Amitabha's Kitchen Chronicles

The ladies in my house are not very fond of coconut chutney and hence we use our very own red chutney to go with the South Indian dishes of dosas and idlis .. Ingredients : Ginger- 1 inch - chopped Garlic - 5/6 cloves Onions - 2/3 medium ones, chopped in large chunks Tomatoes - 2 medium ones, chopped in large chunks Green chilly 1 or 2 Peanuts (optional)- 2 tbsp Tamarind - 1 tbsp Salt Process : Dry roast the peanuts and keep it aside. Warm oil in a pan and once hot, add the ginger and garlic and sauté it for about 2-3 mins. Add the onions and tomatoes and sauté for about 4-5 mins. I like the tomatoes and onions to be little charred. Cool and add all the ingredients to the chutney jar / blender. Run the blender till you get the paste if desired consistency. Add a little water if needed. Enjoy the chutney with warm idlis or dosas.

Rawa idlis with coupled with my red chutney or Podi is one of the favourite items on the breakfast at home. The recipes goes thus....  Ingredients for about 20 idlis : - rawa / sooji - 2 cups - sour curd - 1 cup - 2 teaspoons each of mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal - half a teaspoon of asafoetida (hing) - few curry leaves (4-5) broken into half - a tbsp of chopped cashew (optional) - one inch ginger grated - a carrot about 6 inches, grated (optional) - fresh sprig of coriander leaves - salt to taste - fruit salt - 2 teaspoons (eno / Alka seltzer or the like) Process : Dry roast the rawa and take it out and let it cool Take about 2 tbsp of white oil and once hot, add the mustard seeds and dal Once the mustard seeds starts crackling, lower the flame and add the curry leaves and cashew. Turn off the flame after 30 secs. Add to the roasted rawa. Add the curd, other ingredients and salt and mix the entire mix well. Now add water little at a time and keep mixing till you get the right con