Hing Chutney

Asafoetida/Hing chutney is a perfect dish to go with Dosa or idlis, a special treat for the hing lovers. Its also easy to make and a fool proof chutney. There is very less chance that you will goof up with it.

1 cup shredded coconut
2-4 dry red chillies
small piece tamarind
small piece hing or 1/4 tsp hing powder

for seasoning
mustard
curry leaves

Heat a tsp of oil and roast red chillies in it. If you are using solid hing then fry the hing in oil along with the chillies. Grind coconut, tamarind and red chillies into a smooth paste. When almost done add roasted solid hing and continue to grind. Transfer to a bowl. Make a seasoning of mustard and curry leaves and garnish the chutney. If using hing powder, add the hing to the seasoning instead of grind it.

Konkanis usually make coconut masala/maasolu. If you often make the coconut, tamarind and red chillies paste, then make some extra and store in the freezer. You can later defrost and add roasted hing and convert it to hing chutney.

Coconut Chutney

Mangaloreans make pure coconut chutney. It does not have peanuts, or chana dal/putani like in other places. A fully grown fresh coconut is ideal for a coconut chutney. Make sure that it does not have dry coconut/copra or any rancid taste in it.

1 cup fresh shredded coconut
5-10 green chillies
tiny piece of tamarind
tiny piece of ginger
5-6 sprigs cilantro, optional
5-10 coriander seeds, optional

For seasoning, optional
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
5-6 curry leaves

Grind coconut along with green chillies, tamarind and ginger. When almost smooth add broken cilantro and coriander seeds and continue to grind. Take care not to heat the motor of your grinder or blender, this will cook the coconut which we want to avoid. Transfer to a bowl. Adjust salt.

You can season the chutney if you would like to. Splutter a few mustard seeds in a tiny bit of oil and the fry the curry leaves in it. Add to the chutney.

Adding cilantro and coriander seeds is optional. Some people do add jeera instead of coriander seeds. But I like the coriander seeds better. You may also add a small clove garlic of garlic to the chutney.

Serve on the side of idli or dosa.

Avocado and Guacamole

Guacamole served with tortilla chips

Avocado/butter fruit or beNNe haNNu in Kannada is a dark/bright green fruit which softens when ripe. It has a big hard seed inside and a soft light green pulp. The pulp is very creamy and hence the name butter fruit. My friend who is from Coorg/Madikeri used to get a lot of these fruits to my hostel during the college days. We didn't knew any recipes out of it then. We used to squeeze the pulp out, mix sugar and eat it for dessert. Now I have 2 recipes.

Heath benefits : As quoted in Wikipedia 'the fruit does have a markedly higher fat content than most other fruits, most of the fat in avocados is mono-unsaturated fat, which is considered healthy in the human diet. A whole medium avocado contains approximately 25% of the recommended daily amount of saturated fat. Avocados also have 60% more potassium than bananas. They are also rich in B vitamins, as well as vitamin E and K'. Also see WhFoods for more info.

This is the most easiest way to relish an avocado. Mash the pulp with the back of the spoon and mix it with sugar and simply eat it. Delicious! Its like mixing homemade butter with sugar.Yummy..

The second recipe is a spicy chutney that can be used as a dip for chips or as a spread for sandwich. I even like to eat it with chapati. Yes I am talking about Guacamole. This is a very popular Mexican chutney. There are many different recipes for this chutney on the Internet. I tried & tested this one.


1 avocado, mashed
1/2 tsp freshly crushed jeera
1-2 green chillies
1/4 bunch cilantro/coriander leaves
1-2 cloves garlic
salt
juice of 1 lime
1/2 onion, optional

Finely chop green chillies, cilantro. Mince the garlic. Coarsely crush the jeera. Alternately you may also coarsely grind the green chillies, garlic, jeera and cilantro in the mixer/food processor, but not necessary.
Mix in some finely chopped onion. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly along with the mashed avocado pulp. Adjust salt. Squeeze juice of 1 lime and mix. Keep it closed, it may get dark colored if exposed to air for long. To avoid this add few drops of lime juice on the top, this helps to preserve the bright green color.Let it rest for 2 hrs in the fridge.
Serve with chips or as a spread for sandwich or chapati or Dosa



I watch a lot of cooking shows. This is how I learnt to open an avocado without any hassle.

Make a vertical slit around the pit of the avocado.

Twist the two hemispheres and open it.

Hit the knife into the seed and pop it out. Discard the pit.

With a small knife make vertical and horizontal slits on the pulp. Scoop up the pulp with a spoon.
Transfer into a bowl and mash with the back of a fork.
You can retain the shells and serve the avocado dishes right on the shells.