ROASTED GARLIC & TOMATO COCONUT CHUTNEY

I know it's been a short while since I've posted something here. Let's just blame how crazy December gets and how lazy we can get after all the crazy busy days! We've been travelling quite a bit after Christmas and life in general has been extremely busy at our end. But today, I am back with an excellent recipe for a chutney that will steal your hearts...be warned! It's so quick to make and tastes fabulous!

Amma never really made Tomato Chutney when we were kids. It used to be just the good old,regular Coconut Chutney sometimes with an addition of yogurt to go along with our Dosa's, Vada's & Idli's. The only time we would eat or get an opportunity to eat Tomato Chutney was when we would travel outside Kerala.I must also mention that I was not quite fond of tomatoes other than in Ketchup while growing up. So I don't recall asking Amma to try recreating the chutney's we ate at restaurants outside Kerala. But when I grew up, I slowly started developing a major liking towards all things made with tomatoes and with tomatoes alone.

Tomato pickles were one of my most sought after things during hostel days. That pickle along with some steaming hot white rice and dal would satisfy the hunger pangs on most days! Tomato Rasam was another favourite.
Offlate, I've been making this particular chutney to go along with our Dosa & Idli for breakfast. It has kind of replaced the coconut chutney that I grew up eating. This is an extremely easy chutney to make and has a great texture and body to it that it makes an amazing dip to serve alongside an assortment of crackers besides breakfast items. It hold up well without making the crackers soggy.

When I was contacted by The FeedFeed to know if I would like to partner with Muir Glen to try out their tomato products, I was super excited because it brought together many of my favourites! I've been a long time fan of TheFeedfeed & Muir Glen tomatoes. We buy them from Wedge, our local co-op. Wedge is our most favourite co-ops to shop for groceries because of their quality products and excellent service. We've been shopping there for almost 9 years now and it's one of my favourite places in town to buy fish as well. So when this opportunity came along my way, I decided to make our current favourite Tomato Chutney using Muir Glen Organic Petite Diced Tomatoes with Roasted Garlic. Their stuff is too good, and they even have a sale until January 29th for 10/$10 14.5oz canned tomatoes! Muir Glen has a wide range of tomato products and they are easily available at your local co-op stores. Find you local co-op here using their store locator!

ROASTED GARLIC & TOMATO COCONUT CHUTNEY
My own recipe

Prep time : 5 minutes
Cooking time : 10 minutes (including the cooling time)
Yields approx 1 1/4 cups


Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon urad dal
2 dried red chilies a few curry leaves
1/2 cup chopped onions
One 14.5 ounce can Muir Glen Organic Petite Diced Tomatoes with Roasted Garlic, drained
1/4 cup fresh or frozen grated coconut
Salt

Method: Heat oil in a saute pan on medium high heat. When hot, add the mustard seeds and let it pop. Then add in urad dal, dried red chilies, curry leaves and onions. Stir them well and let it saute for 1 minute. Add the drained tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes or until the moisture has mostly evaporated,stirring occasionally. Add the grated coconut and mix to combine. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool. Grind it using a blender or food processor. Add salt to taste and serve it at room temperature along with crackers of your choice.

This post is sponsored by Muir Glen and TheFeedfeed, but all opinions are my own.

We love this chutney and it always manages to vanish in no time at all! So these days when I make it, I make it in bulk and leave the rest in the fridge. You just have to warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds before serving it. I think these would make terrific tea sandwiches as well!

WHOLEWHEAT / ATTA LADOO

I have a major sweet tooth and so does my family. So it's really fun to try out new things because it will be cherished by all including Zara. The only problem is that I am the only one who seems to be gaining the happy sweet weight around my belly. Jobin does his daily workout religiously be it Summer or Winter. Ian is very active and so is Zara. I am the couch potato in the family. I would be the happiest to curl up with a cookbook or my phone on the couch with something to munch on,especially something sweet. So the other day, after a full fledged mallu meal, Jobin asked me if there was anything sweet to eat and surprisingly, there was none!

So yesterday, I thought of making something sweet for us. I wanted to make something Indian. So as usual, I checked out some of my reliable resources on the internet for recipes. I am not sure why but even after 8 years (almost 9!) of blogging, I still have only a handful of resources (literally viralil ennavunna) online when it comes to recipes. I stopped blog hopping around the time Ian was born. I barely had the time to show my face here.

So I am still reading the ones I used to read before 2012. Some of my favourite food blogs have stopped updating,which is such a sad thing because I felt I was a part of their lives, reading about them and one fine day,there are zero updates. Manjula aunty's page is one of my most favourites and her recipes are fail proof! I am sure almost all of you know her for her simple,fuss free and tasty recipes. I have tried out so many from her site and they all have turned out the way it should.Delicious!

Sarah,one of my close hostel friends, was known for her mother's Atta Ladoos because they were incredibly yummy! We would request her to bring it for us whenever she went home to Mangalore. As I was making these laddoos,I couldn't stop thinking about the fun we had in our hostel sneaking into each other's room and tucking in homemade special food without the hostel Warden seeing us.Some of my best memories and friends are made during my hostel days in Bangalore.

WHOLEWHEAT / ATTA LADOO
Makes 16

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup superfine sugar *
1/2 cup melted ghee
1/4 tsp ground green cardamom
Pistachios
Paper cups

Method: In a heavy bottom pan, roast the flour stirring constantly on medium heat for 6-7 minutes or until it starts to smell nice and toasty. Add the ghee,mix well and cook for another 4-5 minutes,stirring all the time  or until the mixture turns light brown in colour.It will be aromatic at this point. Take it off the heat and transfer the mixture to another heatproof bowl. Let it cool a bit until it is warm to touch. Add the sugar and cardamom and mix well. Form small balls right away and dip the tops in chopped pistachios if you like. Store them in airtight containers and serve them in paper cups if you have them.

*Make sure the sugar is super fine or else it will remain as is in the final product. You can go ahead and substitute it with 200 grams of icing /confectioners /powdered sugar. If that's the case, wait until the laddoo mixture,after adding sugar and cardamom is cooled down completely before forming laddoos. It's only because they will not retain the shape well when it is still warm.

We literally inhaled these laddoos. They were incredibly tasty! I have a soft spot for Besan Ladoos and these will give a tough competition for them. Zara was super excited to give it a try and she happily ate the crumbs she got. Ian on the other hand never liked any Indian sweets we've given him so far. He is forever happy with his Chocolate Cake & Chocolate Chip Cookie. Well, that remind me of the pending order for some cookies from him. He does not like our cookie jar to be empty!