Mary, who writes the delicious blog, Mary Mary Culinary was our August Daring Cooks’ host. Mary chose to show us how delicious South Indian cuisine is! She challenged us to make Appam and another South Indian/Sri Lankan dish to go with the warm flat bread.
I first fell in love with this chutney at my favorite Indian restaurant in Northern Virginia, Raaga. There, they serve the stuff on their lunch buffet in a huge punch bowl with a ladle that just sings to me to scoop to my hearts content. I would have sold my soul for the recipe and called it a day.
When we were challenged to create a few South Indian dishes for the August Daring Kitchen, Mary (Mary Culinary) gave us a recipe for Green Chili Chutney to stuff in a whole fish. Wait! Could it be? My beloved chutney? Partnered with a recipe for Coriander Chutney from Journey Kitchen, I was able to piece together my beloved cilantro chutney. Hoorah! This palate pleaser is a mere trip in the food processor – blending fresh ginger, cilantro and jalapeno peppers into submission. Trickle in a little water to smooth to a paste and season with salt and you are done. Ridiculously good. New best friend kind of good. Christmas morning good. Ok, you get the drift.
Cilantro Chutney
1 large bunch of cilantro, leaves and stems
3 jalapeno pepper, deseeded (or not)
4 in. piece of ginger, peeled
1/4 c. of water
pinch of salt
Roughly chop the ginger and jalapeno into 1/2 inch pieces. Add to the food processor and blitz. Add the cilantro, salt and half the water. Blend again. Add more water if necessary to make a smooth paste. Scoop out and serve fresh (it’s not nearly as good a day later, but you can mix with a bit of yogurt if you’re enjoying in the next day…that is, if you have any left).