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.

Molahai podi/Molagai podi/Idli Karam Podi /Gunpowder spice - Lentil spice mix Background: Visit any "authentic and unanglicised" South Indian household and 80% chance that you will get Dosai / Idli with molahai podi, or what we commonly know as Chutney powder or Gun Powder. I like the term Gun Powder more. In response to one of my recent status updates on FB (facebook for the uninitiated) a few weeks back, "Idli with gunpowder for breakfast - yummy and heavenly", got lot of queries and responses, ranging from outright envy to queries on what this is about. And above all that, a lady requested me to put up a recipe for Idli and the Gunpowder. Referred by some as molagai podi or gun powder, this potent spice, lentil mix is drool worthy as a paste with oil / ghee or sprinkled over curds. I also like it with my ghee rice - with green chilli (bengali style). Below are two recipes - one for dosa / uthapas and other for idlis. However, one option can suffice both "app...