Mint Chutney (aka Puthina Thogayal in Tamil)
Prep time - under 5 mins
Cook time - under 5 mins
Cool time – 15 mins
Grind time – 3 min
Serves – 2
Mint leaves: (Plucked and washed well) One cup
Green chili: slit and chopped (0.5/1/2 depending on your tolerance for “hotness”)
Tamarind paste: 0.5 teaspoon
Ginger: (finely chopped) 0.5 teaspoon
Oil: 1.5 tablespoon (can be any of gingelly/vegetable/olive)
Mustard seeds: 1 teaspoon
Hing (Asafetida): 0.25 teaspoon (really a few pinches for flavoring)
Urad dal: 1 tablespoon
Salt: 0.5 teaspoon (less is OK, you can add later depending on taste)
Optional:
Coriander leaves: (Plucked and washed) 0.25 cup
Curry leaves: about 10
Dry red chili: 1 (if you want to make it spicy hot) broken into bits with hand
Preparation
1. Wash the mint leaves thoroughly; (optional) wash the coriander leaves thoroughly
2. Wash the curry leaves thoroughly
3. Chop the green chili and ginger.
Cooking
1. Heat oil in a frying pan; add mustard seeds when you start heating the oil
2. When mustard seeds start sputtering, add Urad dal, hing, red chili bits
3. When the urad daal starts turning golden in color, lower the flame, add chopped green chili,
ginger, and curry leaves
4. Fry in low flame for a minute or two
5. Lower the flame to the lowest setting
6. Add the mint leaves and gently sauté for about 2-3 minutes; make sure the mint leaves retain
the greenness (over sauteing will turn them black which you don’t want to happen)
7. Add coriander leaves to the pan and gently sauté for another minute
Cooling
1. Let the sauteed mix sit for about 15 minutes to cool off