A chutney, strange lemons and a meme :)

A cpl. of days back, dear Mansi lovingly said, "Your next post better have some peach in it" :). So, here i am, with some peaches. I have a question for you, dear reader-how many people do you know who purposely pick sour/tangy/un-ripe peaches :-D. If you are reading this, you sure know atleast one: moi! I love peaches, actually i LOVE peaches. When i have peaches in my kitchen, i just have them as such-i don't even wait to cut them ;). I prefer yellow peaches and ectarines to white ones, because of their sweet n' tangy taste. To be honest, i don't have enough self-control to cook with fruits. The best dessert for me is to peel/cut a fruit and enjoy it. At the most i pair it up with some home-made frozen yoghurt/ice-cream. Mansi, then, had me real worried. I had to make something out of a fruit. That demanded a lot of self-control. Hence, i decided in favor of semi-ripe peaches/nectarines, hoping that i won't finish this dish even before i began making it, by gobbling up the fruit :-D.

The next worry was, what to make with tangy nectarines.....i looked up Google, and saw the words "Peach" and "Chutney". I felt grateful, immediately headed for the kitchen, prepared my version of the chutney (which included finishing up half of the fruit as i was dicing it!), got back, read the recipe from Google, decided to add a lovely ingredient (roasted walnuts) from it to jazz up my version a bit. The end result was great, a khatti-meethi (sweet and sour) chutney!

Here's the original recipe (It uses tomatoes, raisins, Vanilla syrup, and a lot of ground walnut-more sweet relish like chutney. Kids would really enjoy it). And the following is my version:

Nectarine chutney:

We need:

• 2 yellow nectarines, diced (i started with three, but ate one!)
• 1/4 onion (chopped)
  
• 1 tbsp. grated ginger
• 1-2 green chillies (chopped)
  
• 1/2 tsp. each cumin and coriander powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp. lime juice (optional, to be used if you use really sweet peaches)
• 2 tbsp. coarsely ground walnuts
  
• 1 tsp. oil

In a pan, heat the oil and saute' onions and ginger. Add the cumin and coriander powders and the chopped green chillies. Stir and add 1/2 cup water. Now add the diced peaches and salt. Stir, cover and cook the peaches on low till they are tender.
Cool down the peaches (at this stage, it makes a nice side-dish too). Grind into a smooth paste. Add coarsely ground walnuts to the chutney, mix and enjoy :).


When i had a spoonful, the taste reminded of the traditional sweet aloobukhara/plum chutney.....which gets a lot of its flavor from the ground walnuts too. So plz. don't miss out on this ingedient. I thank the chef Mr. Frankenthaler for this ingredient. I finished this in one sitting :-D.

This goes to Mansi for AFAM:Peach/Nectarine. AFAM is a great, fruity get-together envisaged by Maheshwari from Beyond the Usual.

Now over to some interesting stuff from the supermarket:

I was at the Whole Foods Market in Westwood to pick up some vegetables when i sighted the following.....


Needless to say, it was spellbinding.....i looked around, with my cell phone ready to take a picture, trying to find someone to get permission for the same. One of the staff saw me, gave me a broad smile and said,"it is worth a picture, really" :). Now, i won't keep you guessing about it.....look right below to find the answer!


Buddha's hands.....thats the name for this grogeous beauty.....its actually a citron and apparently originated in northeastern India. I had never seen this one before, so it was quite a pleasant surprise.....

I also saw these cute looking fruits, the tamarillos. They really look like eggplants....(i actually did buy some golden eggplants y'day, will post pictures next time i write about eggplants). I think i'll buy them once to see how they taste. From what i read, seems like they would be great. Any ideas on this, anyone.


And now its time for a me-me :). Dear buddy Sra from "When my soup came alive" tagged me for the "life in fours" me-me.....so here's me, talking about me :-D.

Four places i've lived:

India (Amritsar, New Delhi, Bangalore), my beloved country
Boston
New York City
Los Angeles


Four jobs i (dream i) had:

Owner of the best cafe' and pastry shop in your neighbourhood (or your neighbourhood chai-wallah)
Cook ;) at your favorite bistro (or your favorite dhaba)
A loving and beloved teacher
Owner of a cute lil' book store


Four favorite places i've holidayed:

Home (thats blissful, i tell you: people cooking for you, caring for you) :-D
US, for the lovely cities on both East and West coasts
Goa and Kerala, for their breathtaking beauty
New Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad for the shopping sprees ;)


Four favorite foods (only four, not fair!):

Mom's Rajma chawal, namkeen churi and paranthas (how Punju!)
Kara baath, shavige and rave idli
Haak/dum olu/ kalan/ moong-masoor daal/ kadhi with plain rice
Chaat-pakodi: gol-gappas, tikkis, samosas, paav-bhaaji, khatte laddu, bhel-poori etc.


Four places i would rather be (as per my current mood):

Sitting outside in sun with a good book
Santa Monica-Third Street Promenade
My buddy Golden Girl's home, for a chai and upma that we would cook together
At a neighbourhood Indian restaurant, for lunch with MD


Four bloggers i would like to tag:

Richa@As Dear As Salt
Pel@Elaichi etcetera
Shweta @ Fresh Flavors
Tee@Bhaatukli

Please take it up at your leisure :). Enjoy :).