Curry Leaves Chutney (karibeva Chutney)

This chutney is known as “kushil narla chutney” (kushile-spoiled, narlu-coconut). Yes, it is basically made of a bit smelly coconuts, not the completely rotten ones though. Sometimes when the coconut is kept as it is for many days, they get a bit of smell (you can smell it, but cannot see the change in color). Instead of wasting such coconuts, they are paired with curry leaves so that the smell can be overcome by a strong smell of leaves. This was how this chutney originated. May be because people were very poor in those days and they just could not afford wasting a coconut. I remember my Aayi telling me that her grand mother used to go in search of a bit smelly coconuts to make this chutney :D.

That was in olden days. But these days we make this chutney with normal coconuts. Once you taste this chutney, I bet you will never ever forget the taste. I am a huge fan of this from my childhood. Few people eat the raw chutney and few people fry it to preserve it for many days. My dad likes the raw chutney and I like the fried chutney, so we always had two batches of chutneys at home. Once when I was a kid, my Aayi fried it well till some of it turned almost black. So I renamed it as “kushil narla lashil chutney” (lashil meaning burnt) :D.

Unlike any other chutneys which are served with either dosa or idlis or vadas, this is served as a side dish with rice. Never tried it with idli/dosas.

Ingredients: Grated coconut(fresh or frozen) 1 cup Curry leaves 2 big strands (approximately 20 leaves) Asafoetida a pinch Red chilies 5-6 Tamarind extract 1/4 tea spn Oil 1/2 tea spn Salt

I use tamarind extract in all cooking. If normal tamarind is used, adjust to suit the taste.

Method: Heat oil and fry red chilies. Take them out and fry curry leaves till they become crispy(do not add extra oil). Take out and roast the coconut till it turns slightly brownish. Grind all the ingredients together to a coarse paste. Do not add too much water. Serve it as a side dish with rice. If you need to preserve this for few days, take the chutney in a pan and heat it. Keep mixing it occasionally.

Fry till the moisture goes off and chutney becomes completely dry(I forgot to take the picture at this stage. Will post some other time). Remains good for at least a week.

Serves : 4-5 Preparation time : 20mins

Curry leaves chutney (Karibeva chutney) - 2

Kadamb – Cucumber Idli

“Kadamb” is another dish that always I wanted to include in Aayisrecipes. But like hittu/khotte , for this, the ‘turmeric leaves’ were not available here. So I always prepared either tausalli or made these in banana leaves like this . So this was one of the dishes in “most-wanted-pictures” list. Like hittu/khotte, these pictures are also taken by my brother at my native.

“Kadamb” is a kind of idli prepared in turmeric leaves and steamed. Some people make it sweet, some bland and few people like it with a mustard-chili seasoning. At my home, I like them bland and my brother with seasoning. So Aayi always kept 3-4 for me separately and adds seasoning to others. With or without seasoning, this dish tastes amazing. The turmeric leaves give a very different and amazing aroma to this dish. Turmeric is grown almost by everyone at my native for both the leaves and the root.

Ingredient: Cucumber(grated) 2 cups Rice 1 cup or rice rava(idli rava) 1 cup Coconut(fresh or frozen) 1/2 cup Sugar/jaggery 1/2 tea spn Salt For lining up vessel Turmeric leaves 5-6 For seasoning(optional) Oil 1/2 tea spn Mustard seeds 1/2 tea spn Red chilies 2-3

Method: Soak rice in water fr around 2hrs. Drain the water and spread it on a dry cloth or paper. When it becomes dry, grind it into coarse rava (alternatively, use the idli rava directly). Mix rava with all other ingredients.

Curry leaves chutney (Karibeva chutney) - 4

Heat oil and add mustard. When they start popping, add red chilies cut into small pieces. Add this to the above mixture and mix well (the seasoning is optional).