This week of solo parenting is still following its course, and is of course tiring me up. And because things shall always be complicated this had to be the week with only three days of regular school. Thursday was a holiday, and because I knew what was coming I planned yet another easy to pull lunch : idli with tomato chutney.
I know, I know! Idlis are a breakfast food, but they do a great lunch too, and my daughter loves them, which means one less meal time battle to deal with. Now, tomato chutney, you might not have seen that one served with idlis much, because traditionally idlis are eaten with sambar ( which I really don't like much) and coconut chutney (which I love but gets a bit boring after a while). Last year I saw a recipe for "cup idli" and various chutneys to pipe on them in Goodfood India. Basically a twist on the good old South Indian steamed bun breakfast, and while I tried the stuffed cup idli (batter poured into silicon cupcake moulds before steaming), they really didn't exited me as much as their tomato chutney. I tweaked their recipe a little adding more chana dal and giving the grated coconut a miss, and of course added more curry leaves because I love them. The recipe is easy, quick, tasty and all you really need before launching into it is a mixie (blender grinder if you are not in India). This is one of these recipe I had to share and had been thinking about doing so for a while now, never found the time to take pictures, so here it goes :
You will need : two handful of Chana dal (split gram lentils), 2 medium tomatoes, one small onion, a teaspoon of turmeric, half a teaspoon of red chili powder, a teaspoon of salt, a generous handful of curry leaves, and 2 teaspoon of mustard seeds.
In a pan dry roast the chana dal while you are roughly chopping the onion and tomatoes...I insist on rough chopping, you don't need to complicate it, the thing will end up being blitzed in a blender in the end, save your energy and time.
Once the chana dal is roasted remove and set aside, add oil to the pan and throw in the onions, when the start turning translucent add the dal back to the pan and quickly mix and stir fry for a minute.
Then add the tomatoes, salt, turmeric and chili powder and mix, let it cook storing occasionally for about 2 minutes or until the tomatoes start to be slightly mushy but not overlooked.
Transfer the entire content of your pan to a blender and blitz until you have a nice smooth paste. Pour the paste in a serving bowl and heat a little oil in the pan again, throw in the mustard seeds, when they crackle add the curry leaves, stir quickly for a few seconds, and pour the oil and leaves on the chutney, mix well and serve.
It taste better warm, and you can add coriander leaves if you wish at this point, yesterday I didn't have any left so I didn't, but I often do, because...well...you know...I love greens. Idli for those not knowing is a steamed bun made with a batter of fermented rice and split black lentils (which aren't black in this case as it is the de husked type that is used). I usually make my own batter because it tastes better, but it needs a little planning. I soak 2 parts rice for one part lentils separately for a couple of hours, then grind the soaked rice to a slightly coars but runny paste, and then grind the lentils to a smooth creamy paste, mix the two together and let it ferment in a covered container on my kitchen counter over night. If you don't have the time to do that and live in India, you can buy ready made batters almost everywhere, they will do the trick fine too.
I know, I know! Idlis are a breakfast food, but they do a great lunch too, and my daughter loves them, which means one less meal time battle to deal with. Now, tomato chutney, you might not have seen that one served with idlis much, because traditionally idlis are eaten with sambar ( which I really don't like much) and coconut chutney (which I love but gets a bit boring after a while). Last year I saw a recipe for "cup idli" and various chutneys to pipe on them in Goodfood India. Basically a twist on the good old South Indian steamed bun breakfast, and while I tried the stuffed cup idli (batter poured into silicon cupcake moulds before steaming), they really didn't exited me as much as their tomato chutney. I tweaked their recipe a little adding more chana dal and giving the grated coconut a miss, and of course added more curry leaves because I love them. The recipe is easy, quick, tasty and all you really need before launching into it is a mixie (blender grinder if you are not in India). This is one of these recipe I had to share and had been thinking about doing so for a while now, never found the time to take pictures, so here it goes :
You will need : two handful of Chana dal (split gram lentils), 2 medium tomatoes, one small onion, a teaspoon of turmeric, half a teaspoon of red chili powder, a teaspoon of salt, a generous handful of curry leaves, and 2 teaspoon of mustard seeds.
In a pan dry roast the chana dal while you are roughly chopping the onion and tomatoes...I insist on rough chopping, you don't need to complicate it, the thing will end up being blitzed in a blender in the end, save your energy and time.
Once the chana dal is roasted remove and set aside, add oil to the pan and throw in the onions, when the start turning translucent add the dal back to the pan and quickly mix and stir fry for a minute.
Then add the tomatoes, salt, turmeric and chili powder and mix, let it cook storing occasionally for about 2 minutes or until the tomatoes start to be slightly mushy but not overlooked.
Transfer the entire content of your pan to a blender and blitz until you have a nice smooth paste. Pour the paste in a serving bowl and heat a little oil in the pan again, throw in the mustard seeds, when they crackle add the curry leaves, stir quickly for a few seconds, and pour the oil and leaves on the chutney, mix well and serve.
It taste better warm, and you can add coriander leaves if you wish at this point, yesterday I didn't have any left so I didn't, but I often do, because...well...you know...I love greens. Idli for those not knowing is a steamed bun made with a batter of fermented rice and split black lentils (which aren't black in this case as it is the de husked type that is used). I usually make my own batter because it tastes better, but it needs a little planning. I soak 2 parts rice for one part lentils separately for a couple of hours, then grind the soaked rice to a slightly coars but runny paste, and then grind the lentils to a smooth creamy paste, mix the two together and let it ferment in a covered container on my kitchen counter over night. If you don't have the time to do that and live in India, you can buy ready made batters almost everywhere, they will do the trick fine too.
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