LIFE CAN BE QUITE A CHUTNEY SOMETIMES…GRINDING TIMES!!

When we were young, we often heard the phrase, ‘Hurry up or Mom will make a chutney out of us’…often in a punishing way as many would say ‘making mincemeat of us’ in parallel tones! Times change, words change, Mom’s don’t & the grind continues …

Why am I on a ‘Chutney‘ trail? Susan from Food Blogga wrote in to me the other day asking me about chutneys from India, & if I had some favourite chutney posts she could link to? Surprisingly enough, I had made my fave chutney the previous day, but didn’t have time to blog about it. Reason…my dear little son decided to come down with chicken pox!! Both kids were vaccinated last year, & the doc said the chances were one in a million that they would get it…so the boy went on to prove the doc was quite right!! Misery reigns supreme in his life as of now, but should be OK in a couple of days…I told him to look at the brighter side; life long immunity! Meanwhile the daughter is treating him like plague & wiping clean every surface he even looks at…her friend in school taught her that!! I do feel like making a chutney out of her when she does that, colloquially of course!!Right, back to the chutney then…The Hindi word for “to crush” literally means “to make chutney.” This signifies the process by which chutney is made; often the ingredients are crushed together with a stone. It’s served as an accompaniment to finger food like vegetable pakodas/fritters, kebabs, samosas etc; or as an addition to the meal to add flavour. There are a zillion types of chutneys like green chutney, coconut chutney, tomato chutney, garlic chutney etc, & further, each region in India doing a variation of their own!

The chutney I made uses fresh coriander & mint leaves, garlic, lime juice , green chilies & salt. Wonderful on flavour & tangy just as we like it. Very fresh for the summer when light eats & finger food make a lot of sense. I served ‘hara chicken kebabs’ with this chutney, where ‘hara‘ translates into the colour green. The kebabs were slightly greenish in hue because of similar flavours / ingredients running through them. Will post the kebabs sometime later…but soon because they were delicious, fabulous on flavour & ever so simple to make.

.

• Pick the coriander & mint leaves, wash them well & leave to drain in a colander.
• Put a small amount in your grinder/blender/Osterizer, add the lime juice + garlic + chilies & grind to a paste.
• Gradually add the rest of the leaves & continue to grind till it becomes a nice blended chutney. Add salt to taste. Transfer to a non-reactive / glass bowl & chill. ZATS IT!!
• I grind my chutney only in lime juice so as not to dilute the tangy, lemony flavour.
• Feel free to play around with ingredients according to your tastebuds. Drop the mint if you don’t have some; increase the chilies for HOT HOT HOT fun!

This is finger licking good & is great served with chicken kebabs below,

OR bite sized kebabs, either made into small balls & shallow fried, or cut into bite-sized pieces, OR, served inside a wrap as a dressing for the kebab!
“When life seems just a dreary grind; and things seem fated to annoy;