#mexicanmint

A delicious chutney made with a very aromatic herb, Karpooravalli / Omavalli / Ajwain leaves also known as the Mexican mint or Cuban Oregano.

Karpooravalli or Omavalli plant is a perennial plant that is most commonly grown as an indoor plant year around. My dear friend Aparna has couple of beautiful luscious plants growing in her house and she gave me couple of cuttings from her plant this summer. The best part about this plant is that it grows easily from a cutting. I let it sit in water until roots started appearing and then transferred it to a pot. The pots remained outside all summer and it grew wild.

Karpooravalli also known as Omavalli in Tamil, Ajwain leaves in Hindi and Mexican Mint / Cuban Oregano in English is a very easy to grow plant and has many medicinal properties. I have been regularly making some kashaayam / tea with the leaves for sore throat and cold and has been quite effective. When thinking of how else to use the beautiful leaves, I came across recipes for bajji with the leaves. I will be making that soon as well, but wanted to make something that is not deep fried and more practical for a quick weeknight dinner. For this chutney, I just used the leaves as I would use mint or cilantro. I used some coconut in the chutney to cut down on the very herbal flavor of the Karpooravalli leaves and also to add some body to the chutney. I served the chutney with dosai for dinner. My older one loved it and my little one hated it. So yes, the taste needs a little bit of getting used to, If you are looking to incorporate more herbs in your cooking, this is a great recipe to start with. This week, my theme for BM is 'Colorful recipes' and my first recipe for this theme is this Green colored Karpooravalli / Omavalli Chutney | Ajwain Leaves Chutney.

Preparation time - 5 minutes Cooking time - 10 minutes Difficulty level - easy

Ingredients to make Karpooravalli / Omavalli Chutney | Ajwain Leaves Chutney - Serves 4

Karpooravalli leaves / Ajwain leaves - 20 leaves Coconut - 1/2 cup (grated) Ullutham Paruppu / Urad dal - 2 TBSP Red chilies - 2 Green chilies - 2 Tamarind piece - a tiny piece (a marble size) Oil - 1 tsp Salt - to taste To temper the chutney - Oil - 1 tsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Ullutham Paruppu / Urad dal - 1 tsp Asafetida - 1/4 tsp Curry leaves - few

Procedure to make Karpooravalli / Omavalli Chutney | Ajwain Leaves Chutney -

Pick the Omavalli leaves from the plant and remove any thick stems in them. Clean the leaves and keep it aside. In a pan, heat 1 tsp of oil and add the ullutham paruppu / urad dal, red chilies and green chilies. Fry them until the lentls turn slightly brown. Now add the cleaned Ajwain leaves to the pan and fry it low flame until the leaves wilt a little bit (about 5 minutes). Add the grated coconut and the tamarind piece and give it a quick stir. Turn off the flame and let the mixture cool down. Grind the chutney using just enough water and required salt.

Heat a small pan and heat 1 more teaspoon of oil. Add the tempering ingredients and let it fry. Add the tempering to the chutney and mix well. Serve with idli or dosai!