CUCUMBER PICKLE

Ingredients :
Dosakaya (kheera yellow color) - 2 (medium size)
Ground Nuts - 200 gms (approx)
tamarind (as per taste)
green chillies- (as per taste)
salt - as per taste

Tempering
red Chillies - 5-6 peices
mustard seeds- 2 tea spoon
jeera- 1/2 tea spoon
garlic-4-5 pieces
asfoteda- one pinch
bengal gram- 2 teaspoon
curry leaves

Method
peel the kheera and remove the seeds and cut into small pieces, and keep it aside. take a pan heat the oil fry the ground nuts. keep the fried ground nuts aside and now fry the cut green chillies, and keep it aside. let it cool. now grind green chillies, ground nuts and tamarind and make a fine paste and add it to the kheera pieces, and mix it well, keep it aside. now take redchillies, mustard seeds, jeera, garlic pods, bengal gram, curry leaves and asfoteda and temper them well now once u have a good tempering add the kheera mixture to it. keep it for 2-3 minutes. garnish with coriander. serve it hot with rice.

Dosakai - A cucumber that is yellow in color, has a round shape and is available in many parts of India. Commonly added in Chutney, Sambar or Soup, Daal and also in making Dosa-Aavakaaya (a type of Indian Pickle).

English cucumbers - Have very little in the way of seeds and can grow to around 2 feet in length.
Mediterranean cucumbers - Skins are smooth with nearly seedless flesh, they have a mild taste.
Japanese cucumbers or ky�ri - A dark green cucumber with a very bumpy skin. Mainly used for slicing, salads and pickling.

Cucumber is a very edible fruit which comes from the cucumber plant cucumis sativus, which is part of the gourd family. It is being used for different purpose as it can be eaten raw or cooked. With so many health benefits it becomes one of the most important parts of food diet as well as skin diet. In North America, the term �wild cucumber� refers to manroot.

Cucumber can claim to be a water body as it has 90% water. It is known to be a cooling agent due to the water in it.

Cucumber for Eyes
It is believed that cucumber helps in reducing swelling around the eyes or the big dark circles under your eyes. This is world-wide treatment which is being used to its maximum extent.
Cucumbers are the most wonderful and natural eye pads you can find for yourself. The puffiness and the tiredness in your eyes may just leave you, if you do this in a relaxed fashion. These natural eye pads do wonders after a long days work.
Cucumber for Skin
If you want a happy skin, then cucumber is the answer. As cucumber and the skin share the same level of hydrogen, it becomes easier for cucumber to mask all the problem areas. It helps in soothing and softening your skin which can get you relaxed in no time.
With so many useful ingredients in cucumber it can help you in treating so many skin problems. It has become part of daily beauty product into face packs, facials, juice and many other things which can affect your skin.
Due to its cooling effect it can be termed as a magic wand for all your skin problems. The cleaning and cleansing property helps your skin tremendously making it soft and supple.
The regular intake of cucumber juice is very useful both internally and externally.

TOMATO PEANUT PICKLE

Ingredients:

3 tomatoes, sliced

1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves

1 tbsp tamarind paste (use if tomatoes are not tart)

1/2 cup roasted peanuts

1 green chilli

1-2 dry red chillis

1 tsp cumin seeds

5-6 garlic flakes

1/4 tsp jaggery or sugar

salt to taste

1 tbsp oil(prefarabliy grountnut oil)


PROCEDURE:

1) Heat oil in a cooking vessel, add the cumin seeds and let them brown, add the garlic, red chilli and green chilli and fry for a mt. Remove from fire and cool.

2) In the same pan, add the sliced tomatoes and saute till the moisture evaporates. Add the tamarind and turn off heat. Cool.

3) Grind the roasted peanuts and the cumin mixture. Next add the cooled tomato mixture, coriander leaves, salt and sugar and make a paste. Add few tbsps of water, if required.

4) Serve with tiffins like dosa or idli.

SPICY HOT MANGO CHUTNEY

Hot Mango Chutney/Chekku pacchadi/gujju pacchadi

Ingredients :

3 large sweet mangoes, slightly ripened
1 tsp lemon rind, minced finely
1 tsp lemon juice
10 green chillies
1/2" piece ginger, minced finely
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp saunf (fennel) seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp methi (fenugreek) seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
A pinch of hing (asoefetida)
Salt to taste
6 tsp cooking oil.

Procedure :

Peel the mango and cut it into small chunks.
Heat about 2 tsp oil in a pan and fry the chunks
till they turn mushy.
Drain, mash well and set aside.
Roast the methi, saunf, cumin and coriander
seeds and crush coarsely using a mortar and pestle.
This is how powders are traditionally made.
But if you are of the impatient kind, go ahead
and use the coffee grinder but make sure
that the powder is a little coarse.
Set aside.
Heat the remaining oil and add the hing and mustard.
When the mustard crackles, add the ginger and green chillies and fry for about 1-2 minutes.
Add the mango, powdered masala, salt to taste, lime rinds and lime juice.
Bring to a boil on a low flame.
Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature.
Store in an airtight container.
If boiled and cooled well, since no water is used in making this dish, it should keep well for more than a week.
Store it in airtight containers in the fridge.