Cliantro Green chutney

Growing up in India meant growing up eating Indian food. And eating Indian food meant nearly every dish was garnished with chopped cilantro leaves.

I have lived in many cities and towns in India. The most ubiquitous factor in an Indian family's life is their "sabziwallah" and "keerai-kari".

"Sabziwallah" simply means "vegetable man". He would arrive early every morning, pushing his cart laden with all kinds of local and seasonal vegetables. There would be potatoes, onions, tomatoes, green beans, a few different kinds of pumpkins and gourds, brinjal (eggplant), carrots, ladies finger (okra!) amongst whatever else he could source that morning. None of the vegetables were refrigerated, so he needed to offload his wares that same day in order to minimize any losses. Invariably, he had a route and many different housewives with whom he had a symbiotic relationship. They needed him and he needed them. The women of the household looked forward to his visit everyday. It was a time to meet and chat with neighbors, take a break from the rush of sending the husband and kids off to work and school and from packing tiffin boxes (lunch boxes) for everyone. It was a time to take in the glorious sunshine and pore over the produce. Each housewife would buy her vegetables for the day and in the end, the sabziwallah would throw in his special free of charge - a small handful of green chilis and a few sprigs of cilantro.

And that cilantro would get washed, chopped and grace nearly every dish as a garnish.

But if the housewife ever wanted to make a cilantro chutney, she'd need to go to another source to buy a bunch of cilantro - the "keerai-kari" or the "green woman". This was invariably an old woman who would come laden with a huge basket on her head, filled with all kinds of greens. She would have different types of spinach, all kinds of greens and bunches of cilantro. She would stand outside the door and yell, "Amma (madam), I've brought greens". And the housewife would have another break from her household chores. She would go out and help the old woman bring down the basket from her head, haggle over the price of the greens, pay her, help her load her heavy basket back on her head and be on her merry way.

So, for as long as I can remember, cilantro was a staple in my diet - either as a garnish or as a chutney. It is only now that I checked the nutritional value of cilantro. According to the health diaries site, it has phenomenal health benefits - most notable amongst them is the ability to work as a natural chelation agent by leaching out heavy metals like mercury from the body. In addition, it is reportedly good for reducing bad cholesterol (LDL), increasing good cholesterol (HDL) and lowering blood sugar. It is also a good source of magnesium, iron, dietary fiber, phytonutrients and flavonoids.

And, oh, did I mention - it tastes simply fantastic.

What more reason do you need to try out this fabulous Cilantro Green chutney? Here's one more - it is ZERO fat. No fat! Nada!

Here's the section where I give credit: the Cilantro Green Chutney is my dear mother-in-law, Usha's recipe. And this is my father-in-law's most favorite accompaniment for every dish.

I have used this chutney in the Fusion Egg Sandwich recipe and had promised to give you the recipe.

Here it is. Buy a bunch of fresh green cilantro, make this chutney and store in the fridge for upto a week. Super quick and easy to make!







Here is what you need:
3 small bunches fresh cilantro leaves (wash thoroughly under running water)
1" piece fresh ginger (wash)
2 garlic pods (peeled and washed)
4 green chilis (reduce per taste)
1 tsp salt
Dash of lemon juice



Here is how you make this:
Place everything except lemon juice in a blender. Add enough water to allow the blender to work smoothly. Blend. Add lemon juice. Serve. Enjoy!

Potato, Potaato, Tomato, Tomaato

My lil' sister Indu, is multi-talented. She is a renowned author and writes very fabulous novels. Call me biased, if you will, but she's onto her 4th book now and we are all very thrilled about her books. For my readers with a literary bent, here is a link to the review of her 4th book, "In the Convent of Little Flowers", in the National Geographic.

Now, writing is just one of her talents. The ones I most admire though, are the ones close to my heart: she is a fantastic cook, conscientious home-maker and a simply wonderful mom to her effervescent, sparkling, 2 year old.

As a child, Indu loved potatoes, and she still does. So, when she came over with her family for a visit in the summer, she offered to cook one of her famous potato dishes. One of these days, I expect she'll write a recipe book about 1001 potato recipes - she has that many up her sleeve! Now, the best part of Indu's cooking is that it doesn't require you to go grocery shopping. She'll simply fling together a scrumptious dish with whatever you have in your fridge and larder.

Taking a page out of her book, I decided to try out a new potato dish, since my son too, has taken after Indu in his taste for potatoes. I looked into my fridge and peered into my larder. I decided to whip up this lip-smacking Cilantro-Cilantro seed Potato dish. The double dose of Cilantro simply smells wonderful. Its like baking cookies when your house on the market for sale. The smells waft through your house making it inviting and homey on a cold winter day.

One of the worst enemies to a potato lover's waistline is the added fat that is required to cook potatoes. Try this dish - it has only one teaspoonful of Olive oil!

Cilantro-Cilantro seed Potato curry

You will need:
4 small potatoes
1 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Oil
1 bunch green Cilantro leaves
2 tbsp Cilantro seeds (see attached photo)
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2" piece fresh ginger
1 fresh green or red chili (I use jalapeno or serrano peppers)
1 orange Habenero pepper (because I like it spicy! You can cut this out if you want it mild)

To prepare:
Toast the cilantro seeds on a hot, dry pan until golden brown. Place the Cilantro leaves, toasted seeds, ginger, green chili and habenero pepper in a blender and blend with 1/4 cup water until smooth.
Dice the potatoes. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, put in the cumin seeds and fry for a few seconds until browned. Now add the potatoes and turmeric and stir fry for a few minutes. Add in the sauce and cover and cook on a slow fire until the potatoes are tender.

Serve hot with parathas (Indian hand-made whole wheat bread)