Chatini Coco

This is one of my very favorite condiments, I cannot believe I haven't posted this.  Coconut Chutney or Chatini Coco as they say in Mauritius is a sort of sweet/spicy blend that accompanies rice dishes very well.  I also eat it on anything else, because it's that good.

You will need a strong blender for this, or a food processor. Check that your device is equipped to handle this...I've blown up more than one mixer making this, and I'm not responsible for yours.

You'll also need a hammer and some strong big knives. Sounds inappropriate...totally required.

Ingredients:

1 raw coconut, a regular one not a Thai coconut.

2-3 dry red chilies

3-6 cloves of garlic (depending on preference)

salt to taste (start with a little less than 1/4 t)

handful of mint leaves

handful of cilantro leaves

 1-2 T Tamarind pulp (remove the seeds)

Oil (optional, 2-3 T)

Break open your coconut,and remove the shell.  My usual method is to poke holes in the "eyes" sip out the milk with a straw, place coconut in a plastic bag (from the grocery store) wrap it up a bit because you don't want it to get dirty from the next part.  Slam/throw the coconut against a hard surface (think concrete sidewalk) break it open! Remove the meat from the shell.  Cut the coconut into smaller pieces, no more than 1/2 inch wide, and not longer than 2 inches.  Small as you can manage, it will be easier on your blender.

Place all ingredients in your food processor/blender and process until uniform.  You end result will vary depending on your blender and your personal taste.  The addition of oil is optional, this chutney can be dry so the oil will help the blending and storing. Check for taste and adjust as needed.  Store unused product in sealed container in the fridge, this will keep for quite a while if kept in fridge. (I've never had any go off in the fridge, only one jar that was left out over night during a hot Mauritian summer.)  Coconut chutney will harden in fridge, so when picking a container keep that in mind...you want to be able to get a spoon in to dig it out.  

Enjoy!

Spring! and Green Beans

Spring is finally here I believe.  61 degrees today!  Big plans for a large garden this year, so far our seedlings are doing pretty well.

A recent old favorite of mine is green beans, I forget how much I really love them.  In Mauritius we could get the super long Chinese string beans, voem as they were called.  You can use and long green bean in this recipe.

1 pound green beans cut into 1-1.5 inch pieces (a bag of frozen cut green beans will work just as well)
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1-3 green chilies, sliced or slit 
3-4 T oil
1T cumin seed
1T ground coriander
1t ground cumin
1T saffron (turmeric)
salt to taste

Heat oil in large skillet, I use a karahi (Hindi) or caldero (Spanish) like this. Add cumin seeds and allow them to start popping, add garlic and chilies.  Stir until chilies have changed colour, then add ground coriander, cumin, salt and saffron; mix for about a minute and stir in green beans. Mix beans until coated with oil and masalas then cover and cook on medium heat.  Stir occasionally and add water if too dry, or more oil if needed.  The beans should cook beyond normal time,you want them almost to start to shrink.  Check for taste and adjust salt as needed.  Serve with rice, roti, chapati or paratha.

Wow I am really horrible at blogging

Life has been very busy for us since we got here.  Mostly adjusting to the weather, it's a big change from sunshine 365 days a year to winter in Minnesota.  My son took some time to feel okay about going outside, and remembering that he should be wearing mittens, hat, scarf, coat, snow pants, socks and boots...but now he is a big fan of outside play and actually told me he would be sad when the snow melts.

I wish I could say that I spent my winter experimenting in the kitchen and creating new delicious meals, and that I took pictures and wrote everything down...but I didn't.

Mostly I spent my time working, and shoveling.

I did start making body butters, whipped oils, and balms.  My face chapped up very badly at the first winter chill in October and nothing helped.  I looked around online and developed a very nice, non-greasy body butter that is even mild enough for my face.

I've made some small sales here and there...and have some on the shelf at the local health food store.  I'm hoping to have an Etsy site up soon once I can figure out the way that is supposed to work.

Stay Tuned!

New Stuff!

Wow. The past 6 months have flew by and been filled with changes! Let me highlight a few... - My husband went to Kenya and completed his IR-1 interview. (Approved!) - We moved! We are now residents of Minnesota, USA!! Woohoo!! - We started a few new businesses. This blog has always been about food, and I won't be taking that part away. I will be adding information. I hope to get back to blogging my tastebuds away soon...once things get settled down!

The red of chilies and the green of chilies.

I always cook with chilies.  Whether they are dry, fresh, powdered, crumbled, minced, or added at the end; there's always a little in everything I make.  I also add on extra chilies when I sit down to eat, just a little scoop on the side...just in case.

First the Red...
There is a local sauce(?) here called Mazavarou.  It comes in many forms, and can be found on literally every corner of the market.  From store aisles selling commercially made products, to hunched over old men and women hawking their goods on the sidewalk; everyone has a recipe for it. The base is the same red chilies, garlic, salt, lemon.

My Recipe:
1/2 cup fresh red chillies (I used the local variety, I don't know the name but I'm sure anything would work as long as it's fresh and red...flavour may be affected but that's half the fun.)
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used sunflower oil, do NOT use olive oil)1 teaspoon garlic, sliced1/2 teaspoon salt1 lemon, peeled (vinegar may work in a pinch)


Pre-heat a pan and add the oil.  Add chilies and garlic.  Saute this for 15 minutes.  I had a small pan...

Just be careful nothing burns

Remove this from the heat once done and mix with the salt and lemon...or 1-2 teaspoons of vinegar if you must.  Then put this all in a small food processor, or mixer and grind it to a paste.

I think I had a bit much oil...

This is what I ended up with, and I mostly drained the oil and ate the bottom part...but it was pretty decent for my first attempt.  

The Green...

My very favourite "condiment" is tamamsos which doesn't contain tamarind at all, which makes the name confusing...but it's green chili and lemon.  I made a version of this myself and consumed the whole pot in less than a week.  It was too good.  Sadly I didn't take any pictures and I didn't really write the recipe down.  

Basically....I took a handful of  fresh green chilies (and maybe 1 or 2 small red ones that were left over from the mazavarou), 1/2 teaspoon of salt, juice of one lemon and 3-4 (maybe 5-7 haha) cloves of garlic.  I gave this a whirl in the grinder and checked and modified things as needed.  It was awesome....next time I will pay attention and take pictures along the way!

Either of these make any dish awesome...

Cheesy Garlic Biscuits

Occasionally I will be posting recipes that are not of Indian/Mauritian origin, and sometimes even sweet dishes...pretty much whatever I fancy at the moment, the recipes will always be meat, fish, and egg free; dairy will be used from time to time as it is in this recipe. I will try to make them easy to convert for vegans.

In the States we have a restaurant called Red Lobster, according to Wikipedia they operate in Canada, UAE and Japan. They have cheesy garlicky biscuits that are so good. I haven't been to Red Lobster in years...I can't remember the last time I went. Possibly, with an old friend of mine on her 21st birthday and she got some sort of boat sized frozen beverage.

Anyways...

I found this recipe a while back (Sadly, I cannot remember where) and finally tried it the other night. The result was yummy, cheesy, garlicky biscuits.

1 3/4 c Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

5 Tbs Butter

1 c Milk

1c Shredded Cheese (the recipe asked for Cheddar, but I used Kraft Cheddar...which isn't really cheese IMO but I was in a pinch and my son actually likes Kraft so it was a win.)

Garlic Butter see below.

Pre-heat your oven to 230°C

Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Cut in the Butter until the flour resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk and drop in the cheese. Mix until well combined and drop by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. Brush garlic butter onto hot biscuits.

For the garlic butter, I added 2-3 extra tablespoons to the butter needed for the biscuits and stirred in a rounded teaspoon of crushed garlic. So when I melted the butter to add to the biscuits, I ended up with melted garlicky butter. I spooned out the melted butter into the flour and used the remaining amount to brush onto the biscuits with a pastry brush.

Go Vegan: Use vegan margarine in place of butter and soy-milk and your favorite soy cheese in place of the dairy options.

Vitamins!

Earlier today a friend asked me about how to know if he was getting enough vitamins & minerals.  My basic answer was just to take a multi-vitamin...I realise now that was a bit of an empty response.

While searching on google I found this blog that pointed me to this tool made by Centrum!  Let me just take a moment and say thanks to Jacqueline for bringing this tool to my attention & for hosting an awesome giveaway!

I took the assessment and found I need to take a multi-vitamin, phytonutrients, and Omega3s.  I already take an Omega 3-6-9 combination, Spirulina and when I remember I take a Centrum!

Do you take vitamins or supplements?