Indian Classics - Paneer Tikka (Spicy Grilled Indian Cottage Cheese Cubes)

I am sure all of you have done this on many ocasions. When I am frustrated, mad, angry or just plain pissed... I cook and clean. I vent all of my woes on that poor ingredient that needs to be at the sharp end of a knife. My poor chopping board has been the recipient of many a bash and bang, and my onions and tomatoes cringe when I come at them in that mood. Copious amounts of butter/ oil/ cream get poured into the food, and nothing gets spared in the house. Floors get vigorously cleaned, bathrooms shine, furniture glistens, surfaces sparkle, carpets get beaten... damn, I should get angry more often, right?

Now that you know what I do... you might as well as know why. Its bleeding Air Canada. What other airline in the world can be so contemptuous of its customers? Not content with driving other, smaller airlines out of business, they now hold such a monopoly, that they can pretty much quote you fares out of their ass. Kay and I always got incredibly frustrated with them... for example, their local flights from one small town to another would usually end up costing us more that out entire return flight from, say, Manchester to Vancouver. Such a massive pain in the posterior that!

So basically, this means another long seventeen hour drive to the in-laws then. Argh! And don't even get me started on mobile phone prices...

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Vegetable Cutlets / Patties

With temperatures hitting -20 here in Edmonton, I figure its absolutely fine if I gorge on comfort foods. After all I have to keep up my core body temperature... at least, that's my excuse :-)

Vegetable cutlets are another of my comfort foods. They are an ubiquitous snack in India, especially on trains. Having spent loads of time on trains travelling to and from home and university, I am especially nostalgic about train food. They are usually served simply with a bit of chutney and ketchup, and are filling, fairly nutritious and delicious, with their crisp fried outsides and yummy moist, spicy, vegetabley insides!

I made these cutlets to serve as a snack with afternoon tea, and they went down extremely well with the family. You can pretty much use any mashable vegetables in these cutlets along with the potatoes. I used carrots, peas, cooked chickpeas and sweet potatoes . Skip the green chillies for a less spicy version. They also work really well as an alternative to meat burgers.

The cutlets freeze very well, fried or not. If you want to freeze them uncooked, just layer them between squares of greaseproof paper, defrost thoroughly before frying. If you're freezing fried cutlets, defrost before using, and use a oven to reheat them to regain their crisp outside.

Recipe:
(Printable Recipe)

1 small onion, chopped fine
1 large or 2 small carrots, diced
1 large potato, diced
1 medium sweet potato, diced
1/2 cup fresh or frozen green peas
1/2 cup tinned, or cooked, chickpeas
2 flakes garlic, microplaned or grated into a paste
1 inch piece of ginger, microplaned or grated into a paste
1 or 2 green chillies, chopped fine
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp chilli powder (increase for added spiciness)
1/2 tsp amchur (dried mango powder) (optional)
2 - 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander
A few tbsps besan or gramflour (or cornflour)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup dried breadcrumbs or a coarse semolina (sooji), for coating
Oil, enough for shallow frying

Method:

Boil the carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes and peas, until cooked and tender.

In a small frying pan, fry the onion for around 2 -3 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic, fry for a minute, then add the green chilly(ies). Fry for around 30 seconds, then add the ground coriander, cumin, chilli powder, amchur and garam masala. Fry together for another 2 or 3 minutes, adding a dash of water if the mixture is too dry.

In a large bowl, mash the boiled vegetables, along with the chickpeas. Tip in the fried onion/ spice mixture and mash again. Add the fresh coriander and mix in well. If this mixture is too wet, stir in a couple tbsps of besan or cornflour, until it binds together well. Season with the salt and pepper to your taste.

Shape the mixture into balls, then flatten until you have round cutlets. You can also shape them into other shapes like hearts, triangles, squares etc, according to your preference.

Gently dredge the shaped cutlets in the breadcrumbs or semolina, coating well. Put the prepared cutlets into the fridge for about 30 minutes or so. This will help them set, and not break up in the pan while cooking.

In a frying pan, add just enough oil for shallow frying. Fry the cutlets, two or three at a time, until both sides are golden brown.

Serve with coconut or mint chutney and ketchup and a hot cup of tea or coffee. Yummy!!

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Goli Baje

Yum yum yum!! Another snack I adore from Mangalore. I can eat goli baje by the bucketful if given the opportunity. Goli baje are basically deep fried seasoned balls of flour and yoghurt, lightly spiced with some green chilli, ginger, fresh coriander and even curry leaves. The literal translation of the words means, 'round fried snack'. Its famous all around Mangalore, and many a time I have sat in a hotel in the middle of nowhere, sipping strong hot coffee and savouring these mini bites of delight with sambar and coconut chutney, sometimes even with good old ketchup.

It is another one of those snacks that is deeply associated with my memories of Mangalore, and home. There were days when my mum would come home from her teaching job absolutely exhausted, and she couldn't be bothered to make us anything for tea. My sister and I used to be sent to Gokul Vegetarian Hotel to buy snacks, and ten to one, we would end up bringing back home goli baje which we would then share with mum and a hot cup of tea. Or when we got older, we would spend hours with friends at roadside eateries just eating snacks after snacks after snacks. Its a miracle I haven't ended up weighing ten tonnes, the way we ingested all that cholestrol heavy food :-)

This is one of those snacks we never really bothered to make at home. I mean, why would we go to the trouble of making up the batter and spending at least an hour over a hot stove when we could just pop around to the local eatery?

However, when I moved to England, and subsequently, here to Edmonton, there are times when I crave the comforting food of my childhood and most of my adolescence. Sadly for me, I haven't found a single place in Edmonton that sells goli baje (I am sure I would keel over with a heart attack if I did, I'd be eating there so often). I have found a nice South Indian place though, more on that in a later post. So coming back to my point, if I want goli baje I have to make them myself. Bah humbug, all that work!!

So anyway, armed with a list of ingredients off my mum (I swear to God, she is so imprecise in her measurements, a bit of this and a bit of that, and yet her food somehow tastes glorious!!) I decided this afternoon was going to be my goli baje time. It gets dark early nowadays, and its so cold outside, it would be just criminal not to gorge full of comfort food! Or at least, that's my excuse.

The ingredients are fairly basic, more often that not you will have them in your pantry at any given point. You do need to get a feel for the thickness of the batter though, but that comes very quickly with some practice. And hey, you can always add more water or flour without messing with the taste.

I tinkered a bit with mum's recipe, to make sure I had some basic ideas of quantities, as normally with a recipe like this I would have eyeballed it. So here's the modified recipe. Do play around with the quantity of green chilli and ginger until you get a sense of what suits your spice tolerance level. My mum suggests letting the batter ferment for at least 6 hours, I say ha!! to that, but good on you if you have the patience to do that, 30 minutes is my limit :-)

I served the goli baje with coconut chutney, recipe here.

Recipe:
(Printable Recipe)

1 cup plain flour (maida)
1/4 cup besan (chickpea/gram flour)
1/2 cup plain yoghurt
1 tsp bicarb of soda (substitute baking powder, if you don't have the bicarb)
Around 1/4 cup water, plus maybe a little bit more.
2 tbsp sugar
1 or 2 tsp salt (go easy on the salt, add more only if you feel the batter needs it)
Around 2 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 green chilly, finely chopped (add more if you wish to increase the spice level)
Roughly 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander

Enough oil for deep frying

Method:

Sift together the flour, besan, bicarb of soda, sugar and salt. Mix well, then add the yoghurt, mixing well. Now slowly whisk in the water, a little at a time until the batter just very heavily slides off a spoon, the consistency of very thick clotted cream...

Stir in the ginger, chilli and fresh coriander. Let the batter sit for around 30 minutes or up to six hours. Or even overnight in a fridge.

Heat enough oil for deep frying in a pan, until it gets hot enough that if you drip in a drop of batter, its should quickly rise to the surface covered in bubbles. Turn the heat down to medium.

Drop in spoonfuls of the batter, not too much at a time, as the bajes will fluff up in the oil. Deep fry for roughly five to seven minutes, until they are a light golden brown colour. Don't worry if they are odd shapes and sizes, just adds to the fun!

Using a slotted spoon, lift them gently from the oil and drain on absorbent kitchen paper. Repeat until the batter is all used up.

Serve hot with chutney or ketchup and a hot coffee/tea. The bajes will be crisp on the outside and almost squishy elastic on the inside!

Bliss!!!

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Blood and Bits of Gore :-) [Okay, Tomato Soup with Chives and Goat's Cheese]

We celebrated our first full on Halloween yesterday. Aditi dressed up as Dora the Explorer and her beloved Iggle Piggle was Boots :-) Kid came back from trick or treating with enough candy to last her for a whole year... maybe even two years!! Bad mommy confiscated most of the treats (treating herself to a couple sneaky bits, is it considered bad form to nick your kid's candy?)

And we had a lovely time with friends who dropped by for the whole North American Halloween experience. It was brilliant.

Anyway, in keeping with the whole gory theme, I decided to post this tomato soup I made a week or so ago. I can't stand the cold, so for me winter is just an excuse to make warm comforting soups. This one is the easiest one ever and cobbled together with ingredients we all tend to have at home, and tastes delicious with a crumble of herby goat's cheese melted on top. This does have a very pronounced and strong tangy, tomatoey taste, so season heavily if you want it less tomatoey. It stays vegan, unless you stir in some cream and the cheese at the end, which you can do, if you wish.

Recipe:
(Printable Recipe)

4 large, ripe field tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 flakes garlic, chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped (opt)
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tbsp tomato paste, tinned or from a tube
Around 500 ml vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
100 ml single cream (optional)
A stick or round of crumbled goat's cheese (optional)
Handful fresh chives, snipped

In a heavy pot, heat the oil, then add the onion, celery, garlic and thyme. Cook for around 5 minutes, not letting the onion colour too much. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook on a low heat, stirring ocasionally for around 15 - 20 minutes, until the tomatoes are well mushed up. Add the stock and simmer on a low heat for another 5 minutes. Transfer to a blender and blend till smooth. Season well to taste. Reheat, till just steaming and serve with a sprinkle of chives.

If using, stir in the cream and return to the heat. Do not boil the soup, just heat till steaming. Crumble the goats cheese on top and put under the grill for about a minute till the cheese is bubbling. Serve with a sprinkle of chives.

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Hearty Yellow Split Pea Soup with Chickpeas, Tomatoes, Carrots and Sweet Potatoes - LiveSTRONG with a Taste of Yellow

October 2nd 2010 has been announced as LiveSTRONG Day 2010. I first heard about this event from Ellie at Almost Bourdain and was immediatley inspired by it. The original LiveSTRONG with a Taste of Yellow event is hosted by Barbara at Winos and Foodies, and learnt more about both the charity and the event here.

In 2003, I lost my beloved grandfather to prostate cancer and I also have other friends and family members who have been affected by this disease. While some of these friends and family lived through this, others were not so lucky. So I have always been involved with any event that raises awareness about cancer and its effect on people. This is my humble effort to be more involved and also support the charity, originally founded by Lance Armstrong, the cyclist, who also survived this disease.

The theme for this year from blogger Barbara, is Yellow Heart. I did a bit of reading up around the theme, and was ready to go. I didn't have a lot of time to prepare, or go to the store, but luckily had enough ingredients for this easy yellow soup, which I usually serve with toasted pita bread. It took a matter of minutes to put the soup together and shape the pita into a heart as my contribution to the event.

These are my efforts, and the soup is dead easy to make for a weekday supper, and is packed full of vitamins and protein, and the spice turmeric, which has been linked to beating cancer. Obviously you can vary the recipe with whatever you have in the fridge!

Recipe:

1 medium onion, diced

1 tbsp olive oil

Around 1/2 - 3/4 cup yellow split pea lentils (chana dal), picked and rinsed

1 small sweet potato, cubed

2 carrots, cubed

1 big red tomato, chopped

1 tin of chickpeas (around 400g)

1/2 tsp of ground turmeric

1 flake garlic, chopped fine

1/2 inch piece of ginger, chopped fine

Around 1 litre of vegetable stock

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 spring onions, chopped, to garnish

In a pot, cook the lentils in enough water till they are soft, around 45 - 50 minutes.There won't be much water remaining, so don't bother draining them.

In another heavy pot, add the olive oil and saute the onion for about 2 minutes, until softened. Add the turmeric, ginger and garlic and saute for another 2 minutes.

Add the tomato, sweet potatoes and carrots, and stir around for about 4 minutes or so. Add the cooked lentils along with the cooking water to the pot, stir, then add the stock.

Simmer gently until the sweet potatoes are cooked (don't worry about the carrots being fully cooked, they add a nice crunch to the soup). Stir in the drained chickpeas. Simmer for about 2 more minutes.

Taste and adjust the seasoning to your taste. Serve garnished with the spring onions, with a toasted pita on the side.

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Goan Style Empadinhas

... in other words, spicy pork pies :-) The empadinhas are a great favourite of Brazilians, and the Portuguese. The Goan population have made many Portuguese dishes thier own, the vindaloos, the caldieradas are a good example of the way they have adapted them to suit their tastes. This is my version of the classic Goan empadinha. I love making them, and the contrast between the buttery puff pastry and the spicy pork filling is an absolute delight. I make it with puff pastry, just because I can then cheat and use premade pastry, but you can use shortcrust as well, to make a more traditional pie. You can make the pies big or small, depending on what you're making them for. They would taste awesome as little canapes for a dinner party, or you can make them a decent size for a family meal.

Play around with the spice combinations until you find a level of spice that suits you. The combination I make is not super spicy, and should suit Western tastes, but again, only you can know what level of spice suits you.

Recipe:
(to make about 5 big empadinhas)

1 pack puff pastry pack (400g) (get the one that you have to roll out, as the pre-rolled pastry is not thick enough)
Abot 500g minced pork or use pork cubed very small
1 big onion, finely diced
1 green chilly (increase for extra spiciness)
3 long mild red Kashmiri chillies
4 flakes garlic
1 inch piece of ginger
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp cumin seeds
4 cloves
About 10 whole peppercorns
2 inch sticks of cinnamon
1 heaped tbsp tamarind paste (os use 2 tbsp vinegar)
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt to taste (or 1 1/2 tsp)
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp oil

Method:

1. If you are using the premade puff pastry, cut into 5 even sizes. Using a generous amount of flour to dust, roll out each piece of pastry, and cut out 2 circles. You should have 10 circles.
2. In a blender, grind the red and green chillies, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, tamarind or vinegar using just enough water to make a fine paste.
3. Heat the oil in a pan, and fry the diced onion, until its soft and golden brown. Do not burn the onion, so keep a sharp eye out.
4. To the fried onion, add the blended paste. Fry well for about 6 - 9 minutes on a medium heat, until the masala comes together in a sticky mass, and the oil starts to separate from it. Its really important that you do this, as otherwise the spices will still be raw and hit the back of your throat.
5. To the fried masala, add the pork, and stir-fry for 5 - 8 minutes on a medium to high heat until the pork is cooked through. Now add the sugar and salt. Taste and adjust the seasoning. It has to be spicy, fragrant, and with a slight tart bite to it. You may need to add more tamarind or vinegar to the mixture, depending on the taste.
6. Cook the pork mixture, until its just moist enough that when you roll the mixture into a ball it should just about stick together. Cool the m ixture thoroughly. This pork filling can be made in advance, and kept in the fridge overnight.
7. Now, roll a handful (about the size of a tennis ball, smaller if you're making bite sized pastry) of the mixture into a loose ball, and place in the middle of a pastry circle. Brush some egg mixture around the pastry, and cover with the second circle. Press the edges togather, making sure that they have sealed completely. Using the tip of your index finger or a fork, press in a decorative edge. Brush the whole pie with the egg wash.
8. Preheat the oven to 175 C, placing a baking tray or sheet in it.
9. Place the prepared pies carefully on a preheated baking tray. Cut into the top of the pie with a sharp knife to let the steam escape.
10. Bake for about 45 minutes or so until the pastry is well risen, golden and crisp. Serve warm or cold.

PS - Make sure that the pork mixture is completely cold before filling the pie. I made the mistake of trying to stuff hot pork into the pastry and ended up with a soggy mess that had to be thrown away.

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Aubergine/ Onion Bhajis

This is a relatively unfussy recipe, and this time I am not giving exact quantities as they need to be made to your taste. Anything can be made into bhajis, my favourite are aubergines, as the spicy, crispy coating really complements the smooth, almost creamy mild flesh. Onion bhajis are almost a staple UK curry house favourite and you can jazz them up by adding shredded cabbage and chillies. The ones in the picture are cabbage and onion. Every household will have thier own bhaji recipe, this is mine.

This is the recipe for the basic bhaji batter. Vary it according to taste.

Recipe:

About 250 gms chickpea flour (also called gram flour, available at Indian groceries, and big Tescos)
About 100 gm rice flour (adds to the crispiness)
About 3 tsps mild chilly powder (or 1 tsp hot chilly powder)... taste, taste, taste.
About 1 or 2 tsps salt, again, to taste.
1 tsp baking powder or bicarb of soda
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garam masala (optional)
Sparkling water (or just plain, if you can't be bovvered)
Oil for deep frying

Method:

In a bowl, mix together the flours, add 2 tsps of the mild chilly powder (1/2 tsp hot), cumin, baking powder, garam masala, salt and cumin seeds. Add water slowly, using your hands to mix the flours and spices into a thickish batter. It should be the consistency of thick double cream or custard.

Now taste, and add the remaining chilly powder if the batter is not spicy enough for your taste. Increase the amount of chilly powder, but keep tasting. Better to underspice, and then add more spice and salt according to taste, as opposed to overspicing. Leave to stand for a couple of minutes, and the batter is ready to use.

For aubergine bhajis, cut the aubergines into rounds of about 3/4 cms. Not too thick, as they won't cook and not too thin as they will turn to mush. Dip them into the batter and deep fry till brown. Drain on kitchen paper. For onion bhajis, shred onion finely, and mix with the batter. The onion/ cabbage should be more than the batter, and it should come together as a loose sticky ball. Drop handfuls of the mixture very carefully into the hot oil and fry till crisp.

Any vegetable you like can be made into bhajis, try cauliflower florets, green peppers, sliced potatoes, courgettes etc. Seve with a hot cup of chai, and some tomato ketchup, coconut or mint chutney.

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Spicy Fish Cakes (Fofos)

By popular demand :-)

Again, the key to spicing these fish cakes, is to add a little spice at a time and taste. The fish is poached in fish stock, however, I have, on occasion, just poached it in water (infused with 1 bay leaf, 3 peppercorns, salt and a generous handful of lemon thyme). Use small sweet cooked prawns as they really add to the taste.

Recipe:

1 fillet skinless haddock or any white fish. You can also use salmon for a stronger flavour. I use the tails and the cheap pieces of fish, rather than expensive fillets.
50g small pink prawns, cooked. If using bigger prawns, chop them up.
1 egg
1 large potato
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 inch piece of ginger
1 green chilly
4 tbsp cornflour
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground corinader
1 (or to taste) tsp chilly powder [optional, for a spicier taste]
Small bunch fresh coriander
Fish stock
Dried bread crumbs or very coarse semolina
Salt and Pepper to taste
Oil (enough to shallow fry)

Method:

1. Gently poach the fish in the fish stock until it flakes. Do not overcook the fish.

2. Chop the potato into small chunks and boil till done.

3. Chop finely the onion and the green chilly.

4. In a mortar and pestle (or a microplane grater) grind down the garlic and ginger.

5. Chop the fresh coriander finely.

6. In a big bowl, flake in the fish, add the prawns and add to it the boiled potato, onion, chilly, ginger and garlic. Using your fingers mash them all together into a very coarse mix. To this, add the garam masala, ground coriander, ground cumin and chilly powder, if using. Mix. Add the salt and pepper and taste. Add a bit more of the spices, depending on taste. Sprinkle over the cornflour and shape into patties. Add more or less of the cornflour, depending on how wet the mixture is. If the mixture is too dry, moisten with a little fish stock or poaching water. If its too wet, add more cornflour.

7. Beat the egg lightly. Brush a tiny bit of the egg over the patties, and roll them in the breadcrumbs or semolina.

8. Once all the cakes have been made, pop them into the fridge, if you have time. This sets the cakes, and they are less likely to break apart in the pan.

9. In a shallow non-stick pan, heat a little oil. Shallow fry the fish cakes until they are a lovely golden brown. Serve warm with chilli sauce, tomato ketchup or mint chutney.

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Banana Boli

Thanks so much for the wonderful responses to my appearance on Masterchef last night! There has been a great deal of demand for the recipes, so I've decided to post some on. When I get a moment, I'll go through the videos and see if I can capture a few stills of the food as well, I don't know how the guys at Shine manage to make food look so lovely :-)

This is the recipe for my starter, Banana Boli (also called Banana Podi). It brings back a lot of memories for me. I went to university in New Delhi, and used to take the train down to Mangalore for the holidays. It was a wonderful three day journey, that I used to spend in a second class sleeper. The nicest thing about it was the way in which the street (or railway, rather) food changed as we passed various areas of the country. My favourite part used to be when we hit Bombay. Suddenly the landscape changed to reflect the fact that we were travelling by the seaside. And when we reached Goa, the gorgeous smells of food cooking would drive me nuts. So close to home! Then the banana bolis would start appearing, wrapped in newspapers, steaming hot, spicy, yet sweet. For an extra few rupees you could get a little coconut chutney in a bowl made of banana leaves. Thats when I knew I was home...! I tried to recreate some of that experience in the Masterchef kitchen!

The key to getting this recipe right is to adjust the spicing and seasoning to a level that you are comfortable with. I start with a reasonable amount of spice and seasoning, taste the batter, then take it up a notch. Try to use a wok, instead of a deep fat fryer, the reason being that because these bolis are battered, they tend to stick to the bottom of the fryer and tear apart. Using a wok gets rid of this problem.

Quality Foods in Southall is a fantastic place to buy your ingredients. I live up in the Wirral, so tend to buy from Mattas in Bold Street or Eastern Foods in Renshaw Street, Liverpool.

Banana flower is not something you find very often, so just leave out that chutney. The dish works just as well with the coconut chutney. In the Masterchef kitchen, I made it to add a tang to the otherwise sweet dish. It worked :-) If you do find banana flowers, though, a couple things, make sure you wear gloves while stripping the outer leaves, and cover any chopping board et all with newspaper/ foil. This is because they 'bleed' a blackish substance when cut and its hard to get off your clothes and equipment. I'll post a recipe for a sambal, that you can make with the rest of the banana flower, so as not to waste it.

Recipe:

Ripe (but not overripe) West Indian Plantain (red would be good otherwise yellow is fine). If you can't find plantain, use slightly underripe normal bananas.

Batter:

2 tsp ginger paste
2 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp hot chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp black sesame seeds(optional)
2 tsps cumin seeds
½ tsp caraway seeds (optional)
About 200 g gram flour (chana dal flour)
2 tbsp cornflour
3 tbsp rice flour
Sparkling water
Salt and Pepper to taste
Vegetable Oil (enough for deep frying)

For the chutneys:
Banana Flower Chutney

1 banana flower (whole)
100 g desiccated coconut
2 long dried mild red chillies (kashmiri chillies)
½ inch piece of ginger
1 flake of garlic
1 small onion
1 tsp tamarind paste
Salt to taste

Coconut Chutney

200 g dessicated coconut (fresh is good, if possible)
2 green chillies
Small bunch fresh coriander
1 tsp tamarind paste
1 flake garlic (bruised, but left whole)
1 sprig curry leaves
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt to taste
Method:

1. Slice the bananas into strips that are not too fat or too thin.
2. Mix together the rest of the ingredients, except the oil, to make a thickish batter. It should slowly drip off the edge of a spoon.
3. Heat the oil. The oil is at the right temperature when a drop of the batter rises quickly to the surface covered in bubbles.
4. Dip the bananas into the mixture and deep fry in oil till golden brown and crisp.
5. Drain on kitchen paper.

Chutneys

1. For the banana flower chutney, strip a few of the outer leaves of the banana flower. Discard the baby bananas in it. Blend together the outer leaves of the banana flower with the rest of the ingredients. Season to taste. The chutney should be slightly tangy.

2. For the coconut chutney, blend together the first 4 ingredients. In a small pan, heat the oil and splutter the mustard seeds. Add the curry leaves and garlic and fry for a minute. Pour the seasoned oil over the chutney to temper. Remove the whole garlic.

3. Serve the banana boli with the 2 chutneys.

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