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Spicy Tomato Chutney/ Thakkali Thokku

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tomatothokku-7Tangy & Spicy tomato chutney with Indian spices using the freshest tomatoes. And it is an excellent side for many recipes. Store and enjoy it for 2- 3 weeks!

Whenever I leave from India, my mother used to make some homemade recipes that I can preserve for a month or two.  She used to make some coriander thokku, curry leaves thokku, tomato thokku, pulikachal, pickles and so on. So I thought of preparing some now and give it to my sister when I am planning to meet her next week. Following my Mom in cooking I guess 🙂 I don’t know how much my nephew would love this ;)! He is just 2 years 🙂

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I really love using my freezer to preserve food. I love these homemade chutney or sauce and they are always a great savior when it comes to weekdays. I am alright cooking on weekends, but on a weekday I get so tired that most of the days I tend to make recipes under 30 minutes, finish and sleep. You can also use these for travel, it will not get spoiled easily for a long travel. For this recipe, try to use ripe tomatoes. And adding sugar or jaggery enhances the flavor and helps in balancing out the acidity.


You can use them as a dip and it also taste great with paratha, bajji, curd rice or mix it with plain rice and its heaven on earth!



tomatothokku-12




5.0 from 1 reviews
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Spicy Tomato Chutney/ Thakkali Thokku
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 50 minutes
 
Ingredients
  • Onion – 1 (medium), finely chopped
  • Tomatoes – 5 (medium), chopped
  • Garlic – 10 (medium sized cloves), chopped finely
  • Ginger – 3 inch, grated
  • Curry Leaves – 1 sprig
  • Asafoetida/ Hing – 2 tsp
  • Red Chilli (whole) – 2, broken
  • Salt – to taste
  • Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
  • Red Chilli powder – 2 tbsp
  • Fenugreek seeds powder – 1 tsp
  • Jaggery – 1 inch
  • Gingelly Oil – 3- 4 tbsp
Instructions
  1. Heat a pan with oil in medium flame and crackle the mustard seeds. Then add the broken red chilli, asafetida, curry leaves, ginger and garlic. Sauté till they change color slightly.
  2. Add the onions with a pinch of salt and sauté till they become translucent.

  3. Add the chopped tomatoes at this stage and cook it till it becomes mushy. Stir it occasionally.
  4. Add the red chilly powder, turmeric powder, fenugreek seeds powder with 2 tsp of oil again. Sauté till the raw smell leaves. Add 3 tbsp of water with jaggery and allow it to boil for few minutes in medium to low flame.

  5. It will start to ooze out oil in the sides at a stage and will become a thick paste. It takes about 20-30 minutes for this process.
  6. Switch off and cool it completely.
  7. Store it in an air tight container for 2- 3 weeks in the refrigerator.
Notes
1. we really need the amount of oil in the recipe to make the recipe if you want to store it.
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Paneer (Indian Cheese) & Tofu Recipe Collection

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 PaneerTofuRecipes

Paneer is a type of fresh cheese that can be made easily at home.  Paneer has a milky flavor on its own, so it taste best when paired with strong spicy flavor like curries or tikka. This is a cheese that won’t melt like mozzarella or cheddar will. We can add them on any curry, or crumble them into flat breads like roti. Or even add them to kebabs and the cheese will keep its shape and chewy texture. Anything with paneer is a definite win. The texture of paneer is similar to greek feta which is prepared in a similar manner. When there is guest over and I wanted to do vegetarian dishes, I will make it a point to do atleast one paneer dish . It goes well with any kind of pulao, jeera rice, naan,roti or any kind of bread you fancy.   Tofu(bean curd) made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. It is a healthy version of paneer and very amenable, versatile ingredient and a very light version to be paired with sesame, cucumber, capsicum, coconut, garlic and it add a lot of flavors.   Vegan note: Replace paneer with tofu, ghee/butter with oil and cream with yogurt.


    My other collection Recipes: Breakfast in 20 Minutes or less, Biryani Collection recipes, Garlic based Recipes, Mouthwatering Vegetarian Potato Recipes, Dinner recipes in 30 minutes or less.

  1. Pepper Paneer Do pyaza

 

paneerpyaaz-8 Paneer or cottage cheese cooked in a rich, creamy and mildly spiced onion based gravy. Recipe is here.

 

  1. Spicy Garlic Tofu in 10 minutes

 

  TOFU-3 Truly fancy, delicious, restaurant style, vegan dish in 10 minutes. This is a recipe which will come to your rescue when you haven’t planned a meal on a week day. Recipe is here. 



 


 


    



    



    

  1. Malai Methi Paneer
    2. 



 


  Malaimethipaneer1 This dish is made of beautiful capsicums, methi leaves and of course paneer. Recipe is here. 


 


    



    



    

  1. Palak Paneer/Spinach with Indian Cheese
    2. 



 


   






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Delicious creamy Indian spinach with cubes of cheese – takes only 30 minutes to make. Recipe is here.


 


    

  1. Cashew Paneer
    2. 



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Fried cashew and paneer pieces simmered in rich and creamy tomato cashew gravy!Recipe is here.


    

  1. Matar Paneer/ Paneer Peas Masala
    2. 



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Pan fried paneer with peas and spices in rich cashewnut gravy.Recipe is here. 


    



    

  1. Paneer Makhanwala
    2. 



 


Paneer_Makhanwala_Relishthebite_name1 Paneer cubes in a buttery nutty creamy tangy flavor. It is a rich dish with really tasty ingredients. Recipe is here. 


    



    

  1. Paneer Biryani
    2. 



 


paneerbiryaniname This is a treat for the vegetarians. Aromatic and flavorful one pot meal!Recipe is here. 


    



    

  1. Mint & Tofu Whole Wheat Paratha
    2. 



 


Tofu_Paratha_name It’s a whole wheat bread stuffed with mint and tofu. Recipe is here. 


    



    

  1. Mushroom Tofu Veggie Potstickers with Chili Hoisin Ginger sauce
    2. 



 


Dumplings-18 It’s a whole wheat bread stuffed with mint and tofu. Recipe is here. 


    



    

  1. How to make Paneer or Cottage Cheese at home / Homemade Paneer Recipe
    2. 



 


Homemade Paneer1 I like making paneer at home. But sometimes i do buy them outside if I am very indolent. But I am sure home-made paneer is more hygienic and it saves a lot of money as well.  Paneer is the star ingredient in some of my favourite north Indian dishes. You need very few ingredients to make paneer at home. if you have milk, lemon juice, pan, strainer and some cheesecloth/normal cloth, you can have fresh paneer cheese at home.Recipe is here. 


    



    

  1. Red Thai Tofu Curry
    2. 



 


Thairedcurry-12 [Read more…]


Lamb Spinach Curry/ Saag Gosht


 by  4 Comments 
LAmbSpinach Curry-12Forget about the rich and creamy restaurant styled curry we’re all accustomed to! This is Insanely delicious & super easy.


I made this long back and never got some time to post it, thought would post it this week. I made this for my friends who gave a visit to my place. It is a classic lamb spinach curry. One of my friends before few months asked me to try the combination of lamb and spinach as she heard that it is one of the ultimate combo. I tried it and I totally agree, the whole house was full of beautiful aroma and that spinach gave the lamb a perfect taste. And there is no cream, milk or anything to this. It is just so simple to make that you would make this even on a weekday and you can make your week more happening! 🙂


Try having this with some plain rice; no one would stop with one bite on this cold weather. It’s so relaxing when you have this for a weekend lunch. Feel free to cut the chilli powder by half if you can’t take spicy food. And also you can replace the lamb by mutton. When all the lamb curry is over, take some plain rice mix it in the same pan and have it right away. oHHHH!! Darling & Delicious! You can have this with plain rice, ghee rice, rasam/sambar, or roti,naan, paratha, parotta.


I make different styles of lamb each time and I usually tend not to make the same recipe again and again. There are so many recipes to try, why to waste on preparing the same one.  We have thousands of recipes to try in every cuisine.    I made this with rasam one day. It is one of the finest spicy recipes. If you are making it for the first time, try to taste as you make to adjust to your spice level. This recipe was spicy, tasty and flavorful. The authentic method of preparing this recipe is by pureeing spinach, but I liked to make it this way.


I would say normally Mutton and lamb recipes are a treat to any Non Vegetarian food lover.


Other favorite Lamb/Mutton Recipes:  Restaurant style lamb biryani, Lamb pepper curry Roast, Kadai Ghost/Lamb Curry, Spicy Honey Garlic Rack of lamb, Mutton sukka, Ambur Mutton Biryani.


Other favorite spinach recipes: Palak paneer/ spinach paneer curry, Spinach peach balsamic salad, saag aloo capsicum/ spinach potato pepper curry, spinach garlic curry, spinach with lentils/keerai moolaigootal, Pasta baked in spinach creamy rose sauce.


LAmbSpinach Curry-11


  
 
 
 
5.0 from 1 reviews
 
 
 
 Print 
 
Lamb Spinach Curry/ Saag Gosht
 
 
 
 Author: 
 
 Recipe type: Main
 
 Cuisine: Indian
 
 
 
 Prep time:   
 
 Cook time:   
 
 Total time:   
 
 
 
 Serves: 3 cups
 
 
 
 
 
Ingredients
 
     
  • Lamb – 500g, cleaned and cut into small pieces ( I used shoulder)
    •  
  • Oil – 3 tbsp
    •  
  • Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
    •  
  • Cumin seeds/ Jeera – 1 tsp
    •  
  • Red Chilli – 2, broken
    •  
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
    •  
  • Onions & shallots (mixed)– 2 cups, chopped finely
    •  
  • Tomatoes – 1 cup, chopped finely
    •  
  • Green chillies – 2, chopped finely
    •  
  • Garlic – 6, chopped finely
    •  
  • Ginger – 1 inch, chopped finely
    •  
  • Turmeric powder – 2 tsp
    •  
  • Chilli powder – 1 ½ tbsp
    •  
  • Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
    •  
  • Cumin powder – 1 tbsp
    •  
  • Spinach – 2 cups, chopped ( can add pureed spinach too)
    •  
  • Sugar – a pinch
    •  
  • Lime juice – 2 tsp
    •  
  • Coriander leaves – to garnish
    •  
  • Salt – to taste
    •  
 
 
 
 
Instructions
 
     
  1. In a cooker, add the lamb, 1 tsp of turmeric powder,little salt and water just to cover the lamb and not more. Close the pressure cooker, keep it in medium flame for 5-6 whistles till lamb is cooked well. Switch off and keep it aside. You can just cook the lamb with some more water in medium-low flame covered for 35-40 minutes if you don’t have pressure cooker.
    2.  
  2. In a pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds. When it crackles, add cumin seeds and red chillies, curry leaves, when it changes color, add the onions, green chillies garlic, ginger ,little salt and sauté till golden brown.
     
    3.  
  3. Now add the tomatoes, 1 tsp of turmeric powder and fry till it is mushy.
    4.  
  4. Add the chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder. Saute them till they ooze out some oil on sides. Then add the spinach, lime juice, sugar and mix well for few seconds. (lime juice helps in absorption of iron from spinach).
     
    5.  
  5. Add the cooked lamb with ¾ cup of water (use the broth from the cooked lamb). Mix well and let all the mixture get cooked together till they leave some oil on top and let the water evaporate. Do not cover it (Spinach will lose its color). Check salt at this stage and add it if needed.
     
    6.  
  6. Finally garnish with coriander leaves and serve with hot rice.
    7.  
 
 
 
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2 Minute Chocolate Peanut Butter Crumb Mug Cake


 by  13 Comments 
reese chocolate mug cake-2


Moist chocolatey cake topped with chocolate cinnamon streusel in just 2 minutes. The quickest way to treat yourself! It’s only one serving size with no eggs. Drizzle some of your favorite syrup if you really want to but the crumb is just enough to cover. It has chocolate and peanut Butter! DOUBLE Yum! Right 🙂


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I have been experimenting with different mug cakes ever since I heard about them before two years. It’s so quick that I don’t click pictures most of the time. And my recent creation is this chocolate peanut butter mug cake. This is one of the ideas that popped into my head when Hersey’s sent me these two lovely jars of peanut butter chocolate spread. Yes, you are reading that right. 🙂 It is Hershey’s Reese peanut butter chocolate spread. It was in United States and now in Canada too. I had lot of ideas when I received it but I wanted to try something quick and tasty recipe only. I believe that quick recipes are what all we need in this busy life. I tried not digging into the jar because I want to try some great recipes 😉 I would surely spoon in otherwise 😀 if you know me. You can also try this recipe with plain chocolate or peanut butter spread. I always like to have mug cakes for breakfast with some milk or coffee. You can have it 🙂 even as a snack 😉 and actually you don’t need a reason to have this 😀 !


Vegan note: Replace the yogurt with soy milk or coconut milk.


reese chocolate mug cake-4


  
 
 
 
5.0 from 1 reviews
 
 
 
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2 Minutes Chocolate Peanut Butter Crumb Mug Cake
 
 
 
 Author: 
 
 Recipe type: Breakfast
 
 
 
 Prep time:   
 
 Cook time:   
 
 Total time:   
 
 
 
 Serves: 1 Mug cake
 
 
 
 
 
Ingredients
 
     
  • Vegetable oil – 3 tbsp.
    •  
  • Granulated sugar – 2 tbsp
    •  
  • Vanilla extract – ⅛ tsp
    •  
  • Chocolate Peanut Butter – 2 tbsp
    •  
  • Yogurt – 2 tbsp
    •  
  • All-purpose flour – 3 tbsp
    •  
  • Baking soda – ⅛ tsp
    •  
  • Cinnamon – ½ tsp
    •  
  • Salt – a pinch
    •  

  •  
    Streusel:
    •  
  • Ground cinnamon – ⅛ tsp
    •  
  • Light or dark brown sugar – 1 tbsp
    •  
  • Semi-sweet chocolate chips – 1 tbsp
    •  
 
 
 
 
Instructions
 
     
  1. Make the streusel by combining all the streusel ingredients into a small bowl.
    2.  
  2. In a mug, add vegetable oil, sugar and mix well. Then add the vanilla extract, the star ingredient “chocolate peanut butter”, yogurt and mix well.
    3.  
  3. Now add the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt to it. Mix all well.
    4.  
  4. Top it with the streusel.
    5.  
  5. Microwave for 2 minutes on high. Start checking from 1 minute 20 seconds. Mine was done exactly at 1 Minute 30 seconds. Even keeping in microwave for long can turn it rubbery.
    6.  
 
 
 
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Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by the Hershey’s Canada and I have been compensated monetarily! However all opinions are my own as always.


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Spicy Curry leaves seedai / Crunchy Lentil Nuggets


 by  1 Comment 
Seedai-7Crispy curry leaves flavoured nuggets – A perfect snack to have while sipping a cup of hot chai.


Hello all , It’s Janmashtami/ Krishna Jayanthi on Saturday 5, September 2015. It’s the birthday of the Lord Krishna. I have a collection of festival recipes like uppu seedai, murukku, aval payasam, ladoos and so on, you could check it for more. But the main savory we do for this festival is the “Uppu seedai/sweet seedai”. I am going to uncover my own version of a revised “uppu seedai” recipe today here. I like savory more than sweet after coming to Canada. When it comes to seedai there are chances that it would burst out easily. I am not trying to scare you, but be careful when you do this. May be in older days they used to have lot of stones in the rice which made it burst. These days its loads better and also if you sieve it well, it should be very fine  I have made spicy curry leaves murukku before for last year Diwali and it was the best in the whole recipes I made. So, I wanted to share this with you all 🙂


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The correct way to do this recipe is to soak one cup of raw rice in water for two hours, dry them completely by placing on a cloth/paper and grind them. I used the ready-made rice flour instead. It was equally good. I have no complaints. Let me know someone if you get to know the reason why we need to do the former method.


Seedai-6


 


  
 
 
 
5.0 from 1 reviews
 
 
 
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Spicy Curry leaves seedai / Crunchy Lentil Nuggets
 
 
 
 Author: 
 
 Recipe type: snacks & appetizers
 
 Cuisine: Indian
 
 
 
 Prep time:   
 
 Cook time:   
 
 Total time:   
 
 
 
 Serves: 2 cups
 
 
 
 
 
Ingredients
 
     
  • • Rice flour – 1 cup
    •  
  • • Urad dal – ¼ cup
    •  
  • • Sesame seeds – 1tbsp
    •  
  • • Ajwain – 1 tsp
    •  
  • • Jeera/Cumin – 1tsp
    •  
  • • Salt – as needed.( I used 1 tbsp)
    •  
  • • Ghee – 1 tbsp
    •  
  • • Grated Coconut – 2 tbsp
    •  
  • • Oil – to fry.
     
    To grind:
    •  
  • • Curry Leaves - 15
    •  
  • • Red chilli - 4
    •  
  • • Garlic - 3
    •  
  • • Ginger - 1 inch
    •  
 
 
 
 
Instructions
 
     
  1. Blend everything under to grind. And keep aside.
    2.  
  2. Fry the urad dal for 2 – 3 mins. Grind the urad dal very finely. Mix rice flour and urad dal powder together, Sieve them twice.
     
    3.  
  3. Mix the ajwain, coconut, jeera, ghee, blended curry leaves & red chilli mixture and salt to the flour mixture.
    4.  
  4. Add water little by little to form soft dough but do not make it watery/sticky.
     
    5.  
  5. Now comes the major step, hold a little dough part on your left hand on the fingers side like shown below. Take a tiny dough part, press them and release them by making anticlockwise directions on the right hand. And the first seedai dough is ready. It should not be hard or very soft. It should be in perfect texture.
     
    6.  
  6. Make them all like the above step.
    7.  
  7. Fry them in hot oil and take them out when it’s in golden color.
    8.  
 
 
 
 
Notes
 
. Try to be careful when you put them in oil, it might easily burst. So, sieve it properly to avoid stones.
2. When you make the balls, make sure it’s not very hard or very soft. It will either break or it will be too hard.
3. Use unsalted butter instead of ghee or if you using ghee adjust your salt accordingly as ghee would have salt.
4. If you think the dough is too hard, add little ghee and water. Very little would be good.
5. Oil should be very hot, or else it will break.
6. Roast the urad dal just for few minutes, which should do the job.
7. Try to use whole urad dal for this recipe. I used the broken one’s, as I did not have the whole urad dal handy.
 
 
 
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