Spice up your supper

Food becomes more delicious when it is associated with some good memories. And sometimes each one of them brings back many memories and I enjoy the thoughts that flow in my mind :)! I capture few delicious moments to cherish year after year.
I am presenting one such all time favorite item i.e. Mavinakayi chutney.

I had fallen in luv with this chutney sometime ago at 1 of our relatives place in a small town. It was hot summer afternoon when we were traveling by road to our village, where we stopped over for lunch at S place. Invariably during summer every house in India enjoys the most extensively exploited fruit for its juice, flavour, fragrance and colour . Yes we too enjoyed the BaaLe yele oota (banana leaf) with anna-saaru, payasa, chitra anna (rice-rasam, kheer, lemon rice) and ofcourse last but not the least tantalizing mavinakayi chutney. The hospitality & kindness shown by the hosts made it even tastier.

And now with my parents in-law around we are having a feast here – Kadubu, ambode, payasa, dappa menasinakayi chitraanna, usli, hoLige, mavinakayi chutney, mavinakayi chitraanna……..Yes my mil is an expert in making varieties of mavinakayi chutney which can be had with rice, chapathis, dosa, idli or as a spread also. Last week we all enjoyed the mouthwatering chutney made by her. Again it’s quite precious for us, as we don’t get raw mangoes here, so it was a watchful eating ;).

This mavinakayi chutney is a good choice if you fancy comfort food, but don’t want anything too calorific OR if you want something full of flavour & a doddle to make when you are short of time! All you need to do this is –

Ingredients
Menthya / Fenugreek seeds – 2tspn
Grated raw mangoes (skin peeled) – 2 to 3
Red chillies – 3 or 4
Dry coconut – 150g
Jaggery – 25g
Salt to taste

For tempering
Oil – 2tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1tsp
Pinch of asafetida
Turmeric – 1/4tsp
Few curry leaves

Method

• Dry roast methi seeds and powder it. Dry roast the coconut and grind it along with the methi seeds.
• Dry roast red chillies & grind it with the above and keep it aside.
• Grind grated raw mangoes, salt and jagerry to paste without using water. To this add the methi-coco-red chillies and grind into a smooth paste. (Depending on the sourness of the mangoes you can adjust the quantity of the jaggery)
  
  To make the tadka/tempering
  Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds, asafetida and curry leaves. Take off the heat and then add the turmeric to get a good colour.
  Now the most tempting Maavinakayi Chutney is ready to attack.

Serving Suggestions: It tastes best when eaten with hot rice and ghee. It can also be served with chapattis, dosa, idli or even can be used as a spread.

Variations: This chutney can be even made with fresh grated coconut but this is to be used within 24hrs of time.
When made with dry coconut, can be refrigerated upto 10-15days. But make sure you use a clean dry spoon to serve.
Chutney tastes equally good when made with the frozen raw mangoes also.

Have a spicy weekend & Ciao u all again next week !!!!