mouth on fire

now i know what to do with fist-fulls of cilantro when it has over-wintered, and is huge and bolting, and there are no tomatoes or peppers available to make salsa. i made a cilantro and mint chutney from madhur jaffrey's world vegetarian cookbook, and WOW was it yummy.



i snuck into jack's garden across the street, and snagged a bit of his mint (which he has in abundance, trust me), and used one of the dried hot chiles we have hanging in our kitchen (which came, originally, from some other neighbors). this chutney was plenty hot, and worked really nicely against the spicy/sweet peach chutney i canned last fall. i made my favorite curried cauliflower dish, as a vehicle for the chutneys, and we had it on a nice jasmine rice with some not-so-great store-bought naan. that little dollop of greek yogurt did little to put out the fire in my mouth. a meal like that leaves me feeling slightly euphoric. thank you, capsicum.

here's the recipe:

Delhi-Style Cilantro and Mint Chutney
Hari Chutney

From World Vegetarian, by Madhur Jaffrey

Jaffrey's note: ...Generally, when we use cilantro, we use only the leaves. Here you may use the slender stems as well. The same applies to the mint. This chutney may be kept in the refrigerator for at least 2 days, but it is best the day it is made.

2 well-packed cups fresh cilantro
3/4 well-packed cup fresh mint
3 to 4 fresh hot green chiles (or 1 good, hot dried chile)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Generous pinch of ground asafetida
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Combine all the ingredients as well as 1/2 cup of water in a blender (or small food processor). Blend, stopping and pushing down with a rubber spatula whenever necessary, until you have a smooth paste.
Makes about 1 cup.

[i missed that part about the 1/2 cup of water, which may be why mine didn't get as smooth as i would have liked. but no matter. it tasted great.]