ALL ABOUT THOKKU & PUDINA THOKKU PICKLE/ MINT LEAVES THOKKU

ALL ABOUT THOKKU

All tamilians know what a thokku is and what is it’s significance in their lives. Thokku is halfway between a thogayal and a pickle. It has a longer shelf life like a pickle and there is no coconut used in the recipe.

Just like in a thogayal/thuvayal, chopped/grated vegetables are blended to a paste with spices, but without adding water. The water content in the vegetables are also reduced by slow cooking. This helps in preserving the thokku and giving it a longer shelf life. The thokku can be kept out of the refrigerator for a week after it is made and after that for over a month in the refrigerator.

Thokku can be used as a dip, spread, or a pickle. You can eat it with Bread, Chappatis, dosa, upma and curd rice or eat it mixed with hot rice and ghee.

Almost all vegetables without too much water content can be turned into Thokkus. Experiment with exotic vegetables as long as you remain true to the spirit of the recipe.

When using sour stuff as the base, you need not add tamarind.

To make your thokku have a longer shelf life:

• Use fresh vegetables.
• Wash and completely dry vegetables, bottles and spoons.
• Never use a wet spoon or your bare hands to touch the thokku. Even a tiny bit of water can spoil it.
• Aluminum, plastic or brass vessels react with the acid in thokku and should be avoided. Use glass / stainless steel / porcelain jars.
• Salt always has moisture in it. So dry roast it / dry it in sun for a day before using it.
• Refrigerate thokku to make them last much longer.
• Have a layer of oil over thokku to seal the surface.
• Mix in a pinch of preservatives like sodium benzoate / citric acid to make your thokku last longer.

Here is a tasty and refreshing recipe of The Mint leaves Thokku

PUDINA THOKKU PICKLE/ MINT LEAVES THOKKU

Ingredients

Pudina Leaves – 1 bunch

Tamarind Paste – 1 tsp

Gingelly Oil / Any edible vegetable oil -  5 tbsps

Udad dal – 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tsp

Red Chilly - 4

Asafoetida – ½ tsp

Mustard – 1 tsp

Salt as per taste

Method

Dry roast the Udad, Red chillies, Fenugreek seeds and grind into a fine powder. Keep aside.

Wash the pudinah leaves well and fry in 2 tsps oil till it is reduced, dry and changed its color. Cool and grind it coarse in a mixie.

Heat the remaining oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds and when it begins to crackle, add in the ground powders and fry for half a minute, it shouldn’t become black, then add the tamarind paste and cook for a minute, after this add the coarsely ground mint leaves, and salt as per taste. Mix it all well. Keep stirring continuously till the water evaporates and it becomes one uniform mixture. After a while you will see the oil separates from the mixture and floats on top. This is the indication that it is done. Put off the gas and let it cool and enjoy it as a dip, spread or a pickle.

CHOW CHOW KOOTU (CHAYOTE / BANGALORE KATRIKKAI IN COCONUT GRAVY)

CHOW CHOW KOOTU (CHAYOTE / BANGALORE KATRIKKAI IN COCONUT GRAVY)While growing up in Mumbai I had never ever had this vegetable and when I moved to Singapore I saw an abundance of this vegetable. As usual I asked the Indian Grocery shop person what's this and how it is cooked. Now, most pf the guys who work for the Indian shop are from the villages of India and know a lot about cooking and our South Indian traditional dishes. The guy said, "Just make a kootu with it". So i bought the Chayote thinking to myself hope it turns out well. 

Chayote belongs to the Gourd family along with melons, cucumbers and squash. 

Chayote in India is locally known as Chow Chow (Doesn't that sound like a pet name). It's also known as Bangalore Katrikkai (Eggplants/Aubergines from a place called Bangalore in India).



For those unfamiliar about this vegetable, some info on it
Chayote/Chow Chow/ Bangalore Katrikkai is light green in color, usually pear shaped and sometimes has wrinkles. In Singapore I sometimes see thorn like structures growing at the base of the Chayote. It's a good source of amino acids and vitamin C.
The leaves and fruit have diuretic, cardiovascular and anti-inflammatory properties, and a tea made from the leaves has been used in the treatment of arteriosclerosis and hypertension, and to dissolve kidney stones.
(Some info courtesy :Wikipedia)

With health benefits to add on, I decided to cook it in the below manner. I must say that it turned out yummy and from then on this is on our vegetables shopping list too. Do try and let me know how you like it.

Ingredients

Chow Chow - 1

Yellow split Moong dal – ½ cup

Grated Coconut – 2 tbsp

Red chillies – 2-3 nos.

Curry leaves – 5-6

Udad dal – 1 tbsp

Mustard – 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds – 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Oil – 1 tsp

Salt as per taste

Method

Peel the chow chow and cut into square chunks. Keep aside. Rinse out the moong dal well. In a vessel, mix washed moong dal and little amount of water. Add turmeric powder. Cook it until almost done, add in the chayote, pour ½ cup water and cook until the chayote is soft and the moong dal is totally mashed. Chayote cooks very quickly.  Add salt as per taste at this stage, as sometimes if you add salt to the moong dal it may not cook or take time to cook.

Grind the red chillies(1-2nos), Cumin seeds and coconut to a fine paste in a blender and add to the cooked chayote and dal mixture.

Heat the oil. Add mustard seeds and udad dal and when it crackles add the curry leaves and one red chilly and pour it on the cooked chayote. 

Enjoy this Chow chow kootu with Chappatis or hot rice and pappads.

TIPS

• Diabetics and Weight watchers, can avoid the coconut.

VARIATIONS

• You can add Onion and Tomato to this recipe if avoiding coconut, to give it a good flavor. In case adding Onion and tomato, add oil, fry the Onions, one transparent, add the tomatoes and cook until squashy before adding the chayote in the above recipe, This will infuse all the flavors into the chayote while cooking.