Pudina Pachadi/Pudina leaves Chutney/Pudina/ Mint Leaves/Mint leaves chutney

Hmm..........the tingly smell drags you towards these aromatic leaves. Mint leaves can be used in various ways like to decorate food, drinks, rice, oils, beauty aids et al. These leaves can be named as Magic leaves or evergreen as Indians, Americans, Chinese all use it in their own ways. This simple herb grows easily with any climatic conditions and spreads the joy of its smell across the world alike.
On a hot tropical summer day, nothing can cool you down like Mint-leaves Water" Get back to the memory lane and recollect those Roadside wallahs..."aam admi ka drink", which was tasty, tangy, cold "Jaljeera." What a refreshing memory isn't it???
The one dish that draws my attention is Pudina Chutney (Mint Leaves chutney). The smell itself makes me feel hungry. Let's go into the process to make this tasty, tangy, aromatic chutney.

Ingredients:
2 stalks Mint Leaves
4 green chillies
1 red chilly
1 Small lump of Tamarind

3 spoons Urad Dal
3 spoons
Channa Dal
3 spoons Mustard Seeds
1/2 spoon Fenugreek/Methi seeds
Pinch of Hing
Salt as per taste
1/2 tb.spoon Turmeric

Method
1) Wash Mint leaves well and dry them on a cloth or paper
2) Once well dried, dry fry the leaves in a hot skillet
3) Empty the pan, Add 2 spoons oil and fry the urad dal, channa dal, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chillies, green chillies. Add turmeric, salt, tamarind too.
4) Fry the ingredients till light reddish color, an indication that all of the grains have roasted well.
5) Grind coarse the above ingredients and then add the Mint leaves to make it a fine paste.

Chutney is ready to be savored. Goes well with hot steaming rice. Tastes well with Dosas or Idlis too.

Curry leaves Chutney/Karvepaku Karam

Curry leaves in US are very precious as its expensive and sometimes, it just becomes so scarce that you will have to request the shopkeeper to keep aside for you specially. Recently, my mom told that Curry leaves/Karvepaku has great nutrients and tastes the best. Since, we just use it for garnishing and waste them without eating, this is a good way of utilizing those valuable leaves. Luckily, I had good stock of them and tried it. Believe it or not, it was a instant hit. Try it for yourself......

Ingredients:

• 5 stalks of curry leaves
• 1 spoon of Dhaniya
• 1 spoon of Urad dal
• 1/2 spoon of Mustard seeds
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 4 Red chillis
• 2 green chillis
• small lump of tamarind
• pinch of Hing (asfotedia or Inguva)
• pinch of sugar or jaggery

Method

• Wash curry leaves well and put them in a open skillet and dry roast them till the moisture is let out.
• After removing the curry leaves, add 2 spoons of oil and heat it well.
• Fry Dhaniya, urad dal, mustard seeds, redchillis, garlic cloves, sprinkle hing
• Let these cool for a while and add salt, tamarind, jaggery.
• Grind them to a paste and then add the curry leaves and green chillis.
• Blend all of them together.

You can have it with Rice or Dosas.