Homemade Tomato Purée

As soon as I got my mixer, the first thing I was glad about was that I can make my fresh Tomato Purée for my dishes. I learnt to make tomato Purée from one of my neighbors in Bangalore who went for cooking classes.

I took these pics while I was preparing Ratatouille for our Sunday lunch. Soon, I will be uploading the  ratatouille recipe too.

Ingredients
Tomatoes	2 or 3
Water	to boil

Give 1 or 2 small cuts at the bottom of the tomatoes.

Drop the tomatoes in boiling water and cook for 7-8 minutes.

Turn the tomatoes and cook them on the other side for 5 minutes.

Drain the boiling water and cool the cooked tomatoes. Peel the skin of the tomatoes and let them cool for another 10-15 minutes.

Once the tomatoes are cool, blend/grind them to a smooth paste.

If you are not using it right away, you can store it in an airtight container in fridge for almost a week.

Groundnut Chutney

When I worked in HP, it was the lunch time I enjoyed the most. Though we hardly had time to go out for lunch, we shared and ate as we worked. The best part was, the food from my Team Lead  Shalini's Lunch box. She is an excellent cook and every one of us love her Ragi dosa, Akki rotti with groundnut chutney.

I asked her for the recipe for groundnut chutney once and tried at home. It hardly came out as good as she prepares. So I tried to modify it to taste better and finally narrowed it to a simple recipe which really tastes yummy. Thanks for the recipe Shalini. :)

Nutritional Information  (Approx)			(per serving)
Energy	140		Calories
Fat	18		%
Carbohydrate	2		%
Dietary Fiber	10		%
Sodium	8		%
Vitamin A	2		%
Vitamin C	1		%
Calcium	3		%
Iron	6		%
Protein	6.4		Grams
Sugar	2.3		Grams

Ingredients
Groundnuts/peanuts	2 cups
Red chillies	6 or 7
Coriander leaves	1/2 cup
Garlic cloves	4
Tamarind	1/2 lemon size
Salt	to taste

Heat a frying pan and add Groundnuts/peanuts. Fry for 5 minutes and keep it aside.

In the same pan, fry red chillies for 2 minutes.

Let Groundnuts and red chillies cool down.

Grind all the ingredients, adjust salt if required. Serve with Dosa or idli.

Jeera Rice (Mum's style)

When anybody says Jeera Rice, a picture of white rice filled with Jeera/cumin seeds and the yummy taste of it crosses our mind.

The Jeera Rice I am going to show you is even more delicious than the usual one. This is another dish which i learnt from my mum. It is very much different than the usual rice dishes and is so much tastier. I have not modified the recipe and love it the way it is.

This dish brings back so many of my childhood memories and I feel like eating it right now because of the thought of it.

Nutritional Information  (Approx)			(per serving)
Energy	200		Calories
Fat	6		%
Carbohydrate	33		%
Dietary Fiber	4		%
Sodium	2		%
Vitamin A	0		%
Vitamin C	3		%
Calcium	3		%
Iron	14		%
Protein	3.7		Grams
Sugar	0.9		Grams

Ingredients
White rice Cooked	3 cups
Coconut/Copra grated	1/2 cup
Red chillies	3 or 4
Jeera/Cumin seeds	1 & 1/2 tsps
Turmeric powder	1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds	1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds	1/4 tsp
Tamarind/tamarind paste	1/2 lemon size
Salt	to taste
Water	3 tbsps

To Temper
Oil	1 tbsp
Mustard seeds	1/2 tsp
Jeera/Cumin seeds	1/2 tsp
Urad dal	1/2 tsp

Gather Coconut/Copra, Red chillies, Jeera/Cumin seeds, Turmeric powder, Mustard seeds, Fenugreek seeds, Tamarind/tamarind paste.

Add water and grind it coarsely.

In a pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and wait till they splutter.

Add Urad dal and fry for a minute.

Add the ground masala and 2 tablespoons of water and bring it to boil.

Add salt and boil for 2 more minutes.

Simmer the flame and add rice.

Mix the rice well and serve hot.

Tindora/Ivy gourd Kodilu

Tindora Kodilu is a curry dish prepared without any Dal. This dish is straight from my mum's kitchen.

It is good to have someone who has more than 30 years of experience in cooking to share some of the recipes.Tindora (Ivy gourd) is a vegetable used mainly in Asia. It has medicinal properties which is why Tindora is also used to treat breathing problems, jaundice and fever. Tindora is also rich in Beta-carotene.

Grated Coconut is used to thicken this curry and is easy to prepare. Please excuse the quality of the photos. I guess she tried to take pics in a hurry. Hope you all like the curry.

Nutritional Information  (Approx)			(per serving)
Energy	145		Calories
Fat	8		%
Carbohydrate	7		%
Dietary Fiber	44		%
Sodium	33		%
Vitamin A	10		%
Vitamin C	40		%
Calcium	10		%
Iron	22		%
Protein	2.6		Grams
Sugar	2.3		Grams

Ingredients
Tindora/Ivy gourd chopped	10
Grated coconut	1 cup
Red chillies	6 or 7
Tamarind	size of half a lemon
Turmeric powder	1/2 tsp
Salt	to taste

To Temper
Coconut Oil	1 tsp
Mustard seeds	1/2 tsp
Garlic cloves	10

Wash and slightly smash the Ivy gourds as shown in the picture.

Boil a pot of water and add the smashed Ivy gourds. 

Cover the lid and cook till the Ivy gourds are soft.

Gather the ingredients for masala.

Roast the coconut and red chillies for 2-3 minutes under low heat.

Grind the roasted coconut, red chillies, Turmeric and tamarind to a smooth paste.

Add the ground masala to the cooked Ivy gourds. Also add salt and some water if required. Bring the mixture to boil.

Heat oil and add mustard seeds and wait till they splutter. Add garlic cloves and fry for 20-3 minutes.

Add it to the mixture and serve hot with white rice or rotis.