Inji Thogayal / Ginger Chutney

Apparently, I seem to do a lot of blog-hopping these days.. I am nothing but inspired by all the great blogs from across the globe with wonderful recipes and big beautiful pictures. The pictures in this post is nothing but a mere evidence of my inspiration.. otherwise, who would even think of putting a spicy ginger relish and the shot glass together? But, I had total fun playing with the light, props and my DSLR on a dark & gloomy day.. the best part, all of the pictures came out so well, I think... what do you think?

Carrot Thogayal

When my neighbor handed me a cup of "Carrot" thogayal a.k.a rice-mix to taste, it didn't hit the right note for me. I mean, I have never tasted.. let alone tasting, I would've never even imagined such a recipe using carrots. "Carrots", "Fenugreek leaves", "Thogayal", all sounded like a strange combination, BUT..... only till I tasted it.

Gongura Thogayal

Last week, I was at Indian grocers and fresh bunches of gongura (sorrel leaves) were calling out to me from almost every other shopping cart. And, that's how a bunch of fresh gongura leaves found its way into my pantry too! Even better, I have a telugu family (from Andhra) who recently moved in next door. Now, do the math yourself!!

Coconut Thogayal

Thengai (coconut) thogayal is one of the first few recipes that I learnt in my early days of cooking. Those were the times when I had the luxury of enjoying my mom 's cooking and not have to cook too often (really .. those were the days .. sighhh !!!!!). I had this problem of forgetting the recipes & ingredients that goes into each recipe. But, coconut thogayal was a cake-walk for me, everytime. This recipe uses just 5 ingredients - hing, urid dal, chillies, tamarind, coconut (salt & oil are the obvious ones) and it was so easy for me to remember (yayyy ...)!

I would have made sure that this recipe is featured in the food channel show "5-ingredient fix", if I were the host of that show :)

Coconut thogayal is a welcome change to the regular sambar/rasam routine. I love this thogayal when it is on the spicier side. Personally, I love thengai thogayal rice with appalam on the side.

Basic Info
Complexity - simple
Prep time - 25 mins (includes scraping fresh coconut)
Cook time - 10 mins
Serves - 3-4

Ingredients
Freshly grated coconut - 1.5 cups
Hing - 1 small piece
Whole urid dal - 2 tbsp
Dry red chillies - 5-6 nos (adjust to your spice level)
Green chilli - 1 no
Tamarind (soaked in hot water) - about the size of a gooseberry
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tsp

Method

Roast hing, urid dal, red chillies in a tsp of oil and set aside to cool.

After it is cooled, use a mixer to grind the fried items along with green chilli into a fine paste.  Then, add coconut, salt, tamarind and grind them all together. Use as little water as possible.

Coconut thogayal is ready to be mixed & relished with hot rice!

Note

• Use freshly grated coconut for maximum flavor.
• Grind fried items first, so that the spices are mixed evenly in the thogayal.
• When mixing with rice, add a tsp of ghee for wonderful aroma & taste.
• Coconut thogayal can be refrigerated and used upto 2/3 days.

Kothamalli Thogayal

Kothamalli (cilantro) thogayal is one of the simplest & healthiest rice mixes around. Using fresh cilantro in the recipe makes this rice mix very rich in anti-oxidants. I find the color & aroma of this thogayal very inviting.

Ingredients
Cilantro -  2 bunches
Urad dal - 1.5 tbsp
Red Chillies - 4-5 nos
Hing - 1 small piece
Tamarind - of small marble size
Oil & Salt - to taste

Method
Wash and clean the cilantro leaves.

Heat oil in a pan. Fry hing, urad dal & red chillies until hing is fried & urid dal turns light brown. Transfer all the roasted ingredients into mixer and grind them along with fresh cilantro leaves, tamarind and salt.

Serve with hot steamed rice with a teaspoon of ghee/sesame oil and chips/vegetable fry on the side.

Pudina thogayal

Pudhina (Mint leaves) thogayal is a warm, fresh, aromatic & colorful rice mix. This thogayal has a perfect mixture of sweet (from pudhina), tangy (from tamarind) & spicy (from pepper) taste.

Ingredients
Mint leaves -  2 small bunches
Urad dal - 1.5 tbsp.
Red Chillies - 2-3 nos
Hing - 1 small piece
Tamarind - of small marble size
Black pepper corns - 1/4 tsp
Oil & Salt - to taste

Method
Wash and clean the mint leaves.

Heat oil in a pan. Fry hing, urad dal, red chillies & peppercorns until hing is fried & urid dal turns light brown.

Transfer all the roasted ingredients into mixer and grind them along with fresh mint leaves, tamarind and salt.

Serve hot with steamed rice with a teaspoon of sesame oil and roasted papad.

Kathirikkai Thogayal

Kathirikkai (eggplant) thogayal is a spicy condiment that is eaten with hot rice and crispy papad on the side. Eggplant is VJ 's first love (no kidding!!!) and this thogayal is one of his favorites.

In India, we roast eggplants directly over the open flame (or) on gas stovetop. But in US, my kitchen only had an electric range and I just couldn't figure out how to roast eggplants to make this thogayal.

On a terribly chilly night, I decided to make this thogayal and started roasting eggplants directly on the electric coil, only to end up with smoke all over my kitchen. To make things worst, the smoke alarm went on and I had to open all the doors & windows to let the smoke escape. Chilly weather, rumbling tummies, empty vessel and smoke all over the house - life couldn't get any more worse, or could it?! That night, I was very close to give up on this thogayal. Then, something just told me to try conventional oven for roasting eggplants and boy, was I glad?!

This thogayal also serves as a great savory spread for chips, bread, bread crisps, roti (or) just with anything!!

Basic Info
Complexity - Simple
Prep time - 20-25 mins (includes roasting eggplants)
Cook time - 5 mins

Serves - 1.5 to 2 cups of thogayal

Ingredients

Eggplant - 2 nos

Hing - 1 small piece

Dry red chillies - 6 nos

Urid dal - 2 tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Tamarind - size of a gooseberry

Salt - to taste

Method

Cut the eggplants lengthwise into 2 halves. Broil at 400 degrees for about 15 - 20 mins (or) until inner side of the eggplant turns brownish black (see pictures). Let it cool.

Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup of hot water and keep it aside.

In a pan, add a tsp of oil and fry hing. Add cumin seeds and let it sizzle. Then, roast red chillies, urid dal until golden brown. Allow it to cool.

Scoop out just the flesh and grind it along with the roasted ingredients & soaked tamarind (drain the water). Add salt to taste and mix well. Smokey, spicy eggplant thogayal is ready to serve & eat!!

Tips:

- You can also add a handful of cilantro while grinding - a great flavor boost to thogayal!

- Sending this off to Made with Love Mondays!

Peerkangai Thogayal

Thogayal (Chutney) is a kind of rice mix that goes with plain rice & sutta appalam on the side (fire roasted papadum). Peerkangai (ridge gourd) thogayal is one such delicious thogayal that I eagerly look for in my mom's cooking.

What to look when buying
Though ridge-gourd is very hard & prickly on the outside, it is very soft, has white pulp and spongy on the inside. Look for ridge-gourd with stems that are fresh and deep green in color. They should be firm & heavy for their size. Do not buy them if they have dark spots / blemishes on them. Avoid ridge-gourd that are in lighter shades of green or wilting. Usually, I break them into two halves to know if they are tender in the inside too.

IngredientsMedium sized Peerkangai (Ridge gourd) - 3 nos
Tamarind - a very small lemon size (soaked in hot water)
Whole urid dal - 2 tbsp
Hing - small piece (about an inch)
Red chillies - 2 nos
Black pepper corns - 1 tsp
Cilantro - a handful
Oil & Salt - to taste

How to cut peerkangai

For thogayal, we need only the spongy portion of the vegetable. Use a peeler and peel off the skin. Then, cut the spongy portion of the vegetable into small cubes of equal size.

Method

Fry hing, urid dal, red chillies, pepper corns one after the another in a little oil until you get a nice aroma & urid dal is golden brown (Take care not to burn them). Keep it aside and let it cool. 

Now, saute the cut peerkangai in a pan (without oil) until the vegetable becomes soft & tender. Peerkangai is a very watery vegetable and it retains water when cooking. So, don't be surprised to see some water after sauteing. Keep it aside and let it cool. 

Now, grind everything together along with cilantro & salt. Serve along with hot rice & ghee. I like to have it with curd rice.

Note:

You can also skip cilantro and also make thogayal without it.