Chaat Chutneys ( Sweet Chutney & Green Chutney )

Hi everybody!! Today's recipe is The Chaat Chutneys - a very simple but delightful recipe, because they form the base of variety of chaat recipes like Bhel puri, Sev Puri, Biscuit Chaat, Papad Chaat.....
The Green Chutney is so refreshing with the right amount of spices. The Sweer Tamarind and Dates Chutney is a perfect balance of sweet and sour and it is so good on its own, that you can't stop licking your fingers :) With these two chaat chutneys in your kitchen, you can create a whole new bunch of your own chaat recipes :) They are very very simple to make.
Six years ago, I learnt this recipe from my SIL Gomathi to try my first chaat - Bhel puri as its my MIL's favorite. Till now I haven't even made a small change to these chutneys. They are so perfect and you can prepare just like that as there is no cooking at all!!! You are just going to grind them in the mixer.
Now on to the recipe...

GREEN CHUTNEY:

Ingredients:

Green Chilli - 2
Coriander Leaves - 1/2 cup ( packed )
Mint Leaves - 2 tbsp
Poppy Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fennel Seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Ginger - a small piece about 3/4 inch
Garlic - 2 cloves
Salt - to taste
Water - as required

Method:
1) Take all the ingredients in a mixer and grind to a fine paste. Add water as required.


SWEET CHUTNEY (TAMARIND AND DATES CHUTNEY ):

Ingredients:

Tamarind - 1 lemon sized ball ( as shown in picture ) soaked in water
Dates - 14
Powdered Jaggery - 2 and 1/2 tbsp ( packed )
Water - as required

Method:
1) Discard the seeds from dates. Soak tamarind in 3 tbsp of water for 15 minutes till it becomes soft. Strain the tamarind extract. Grind the Dates, Jaggery and the tamarind extract in a mixer to a smooth paste ( you can add water if necessary )  If you taste the chutney now, you should taste the sweetness and sourness at the same proportion. There should be a perfect balance, If so then your chutney is correct. If not, you can adjust by adding a little more jaggery powder or tamarind extract.
NOTES:
1) Store the chutneys in an airtight box in the refrigerator.
2) These chutneys keep well in the refrigerator for 3 days. Just make sure you use a clean and dry spoon always.
3) Don't add too much water while grinding chutneys. Just add until they form smooth paste.

Cheers,
Sindhiya.S

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Kaadai / Quail Manchurain Dry

This Kaadai Manchurian Dry is very yummy to taste. I have started making manchurian with all kinds of veggies and non veg . My hubby likes more this way as it has crunchy capsicums and onions. He would always insist me to put more onions and capsicums. For this he would buy me colorful capsicums. Whenever he goes for shopping he would get all colors of capsicum. How lovely isn't?.
For manchuri you have to get lots of things to get that flavour. Sometimes we would not be having spring onions or ketchup , but eventhough you can get the same taste as in hotels. Just give a try with these available ingredients and enjoy.Now on to the recipe ...

Ingredients
Kaadai 65 - 5 to 6 pieces
Capsicum - 1/2 cup( I have used yellow & red)
Onion - 1
Garlic - 6 (finely chopped)
Pepper Powder - 1/8 tsp
Green Chilli - 1
Oil - 2 tsp

Procedure
Heat oil in a pan add in finely chopped garlic and then fry for a minute.
Then add green chilli,onions and give a toss.

Next add in the colorful capsicums and give a toss.

Now add in the fried Kaadai and give a toss.
Finely add in the pepper powder and toss .
Serve hot.

Notes
You can spring onions at the last.
If you want to add ketchup add it after adding capsicums.

Cheers 
Jayanthi B

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Kaadai 65 / Quail 65

I have already posted a gravy on this Kaadai and today I am going to post nice crispy Kaadai 65. This is very easy to make and yes you will get the same taste and flavours as in hotels. I made these for our guests and everyone enjoyed it to the core and they all appreciated me. Well try these and get your compliments.

Ingredients
Kaadai(quail) - 1/2 kg
Egg - 1
Turmeric Powder - 1/8 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Corn flour - 2 tsp
Pepper Powder - 1/8 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Oil - to fry
Curry leaves - few

Procedure
Wash Kaadai thoroughly and drain it in a strainer.
In a bowl add egg,salt,turmeric,chilli,coriander,ginger garlic paste and corn flour and mix well.
Add Kaadai in it and mix so that the batter is coated well in Kaadai.
Now add pepper powder and marinate.
Now let it marinate for 1 hour in fridge.
Heat oil in a pan and fry these kaadai.
Yummy Kaadai 65 is ready to serve. Garnish with fried curry leaves or onions .
Serve hot

Notes
Marination is a must for this recipe.
Clean Kaadai properly .

Cheers
Jayanthi B

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Chocolate Mousse for 2 ( Without Cream and Without Raw Eggs!!! )

Chocolatey, Creamy, Rich at the same time light and fluffy Chocolate Mousse!!!

The very first time I had mousse was during a flight trip to Mumbai. They served us Mango Mousse during the lunch. I enjoyed every spoon. It was so light, creamy and full of mango flavour ( At that time I didn't even know that it was called mousse!! ) I enjoyed it totally...
Later back in Coimbatore, I had Butterscotch Mousse once and totally hated it. It was so rich, creamy and light but completely lacked the flavour. It was totally bland. I felt like I was eating a glass full of plain whipped cream without any flavour. All these eventually led me to try my own version.

I have always skipped doing mousse mainly because of 2 reasons. One is the use of raw eggs and the other is the use of whipped cream, which I try to avoid as much as possible. As you have seen in my Panner Butter Masala recipe and Caramel Sauce recipe I try to work with ingredients that I have readily (Ya! I know its a crazy habit ) And I don't want the whipped cream to overpower the chocolate. For me a perfect chocolate mousse should be fluffy, light, creamy, rich at the same time chocolatey!!! I want the chocolate to shine through every spoonful...
Once, while just browsing through I came across Swiss ButterCream recipe in which the egg whites are first cooked with sugar and then whipped. I loved that idea!!! Now problem solved :)
I am very proud to say that I developed this recipe from scratch ( Yay!!! ) In this chocolate mousse, the eggs are cooked. This Chocolate Mousse just has 3 main steps-
1) Prepare the chocolate cream
2) Prepare the meringue
3) Combine Cream and meringue.
I cooked the yolk while preparing chocolate cream and the egg white while preparing meringue. Plus there is no whipped cream to dull the chocolate flavour. So this is a win win recipe!!! There is loads of chocolate flavour with light, fluffy and creamy texture without any extra fat :)

Job Done!!! This Chocolate Mousse is exactly how I wanted it to be. Its so chocolatey!!! All the light and creamy texture doesn't overpower the chocolate. Now, how many times have I said that ??? You get it right? its soooo chocolatey!!!!! You will get chocolate flavour in every spoon. And it is a very quick recipe. You can complete this within 15 minutes. The only bad thing about this chocolate mousse is you need to wait for it to set completely ( though I cheated as usual the first time I did, hey! its my favorite chocolate and I can't help it :) )

Before we get on with the recipe, I want to wish you all a very Happy Valentines Day!!!

INGREDIENTS:

Dark Chocolate - 40 g
Milk - 1/4 cup
Butter - 1/2 tbsp
Egg - 1
Caster Sugar - 1 and 1/4 tbsp

METHOD:
1) Separate the egg yolk and white and place in clean and dry separate bowls. Chop the chocolate and keep it aside. Lightly break the yolk with the fork.
2) Bring the milk to a boil. Pour little ( about 1 to 2 tbsp ) of hot milk into the yolk, while whisking continuously to avoid any scrambling of the yolk (This process is called tempering the eggs ) Now pour the yolk mixture back to the milk pan.
3) Whisk continuously until it gets thickened and coats the back of the spoon as shown in picture below ( just run a finger through the back of the spoon, if it leaves a path it is ready! ) Add the butter and the chopped chocolate.
4) Mix well till it is smooth and glossy. Pour it through a sieve just to make sure you don't have any scrambled egg.
5) Our chocolate cream is now ready. Allow it to cool to room temperature. Add caster sugar to the egg white.
6) Place the egg white bowl over a pan of simmering water. Make sure that the bowl does not touch the water. Now start whisking.
7) Whisk continuously until the sugar dissolves and the mixture turns from transparent to slightly white colour ( refer picture ) Keep watching as it will be over within 1 to 2 minutes. The mixture should also be warm. At this point remove it from over the pan and start whipping with a electric beater. Start from low speed and increase it to its highest speed.
8) Whip until stiff peaks form.
9) Now fold 1/3 rd of the meringue to the chocolate cream to loosen it up first. Mix the next 1/3 rd of the meringue and finally the last 1/3 rd.
10) You will get light and creamy mixture as shown in the picture below. Pour into individual ramekins and cover it with cling film. Refrigerate for overnight ( or a minimum of 4 hours )

Get ready to dig in!! Look at the fluffy chocolate mousse. It is chocolate heaven for all the chocolate lovers!!!

NOTES:

1) I used chocolate with 50% cocoa.

2) Make sure the egg is at room temperature.

3) Always fold the meringue gently as it gives the fluffy texture to the mousse.

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