Hasi Moolangi chutney/ Raw Radish chutney

 This is one simple chutney made with raw radish that can be had with dosa, rotti and rice. Hasi moolangi(raw radish) is supposed to be good for piles(and related issues:) ). 

This recipe tastes very close to regular chutney, with some pungency of radish.  Do try!

PS - I am posting this at 2:22 on 2/22/2022 😁:D

Ash gourd peel chutney - Sambanda 5

One more chutney recipe made out of vegetable peel, this time with (ash gourd)white pumpkin peel. Easy and tasty. This goes well with rice, could also be eaten with dosa, idli or chapathi. Do try!

Check out other vegetable peel chutneys here: 

Bottle-gourd peel chutney 

Ridge gourd(heerekayi) chutney 

Mangalore soutekayi(cucumber) chutney 

Horse gram(hurali) chutney

In Udupi cuisine, dals are not extensively used in sambars, but are used in making chutneys. Horse gram chutney, toor dal chutney to name a few(actually, I only know these two :) ). 

Horse gram is claimed to make the bones strong(source - Veena :D). It is used in rasams, uslis(stir fry), chutneys, idli. You need an acquired taste to enjoy this. I didn’t like hurali(horse gram) as much when I was a kid, but nowadays I am a big fan. 

Do try!

Spinach Chutney

Presenting another healthy and tasty chutney recipe, that I had tried sometime back. Very very very tasty and very easy to make. Adding garlic tadka is like icing on the cake. 

I might have added more palak than required(in the original recipe), as my chutney was much greener than the original recipe. It took me a good amount of spinach to make a decent amount of chutney. But you can always reduce the spinach and add more masala like in the original recipe. 

Enjoy this yummy chutney with some hot rice in this cold weather!

Seemebadnekayi(Chayote) Chutney - Sambanda 4

One more chutney recipe. This time it is Seemebadnekayi(Chayote). I have tried 2 kinds of chutney from this veg. Both came out good. Giving the first one here. It is very much similar to Sorekayi(Bottle Gourd) chutney. Tastes similar too. It goes very well with rice. Do try! 

Mangalore Soutekayi(Cucumber) Peel Chutney - Sambanda 3

One vegetable - 3 dishes - sambar, chutney and tambli(coconut-buttermilk based curry popular in coastal Karnataka).

One of the things I love about Udupi cuisine is that no part of a vegetable is wasted if it’s considered even remotely edible. I guess we didn’t find a way to cook coconut shells, or jackfruit skin :) 

Anyways, this is another sambanda(chutney). I didn’t know chutney could be made with this peel, until my relative pointed it on my FB post. Other vegetables peels with which you can make chutney can be found here(bottle gourd peel chutney) and here(ridge gourd peel chutney).  

I found this recipe in a blog, where many traditional udupi recipes can be found. 

If you are a chutney-rice combo lover, then you’ll definitely like this. 

Do try!

Carrot Chutney(Fake Mavinkayi Chutney)

Some snacks can only be enjoyed with mavinkayi(Raw Mango) chutney. Like biscoot(urad dal vada without hole) for example. Then there are some dishes which go to a whole new level when savored with mavinkayi chutney, like regular dosa, ottu shavige(rice noodles), dodna(steamed rice dosa, popular in coastal Karnataka region). 

Couple of my trials at making mavinkayi chutney have failed in the past. I was not getting the ratio of raw mango pieces to coconut right. Either it was too sour, or the texture itself was too runny(not enough coconut?), and when the texture was right, one could hardly taste the sourness from the mango. What to dooo? Then my mom came to my rescue and told me this recipe. She said you cannot tell the difference between carrot chutney and mavinkayi chutney when done right, and she is absolutely right. 

This recipe is very simple, just like any other chutney. Do try!

Heerekayi(Ridge gourd) Peel Chutney/ Sambanda - 2

This is another popular sambanda in the kota region. Sambanda is the best way to use up vegetable peels((heerekayi, in this case) after using the vegetable for other dishes(like heerekayi chatti or dal). 

Probably this is The Sambanda(as in, people think this is what you are talking about when you say sambanda), while sorekayi chutney is a variation from the original. The procedure and spices are slightly different than Sorekayi chutney. 

While in the first method, the flavors are more raw and fresh; in this method the flavor is more cooked. Here you roast and add some urad dal and dhania along with the ridge gourd peels and pulp. 

Both the methods could be incorporated with any vegetable. 

Puliyogare(Or Chitranna) Gojju/Paste

My mom makes awesome Puliyogare powder from scratch, which I am too lazy to learn. In one of our conversations she told me that the major difference between puliyogare powder and rasam powder is indeed the addition of sesame seeds.. then it suddenly occurred to me why not put some sesame seeds to the rasam powder and make my own puliyogare gojju..

..and that’s what I did here.. 

The trick in bringing puliyogare gojju to a gravy consistency is addition of water, which lot of people miss out on. Even when I am making puliyogare from MTR dry powder, I put some water and boil it to a gravy consistency. Puliyogare comes out better this way and mixing also becomes easy. 

This gojju can be used as chutney with dosa, chapathi and also like pickle with curd rice. My mom used to take chapathi with this gojju for long travels. It has a pretty good shelf life... and can be stored even longer when kept in the fridge.. I’ve never stored this long enough to know exactly how many days it stays :)

When I proudly told mom about my “invention”, she said what I just did was chitranna and not puliyogare.. hehe.. 

It tastes awesome, whatever you call it :)

Do try!

Sorekayi/Lauki/BottleGourd Peel Chutney/Sambanda

Modern day Tortoise and Hare Story

One fine morning, Ms.Tortoise was driving back home after dropping her baby tortoise to school. The traffic was crazy. But Ms. Tortoise was very relaxed. She was looking forward to the peaceful morning, and the freshly brewed coffee she was planning on having after going home. 

Then there comes this rabbit “dude”, who evidently was late to his office. You see, usually in the mornings the speed of the car is directly proportional to how late you are to your office. He started tailgating Ms.Tortoise wanting her to move out of his way.  

But the very experienced Ms.Tortoise, who clearly was driving at what she thought was an optimal speed for the road - not too slow that she disturbs the traffic, not too fast that she becomes what she calls “the cop food” (aka getting a ticket), didn’t want to give way. She believed in not changing lanes so frequently. She knew hurriedness will get you nowhere. Changing lanes like how you’d play in a video game is not for the real world. Sticking to the same lane yields the same result minus the stress you’d encounter otherwise.... she knew! 

But ‘The Dude’ was definitely not ready to follow her. So off he goes to the next lane, cuts back in Ms.Tortoise’s lane almost missing her car and zips through the lanes vanishing into the horizon before her eyes, much to the lovely lady’s dismay. She started doubting herself, wondering whether her old thinking would indeed give her any results these days. Before she could finish her thought, long ahead of her she saw the Dude’s car waiting at the signal. 

As she approached the signal, her 'left turn' signal turned green before his.

Ms Tortoise smiled... it was a sweet smile of victory... :)

Coming to the recipe..

This chutney is called “sambanda”(literal meaning - relation) in Kota region. What “sambanda” this name has with this chutney nobody knows :D

This chutney is made out of pulp and the skin of Sorekayi which you'd generally throw away otherwise. And boy! does it taste good.

This chutney goes very well with the rice. It can be made with ridge gourd skin too. This is my amma’s recipe. 

Singapore - as I saw and a Recipe - Peanut Chutney

We recently returned from our vacation to India. On the way back, we stopped over at Singapore for 4 days.

The trip was hectic, nevertheless amusing. 

Merlion @Sentosa

It’s amazing how in Singapore, they’ve maintained cleanliness and order with so many people in such a small place. The public transportation is state of the art. Whoever has planned it has thought it out from all angles. Buses, trains, taxis all very well connected and so user friendly! 

Perfection Indeed! 

No doubt this place is catered to tourists. But then again, as an outsider one can appreciate the way city’s growth is kept under control with highly priced real estate, high tariff for car owners, and so many dos and don'ts - which clearly are giving results, but I doubt if one would really appreciate it the same way living inside the country. When we spoke to couple of localites, they didn’t seem as happy and content we thought they would be. I wonder if I’d ever complain if I had to live here!

Marina Bay

Marina Bay

The highlight of our trip, I must say, was the fresh fruit juice we were drinking everywhere. Oh the sweetness, my goodness! with no added sugar! We literally survived on them during the day, only to keep our stomach empty to gobble up the oh-so-delicious South Indian thali at an Indian restaurant(Ananda Bhavan) in Little India area. 

South Indian thali @Ananda Bhavan

The attractions were all so very people friendly. Like, we went to a River Safari  which had covered walkway throughout the zoo!! I mean, it would have been such a tiring walk in the hot sun otherwise.. but to have a covered walkway, with fans, with aptly placed restaurants which served fresh fruits and juices.. they really have gone out of their way to make people feel comfortable. Truly admirable!
*standing ovation*

Walkway @River Safari

Check out these gigantic fans at the train stations. 

@ a train station

To summarize, Singapore is a good place with good food and more importantly a means to a good appetite - with all the walking around one needs to do. 

All in all, a good trip! 

Coming to the recipe - 

Peanut Chutney is a delicious accompaniment for dosa/idli. I ate it at my  friend Roopa’s place and instantly fell in love with it. My other friend Lalitha, who also has a wonderful food blog, has a slightly different version of this chutney.