Green Mango Chutney

Before I begin this new post, I must apologize to our fans for being MIA for a couple of weeks. We've been busy cooking and perfecting some interesting dishes for you to try over this hot sultry summer. And of course a lot of these dishes are cooked with "green" ingredients to keep you healthy.

Now I know most of you know about the mango pickles that are found at the Indian stores by different brands such as Mother's, Priya, or Ruchika. They all make pickles with various ingredients such as garlic, gooseberry, and achar. The most common and popular ingredient is green mango because it tastes great raw but when mixed with other spices, it tastes even better. The chutney I would like to share with you is different; and by different I mean it's not pickled in oil and chili powder like the ones you find at the Indian stores.

If you are like me, you love dabbling with recipes that are somethin' to talk about. Try your luck with this one: Green Mango Chutney.

Ingredients:

- Firm Green Mango....................... 1 medium size
- Fresh grated coconut.................... ½ cup
- Brown sugar / Jaggery.................. 1 tbsp
- Red chili powder.......................... 1 tsp
- Turmeric Powder......................... ½ tsp
- Salt.............................................. 1 tsp or as needed

Also, like most "karis" that we make, chutneys get their extra little kick from the seasoning or the Taalimpu that we add at the end. You may also recognize the word kari I just used because Alton Brown did an episode about it in one of his seasons. It means curry in English. I just thought I would throw in some of my Food Network knowledge for all you Hardcore Foodies.

Anyways, so get all your seasonings ingredients together too (hint: a Taalimpu or Chaunk box is very handy):

- Asafoetida powder...................... 1 pinch
- Mustard seeds............................. 1 tsp
- Cumin seeds................................ 1 tsp
- Curry leaves................................  5-6 leaves
- Vegetable Oil............................... 1 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Peel the mango and grate it all.

2. When using frozen grated coconut, remove the required amount and allow it to come to room temperature or microwave for few seconds.

3. In a blender add all the chutney ingredients and blend them to get uniform mixture (do not over blend to a fine paste). Try to get it to the consistency as illustrated in the picture below.

4. Taste it to adjust the salt and brown sugar to meet the desired taste. Note: if the mango is sweet, you could use ½ tsp of citric acid to bring in the sour taste.

5. Transfer the contents into a bowl.

6. Heat the oil for seasoning and when hot, add mustard and jeera and when they begin to crackle, add asafoetida and curry leaves. Mix well and add the seasoning to the chutney and mix well.

7. Serve the chutney with hot white rice. It is normally eaten by mixing the chutney into the rice with a splash of oil for added taste.

A Real Crunch Muncher!

If you have ever read "The Namesake" or watched the movie, then you will remember this scene I am about to narrate to you. Ashima Ganguli newly married leaves her hometown in Calcutta, India to settle with her husband, Ashoke in Cambridge, MA. Ashoke is an engineering student at MIT and lives in an apartment on or near campus. Ashima wakes up in the morning and looks around their little kitchen to figure out what to eat for breakfast. Oh, I forgot to mention she's pregnant. I guess pregnant women have all sorts of cravings, something spicy, sweet or salt. All Ashima could find is a box of Corn Flakes in the cupboard. So she takes out a bowl, pours the corn flakes into it and just looks at it; it's so plain. The next scene that I remember from the movie was that she chops up onions and adds them to the cereal and tosses it with masala and salt. Note to self: every Indian household has masala for cooking...it's a necessity.

Anyways, after mixing everything together, she sits down by the table and eats her spicy corn flakes mixture for breakfast with pleasure. Now I have explained this particular scene to you because that was one of the scenes that reminds me of foods I grew up with and how I could relate to the movie. My mom made a similar Corn Flakes Mixture this weekend and I just couldn't help but think of the scene from "The Namesake".  And you know what, the procedure for this snack is so simple and so easy and it takes like 10 minutes. So grab some corn flakes and get cracking!!!

I'm sure you are so excited about this snack that you are dying to know what's in it, right? Well, I'm gonna tell you and then you have to tell me how it turns out. You will never look at Corn Flakes the same way again.

Ingredients:

- 7oz box of Corn Flakes cereal
- Handful of Peanuts / cashews
- Handful of Roasted channa dal
- ½ tsp of Red Chilli powder
- 1 tsp of Coriander powder (dhania),  (optional)
- 1 tsp of Salt (as per your taste)
- ½ tsp of Citric Acid powder, (optional)
- 1 tsp of Confectioner's sugar
- 3 to 4 tbsp of Vegetable oil

Procedure:
1) Heat oil in a small saucepan on medium heat and fry the peanuts/cashews until golden brown.

2) Remove from heat and add coriander powder, salt and citric acid and mix well.

3) Empty the cornflakes into a microwavable contrainer and add the roasted channa dal. Then transfer the  seasoning into it and mix well.

4) Reduce the power level on the microwave oven to 70% power and microwave for just two minutes. (Please note that heating time could vary on the power of the oven).

5) Remove from the oven and sprinkle the confectioner's sugar over using a metal sieve and mix well. When it cools down, store it in a tight container to keep it from going stale.

****If you guys haven't heard of The Namesake, you can read more about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Namesake