Green Pepper Chutney/Dip and an Upcoming Review

Before writing recipe for today's post let me share the reason for making this deliciously tangy chutney. I had no plans of making it & I was about to throw this green pepper which froze so well in my refrigerator, that it made me think that do I need freezer? If U r confused so let me explain my situation here a little bit. Within first week of moving into my new apartment, first I found frozen milk bottle so I decreased the temp. of the fridge but after couple of days some of the veggies were frozen. I further changed the temp. to more low and used most of the vegetables BUT green pepper. Planned to use it in some soup as frozen peppers don't taste good in dry preparations so let it sit on the counter to thaw, but by the end of the day was so tired(all the unpacking after moving) so decided or I should say kind of convinced myself that it's O.k if for once I'm wasting food by simply throwing it, I don't do this usually, today I'm tired, there r many other things to do but was still guilty. So when he came home I told him about my decision(see I didn't had a heart to throw a veggie). What was I thinking, he gonna support me in this crime.......his one line and I was back into the kitchen.....he said "C'mon U can do better than that, make some sort of chutney out of it".  I usually make red bell pepper chutney so keeping that in mind I made this one. Here goes the recipe or I should say the guidelines.....

What I used :

• 1 frozen green pepper/capsicum/bell pepper fully thawed (U don't need frozen)
• 1 small red onion
• 2 tomato
• 5-6 garlic cloves
• 3-4  green chillies
• 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds(rai)
• 8-10 curry leaves(curry patta)
• lime/lemon juice as per taste
• salt
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil

What I did :

Heat oil in the pan, add rai & curry leaves, once they start to splutter add roughly chopped garlic, followed by roughly chopped onion. Once it's translucent add chopped green pepper & finally tomato & green chillies. Sprinkle some salt. Once everything looks almost cooked add salt. It took me around 15 minutes or so. Let it cool a bit, puree it add some lime/lemon juice as per your taste. Serve it with crackers/pretzels/chips or plain rice, and I'm sure it'll taste very good with idli or dosas also.

Now coming to the review part, CSN is giving me another opportunity to do a product review, I'm sure most of the bloggers have already heard or read about CSN. It's a wonderful place to shop as they have 200 + online stores so without leaving the comfort of your home U can do all your shopping. As a food blogger first thing I think about is always kitchen but they have much more than that, for instance think travelling, it's already mid February spring break is not far & they have beautiful collection of luggage like Delsey luggage . What I'm trying to say here is that everyone can find something of their choice or need at CSN stores.

Now, to my blogger friends and readers as I mentioned in my previous post we moved to a new city and I'm still in the process of unpacking, so I'm not able to visit all of you or even when I sneak out from the kitchen & boxes to take a peak at all your wonderful blogs don't get much time to leave a comment, I hope U guys understand. I'm trying to set some routine, hopefully in few days it'll be better.

Spicy Kabuli Chana/Chickpeas with Veggies

Kabuli Chana/Chickpeas/Garbanzo beans needs no introduction, it's one popular bean through out the world. Specially in Mediterranean & Indian(to be more specific north Indian) Cuisine it has a lot of importance, 99% of Indian restaurants have Punjabi Chole/Chana Masala on their menu. Kabuli Chanas are white in color & the name Kabuli comes from the city name Kabul(capital of Afghanistan). For very long time Afghanistan was the gateway to Indian sub-continent and it is suppose to be the place from where Kabuli Chana/Chickpeas were introduced in Indian subcontinent. Now, India is the largest producer of Chickpeas in world.

From Indian Cuisine the most popular Chana/Chickpeas dish is Chana Masala or very popularly known as Chole in north Indian households, which goes with the combination of Puri/Bhatura/Kulcha (flat Indian breads). I have already posted Chana Masala/Punjabi Chole recipe here. Today I'm sharing a very healthy but less time consuming recipe and taste wise also it's a hit.

What U need :

• 1 cup of dried uncooked chanas/chickpeas, soaked overnight.
• 1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
• 1 med. size onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 3-4 green chillies, chopped finely
• 1 & 1/2 cup of veggies, chopped into small bite size pieces( I used carrot, zucchini & eggplant/baingan)
• salt
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. dhania/coriander powder
• 1 tsp. jeera/cumin powder
• 1 tsp. garam masala
• handful of chopped cilantro for garnish
• l & 1/2 tablespoon oil

What U do :

1. Boil the chickpeas with 1 tsp. of salt & 2 bay leaves.
2. Once the chickpeas are cooked, heat oil in a heavy bottom pan. Saute garlic for few seconds, add onions, cook till translucent.
3. Add chopped veggies, sprinkle some salt, saute them. Once they are around half done add all the dry spices.
4. Next add tomato paste & little liquid from boiled chickpeas and green chillies. Also add drained chickpeas(see notes) to it and cook it covered till the veggies are done.
5. Garnish with fresh cilantro & serve with roti/naan or with your fav. bread.

If U don't count the time for boiling the chickpeas, this dish hardly takes 20 minutes or so and it's ready for one wholesome meal.

Notes :

1. If U prefer canned chickpeas, drain the liquid & rinse them with fresh water, no need to boil.
2. In case if U r boiling your own chickpeas try to boil them with just enough water as the final dish is dry kind. But if U have extra liquid use it in other dishes or for roti (Indian flat bread)dough.
3. I usually boil some extra chickpeas & keep them handy in the fridge to throw them in different dishes & if nothing else, works good in lentil salad.
4. I use whatever veggies I have on hand , so far I've used celery, parsnip/mooli, cauliflower, Indian bottle gourd/ghiya, spinach, beetroot(careful with this as it'll turn the whole dish into dark pinkish red color, so only if U like it that way).
5. I usually add all the veggies together (except leafy ones if using), that way the veggies which cook quickly like zucchini will get mushed up & U get kind of thick masala(not too much). For leafy veggies I add them once rest of the veggies are half done.