Spicy garlic gravy

Garlic lovers - This one's for you.

The perfect combination of spicy, tasty and healthy. This is a dish that can be had with rice, quinoa and rice combo, with dosai or south Indian pulav. Every so often I get a craving for this garlic gravy/sauce that my mom used to make. I had it to my heart's content this afternoon with some rice and was in heaven. Try this recipe. There 's a whole load of garlic, some ground to make the gravy slightly thick. I wreak but it's well worth it. Sorry co-workers. Tomorrow will be better, be happy you were nowhere near me today.

Spicy Garlic Kozhambu (garlic gravy)

Ingredients:

1/2 8oz cup peeled garlic cloves

1/2 8oz cup shredded fresh coconut

5 to 6 dried red chillies

1 1/2 8oz cups tamarind extract from lemon-sized fresh tamarind ball (found in Indian or Mexican grocery store)

2 Tbsps. fresh coriander seeds

3 tsps. canola oil

1 Tbsp. fresh curry leaves

Salt to taste

Method:

Take a pot. Extract juice from tamarind by soaking it in warm water. Sauté the garlic for about 8 minutes in a Tbsp. of canola oil. Drop the garlic into the boiling tamarind water and start heating on medium flame. Let the garlic cook well.

Toast the red chilies and coriander in canola oil. Let it brown a little. Add about 4 to 5 cloves of garlic and grind them with the shredded coconut to a smooth consistency. Mix the ground paste into the pot of tamarind water. Add salt. Let the ingredients cook for about 15 minutes.

Finally garnish with curry leaves. Serve with rice or pulav.

Spicy, saucy mushrooms

Food is the spice of life. Spicy food makes food worth eating. On a cold winter evening what's better than some spicy, saucy mushrooms, a  side dish for your chappthis (Indian bread) or rice.

Here's the recipe.

Regular button mushrooms work best for this recipe. Spice it up as much as you want, sauce it up as much as you'd like to. A combination of spicy and saucy is what we want with this prep.

2 cups fresh crimini mushroom

Olive oil or canola oil

1 medium-sized red onion, chopped

4 ripe campari tomatoes

2 green chillies, sliced

2 tps. turmeric power

2 tsps. red chillie powder

2 cloves

4 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp. fresh coriander, chopped

Salt to taste

Sauté in a hot pan, cloves, garlic, green chillies, and onions in the order here. Let onions become translucent a bit. Add turmeric, chillie powder mix in with the ingredients on the pan. Add tomatoes, sauté for a couple minutes. Add salt. Cover the pan and cook on medium heat for 8 minutes. Add the mushrooms, a cup of water, cover, and continue simmering. Adjust salt and spice to your liking. After 10 minutes of low simmer, transfer to a serving dish. Add coriander leaves and serve with rice or chappathi.