TILL-CORIANDER SEEDS CHUTNEY (ELLU-DHANIYA CHUTNEY)

To me, cooking is an expressive art where I love to feed my own people; anything that is served on the dining table is filled with my heart and soul.  I involve myself completely when I cook for people and it soothes my brain away from the thoughts of rattling mind.  Whenever, my mind is troubled with extra loads of thoughts, I just silently enter into kitchen and start preparing something to calm my  brain. 

Moving to the recipe, this is one chutney version which I learnt from my sister and she assured that we would love this chutney.  The taste of till and coriander seeds would provide additional flavor enhancement to the dish.

INGREDIENTS:

Small onions - 1 cup

Tomato - 2

Coriander leaves - tightly packed - 1/2 cup

Salt - to taste

Red chilly - 5-6

White till seeds - 2 tsp

Coriander seeds - 2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dhal - 1 tsp

Bengal gram - 1 tsp

Oil - 1 tsp

PREPARATION

1. In a pan, dry roast white till seeds and coriander seeds and set it aside.  Roast the till seeds until it splutters.

2.  In the same pan, add a tsp of oil, throw in mustard seeds.  When it crackles, add the urad dhal and bengal gram dhal followed by red chillies.  After a minute, add onion and throw in some salt.  When the onions have turned slightly brown, add tomatoes and when it turns mushy, add wash coriander leaves and mix well.  Switch off the stove and add the previously roasted white till seeds and coriander seeds to it.  Allow the mixture to cool and pulse it in the mixer.

The flavored chutney is ready to be served with idly-dosa combination.  As said before, addition of till and coriander seeds enhance the flavor of the chutney and would the taste would be present even after the last bite. 

SPICY KADAI PANEER

A spicy, tangy, delicious gravy that goes well with pulao and rotis.  The dish gets it unique flavor from freshly ground coriander seeds, pepper, red chilly, and jeera.  I made it little bit spicy to suite our family taste. 

INGREDIENTS:

Paneer - 200 g

Onion - 2

Capsicum - 1

Red chilly powder - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Butter - 1 tsp

Bay leaf -1

Jeera - 1/2 tsp

To dry roast and grind:

Red chilly - 4

Black peppercorn - 1 tsp

Coriander seeds -1 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

To fry in oil and ground

Garlic -2 pods

Ginger - 1/2 inch piece

Onion - 2 (sliced thin)

Tomato - 3 medium sized

PREPARATION:

1. Dry roast coriander seeds, red chilly, black peppercorn, and jeera and ground coarsely and keep aside.

2. In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil, add garlic pods, ginger, onion, and tomatoes.  Cook in medium flame until the tomatoes turn mushy.  Turn off and ground the mixture smoothly once it has cooled down completely.

3. In the same pan, add butter, throw in bay leaf and jeera, add the diced onion and little salt.  Once the onions have turned brown, add the cubed capsicum and saute it gently.  Add in chilly powder and mix well.  Once the capsicum has become crunchy soft, add the ground masala and later add the freshly ground powder.  Add little water and adjust salt as necessary.  Add the cubed paneer and mix well and let it boil until the masala coats paneer well and gravy is thick but not dry. Add the chopped coriander leaves. 

Serve the delicious, spicy Kadai panner with rotis or pulao.