Mango Chutney

A couple of weeks ago,Chennai had to face the lashings of mother nature in all its glory courtesy "Nilam" the storm... the sound and fury was much more than an actual downpour...nevertheless it brought along with it four mangoes from my tree,a treasure indeed considering its not the season for it and i never knew they had existed in the first place...I used two for a dhall,and one for a fish curry,the remaining one, I had to use for a mango chutney my mother in law taught me...its easy and simple to make often eaten with plain hot rice....

All you need are:

1 large mango skinned and grated fine

Equal amount of coconut grated fine

2 tbs of whole coriander

1 tbs of cumin seeds

8 whole hot red chillies
1 pod of garlic peeled
1 inch piece of fresh ginger cleaned and skinned and chopped

A pinch of asafetida

1 tbs of Bengal gram dhall

1 tbs of Black gram dhall
A few sprigs of curry leaves
1 heaped tsp of jaggery powder 
salt to taste

Method :
In a pan add a tsp of oil and saute all the ingredients except the mango,coconut,jaggery and salt...Saute well to a golden brown..Remove,cool and add all the ingredients together and grind to a coarse paste...check for salt and serve with hot rice and ample servings of clarified butter/ghee...

A few tips...add some water to the jaggery and soak, mix well and add it to the mango/coconut when your grinding...

Remember the spice/salt quotient can be adjusted to individual tastes though i find you can add extra spice to this chutney as the sourness of the mango and the sweetness of the coconut balances it out...Add equal amount of grated coconut without the hard brown skin...This chutney can be refrigerated and kept for many days...can be used as a sandwich spread too....

Nilams fury was not in vain (yes that's what the storm was named)  got to make this delicious chutney and shared it too...

Please share your food and always serve with love and kindness.....

Work Shop with Sara Koshy

Deviating from my normal recipe posts,I am today writing about a work shop I attended hosted by The Chennai Food Guide showcasing the multi talented cook/chef and our principal instructor for the day - Sara Koshy...Those who live in Chennai need no introduction to her,she has been teaching the wonderful art of cooking and baking for more than a decade,proficient in Asian cuisine,she is a powerhouse where food is concerned...

To begin with the workshop had organised a set Thai menu consisting of the following:
Tofu Satay
Chicken Satay
Tom Yum (vegetarian)
Tom Yum Gai 
Red Curry both vegetarian and non vegetarian
Thai Fried rice,vegetarian and non-vegetarian
Buoroy (stuffed Lychees in coconut milk )

The workshop started with the sweet dish first the magical Buoroy,its easy to make and tasted absolutely divine....Meanwhile Sara had started with the chopping of the vegetables for the stock and the main menu....Learnt the art of cutting in yin yang style from her...notice the vegetables are cut at a slant... that's the yin yang effect...

The stock simmered with a delicate balance of many vegetables for a couple of minutes,before it was strained and used to make a light soup...The Thai Fried rice seemed easy enough to make as Sara effortlessly went about showing us all the delicious,perfectly balanced recipes...

Learnt further that Thai food is a mixture of the sweet and the sour,found a lot of it happening at the workshop...chilli,coconut and jaggery played important roles in Thai cooking.The cutting of the Tofu and the skewering of both chicken and Tofu for the satay were explained clearly by Sara..Red curry chicken/vegetable was a simple no fuss recipe,in fact,found that Sara made most of the recipes simple and easy to make....

An evening well spent,thanks to Chennai Food Guide for introducing us to workshops and to the art of Thai cooking by Sara Koshy... Valuable inputs were given by Mohamed Ali M the administrator of Chennai Food Guide on Naga Bhut Jolokia the hottest pepper in the world together with Saras reportee on the distinct use of fish sauce in Thai cuisine...

The pictures you see here are courtesy my dear friend Kamalika Krishmy,who was kind enough to share the photographs of the workshop with me...do check out her blog janakipattiskitchen.blogspot.com