chutney / kimchi

 

Spinach Chutney Recipe

2 cups tightly packed spinach

2 tbsp peanuts

4 to 5 small pearl onions ( or 1/4 small red onion)

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

2 green chillies (use more or less as per spice levels)

1 marble size tamarind

1 tsp coconut or sesame oil

salt to taste

Heat a pan and add the oil. When the oil becomes hot, add the cumin seeds, tamarind, green chillies, onions and saute until the onions start turning golden brown. Set them aside to cool.

 Now add the peanuts and roast them until they turn golden. Set them aside along with the onions.

Now add the spinach and saute for a minute or so until they wilt.

Grind everything together with salt and water as needed to a chutney.

Serve your spinach chutney with idli / dosa or even with rice.

Mustard greens kimchi

2 pounds mustard greens

3 tablespoons kosher salt

½ cup anchovy kelp stock (or vegetable stock) or water

1 tablespoon glutinous rice flour (or rice flour, or plain flour)

1 tablespoon sugar

¼ cup fish sauce (or soy sauce)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon peeled ginger, minced

¼ cup sliced onion

¼ cup gochu-garu (Korean hot pepper flakes)

Prepare the mustard greens

Rinse the mustard greens in cold water. Drain, and put them into a large bowl.

Sprinkle with the salt, more on thick part of the leaves. Mix well with both hands and let stand for 2 hours, turning every 30 minutes to salt evenly.

Meanwhile, prepare the kimchi paste

Combine the glutinous flour and the stock in a small saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Stir until the mixture begins to bubble, about 2 minutes.

Add the sugar and stir for 30 seconds until the mixture is slightly translucent. Stir in the fish sauce.

Remove from the heat, scrape into a large bowl, and let it cool.

When the mixture is thoroughly cooled down, add the garlic, ginger, onion, hot pepper flakes. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

Make kimchi

Wash the mustard greens in a couple of changes of cold water and drain.

Transfer to the bowl with the kimchi paste and gently toss and mix together by hand (wear disposable gloves if you like).

Transfer to an airtight container. Press down on the kimchi so it’s well packed and no air can get inside, then put the lid on the container.

Serve

You can serve the kimchi right away or let it ferment. It takes about 2 weeks to ferment in the refrigerator; for faster fermenting, leave it at room temperature for a few days, depending on the warmth of your room temperature, until the kimchi tastes and smells sour.

Once the kimchi is fermented, keep in the refrigerator. The kimchi will continue to ferment in the refrigerator and become more sour as time passes.