Monday, June 30, 2008

Puli Pottichhathu- a tamarind chutney

I came across a recipe a few weeks back on a relatively new (to me) blog, that instantly took me down memory lane. Memories of the countless summer vacations spent in Kerala came flooding back. Summer was the season when mangoes were aplenty everywhere and it was no different at our ancestral home.
The best part of the Kerala trip for me was undoubtedly the food, especially at my father’s
illam. Among other things, I remember eating mangoes, lots of it. A common preparation that was a hit with all the kids there at the time was chopped mangoes slathered with a coarse paste made of crushed shallots, roasted red chillies, coconut oil and salt. It was absolutely heavenly! That has got to be the fondest food memory from my childhood, and this recipe took me there.

The original recipe can be found
here.

Ingredients:
Tamarind (lemon sized ball) - boiled in ¾ - 1 cup water, cooled, strained and juice extracted
4 -5 red chillies, dry roasted
1 small onion, finely chopped
2
pappadums, roasted on an open flame, ideally
1 tsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp coconut oil
Salt

Method:
With clean hands crush the chopped onions, salt, red chillies and pappadams thereby mixing everything very well. Dissolve the brown sugar in the tamarind extract and add to the crushed mixture. Stir in the coconut oil.

Serve with some hot rice, or do what I did and have it with some chopped mangoes.


Thank you so much for sharing your recipe, Rajani!

This goes to Sig for JFI: Tamarind.

Here's how I like to have to have puli pottichhathu- with chopped mango pieces.

37 Burps:

Hetal said...

wow this chutney looks awesome..

amna said...

oh this looks so tangy!! lovely round up expected for JFI this time for sure :)

notyet100 said...

THIS LOOKS SO TASTY,,,

Sig said...

This took me down the memory lane too... BTW did I read that right - you actually had this with mangoes "instead of" rice? :) Sour over sour, you are my kinda gal! :) Thank you for this entry TBC!

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

I've never seen this before! Quite an interesting tamarind preparation.

Jayashree said...

I can imagine the taste of the chutney just by looking at that pic...

Prajusha said...

This looks nice
Great entry..

bha said...

nice recipe with papads and tamarind.....apt for the event

sra said...

We make something somewhat like this - the papads are new to me. Nothing is cooked in that dish.

Rajani said...

Hey there!! my most favorite dish in the world! (we just soak the tamarind in hot water though, no boiling)

EC said...

The tangy taste would be the best part of this chutney...

Swati Raman Garg said...

this is something new to me but that color is so tempting.... today for some reason i am liknig the color of all that i look .. hehee

Nupur said...

OMG...the dish, and the picture and your description most of all has me drooling!

Shah cooks said...

oh my!!that looks delish. we used to have chennacha papayas like that.

Rajitha said...

yum TBC..this is new to me...i have never seen pappadam in a gravy presentation. It looks delicious...so!! cooking traditional food huh..getting all mallu i see :D

Laavanya said...

You had me drooling at this combination TBC.. and this combination of shallots + red chillies + coconut oil with mango - that sounds heavenly! I've never had mangoes that way...

FH said...

This dish is so unique, never knew!Looks yummy, great entry!:)

Anonymous said...

oh thts one tangy and spicy chutney! loved it :)

@the_whisk_affair said...

drool drool...just reading the title brings that tangy taste to my mouth!! looks delicious, TBC!

Uma said...

mmm. delicious chutney! looks so colorful.nice entry.

Rachel said...

You just took me down memory lane to the times when I had mango and the spicey mixture that you are talking about...Those were the times...I'm disappointed my daughter is missing out on all that!!!

Vaishali said...

Wow, that picture really had my tastebuds going! What a wonderfully evocative blend of flavors, TBC. And mangoes with crushed shallots and chillies sounds beyond delicious.

bha said...

I am replying to your question here, the recipe yeild was 14 macaroons, and the yolks I added to the pasta i had made for dinner, reduced the cheese quantity there...:)
But i need to find out a better usage for the yolks

Tee said...

This looks so delicious!

Sailaja said...

Lovely Recipe

Lisa Turner said...

Outstanding! A must try. Thanks for posting this.

Ranjani said...

Very interesting!
LOVE the color, looks really different:)

maimoona said...

Hi
Nice blog
chutney looks yummy
will try it sometime.

Sunshinemom said...

This is new to me also. None of my Malayali frnds. have ever brought this to office! Pappadams in tamarind is a novel idea - Should taste good with rotis also!

@the_whisk_affair said...

guess u havent moderated the comments yet, but again, that looks awesome! :-)

delhibelle said...

What an unusual chutney!
And thank u for sharing Rajani's lovely blog

Richa said...

ooh! does that look groovy or what ;) slurrrrp!

Cynthia said...

This is definitely one to try!

Rachel said...

I have something waiting for you at my blog....

Anonymous said...

What a great find - the new blog. I have not yet used tamarind as a main ingredient in a dish. Just used it to add that great sourness to other dishes. I will have to try this soon.

TBC said...

Hetal, Nags, notyet100, Aparna, Jayashree, Prajusha, Bhags, EC, Skribles, Uma, Tee, Sailaja, Lisa, Ranjani, Richa and Cynthia- thank you all for your sweet and encouraging comments.:D

Sig- yes, and no.:D
I had THIS with mangoes, and then I had my usual quota of rice with something else.:D.
Glad I could participate!

Sra- I added papads only 'cos Rajani added them. :D I guess it's done to impart a roasted flavor to the prepearation.

Rajani- thank you, once again! :D
I can see why u like it so much!
I only boiled it 'cos I did not want any "stomach problems" later on 'cos of too much tamarind. I guess it's only an old wives' tale, but I did not want to find out the hard way! ;-D

Swati- Since that includes my dish, I'd say u have great taste! ;-). BTW, I had no idea u were a South Indian!


Nupur, Shaheen, Rajitha, Laavanya, Asha- girls, you have just got to try it. It is really fabulous, if I may say so myself!;-)

JZ- I am so glad I came across Rajani's blog. She has some great dishes there!
I see that u liked t so much that u left me a second comment.:D
Do give it a shot...you'll like it.

Rachel- yeah, today's generation is missing out on so many of life's simple pleasures. You've had the mango-spicy mix too huh? Good! so u know what I'm talking about then.:D

Vaishali- Do try it.It is good! And it is vegan enough too.:D

Bhags-:D

Maimoona- welcome, and thanks for visiting! :D


Sunshinemom- Pappadams in the mix was Rajani's idea, as was the recipe itself.:D
This would not be the kind of dish one takes to work- maybe that's why you've never seen/tasted it in your friends' dabbas.:(
I also do not think it would go well with rotis, but there's certainly nothing wrong in doing what u like.:D
Or, do what I did- have it with mangoes...you'll thank me for it later! :)

Rashmi- :D
I'm glad I found Rajani's blog myself! Happy to share too.:)

Rachel- thank you, dear.:D
Very thoughtful of you.:)

Vegeyum- Please do!! I hope you like it as much as we did.:D

Anonymous said...

What a gorgeous looking chutney! I love your blog..thanks for leaving me a link. This goes into the feed reader. :)

purplesque

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