MethKoot / Menthe Hittu/ Spiced Lentil Powder

D DH quite recently had to go to India for his office work and on his return brought back lots of munchies and goodies. Without any surprise MIL, my parents fondly sent back stuff that would last for almost 6 months. While unpacking the goodies, I also saw this big packet of Spiced Lentil Powder sent by my mother.   The Spiced Lentil powder called as MethKoot/Methi Coot (Marathi/Konkani), Menthe Hittu (Kannada) is basically roasted Lentil, spiced with roasted cumin seeds, fenugreek, ginger, pepper etc and ground to fine powder. Methi or Menthe refers to Fenugreek seeds. Just by itself this…

No masala, No Oil Green Chili Lemon Pickle (Achar)

Not so long ago we had one of those lazy weekends where we did not feel like cooking much , did not feel like going to restaurant either and just lazed around, made just plain rice and simple daal. But then when hunger struck us we were left drooling and thinking of different possibilities, options and more yummy stuff to munch along with the plain food. Dear Husband (DH): “Wish we had a simple lemon pickle at least and that would have kicked up a notch of this plain food. We need to make it next time and keep it…

Tomato Thokku (Chutney, Pachadi)

It was one of those rare days when Dear Husband volunteered to cook in the kitchen and whip out one of his specialty dish “Tomato Thokku”. Tomato Tokku is the equivalent of Tomato Chutney or Tomato Pachadi. He had tasted this Tokku in Bangalore at his friend’s place and apparently the friend’s mother was an expert in making this. He had learnt the recipe then but managed to remember it even after so many years. I seized this opportunity, silently thanked the heavens and mumbled something about having an important work and disappeared from the kitchen. I however conveniently managed to…