Kothamalli Thogaiyal | Instant Dry Chutney | Coriander Leaves Preserve in dry form

I wonder how certain things never fail to kindle your memories. This is one such for me that always kindles the plethora of those wonderful memories. When coriander leaves are in abundance , the first thing that my mom would opt is this as it has a good shelf life. Me and my sister will be assigned the work of preparing the leaves (getting the stem off and looking for the spoiled one and discarding them ). As a small girl I would always try to find an alternate to this job.

Good old memories quickly flashed when I saw these these on a good deal.Just to relive those memories I picked them and made the same one, the way my mom makes it.Simple pleasure of life!

Coming to the recipe, this is very simple to make and goes excellent with curd rice as such as a dry pickle. Make a quick chutney by adding some coconut . There are tons of ways I make use of this. Add a bit to your sir fries to make an interesting twist , add a pinch to your butter milk to make a masala butter milk.I do add these in the final tadka to dals and the list continues..

Ingredients

Coriander Leaves .................................... 1 big bunch, Fresh
Tamarind ............................................... 1 small marble size
Channa Dal ...........................................  3 tbsp
Urad Dal ...............................................  3 tbsp
Red Chillies ........................................... 10 (adjust to taste)
Asafoetida ............................................ 1/2 tsp
Salt ...................................................... to taste.

Method

• Clean, trim the hard stems  and wash the leaves thoroughly.
• Dry them over a cloth for 2 hrs / over night (if in a cold country)
• Dry roast the dals until golden brown , transfer to cool.
• Add a drop of oil to the same pan and fry the chillies until crisp.
• Turn off the heat and add the tamarind.And leave it in the stove for couple of minutes.
• Now transfer the dals along with chillies , tamarind , salt and asafoetida  to a blender and make a coarse powder.
• Add in the coriander leaves and pulse well so that it is all nice and coarse.
• Do not add water as the leaves contain some amount of natural water.
• Make balls and store them in a air tight glass container.
• It stores for a long when refrigerated.

Note



The leaves must be completely dry , a bit of water will ruin the chutney.
Use a spatula and clean the sides of the jar to get a uniform texture while you blend.