Thenga Chammandi (Coconut Dry Chutney)

I loved to fall sick when i was a kid.  :P
The reasons being NO school for a day or two and the "kanji" and "chammandi" my mom would make for me.

This chutney with some hot "kanji" or rice is an absolute comfort food for me even today and it brings back a lot of memories.
 It is spicy, it is salty , it is sour ... and I love it!!
This goes well with some steaming hot rice and seasoned buttermilk (Moru curry)

Things you need

* Scraped Coconut  - 1 cup
* Shallots/pearl onion  - 10 nos
* Dry Red chilies  - 4 or 5 nos
* Curry Leaves   -  3
* Tamarind  -  The size of a gooseberry
* Salt to taste

Heat some coconut oil in a pan. Add shallots to hot oil and cook them till they are brown. When shallots are done add the redchillies and curry leaves and cook for a few seconds. Take it off the heat and let it cool down a bit. Now put this in a blender along with the tamarind and salt and blend it. Now add the scrapped coconut to the blended mix and blend them lightly.

Be careful about adding salt as the tamarind could be salted.

Moru curry (Seasoned Buttermilk) in 2 minutes

This a super easy curry and trust me... my 2 minutes claim is true...

This is the easiest way to make seasoned buttermilk and i learned it during my days before marriage when i used to stay with my friends in our small rented flat in Bangalore. It was so easy to make and it tasted so good that we would end up making it almost everyday.

Things you Need

*  Curd             -    2 cups
*  Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp
*  Dry red chili   -   5 or 6 nos
*  Mustard seeds  - 1 big pinch
*  Fenugreek seeds   -  1 pinch
*  Curry Leaves
*  Salt to taste

Lightly whisk the curd with enough salt. You may also add some water to bring it to the consistency that you like. 

Now heat some oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds followed by fenugreek seeds. In a low flame, add the red chilies and curry leaves and cook for a few seconds. Add some turmeric powder to this and take it out of the heat. 

Pour it on the whisked curd and give it a nice stir. 

Tada..... You are done!!!!! 

Now let it stand for an hour. By then it would have attained the right colour and texture. Stir well and serve.

It would be better if you keep stirring the curd while adding the hot ingredients as it would prevent the curd from separating. 

Extras :

You can add turmeric to the curd instead of adding it along with the chili and curry leaves.

You can also fry some shallots before adding the red chilies. 

Happy Independence day