Curry leaves & linseed chutney powder
What are mum and dad about? Love, love and the unconditional love one can ever compare with anything else!
Thats what is my inspiration behind this recipe. Few months back there was scarcity of curry leaves in London. Apparently curry leaves were banned probably because of some news it caused food poisoning at some programs if I am not wrong. Whatever be the reason but curry leaves were banned for good few months. We ladies fond of cooking were terribly missing the flavour of curry leaves in our tadkas (tempering). Few of us managed to get frozen ones but it merely did the job as you can find curry leaves in food but they were flavourless. We were forced to compromise with it.
In summer vacations when I travelled to mums place, I already rang and told mum to dry some curry leaves so I can carry them while coming back. There is abundance of curry leaves in backyard of every house.
Do you know what did I see when I went there?
When daddy heard daughter needs curry leaves, he asked the helper to cut almost whole tree and dry the leaves. Mum was asked to look after the drying process with care (without any dust) and later powder half of them . A huge bag full of dried curry leaves and 4-5 kilos of curry leaves powder was waiting for me. It was just enough to occupy my one check-in luggage .
It smelled strong but I thought of giving a try to check how potent was the curry leaves powder. To my bad luck , not only it changed the colour of lentils as I used it plenty but it lacked the flavour I expected. Can’t to anything…I didn’t want to disappoint my parents and their efforts. And something is better than nothing.I brought it along with me.
Hallelujah !!!! Another good or bad news…when I returned back to U.K. , the ban on curry leaves was removed and we had fresh curry leaves stocking up in asian market again. I was happy but poor the curry leaves powder just found the back space in pantry.
Just when the schools reopened , everything started rolling back to routine, I found some time to clean up and rearrange the pantry. The powder was staring at me and asking for the love it deserves. I thought of giving a try to my superfood curry leaves chutney which I usually make it with curry leaves. It worked very well indeed!
Do you need curry leaves or curry leaves powder to make it?
Well , both work fine. But if one has fresh curry leaves, I would say use them. Dry curry leaves, curry leaves powder, frozen one or fresh ones all can be used.
What are other ingredients used?
I’ve used linseed and black lentils ( urad dal) but you can choose whatever you like .e.g. roasted chana dal, coconut- sesame combination, peanuts etc. Linseed is hardly used in other ways in daily cooking and as it is full of omega fatty acids which are lacking in vegetarian meal, I like to use them. Whereas the urad dal provides the crunchy granular texture to the chutney.
How long can you store it?
Chutney stays fresh upto one month but as it contains roasted grounded linseed, it may turn rancid in hot weather. As such the nutrients are more potent when they are raw.So if we are roasting them then it is always good idea to make fresh chutney after 15 days or so for better taste and nutrition.
Store in air tight container at room temperature for upto one month.
to watch video click here:
- Roast urad dal (lentils) on low flame till they turn pink. No need of any oil.
Steps to make:
2. Next to roast is linseed..they pop while roasting so cover and move continuously. No oil needed.
3.Later add a tablespoon of coconut oil ad fry the curry leaves in batches till crisp.
4. Get all the ingredients ready and cooled off to grind.
: Recipe Card :
| Prep Time | 5 minutes |
| Cook Time | 15 minutes |
| Servings |
cup
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- 1 cup linseed ( flaxseed/jawas/ alsi)
- 2 cups fresh curry leaves
- 1/2 cup urad dal (black gram/lentils) or roasted chana dal (daria)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil (or any other oil)
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp salt (I use Himalayan pink salt)
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder (optional)
- 1 Tbsp Red chilli powder (or 15 mild red chillies)
- 1 Tbsp fresh tamarind..deseeded. (small lime sized piece)
Ingredients
|
|
- In a wok, on low-medium heat, dry roast urad dal (lentils) till it turns pink. No need of any oil.
- Later, in the same wok on low heat, dry roast linseed as well. You might need to cover the wok and move the wok continuously as the linseed pop splutter and get burnt quickly. When they start turning little darker, transfer to plate.
- Later in the wok add a tablespoon of coconut or any other oil. Add curry leaves in batches and fry until crisp.
- Gather all ingredients listed above and make sure all roasted ones are cooled off. Transfer to a blender pot and using the pulse mode, grind it to a coarse to fine mixture.the powder/ chutney is ready.
- Store in airtight container. One can serve it with rice, plain roti/ chapati or parathas. just add little butter or sesame oil and serve. I even spread it on a toast along with some garlic butter.
- I didn't have plenty curry leaves so I just used few sprigs and while grinding added 3/4 cup of curry leaves powder. But fresh leaves are always better.
- I like crunch from roasted urad dal but one can easily replace urad dal with roasted chickpeas (roasted chana dal..dari dal).
- Linseed can be used raw as well for more nutrition and long shelf life. But they taste better when roasted.
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