Mango fruit dip... or Ripe mango chutney

Ripe yellow mango turns into rich green chutney..

Green dip made of ripe golden mango

The other day, a colleague’s lunch included a chutney that tasted out of this world. It was  rich green in colour, and creamy in consistency. It had a hot-sweet-sour taste—nothing remotely Chinese , mind you.

As usual, we had to guess the ingredients. We all guessed everything right, but something, we were told, had been missed. It was, as she revealed, not raw green mango or dry mango powder(aamchoor), but nice and ripe mango fruit. A Dussehri, if names matter to you.

I had to try it out at the earliest, or the mango season would end. So  I did.  

A dip with a nice Dussehri  which my husband thought was sinful to waste on a chutney, best eaten plain or with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.  

So he got to eating one side, while I used the other side and the centre for this hot and spicy ripe mango chutney.

It took all of ten minutes, including the washing and cleaning of  fresh mint leaves.

Ingredients:

Ripe mango, skin removed –1

Mint/Pudina leaves—a small bunch

Pepper-one heaped teaspoon

Red dry  chillies-2

Ginger—half an inch stick

Onion-Half of a small one

Salt—to taste

Black salt—a pinch

Put all the above in a blender, and grind into a fine, smooth dip/chutney.

A few drops of fresh lime juice will make it nice and extra tangy, but I did not want to add too many flavors.

But if you feel the dip will not finish off in a day or two, do add the lime or a dash of vinegar to give it some shelf life, even if it is the top shelf of the fridge.

He ate it with Ragi Dosai, I with pohey. 

A visitor, licked up a tiny bowlful,  with some crackers, enjoying the explosion of the hot and spicy mango chutney.

Lentils in milk and jaggery ...a divine dessert

Paruppu Payasam --  food for the Gods

Paruppu Payasam

Simple.Quick.And tasty. That is how the food for Gods across India is.Yes, our Gods love food. And every occasion, every region, religion and culture , has something for every God—every of the thousands of gods that dot the Indian pantheon.

But if we  figure  a mathematical “common factor”, it has got to be a very simple, very quick and very tasty dish made of lentils, milk and jiggery, with a hint of cardamom.  If one is from a coastal    state with swaying palmtrees adding to the landscape, one would definitely throw in some coconut also into God’s food.

And if you want to pamper the Lord even as you are dieting, you may golden-fry some cashew nut in pure, home-made ghee. Clarified Butter.

In its dry form, where the milk is either absent, or reduced, this is “puran” to be stuffed into near translucent  maida rotis, or rotis made of semolina and maida, and rolled fine again, into a “puranpoli”.

But the simplest, quickest and easiest, was , I figured, the way my mother would make it—on Fridays, Varalakshmi Nombu days, Krishna Jayanthi days(along with some other stuff), Ganesh Chaturthi days, Saraswati  Pooja days…… and so on.

I made this “Paruppu Payasam” –a kheer made of dals--as it is called in Tamil Nadul, to feel like I was indulging in a sweet dish, with the blessings of all the Gods. Prasadam, that is.

But I skipped the ghee and cashew nuts because I’d feel bad if I have to blame the Gods for the weight I may put on!

Here it goes:

Time taken: Half an hour

Chana Dal—Two tablespoons

Moon Dhuli—Two  tablespoons

Rice—One teaspoon

Cardamom—seeds of four

Water—Half a cup

Milk-1 litre

Jaggery-crushed—One cup

Raisins—a few

Roast the dals and rice together in a frying pan, till they release a lovely aroma. Cool for five minutes, add the cardamom and powder together coarsely.

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the water, add the lentils powder,stir well. Once they have blended well, add half the milk.

When it begins to boil, keep stirring, so that it does not stick at the bottom. Keep adding the remaining milk, in small quantities. 

When the lentils powder is nicely cooked and it looks creamy, switch off the gas, and cool it for five minutes. Now add the crushed jiggery, and stir well, till it is truly golden in colour and grainy in texture.

  

A generous dollop of ghee in which cashew nuts have been friend will definitely make this dish exactly like what is offered in many temples of South India, to the presiding dieties.

But I made do with a few plain raisins.

Now , wasn’t that  Simple,Quick and Tasty? And Divine?

Divine dessert

Tea...and Cheers!

Champagne for  some people!

Iced Green Tea

What better than iced tea, particularly as the mercury soars and the monsoons continue to play hide and seek in North India?

Nothing really. Particularly for tea addicts who can’t settle for an equally good summer drink—fresh lime, nimbu pani or shikanjvi.

Often enough, I like to beat the heat with a hot cup of lovely Darjeeling chai. The green label, orange pekoe, Twinings Earl Grey.. any or all of them by turns, brewed just right, with just a hint of milk, and no sugar. That’s my poison.

I can’t be the only one to have forged friendships over tea. My very, very dear friend Gunita and I bonded almost 35 years ago over  good Lipton’s Green Label, which  she single-mindedly, resolutely, and with great devotion, drinks  exclusively and loyally till date. You can't convince her that there are better teas!

I’m afraid I’ve wandered around a bit. And continue to do so.

When work took me to Nepal on many occasions, I'd enjoy the complimentary cups--small-- of tea that shops selling a wide range from all over the world offered. They'd tell me that the Darjeeling they had would decidedly be better than the best I could get in India. Because the best is exported, was their logic.

When I had not quite got used to my life as a journalist in the national capital, I cheered myself up with a good cup of tea. At a big place of work. Parliament House.

Yule Darjeeling & Assam Tea in colourful tin containers

Let me let many of you into an open secret of the haloed precincts of the  country’s  law making temple. You get the best tea grown in India there, kind courtesy the Tea Board of India. If colleagues and some MPs are to be believed what you get there is totally exclusive—the best variety, not sold to lesser mortals!

The tins say Yule Tea, and the wooden box says Garden of Mim Rare Darjeeling Tea, but has the Y and Yule. No web address!

Yule Tea

Ever since I started covering Parliament, I used the access to buy my poison from the outlet tucked away in one insignificant—(not really, considering no part of the beautiful Parliament House is insignificant; least of all the Tea Board office that so many of us love!) part  in the ground floor.Not just for me, but also colleagues and friends who would put in their requests every time there is a session.

Darjeeling Orange Pekoe tea leaves

We get a small discount But the fact is we get this huge access to lovely tea.

Outside in the circular verandah on the first floor, endless cups of tea are made, and given , for one rupee a cup—the cup itself is the regular white bone china  with gold rim, the  old fashioned tea cup that has  much less content than the huge tea mugs that are popular these days. Yes, the cups bear the insignia of Parliament – a small image of the marvelous, circular, sandstone building.

Rare Darjeeling Tea from Garden of Mim. The wooden casket is by itself a collector's item

Knowing my love for tea, my sister Shashi  who lives in Delaware, has long been bringing me the teas that we did not get easily in India, till a few years ago. But for the tea-greedy, how does it matter if it is available? A gift of tea is always welcome.

Bentley's Classic Tea Collection. Delightful flavors, lovely tin box

Last month she brought me this  box of  Bentley's Classic Tea Collection -- assorted tea bags, with Earl Gray and English Breakfast, as well as the fruity Orange Spice,Peach, Raspberry , and plain green tea. And she justified her choice saying  I may find the box perfect for this blog! Sisters always know you and your current obsessions!

I love the box and the tea. Every morning, I make myself some fruit tea. By late evening, when I am ready to drink, the fruit tea is chilled. Perfect !

Here is how I make it:

Fruit flavored tea bag-1

Sugar-two teaspoons

Hot water-Half a cup

Cold water—three and a half cups

Secure the tea bag inside the pot, add the sugar. Pour the hot water, stir the sugar, and ensure the tea is blended to the right rich colour. Now add the remaining cold water, and chill in the refrigerator.

Sometimes I toss in a stick of cinnamon or a few cloves .

Iced Green Tea, neat.

Cheers!