Coriander-Mint Chutney

Coriander mint chutney is also called sandwich chutney in India as it is usually used for making sandwiches. This chutney can be had with dhokla or dosa too. You can omit the mint if you don't have it on hand or if you are not a great fan. I usually buy fresh mint from the Indian grocery store and dry it in the hot sun. Then I store it in a air tight container. This stays good for 1-2 months.

Ingredients
1 cup chopped coriander or cilantro leaves. (I love to have a dense flavor of coriander leaves, so I usually add 15-20 strands of the leaf. )
1 tablespoon dried mint leaves or 10-12 fresh mint leaves
small piece of tamarind (size of 2 green peas) or1/8 the teaspoon tamarind concentrate
2-3 green chilies or as per taste
3 tablespoon grated coconut
1/4 teaspoon jeera or cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon chopped ginger
1-2 cloves of garlic (optional, I don't use garlic only if I am going to serve the chutney with dosas)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt for taste

Method
Wash and chop the mint and coriander coarsely. Grind all the ingredients into a very smooth paste. Serve with dhoklas, dosas or sandwiches. If this is not being used immediately, store it in the fridge. This chutney can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days.

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Serves: 5-6

Set Dosa

Set Dosa is also called "musti polo" which literally translates to "fist dosa". The contents are measured by the "fist" and not by "cup" and hence the name. This was one of my favorite tiffin snack during my school and college days. My friends also loved this dosa a lot. This dosa has a unique flavor due to the methi/fenugreek seeds. i don't use boiled or raw rice for this dosa; I use the normal rice which is served with sambar or dal. I served this with coriander-mint chutney. Here is the recipe for set dosa.

Ingredients
3 cups rice
1 cup urad dal or split and husked black lentil
1 teaspoon methi/ fenugreek seeds
2 tablespoon jaggery or gur
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
oil for frying

Method

Wash and soak urad dal i plenty of water. Wash rice and methi seeds and soak it separately. Soak both urad dala nd rice for around 4-5 hours. Now grind half of the urad dal finely adding very little water. Then add half of the rice and jaggery to the ground urad dal and grind it as finely as possible. Now repeat the same steps to grind the rest of the urad dal and rice. Add turmeric powder and salt and mix the batter well using your hand. Keep the batter in a warm place for 8-10 hours. The batter will ferment and rise at least 1/4th to 1/8th more than the previous volume. Add water as desired to make it as thick as idli but little thicker than pancake batter. Oil a tava or griddle and heat it. Add a ladle full of the dosa batter and spread it evenly in form of a circle. Cook covered and then flip the dosa to the other side. Now cook uncovered on the other side. Remove the dosa from the griddle and serve it hot with dosa chutney or mint chutney.