Idli - Sambhar - Chutney

This humble meal is what we recently had on Christmas Eve.
A small gathering of close friends and good food is always a good idea :-)

Following were the deciding factors behind our selection:
We wanted to spend very little time in the kitchen.
Wanted something spicy.
Something soupy and soul warming.
Vegetarian.
Very little cleanup.
And something you could eat tons of without feeling full or too guilty :-)

The idlis were made using store bought batter.

We used "Shastha idli batter" purchased from Mayuri.
You can get this easily from any Indian grocery store.
We steamed the batter in idli molds for about 15 mins on the stove top. We sprayed a little oil on the molds before filling it up with batter.

The sambhar was semi home made.

Tomatoes 1/2 cup chopped
Daikon radish 1 1/2 cups chopped
Okra 1 cups chopped
Eggplant 1 cup chopped
Green peas 1/2 cup
Carrots 1/2 cup chopped
Garlic 1/2 Tbs copped
Thai chilies 1 Tbs chopped (about 5-6 medium sized chilies) *adjust according to your tastebuds
Water 5-6 cups
Sambhar mix 5-6 heaping Tbs (we used MTR Sambar Mix available from any Indian store)
Butter 3-4 Tbs *optional - we went for it :-)

All the vegetables need to be cut small and they need to be the same size.. about 1/2".
Add the vegetables in a big pot filled with water, add the spice mix and turn on the heat.
Once the water has begun to boil, lower the heat and cook slightly covered for 30 mins.
Add butter at very the end after turning off the heat.

And the chutney was home made.

Fresh cilantro 1 bunch (stems and all - washed ofcourse)
Vinegar 1/2 cup (we used apple cider)
Dried red chilies 2-3 medium sized *adjust according to your tastebuds
Dried un-sweetened coconut flakes 1/2 cup *you can also use frozen or fresh grated coconut
Tomato 1 medium sized
Garlic 1 large clove
Red onion 1/3 of a small onion (roughly 1.5" thick slice)
Thai chilies 3-4 medium sized chilies *adjust according to your tastebuds
Salt 1/2 tsp

All of the above ingredients blended well in a blender.

Tada!
:-)