Mexican Salsa Recipe / Salsa Picada

Learn to make delicious salsa recipe from Rick Bayless cookbook Authentic Mexican.

Mexican Salsa Recipe

Ingredients 

Tomato medium- 2 nos

Onion small- 1 no

Green chilli / Serrano pepper- 2 nos

Coriander leaves- 15 sprigs

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt to taste

Salsa Recipe

Method

Finely mince onion, tomato, green chilli and coriander leaves. Add everything to a bowl and mix well with lemon juice and salt. Set aside for 5 mins and serve with tortilla chips or as an side to any Mexican food.

Salsa Picada

Tomato sauce for Pasta/ Pizza

Learn how to make home made easy tomato sauce for Italian  pasta or for pizza.

Tomato sauce for pasta/ pizza

Ingredients

Tomatoes large- 6 nos

Tomato sauce/ ketchup- 1/4 cup

Onion medium minced- 2 nos

Garlic cloves- 4 nos

Dried Oregano- 2 tbsp

Sugar- 1 tbsp( +/-)

Salt to taste

Olive oil- 4 tbsp

Easy pizza/ pasta sauce

Method

Blanch tomatoes, allow to cool and remove its skin. In a blender or mixer, grind together blanched tomatoes, garlic cloves, oregano, tomato sauce, sugar and salt to smooth puree. In a large sauce pan heat olive oil on low flame, add minced onion and saute until onions are transparent. Add the pureed tomato mixture to the onions, check the seasoning and cook the tomato puree on low flame for 20 to 30 mins until thickens.

For italian red pasta

Serve prepared tomato sauce hot over pasta topped with parmesan cheese or cheddar cheese.

For italian pizza

Cool the tomato sauce, spread over pizza base top it with veggi, cheese and meat of your choice.

Tips

This tomato sauce for pasta/ pizza can be stored for an week when refrigerated.

Home made tomato sauce

Hari Chutney/ Green Chutney for Chaat

Hari Chutney

Ingredients

Pudina leaves/ Mint leaves- 1 cup

Coriander leaves/ Cilantro- 1 cup

Green chilli/ Serrano pepper- 2 nos

Lemon juice- 2 tbsp

Sugar- 1 tsp( +/- according to taste)

Salt- 1/2 tsp( +/- according to taste)

Water- 2 to 3 tbsp

Green Chutney for Chaat

Method

Grind all the above ingredients in mixer grinder until smooth and fine paste. Use this Hari chutney for Indian Chaat recipes or as a Dip. Can be refrigerated and stored for 15 days.

Hari Chutney for Chaat

Red Ranch Sauce/ Zesty Dipping Sauce

Red Ranch - Zesty Dipping Sauce

I wanted to make a zesty dipping sauce for my crispy beans 
like the one served at PF Chang's.
 I tried out with ranch, mayonnaise and paprika many times and finally 
this recipe came so close to the zesty dipping sauce served at PF Chang's. 
It was worth the effort!

Ingredients

Mayonnaise- 4 heaped tbsp

Frank's hot sauce- 1 and 1/2 tbsp (+/- to taste)

Vinegar- 1 tsp( for extra kick)

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Method

In a bowl combine mayonnaise, frank's hot sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper. 
Whisk everything well with a fork until smooth and creamy sauce is formed.
 Serve this zesty dipping sauce with crispy fried beans, with fried chicken or with beer battered fish etc.

Guacamole recipe( How to make Mexican Guacamole at home)

Guacamole Picado

Guacamole Picado is a famous Mexican dip or a side served with tortilla chips or with any main course. Guacamole Picado is made with Avocados( called as butter fruit in India), onions, tomato and garlic etc. Picado means chopped in Spanish, here the ingredients are chopped finely, mixed and served. Here goes the simple and home made recipe of Guacamole

Ingredients

Onion small finely chopped- 1 no

Green chilies finely chopped- 3 nos( you can use 2 Serrano peppers and 1 Jalapeno)

Tomato medium remove seed and finely chopped- 1 no

Garlic clove minced- 1 no

Fresh coriander leaves chopped- 1 tbsp

Avocado ripe- 3 nos

Salt- 1/2 tsp

lime juice from 1/2 fruit

Home-made Guacamole

Method

Remove the seed and scoop out the flesh from the avocados, chop coarsely and place it in a bowl. Add chopped onion, chopped tomatoes, chopped green chilies, minced garlic, chopped coriander leaves, lime juice and salt to the avocados. Mix well everything in the bowl with a fork until avocados are mashed and well blended with other ingredients. Serve with warm tortillas or with tortilla chips.

( Note: for Desi touch I spread Guacamole on dosa, bread slice and chapati which tasted very good).

Guacamole

Basic Tomato Gravy/ Sauce( Base for all types of gravies and curries).

In hotels and restaurants they make this basic tomato gravy in batches and store for few days. This tomato gravy is the base for all the gravies and curries you order at an restaurant. For example if you order for paneer butter masala, this gravy is used as base, to this they add the other ingredients like panner, kasuri methi, butter and heavy cream. With this basic gravy you can prepare as many gravies and curries as Channa Masala, Paneer Butter Masala, Peas Masala, Chicken tikka Masala, Lamb Curries etc.

Ingredients

Tomatoes Large-10

Garlic cloves-15

Ginger piece-3"( Chopped)

Black pepper corns-1tsp

Cumin seeds-3tsp

Dried Bay leaves-5

Green Cardamoms-6

Cloves-6

Method

Boil the tomatoes in hot water for 3 mins or microwave tomatoes for 1 minute. Peel off the tomatoes skin and chop them. Add the chopped tomatoes, ginger, garlic and whole spices and 5 cups of water in a pan. Cook the mixture on medium heat till tomatoes are tender and cooked. Cool the tomato mixture, remove the whole spices and puree in blender till smooth consistency.

Vadagam( Tempering used for South Indian dishes).

Many of my blogger friends were enquiring about the Vadagam and its preparation method. This an aromatic tempering used in many of South Indian and Chettinad dishes like Sambar, Kuzhambu and Kootu. This is my granny's recipe, which is passed on to my mother and to me.

Ingredients

Chinna Vengayam/ Shallots( Small onions)-1kg

Ulli Poondu/ Small garlic-1/2kg

Green chilles-1/4kg

Mustard seeds-50gms

Split Urad dal/ Split black gram dal-1/4kg

Jeera/ Cumin seeds-50gms

Fenugreek/ Methi seeds-25gms

Curry leaves-2 sprigs

Nallennai/ Gingelly oil-50gm

Velakennai/ Castor oil-50gm

Turmeric powder-4tsp

Method

Remove onion and garlic skins. Chop green chilles. Mince onion, garlic and green chilles in a mixer grinder( should be rough and coarse). To the onion mixture, add rest of the above said ingredients. Mix in both the oils to the mixture and make medium sized balls. Keep these balls in direct sunlight for 10 days. When these balls are fully dried, store it in airtight jars. You can store these vadagam balls for a year. 

Tips to prepare

Take 2 balls of vadagam, crush them and store it in small container. When used as tempering, to the medium hot oil add 1tsp of crushed vadagam and allow it to turn golden brown, then add the rest of the ingredients.( Do not burn the vadagam as they may turn bitter).

Curry Powder/ Curry powder for Roasts or Gravies.

Ingredients

Kadalai Paruppu/ Bengal gram-200gms

Kundu milagai/ Whole dry red chilly-25gms

Milagu/ Whole black pepper-10gm

Dhaniya/ Coriander seeds-100gms

Jeera seeds/ Seeragam/Cumin-25gms

Fenugreek/ Venthiyam/ Methi-1tsp

Dry Coconut/ Kopparai Thengai-1/2cup

Sukku/ Dry ginger-1/2"

Turmeric powder-2tbsp

Cinnamon-1/2"

Method

Sun dry the above ingredients for 2 days or dry roast each ingredients separately in a kadai. Allow to cool and grind in mixer to a fine powder. This can be stored for many months. Mix 1-2tsps of this curry powder to Potato roast, Seppankizhangu( Colocassia) roast or to any roast or gravy.

Idly Chilly Powder/ Idli Milagai Podi/ Gun Powder for Idli and Dosa

Ingredients

Kundu Milagai/ Whole Dry red chilly-100gms

Kadalai paruppu/ Bengal gram-200gms

Toordal/ Thuvaram Paruppu-50gms

Urad dal/ Ullutham Paruppu-350gms

Perungaya powder/ Asafetida Powder-1tsp

Salt to taste

Method

Dry roast above ingredients separately. Allow to cool and grind in mixer to a fine powder. Add salt to the powder and store in a air tight jar. This Idly chilly powder can be stored for many months. Mix this idly chilly powder with gingelly oil/ ghee and serve with hot Idly or Dosa.

Paruppu Podi/ Poondu( Garlic) Paruppu Podi.

Paruppu Podi/ Dal Powder

Ingredients

Pottu Kadalai/ Roasted gram-200gms

Milagai/ Whole Dry red chilly-25gms

Milagu/ Whole black pepper-50gms

Salt to taste

Method

Dry roast Milagai and Milagu seprately. Allow to cool and grind along with Pottu kadalai in mixer to a fine powder. Add salt to the powder and store in a air tight jar. Mix this dal powder to the hot steamed rice along with ghee or gingelly oil and serve. This dal powder can be stored for a month.

Poondu Paruppu Podi/ Garlic Dal Powder

To the above ingredients add 2 cloves of garlic while grinding. Add salt to the powder and store in a air tight jar. This dal powder can be stored for an week due to the moisture content.

Sambar Powder( Podi) And Iyengar Sambar Powder.

Sambar Powder/ Sambar Podi

Ingredients

Kundu Milagai/ Whole Dry red chilly-50gms

Kadalai paruppu/ Bengal gram-100gms

Dhaniya/ Coriander seeds-100gms

Seeragam/ Jeera seeds-2tsp

Venthiyam/ Fenugreek seeds-2tsp

Dried Coconut/ Kopparai Thengai-1/4cup

Milagu/ Whole black pepper-25gms

Turmeric powder-2tbsp

Method

Sun dry the above ingredients for 2 days or dry roast each ingredients separately in a kadai. Allow to cool and grind in mixer to a fine powder.

While preparing Sambar add one tsp of this Sambar powder to the boiling Sambar mixture. This can be stored for many months.

Iyengar Sambar Powder

Ingredients

Toordal/ Thuvaram Paruppu-1/4kg

Kadalai Paruppu/ Bengal gram-125gm

Kundu milagai/ Whole Dry red chilly-1/4kg

Dhaniya/ Coriander seeds-1/4kg

Vendhiyam/ Fenugreek seeds-2tsp

Turmeric powder-2tbsp

Method

Sun dry the above ingredients for 2 days or dry roast each ingredients separately in a kadai. Allow to cool and grind in mixer to a fine powder.

While preparing Sambar add one tsp of this Sambar powder to the boiling Sambar mixture. This can be stored for many months.

Kuzhambu Milagai Thool/ Kulambu Powder.

Ingredients

Kadalai Paruppu/ Bengal gram-25gms

Toordal/ Thuvaram Paruppu-25gms

Kundu Milagai/ Whole Dry red chilly-100gms

Dhaniya/ Coriander seeds-300gms

Seeragam/ Cumin seeds-5tsp

Milagu/ Whole black pepper-5tsp

Vendhiyam/ Fenugreek-1tsp

Turmeric-2tbsp

Method

Sun dry the above ingredients for 2 days or dry roast each ingredients separately in a kadai. Allow to cool and grind in mixer to a fine powder. This Kuzhambu thool can be used to prepare Vathal kuzhambu, Puli kuzhambu or any Non-veg kuzhambu. This can be stored for many months.

Rasam Powder/ Rasam Podi

My friend Anusha requested for variety of South Indian Masala podis/ powders. For the next few posts i will post these masala podis/ powders which can be easily prepared at home.

Ingredients

Milagu/Whole Black Pepper-50gms

Jeera/ Cumin seeds-50gms

Dhaniya/ Coriander seeds-100gms

Toordal/ Thuvaram Paruppu-50gms

Kundu milagai/ Whole Dry red chilly-10gms

Turmeric powder-2tbsp

Method

Sun dry the above ingredients for 2 days or dry roast each ingredients separately in a kadai. Allow to cool and grind in mixer to a fine powder. While preparing Rasam add one tsp of this Rasam powder to the boiling Rasam mixture. This can be stored for many months.