Chutneys n Chai

 
I've been home alone for a few days now which have given me alot of time to think, write and read;
but also more time to experiment in the kitchen!
I tried to make masala chai the other day (from scratch) by grinding all spices and then boiling them; didn't get that tasty as I wished. But maybe because I didn't add any sugar and used honey instead...😉
 
Guess the ingredients;)
 
South of India is famous for its varieties on rice based food items for eg. Idli, vada, dosa, fried rice, puffed rice, pulao, biryani etc. And yesterday I made two very common chutneys ((from scratch!!)) mint chutney and coconut chutney that is always served along with these rice based dishes. These chutneys (as most of the Indian food) contain alot of spices such as red/green chilli, mustard, mango powder, coriander, garlic n ginger. And yea, a chutney is not that complicated to make; just put everything in a mixer and voilia! But I guess the secret in every chutney, and what makes each one special in their own region as it is here in India, is the amount of each ingredient in right proportion to each other😉 Am I right?
I felt really high tech yesterday. And today I have this tingling feeling on my fingertips which could be a side effect of all "chillichopping". I guess the golden rule is to put as less fingers as possible IN the chutney...! 
 
And today I even made DOSA! But on an already made batter. My goal is to reach a stage where I don't have to think of what ingredients I have to buy when I'm on the gocery market, but just automatically start picking the ingredients for making the coconut chutney and when I come home just chipp chopp it all and BOOOOM - chutney ready☺
Dosa on the other hand, even if it looks like a pancake and looks easy to make, the batter is made out of finly grinded rice and dal (lentils) that have undergone a fermentation process and then have to be mix in different ways. And I'm not really there yet to take up that big project...😉 
 
Peace & Love 
 
☺