Chilli Pineapple Mint Chutney

It's Vegan MoFo Day 11 and it's going good. People from all over the world are blogging about vegan food and I'm learning something new every single day. I learn about new ingredients and cuisines and this is making my mind go into over drive because suddenly I realize there are so many places I want to travel to and eat the local food there.

Growing up whenever we went to a restaurant we always ordered the cheese on skewers. They always came on toothpicks with a piece of pineapple and cherry with each skewer. I never really understood the combination but I liked it.

This chutney is something like that. I know pineapple and mint is a good combination, it sounds right. But adding spice to that might sound wrong, but it's not. This chutney is a great dip (for chips), goes well with Indian food too, I can imagine it inside a pita bread with some hummus and falafel and I can also imagine using it as a salad dressing or inside a nice hearty sandwich.

Let me interrupt you with today's find before I forget: Simply Go Vegan. It's blog in German and as the title suggest the recipes are simple but they look so good. The recipes for the German Potato bread and Merguez, a spicy north african sausage are things to look out for.

On that spicy note here is the recipe for the chutney.

You need:
2 cups of diced pineapple (I used fresh pineapple)
1 mild Green Chilli
1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves
a pinch of Salt

Blend together and chill before serving.

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Vitamin C Chutney

If you ask any Indian what to eat to ensure Vitamin C in the diet, Aamla is surely going to figure in the list. This Indian Gooseberry  holds a very important place in the Indian heart (and hair). When it is in season, everyone laps it up making  pickles, chutneys or sun dries it to ensure a year long supply of Vitamin C. As kids, we used to buy small tiny sachets of dried and salted aamlas as an after school snack.

But I need to tell you my find of the day before that: Vegan Food Rocks. That cream of Broccoli soup looks so easy and awesome!

Now, if you have never tried an aamla, I'd like you to imagine biting into the sourest Sour Candy available and put aside the the sweetness of the sugar in the candy. It is sour and astringent but also has sweet and bitter undertones. My salivary glands are kicking it in as I type this. Apart from being an elixir, natural medicine-for-everything kind of fruit, it is also applied to hair to ensure good hair growth and I read somewhere that apparently Indians have the best hair on the planet. Well, all Indians except me at least.

This chutney is raw, vegan and oil free. It goes well with rotis and I'm sure some bread or dosa will be nice with it too.

You need:

4 aamlas or Indian Gooseberries
2 mild Green chillies
Salt

The Aamlas have tough flesh with a pit inside. Remove the pits and blend it with the green chillies and salt.

Enjoy your dose of sour, concentrated vitamin C!

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Coriander Mint Chutney aka Basic Green Chutney

I'm beginning the awesome Month of Vegan food with the simplest, most versatile green chutney. This chutney can be found in most homes and even on the streets of Bombay. It is used as a side with rotis, it can be added to a vegetable while cooking it, even to a pulav/pilaf, it is used as a sandwich spread in the famous Chutney Sandwich and is used in my favourite street food in Bombay- Paani Puri.

It is a dark green, chlorophyll laden, lump of goodness. It is usually the spicy chutney and served with a sweet chutney which I will put up soon. To this basic recipe, you can add fresh grated coconut or raw peanuts to give the chutney a thicker body and tone down the spice. Us Indians love our chutneys hot, so this one might be way too spicy if you are not used to the Indian level of spiciness. I have used the dark green chillies which are the spiciest. If you find a milder green chilli, you can use it. They are usually lighter in colour. You can also add raw onions and raw garlic to the mix to give it a nice depth of flavour. But I'm not a big fan of raw onions or garlic. There are quite a few people who don't like coriander but they usually don't mind it in this chutney form.

So here is the recipe for the most versatile chutney ever with a few ideas for its use listed below.

You need:

A Big bunch of the freshest coriander/ cilantro - washed and de-stemmed (about three cups)*
Half the amount of fresh mint leaves - washed and de-stemmed (about two cups)*
4 dark green chillies
1 inch piece of ginger
Juice of 1 lime
1tsp Salt or more
a pinch of black salt if you have some
Water

Optional ingredients:
1/2 medium sized red onion
2 cloves of garlic

OR
4 tbsp fresh, shredded coconut

OR
a handful of raw peanuts


*The reason the stems are removed is so that the chutney stays thick because the stems have quite a bit of water in them. Mint takes a bit of time to clean and remove each leaf from the stem, but thin coriander stems are okay to add. Just make sure you don't add any roots.

Add into a blender and blend away. (This has to be the shortest description ever!)

You might have to stop a few times to push the ingredients down towards the blades. Add a little water if required. Squeeze the lime at the end and mix well.

Store in the refrigerator for up to ten days or freeze it for a hundred years. :)

A few ideas to use this chutney:
Sandwiches are great ways to use this chutney. A popular chutney sandwich is made with two slices of bread with chutney and ketchup smothered on them. It goes well on bagels too.

On the streets of bombay, a toasted chutney sandwich is made using this chutney spread on bread with raw tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, boiled potatoes and beetroot. It is served with ketchup and a generous sprinkle of sev. Other street foods like Bhel puri, sev puri and paani puri use this chutney extensively.

This chutney can be served with dosas and samosas.

You could add this chutney to onions while cooking them to add more flavour to your vegetable, bean and grain dishes.

I've even used this chutney with some vegan mayo as a dip for chips and vegetable sticks.

It can be added to a salad of raw vegetables or even to a salad with root vegetables.

Sandwich one morning: Whole wheat rosemary and garlic bread with chutney and cucumbers.

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Shredded Carrot Salad

This is one of my favourite salads. I can eat just this for lunch everyday! It has a wonderful mix of the sourness of lime, spice of chilli and my favourite spice for indian foods - asafoetida.

You need:

2 Shredded carrots- shred/grate them to any size, I prefer the large hole grater for this salad

Juice of 1 lime

1 spicy Green Chilli

1/2 teaspoon asafoetida powder

Salt

Mix all the ingredients and chill it in the refrigerator if you like. Eat!

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Sesame-Mustard Stir Fry Vegetables

This looks as good as it tastes!

You need:

2 tsp Sesame Oil (til oil)

1 Onion chopped in fine-long pieces

1 Green or Red Chilli

1/4 inch ginger juliennes (sliced long and thin)

1 Carrot Shredded or grated in a large holed grater

1/2 of a small Cabbage shredded or chopped fine and long

1/4 of a small Raw Papaya juliennes

1/2 Green/Red/Yellow Pepper (Capsicum) (optional)

A handful of Mushrooms chopped (optional)

100gms Tofu diced (optional)

2 tsp Soy Sauce

2 tsp Raw or Roasted Sesame Seeds (Til)

1 tsp freshly ground Mustard seeds (Rai)

Salt

Cooked Noodles or Rice (optional)

In a saucepan/wok heat 1 tsp sesame oil and add the tofu. Stir it around till the tofu is light brown, remove and keep it aside. If you are not going to use tofu, omit this step completely.

In the same saucepan/wok add 1 tsp sesame oil and add the onions, green or red chilli and ginger. Stir it around once in a while. When the onions turn translucent, add the other vegetables whatever your using. I always add the cabbage towards the end since it cooks real fast. Add the soy sauce, salt, sesame and ground mustard seeds. After about 4 minutes when everything starts sizzling, add the tofu and give it a quick stir. Take the pan off the stove and cover it and let it sit for about 3 minutes.

Serve it hot over noodles or rice or have it as is.

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