This delicious Omavalli Chutney or Karpooravalli Chutney is made with Ajwain leaves, also known as the Mexican mint or Cuban Oregano. If you are looking to incorporate more herbs in your cooking, this Ajwain Leaves Chutney is a great recipe to start with.
Karpooravalli or Omavalli plant is a perennial plant that is most commonly grown as an indoor plant year-round. My dear friend Aparna has a couple of beautiful, luscious plants growing in her house, and she gave me a couple of cuttings from her plants 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 it 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 I 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 chutney.
Preparation time - 5 minutes Cooking time - 10 minutes Difficulty level - easy
Ingredients to make Karpooravalli Chutney - Serves 4
- Karpooravalli leaves / Ajwain leaves - 20 leaves
- Coconut - ½ cup (grated)
- Ullutham Paruppu / Urad dal - 2 TBSP
- Red chilies - 2
- Green chilies - 2
- Tamarind piece - a tiny piece (marble-sized)
- Oil - 1 tsp
- Salt - to taste
To temper the Omavalli chutney -
- Oil - 1 tsp
- Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
- Ullutham Paruppu / Urad dal - 1 tsp
- Asafetida - ¼ tsp
- Curry leaves - a few
Procedure to make Ajwain Leaves Chutney -
Pick the Omavalli leaves from the plant and remove any thick stems from them. Clean the leaves and keep them aside.
In a pan, heat 1 teaspoon of oil and add the ullutham paruppu / urad dal, red chilies, and green chilies. Fry them until the lentils turn slightly brown.
Now add the cleaned Ajwain leaves to the pan and fry them on a 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 the 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 !
Similar Chutney Recipes
- Vengayam Thakkali Kothamalli Chutney
- Ullundhu Chutney | Urad Dal Chutney
- Bombay Chutney - Besan Chutney
- Verkadalai Chutney | Peanut Chutney With Ginger And Sesame (Version 3)
Recipe
Equipment
- ▢ Small pan
- ▢ Stove
Ingredients
- ▢ 20 leaves Karpooravalli leaves / Ajwain leaves
- ▢ ½ cup Coconut grated
- ▢ 2 tablespoon Ullutham Paruppu / Urad dal
- ▢ 2 Red chilies
- ▢ 2 Green chilies
- ▢ 1 marble size Tamarind piece a marble size
- ▢ 1 teaspoon Oil
- ▢ Salt to taste
To temper the chutney -
- ▢ 1 teaspoon Oil
- ▢ 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- ▢ 1 teaspoon Ullutham Paruppu / Urad dal
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon Asafetida
- ▢ Curry leaves few
Instructions
- 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 teaspoon 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!
Nutrition
More Chutney
- Coconut Mint Chutney | Pudina Chutney
- Kara Chutney | Spicy Chettinad Red Chutney
- Thakkali Thokku | Tomato Pickle
- Pudina Thokku | Pudina Thogayal Recipe
Karpooravalli Chutney | Omavalli Chutney | Ajwain Leaves Chutney
Equipment
- Small pan
- Stove
Ingredients
- 20 leaves Karpooravalli leaves / Ajwain leaves
- ½ cup Coconut grated
- 2 tablespoon Ullutham Paruppu / Urad dal
- 2 Red chilies
- 2 Green chilies
- 1 marble size Tamarind piece a marble size
- 1 teaspoon Oil
- Salt to taste
To temper the chutney -
- 1 teaspoon Oil
- 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon Ullutham Paruppu / Urad dal
- ¼ teaspoon Asafetida
- Curry leaves few
Instructions
- 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 teaspoon 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!
