Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
When you have learned the art of cooking and know how much of each ingredient should be included in each recipe, you are ready for playing with ingredients, really! You would actually have a picture of what to make in mind and can tweak it and achieve the result you wanna achieve.
Very long ago, when I went into the kitchen and meant to cook for someone else, I was extremely scared and went by the book, yet failed miserably:) Comments like, "oh, you should have cooked it a little less", "you should have made the gravy thicker" and "oh there is too much of salt in this one" or even, "it is not hot enough", transformed themselves into better understanding of the art of cooking. Also, I never knew how the look of he food appeals first to the eater then it's taste. Now, not that all those "naive" moments are all gone but, the confidence has reached higher than before.
Whenever I cook, I want to cook each vegetable differently each time just so that it doesn't get hackneyed and folks don't want to eat the same things over and over again. I had one big loofah int the refrigerator and wanted to make a chutney, but a different one. A chutney that can be sneaked into to the kids' plate along with their just plain old stuff they insist on eating. So, i ended up making this chutney and I heard no complaints from the little ones and the adults ate it with renewed interest.
Ingredients:
Turai(loofah)-2 cups
Tamarind pulp-1/2 cup
Garlic-1 tbs chopped
Tomato-1 diced
Salt-to taste
Coconut milk-1/2 cup
Red pepper powder-1 tsp
Oil-1 -2 tsp
For tempering.,
Oil -2 tsp
Cumin seeds-1 tsp
Dry Red pepper-2-3
Mustard seeds-1 tsp
Directions:1. Peel the loofah and cut into small pieces.
2. Heat oil in a pan and saute the pieces of the loofah until they slightly are soft.
3..Remove and set aside.
4. In the same pan, add the garlic and saute until it gives out its strong flavor.
5. To it add the tomatoes and saute them until pulpy.
6. Turn off the stove and set the sauteed ingredients to cool.
7. When cooled, add the coconut milk, salt, red pepper powder, tamarind pulp to the loofah and tomatoes and blend to a smooth puree.
8. Transfer to a serving bowl.
9. Heat oil in a saute pan and add the cumin seeds and mustard seeds and after they sizzle, add the dry red pepper and wait until you see them change color.
10. Quickly tip the tempering onto the chutney and cover with a lid.
11. Enjoy!