Our car broke down yesterday and we couldn’t go grocery shopping. For the first time in my life , I was challenged to make a decent meal as there were hardly any vegetables in the refrigerator , I am one of those kinds who stocks up the pantry and refrigerator enough for an army. Neither of us were in a mood to cook something elaborate after spending an hour in the phoenix summer but had enough enthusiasm to take pictures , lest the dish I made turned out interesting :D. So I decided to make a simple pachadi apart from some garlic rasam and yogurt. A great one for a binge day !

I had a few tomatillos , some mint and a bag of habonera chilli which K picked up sometime ago to put to use . Do I still want to send him grocery shopping ? Yes , he loves roaming from Isle to Isle finding new things for me with a gleeful smile , just like a kid and his enthusiasm is truly contagious , while I just walk to the produce and buy what I want in 20 minutes flat.

Coming back to the recipe, I didnt think it would work , but Im glad that it was more than satisfactory , It was one of the best pachadis I have made.

Ingredients:

12-15 tomatillos

3 habanero chilis

1/2 cup of mint

2 teaspoons urad dal

2 teaspoons mustard seeds

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

2 garlic cloves grated ( optional)

1/4 teaspoon hing /asafoetida

a few curry leaves

Method:

1. Wash , pat dry the tomatilloes and chop them into chunk , slit open the chilis and keep aside.

2. In a wide bottomed skillet , heat oil and saute the mint just until it wilts. Keep aside

3. In the same skillet , add the chopped tomatilloes , grated garlic and chilis and cook until they are mushy and done.

4. For the tempering , heat oil in another pan and add the urad dal, cumin seeds , mustard seeds , fenugreek seeds , curry leaves until the sizzle. Cool and grind all the ingredients with salt and a teaspoon of sugar. Serve hot with rice, roti or dosas.

The salsa bowl in the picture is a surprise gift by Madhuram for my birthday . Thanks madhuram for the cute gift! Its a favorite now !

This goes to Herb Mania - Mint and event hosted by me which ends July 15th ‘ 08. Subha Ravikoti of Chutki Bhar Pyar had kindly offered this logo for the event. Thanks dear Subha!

How I store my Mint

I make sure that it has no water droplets and pat dry with a paper towel, wrap it another paper towel and store it a ziploc bag. I also make sure that the bag is devoid of air otherwise the mint gets spoilt. Any other ways of storing methods would be appreciated.