Dec 23, 2011

Eggplant and Cucumber Chutney ~ Vankaya Dosakaya Roti Pachadi

As I said before, December was full busy and and it started with my parent's awaited trip to my new house in Bangalore. I am so excited to see them after 6 months and had very good time with them. The bitter part it didn't last long as my mom has to return to work after 3 days. As my dad spent the whole week with us, I have made him roam all the places near by including grocery stores like Hyper City. My dad always encourages me to buy the seasonal vegetables which are very less in price compare to others.  He states 'Whatever is abundant in the season we need to eat that more'. Though I pretend like i didn't listen to him, I always end up buying vegetables with that mindset. (That's why we have to keep telling our children about good things, even they ignore, some day they will implement it knowingly or unknowingly. and I am doing the same to my kids, Thank you Daddy for all those tips...).


Eggplant and Cucumber Chutney
So on that day the abundant vegetable and/or fruit  that got my Dad's eye is Cucumber, and he filled my basket with lot of cucumbers. Other than using them in Salads or in Raita's we couldn't do more with this veggie/fruit.  But When I was in Dallas, I always missed Indian Cucumber (Dosakaya) which is known for this sour taste. So I always use this Cucumber along with some sour resource (tomato or tamarind or lime juice) in place of Indian Cucumber. Even in BLR, that is same story, we don't get Indian Cucumber (Dosakaya). My cousin says, when ever she goes to Andhra for vacation she will bring some of those Indian Cucumbers from Andhra. May be I should do the same. :-)

But for today, to put all those Cucumbers for good cause, I made a Spicy Chutney out of it. Sharing the recipe here, Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Egg Plant (or vankaya) - 1 medium
Tomato - 2
Green Chili - 4 to 5
Cucumber - 1 medium
Oil - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 5 cloves
This is the Eggplant I used.
Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp
cilantro - 1 tbsp
salt - 2 tsp ( adjust to your taste)

and

Ingredients for Indian Tempering..

Method:
  1. Heat the Oil in non stick pan. Once the oil is hot, add the Cumin seeds, crushed Garlic Cloves and green chilies.
  2. Add the chopped eggplant cubes and let them cook on low for 10 min.
  3. Once the Egg plants becomes soft, add the chopped tomato. Close with the lid and cook for 10 min. (The tomatoes oozes water and makes the mixture soggy.) 
  4. Turn off the heat and Let it cool for 10 min. 
  5. Grind this mixture in the mixie (or mortar), along with salt and cilantro. Taste and adjust all seasonings.  Take this into bowl and keep it aside.
  6. Now peel the cucumber and cut vertically. Take out the seeds roughly using spoon. and chop into small cubes. Add these cubes to the Chutney and mix well. 
  7. Now prepare the Thadka (Indian Tempering) and add it to the chutney in the Bowl.

Now Yum Yum spicy Cucumber Chutney is ready. This will be good with India Breakfast entries like Idli or Dosa, or some times i use this as spread in my sandwiches and rolls.
Vankaya and Dosakaya Pachadi

This tastes superb when you serve over hot white rice and some ghee (clarified butter)  on top. Yummmmm! That tickles my taste buds, if you excuse me, I have to dig into my Chutney....


Some Tips:
If you get normal Dosakaya (Indian Cucumber) in your grocery store, you can skip addition of tomato. Here, We add tomato for sourness in this recipe, which we don't get with this cucumber.

Here is the List of some more Recipes with Cucumber:
Crunchy Cucumber Salad
Scrambled Egg and Cucumber Wrap
Thai Basil Fried Rice

linking up this recipe to Fruit / Veggie of the month Cucumber event announced by Richa Priyanka at Ambrosia originated by Priya of Mahro Rajasthan.









Happy Chutneyingg until we meet here again.. :-)
-Mythreyi


1 comment:

Hi,

Thanks for visiting Yum! Yum! Yum!. I really appreciate your time in dropping a note for me. Your comments are truly motivating and feedback allows me to improve more to bring the best.

Thanks
-Mythreyi

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