned tomatoes you use already has added salt, keep a check on the salt you add to the dish.

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Dried Figs and Dates Spicy Jam

Dried Figs (Athipazham in Tamil) are one of our favorite dry fruits. We always stock up on dried figs and dates and it is our most easy to reach pastime snacks. I always put it up on the center of our dining table. Yesterday I picked few of 'em and made this simple and delicious jam. I added ginger and chilli to give a little kick since I didn't want it to be too sweet. Addition of cinnamon gives a warm and spicy undertone to the jam. I am planning to buy extra figs next time and make this more often.

Ingredients:
Preparation time - 30 mins; Yields - about 2 cups; 
Dried Figs - 1 cup (about 10)
Dates - 1/4 cup (seeded and halved)
Maple Syrup - 1/2 cup (can substitute 1/2 cup of honey)
Ginger - Grated finely - 1 tbsp
Ground Cinnamon - 1/4 tsp
Dry red chilly -1 (seeds removed)
Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Heat 1 cup of water with the figs and allow to boil. Remove from heat and keep it covered for 15 mins until the figs are plump. Fish out the figs and allow it to cool on a cutting board. Add the dates to the water and set aside for 5 mins. Drain the water and keep it aside. Remove the ends of the figs and cut into 4 pieces. The cut figs should measure upto 1 1/2 cups. Add the dates and the chopped figs to a blender/food processor with the chilli and ginger. Pulse it into a not-so smooth consistency. You could use up the reserved water to help the pureeing process. Heat the maple syrup and cinnamon powder in a non-stick saucepan and add the mashed fig and dates. Cook in medium heat stirring with a wooden spoon once in 2 mins. The jam would be done in about 12-15 mins. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice. Cool and transfer to a dry air-tight container. Serve with toast or any flat-bread. Makes a great spread for chapathis too.

Sending it to Breakfast Club - Preserves event by Helen, B2B - Basic Chutneys event by Jaya and to HLI-Dates event by Aarthi and Kalyani.


Sending this to Srivalli's Kid's Delight hosted by Nupur of UK-Rasoi, for the month of April 2012.

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Fenugreek Coriander Thokku

Fenugreek Coriander Thokku/Chutney is a rare and lovely combination of two of my favorite greens. This is again one of my grandma's recipes, and can't go wrong anytime. It is a great item to prepare when we have time and preserve for future use. It tastes great with hot steamed rice or a great side dish for chapathi or a tangy-savory spread for breads. Definitely won't let you down when you are racing against time.

Ingredients:
Fresh fenugreek leaves - 3 cups - packed tightly
Cilantro - 1 cup - packed tightly
Tamarind - size of a blueberry/gooseberry
Salt - to taste
Gingelly Oil/Sesame oil - 3 tbsp or more if preserving
Pearl onions - 5 chopped fine
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Steam the cleaned fenugreek leaves and coriander leaves with tamarind in a stove top with enough water. Alternatively you can microwave the greens for 2 mins with 2 tbps of water and tamarind. Allow it to cool and pulse for 10 - 20 secs in a blender to a coarse paste without adding any water. Note that blending too much would make it gooey. Heat gingelly oil in a skillet and add the turmeric powder, asafoetida and chopped onions. Saute until the onions are transparent. Now add the ground greens paste and salt and give a quick mix. Allow to cook in medium flame until it starts leaving the sides of the pan and oil starts oozing out. Turn off the heat and add the chilli powder, mix well. Serve hot with steamed rice or store in a clean container. You may top with more gingelly oil and pop it in refrigerator for a longer life. 

I am sending this thokku to Pickle Mela at Hima's Snackorama and also to Herbs & Flowers in my Platter - Cilantro, event by PJ, happening in my blog.

Also sending this to Srivalli's Condiment Mela.

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