Aglio Olio / Pasta with Olive Oil and Garlic

The simplest of all pasta. How can a recipe be so easy to make and taste so luxurious?
Aglio = Garlic
Olio = Oil
This basic recipe has no vegetables added, but when they serve the same in restaurants either Mushrooms or Broccoli is added. How can explain the exorbitant cost otherwise?!

Ingredients for 1 person:
Pasta (preferably Spaghetti) - 150 gms
Olive Oil - 5 tbsp
Garlic chopped - 1 heaped tbsp
Chilly flakes - 1 tsp
Holy Basil to garnish (optional)

Method:
Boil the pasta in heavily salted water till cooked.
Warm the olive oil in a heavy bottomed vessel and add the garlic.
Once garlic sizzles and starts turning golden, add the chilly flakes.
Add the (cooked and) drained pasta and mix well.
Serve garnished with chopped basil leaves.

A side of crusty bread will soak up the beautiful oil!!

Andra Brinjal Chutney / Vankaya Pachadi

We live in Kerala, the land of keram or Coconut. And for us chutney always has coconut as the chief ingredient. When my neighbour, Mrs.Vidya Sundaresh Kamath shared a portion of her brinjal chutney without coconut, I was hooked!

These are Corona times and grating coconut is a chore I would gladly avoid!

We enjoyed this chutney both for breakfast with dosa and for lunch with hot rice.

Ingredients:

Brinjal - 1 medium

Channa dal/ kadala paripp - 1 tbsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Dry Red chilli - 3 

Green chilly - 2

Coriander leaf - 6 stalks with leaves

Tamarind - small ball

Garlic - 2 cloves

Salt

Tempering:

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Dry red chilly - 1, broken

Curry leaf - 1 sprig

Method:

Toast the brinjal on an open flame till the skin chars and the insides soften.

Dry fry the dals and red chilli on low flame, till the dals turn slightly brown.

 Peel the brinjal carefully.

First grind the green chilly, garlic, brinjal, tamarind with the coriander leaf.

Then add the salt, dals and red chilly.

Grind to a smooth paste. Use minimum water.

 Splutter the mustard, red chilly and curry leaf in the oil and add to the chutney.

Menaskai - Udupi style ripe mango in spicy curry

Ripe mango in spicy sweet gravy.
This dish is from the Madwa community of Udupi area, Karnataka, South India. It is Satvik (no onion, no garlic) and is served during 'sadya' at the Hanuman temple at Ernakulathappan Temple Complex during Rama Navami.

Recipe source: Mrs. Madwa Raj

Ingredients:
Ripe mango - 2
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Til seeds - 1 tbsp
Coriander seeds - 1 Tbsp
Channa Dal - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1 pinch
Dry Red chilly - 4 to 6
Fresh coconut - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 1 tbsp

For spluttering:
Refined oil / coconut oil - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Red chilly - 1
Curry leaf - 1 sprig

Method:
Start by peeling the mango and removing the flesh from the seed.
Extract any left over pulp from the skin and discard it.
Add this pulp to the cut mango pieces.
Add in the mango seeds too.
Boil in ample water with salt and turmeric powder.

Dry fry the til seeds, till they pop. Keep aside.

Next fry the coriander seeds, urad dal, channa dal, jeera and red chilly in 1/2 tsp oil, till the dals turn red.

Add the fried seeds and dal with the til seeds.

Once the mango gets cooked, add the jaggery and mix well.

Grind the fried ingredients with fresh coconut.

Add the ground paste to the cooked mango.

Mix well and bring to a boil.
Splutter mustard, red chilly and curry leaf in the rest of the oil and add to the boiled curry.

Curry is ready.

Lime pickle with pickle powder

Pickles...whether it is with chilly powder like gooseberry or mango, or without chilly powder (lemon green chilly pickle), adds a certain zing to all Indian foods.

While I have shared a lime pickle recipe as made by my grandmother before, this recipe is by Mrs. Gracy Mathew, a person who used to own a pickling unit.

This pickle can be twisted to suit your taste buds and made sweet by adding more dates.

Ingredients:
Lemons / lime - 1/2 kg
Dates - 1/4 to 1/2 cup (depending on the sweetness you wish)
Ginger chopped - 2 tbsp
Green chillies chopped - 3 tbsp
Pickle powder - 1 large cup
Coconut oil - 1/2 cup
Vinegar - 1/4 cup
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Gingelly/ til/ oil (Nallenai) - 1/2 cup

Method:
Wash the lemons well and place in a vessel. Add enough water to cover and keep for boiling.

Once it boils hard for 2 minutes, turn off flame and cool. Cut each into quarters or eights. Remove as many seeds as possible.

Seed the dates and boil in just in very little water for 2 minutes. Let all the water evaporate.

Similarly, boil the ginger and green chilly.

All the ingredients are prepped and ready.

Heat the gingelly oil and splutter the mustard seeds. Then add the green chilly and ginger.

The ginger must turn slightly golden.
Reduce flame & saute for a minute. Then add the pickle powder.

After frying on low flame for 1 minute, add the cooked dates.

When the dates are well coated, add the lemon pieces.

After 2 minutes, make a well in the middle...

...and add the vinegar.

Let it boil for 1 minute. Mix well.

Turn off flame and add the coconut oil.

Pickle is ready.
Cool and store in glass jar.

Pickle Powder

This powder can be used to make any pickle, be it gooseberry pickle, mango pickle or lemon pickle.
This is a basic recipe and can be bought in stores. But why buy, when you can make it at home?

Ingredients:
Dry Red chilly - 250 gms
Methi seeds / uluva / fenugreek - 50 gms
Asafoetida / kayam - 50 gms
Salt - 150 gms
Sugar - 25 gms
Turmeric powder - 10 gms

Method:
Dry fry the red chilly in a heavy bottomed pan on a very low flame till it becomes a deeper shade of red. Keep aside to cool.

Dry fry the Methi seeds till they pop. Cool completely.

Now take the asafoetida gum and and flatten it as much as possible.
The gum is preferred as it has more smell than the powder available in the market.
This gum needs to be fried in a little oil on a low flame, till it becomes very crisp inside out.
Cool this also.

First powder the red chilly in the mixer.

Then add the methi seeds and powder it.
Next add the asafoetids strips.

Once powdered, add the salt, turmeric powder and sugar.
Grind into a smooth powder.

Store in an air tight container until required.