Gooseberry Jam / Amla Jam

In this recipe I have not used any artificial preservatives. I have used jaggery instead of regular white sugar for more flavour and health benefits of jaggery. Jaggery is sweet and has more calorie but it is better than white sugar health wise.

Gooseberry / Amla has a lot of health benefits. It is low in calorie, fat and cholesterol. It is rich in vitamin C and A, manganese and dietary fibre.

Gooseberry Jam / Amla Jam

No. of Servings : 10

Ingredients

Gooseberry - 20

Jaggery - 3 cups

Water - 1/2 cup

Preparation Method

1. Wash, chop and remove the seed from the gooseberry and cook with very little water. Smash and keep aside.

2. In a pan mix jaggery with little water, bring to a boil and filter it.

3. Boil the jaggery syrup to a one string consistency, add the cooked smashed gooseberry and stir till the mixture comes thick.

4. Cool and refrigerate it.

Notes:

No preservatives are added

It stays for a month if kept in the refrigerator.

Cool it completely before you refrigerate it.

Gooseberry Chutney

I found a lot of gooseberry in the vegetable market, so thought of making healthy dishes with it. Today I have tried this tasty chutney using gooseberry. Gooseberry has a lot of health benefits. It is low in calorie, fat and cholesterol. It is rich in vitamin C and A, manganese and dietary fibre.

Gooseberry Chutney

No. of Serving : 6

Ingredients

Gooseberry - 10

Urad dal - 3 tbsp

Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Ginger - 1" piece

Green chilli - 2

Red chilli - 2

Coconut - 3 tbsp

Coriander leaves - few

Oil - 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Preparation Method

1. Cut, remove the seeds and chop the gooseberry. keep aside.

2. In a kadai, heat oil and add urad dal, saute till the urad dal turn brown in color.

3. Then add asafoetida, ginger, red chilli and green chilli and fry well.

4. Then add chopped gooseberry, salt and saute till it is half cooked.

5. Then add coconut and coriander leaves and saute for 3 minutes.

6. Cool and grind into a smooth paste.

7. Serve with idli, dosai, chappati and puri.

Apple Jam with Jaggery

My twist on the regular apple jam is that I have added jaggery instead of regular white sugar, jaggery is much better than the regular white sugar.

Apple Jam

No. of Serving : 10

Ingredients

Apple grated - 2 cups

Jaggery - 1 cup

Water as required

Preparation Method

1. Dissolve jaggery with little water, bring it to a boil and filter and keep aside.

2. In a pan add grated apple and 1/4 cup water and cook till the apple is done.

3. Add the filtered jaggery syrup and let it boil till it thicknes.

4. Serve with bread.

Note

No preservative is needed.

Keep refrigerated.

It keeps good for 3 weeks in the refrigerator.

Cluster Beans Chutney

Cluster Beans has a lot of health benefits. They are low in glycemic index and thus beneficial for diabetic patients. It helps maintain good blood pressure and blood circulation. It has a good source of dietary fibre, thus good for cardio health and bones.

Cluster Beans Chutney

No. of Servings : 8 - 9

Ingredients

Cluster beans - 100 gms

Toor dal - 1/4 cup

Onion - 1 big

Tomato - 1 big

Ginger - 1" piece

Garlic - 5 cloves

Red chilli - 4

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Coconut - 4 tbsp

Oil - 1 tsp

For Tempering

Mustard - 1 tsp

Red chilli - 1

Oil - 1 tsp

Preparation Method

1. Fry toor dal in a dry pan till it turns brown and keep aside.

2. Fry coconut in the same dry pan till it turns brown, keep aside.

3. Heat oil in the kadai and add red chilli, curry leaves, chopped ginger and garlic. Sauté till garlic turns brown.

4. Then add chopped onion and fry till it turns translucent.

5. Add chopped cluster beans, add little water and cook till the beans are half done.

6. Add chopped tomato and turmeric powder and sauté till the tomatoes are cooked.

7. Cool it down and grind to a thick paste along with fried toor dal and coconut. Add little water as required.

8. Temper using mustard and red chilli.

Yam Jam

Yam Jam is my own innovation. This dish is sweet, spicy and tangy. This is the first time that I am trying it. It tasted delicious as it sounds :)

Yam Jam (Spicy Sweet and Tangy)

No. of Servings : 4

Ingredients

Yam - 250 gms

Jaggery - 1 cup

Tamarind paste - 1 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Ghee - 1 tsp

Preparation Method

1. Clean and pressure cook yam for 4 whistle, cool and smash it, keep aside.

2. Add little water to jaggery and bring it to boil, cool and filter it, keep aside.

3. In a non-stick kadai, heat ghee and add red chilli powder then add smashed yam.

4. Then add tamarind paste and jaggery syrup and cook for 10 minutes.

5. Can be served with Indian breads.

Kollu chutney / Horse Gram Chutney

Kollu / Horse Gram has a lot of health benefits. It has a good source of vitamins, iron and protein. It has complex carbohydrate, thus suitable for diabetic people. It is known to reduce the cholesterol level in the blood.

Kollu Chutney / Horse Gram Chutney

No. of Servings : 4

Ingredients

Kollu / Horse Gram - 1/2 cup

Onion - 1 medium

Tomato - 1 medium

Ginger - 1" piece

Garlic - 4 cloves

Red chilli - 3

Coconut - 3 tbsp

Oil - 2 tbsp

For Tempering

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Curry Leaves - few

Preparation Method

1. Fry kollu / horse gram in dry kadai till brown and nice aroma comes, keep aside.

2. Fry coconut in a dry kadai till brown, keep aside.

3. In a kadai, heat oil and add the ginger, garlic and fry well, add red chilli and fry.

4. Then add onion and fry till onions turn translucent.

5. Add tomatoes and fry till done.

6. Grind together coconut, kollu / horse gram and the sautéed onion mixture.

7. Temper using mustard and curry leaves. 

Radish Chutney

My twist on the traditional regular tomato chutney is that I have added radish with other spices to make to delicious. It turned out yummy :)

Radish Chutney

No. of Servings : 5

Ingredients

For Chutney

Radish - 1 medium

Onion - 1 medium

Tomato - 1 medium

Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp

Ginger - 1" piece (chopped)

Urad dal - 2 tbsp

Red chilli - 2

Oil - 1 tbsp

For tempering

Mustard - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves few

Oil - 1 tsp

Preparation Method

1. In a kadai, heat oil and add fennel seeds. When they begin to crackle add urad dal and red chilli, fry till golden brown.

2. Then add ginger, chopped onion and radish, fry well.

3. Then add tomato and sauté till the tomatoes are done.

4. Grind to a smooth paste.

5. Temper using mustard and curry leaves.

Tomato Dal Chutney

Tomato Dal Chutney is my all time favourite for dosa. This is a versatile chutney / dip. This tomato dal chutney goes well with chapathi, puri, idli, dosa, idiyappam and uthappam. It can also be served mixed in hot rice. It can be used as a dip for any veggie and tortilla chips. This tomato dal chutney is a new twist to the regular tomato chutney that I always make. Tomato Dal Chutney can be used as a spread over dosa for lunch box and the dosa wrap will remain moist till the lunch hour. All the ingredients are fried and ground to paste, so they will not get spoiled for hours. You can also sauté / steam or grill any veggies and roll it in the dosa / chapathi wrap spread with tomato dal chutney.

Tomato Dal Chutney 

Ingredients

For Chutney

Tomato - 2

Onion - 1

Garlic - 2 cloves

Red Chilly - 5

Toor Dal - 2 tbsp

Bengal Gram - 3 tbsp

Urad Dal - 1 tbsp

Coconut grated - 3 tbsp

Tamarind paste - 1 tbsp

Curry leaves few (optional)

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

For Tempering

                  Oil

Mustard

Curry leaves

Preparation Method

1. Fry each ingredient for chutney in a dry kadai separately, except tamarind.

2. Cool and grind it to a fine paste along with tamarind. Add water if required.

3. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard and when it crackles add curry leaves. Add this to the chutney.

Notes

• All the ingredients are fried and ground to paste, so this chutney will not get spoiled soon. It can be packed in the lunch box and it will stay good till lunch.

• Sautéed / steamed or grilled veggies can be mixed with this tomato dal chutney and served as a side dish for variety rice like lemon rice and coconut rice.