Mint Chutney

My project for the fall is to learn how to cook my favorite Indian dishes. You used to be able to get great Indian food at fairly reasonable prices. Not anymore. So it's high time I added new dishes to my repertoire. My eggplants are plumping up fast, and that was much of the inspiration for this decision. I'm looking forward to some bharta.

Yesterday I harvested some mint, cilantro, garlic and shallots and whipped up some mint chutney to dip pappadam in.

Searching recipes online I discovered that there are endless recipes for mint chutney. Here's mine.

MINT CHUTNEY

bunch of mint
bunch of cilantro
6 fresh garlic cloves
2 shallots
3 tablespoons of fresh squeezed lime juice
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of ice water
1/2 tsp cumin

it all goes in a blender to emulsify

From plot to plate

Once the harvest starts coming fast and furious, I challenge myself to see how many ingredients I can use from the garden in every dish. The aim is 100% sustainability.

This basic tomato salad has three ingredients. Honey bunch tomatoes, scallions and cilantro in a red wine vinaigrette.

Inevitably the sauce drops my score. But if I could grow and press my own olives, I would.

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RAPINI

My vitamin rich rapini dish has two ingredients from the garden. Rapini and garlic. I also add sliced fresh ginger from the pantry. Parboil rapini for 3-5 minutes. Plunge into an icy water bath to retain the vegetable's color. 

Add to a hot pan with olive oil, sliced garlic and ginger. Dash of tamari sauce. Yum.

I noticed that my ginger had sprouted a horn in one spot, so I rushed out to the garden and planted it!