Chutneys-An Intro

Chutney is a Hindi word used now all over India and also has been included in English vocabulary. It refers to a dish made out of ground vegetables, fruits or lentils etc along with spices. It is a side dish and served along with Rice or Rotis, Pulaos and dishes served at Breakfast like Idlis, Dosas and tea time snacks like Samosa, Bhujia etc.

Chutneys are called as Pachhadi in Telugu. These are prepared and served fresh and will not keep for more than a day or two. These cannot be preserved. Very few chutneys can be preserved upto a week or fortnight at the most.

Compared to Pickles these are more healthy, as less oil, salt and no preservatives are used. They are made and served fresh every day. Use of fresh vegetables, fruits or other ingredients makes it more nutritious and healthy. 

The quantity of oil and salt used in chutneys can be reduced to very little as compared to the traditional methods to make it more healthier. There are some recipes which are oil free. I will be posting recipes of many chutneys in the coming days.

The Chutneys from North are more sour or tangy and there are also some sweet ones too. Where as the ones from South India are spicy. Andhra is specially known for its pickles and chutneys.Chutneys are wet and coarse to smooth in texture and its consistency may also vary from very thick semi solid to almost pouring consistency.

Traditionally, Mortar and Pestle made of stone were used for making the chutneys.  In Andhra a stick made of wood known as Rokali is used for making of chutneys. The stone mortar is known as Rolu and the pestle is known as Pothram. Now other gadgets like Blenders are being used.

This is a stone or granite Mortar. Very small one with the pestle. Its generally used for grinding, ginger, garlic, chillies etc into paste or for powdering various spices. These mortars are in various sizes and some are very huge like the one in my Grannie's back yard. It was used for grinding soaked lentils and rice for making Idlis, Dosas or vadiyalu (badis) or powdering of dried chillies, turmeric, mustard etc. It was also used  for pounding rice grains to remove the husks. Medium sized ones are now used by nuclear families. The snack made out of the batter grounded by using the stone mortar is much much better than the blenders and food processors. Chutneys are also much tastier.

This is the wooden stick like object used for pounding or powdering. This also has a metallic( iron)  ring at the bottom. Though mine doesn't have one.

I am going to post some basic tips and recipes from my collection in my next posts.....Keep a watch on my blog

Storage for Pickles n Chutneys-1

We Indian women are always thinking of our homes and perhaps our kitchens most of the time. LOL! We are always buying some gadgets or the other and also utensils or kitchen ware. Our men folk are really irritated with us. They just refuse to come with us for shopping. I think sometimes they are even horrified at the amount of money and time we spend on such things. But then, no lady wants to be caught with ill matched linens or wares. Right? The presentation of a well cooked dish is equally important. So we are so bothered about the kitchen ware.

Recently I happened to visit an exhibition. I was just browsing through and then I found some interesting ones. some of them I am going to share with you now:

 These were two little jars I found in blue. We call them Jaadi in Telugu. I have white and blue crockery, so I thought these would go well with them.

 

 Here is a closer look at the small pattern of flowers on the jar.

 This white and black one was what caught my eye in the first place. I wanted another one but this was the last piece. I Hestitated for a long time but then gavein to my temptation and bought it.

 All three of them together. I think I can use them for pickles and chutneys. These ceramic jars are good for storage of, acidic things like vinegar, tamarind etc, and any other such things which corrode metals and dangerous to store in plastic or metallic containers. Though they are breakable and one has to handle them with care, they are easy to clean and cheap too.

 

I am Back

Friends I am back after a long time tired but happy. I wanted to share so many recipes with you even when I was traveling but it was not possible. But now that I am back, I have many things to share, some of the old traditional recipes too.

Keep watching my blog from now on....