Before Making The Chutneys...Part-I

Every one of you may know what I am going to say now, but for those who are new to cooking ,  it will be a guidance and those who already know this, it will be a sort of recollection. For making a very tasty chutney, let us see some of the tips and tricks. 

For making a chutney, we use many ingredients. It is important we know these basics thoroughly to make a tasty chutney. it may be boring for you to read such long and lengthy passages, but its better to know all these before hand than turn out a dish which is not tasty. Here we go....

1. Basic ingredient of which we are making the chutney. Most of the vegetables, fruits, nuts etc can be used for making chutneys either singly or in combination

This is Wood Apple-used raw and when ripened -for chutneys

• Vegetables: Carrot, Cabbage, Gourd family (bottle, bitter, ribbed etc), Tomatoes, Onions, Brinjal (Eggplant), Lady's fingers(Okra), Cucumbers, Beet root, Ginger, Garlic, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Green Chillies, Red Chillies.... the list long...you can use almost any vegetable.
• Leafy vegetables: Mint (Pudina), Coriander greens (Kothmeer), Curry Leaves (Kadi Patta or Karvepaku)Spinach (Palak), Gongura(Ambade ki Bhaji-a sour tasting leaf) leaves of Drum Stick Tree, Tender leaves of Tamarind tree (Chinta Chiguru) Greens of Radish, leaves of Flax Tree (Avisa).....
• Nuts, Seeds and Dry Fruits:  Peanuts (Ground nuts), Walnuts, Dried grapes or Raisins, Prunes, Dates (Khajooramu or Khajoor)), Sesame (Nuvvulu or Til) seeds of Pumpkin, Bottle Gourd ....
• Fruits: Coconuts, Mangoes, Citrus Fruits like Lemons, Lime, Oranges.., Apples, Wood Apple, Bananas, Papaya, Indian Cherries (Vakkaya), Cherries, Plums (Aloo Bukhara), Grapes, Pineapple, Berries like Indian plum or Ber or Regi Pandu, Goose Berries, Guava, Jack Fruits, Tamarind .....
•  Lentils: Pigeon Peas (Kandi pappu or Tuvar Daal), Green Gram (Pesara Pappu or Moong Daal), Black Gram (Minapappu or Urad Daal).....
•  Curd: Curd chutneys are very popular and in combination with various, fruits, vegetables etc make very tasty and nutritious chutneys......

 This is Peanut Chutney combined with some vegetables

 This is Onion and Red Chillies Chutney

 

 2. Oil: This is an important ingredient which enhances the taste of the chutneys. This used for frying the basic ingredient (vegetables etc) or for frying the spices or for tempering (Popu or Tadka).  

In India People from different regions use different oils as cooking mediums. Peanut oil, Sesame (Til or Nuvvula noone) oil, Coconut oil, Mustard oils are used. In order to get the flavor of the region we must use the oil used by the region like Mustard by Bengalis and Punjabis, Coconut by Keralites  Peanut or Sesame or Ghee by Andhras. If one is health conscious and also does not want any such flavors, one can safely use refined oils-sunflower, rice brawn etc. 

Olive oil is now being used in Indian kitchens because of its good qualities but very rarely in Indian Dishes. One can experiment using different oils to find the required taste, because, the same chutney or dish may taste differently by using different oils.

One can substitute the oil and do away with it altogether (even frying)  by adding certain raw ingredients. This I will deal with in oil free or healthy recipes of chutneys.

This is Mustard oil-produces lot of heat in the body and can be used as cooking medium in cold climates. But if not used to can give stomach aches. This is yellow in colour very greasy has a distinct flavor and odor. Must for certain cuisines.

So how do you  like this so far...Please let me know any doubts or suggestions..all are welcome....