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!
Karpooravalli / Omavalli Chutney | Ajwain Leaves Chutney
Ingredients
- 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
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 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!
Nithya says
I was wondering what to do with omavalli leaves other than making oma water and thats when came across this recipe. It was a wonderful side dish loved by all. Thank you!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks a lot Nithya! Appreciate your feedback.
Pavani says
That is such a healthy and nutritious chutney using ajwain leaves. I’ve never tried them myself, but would love to give this chutney a try some time.
Srivalli Jetti says
Your herb plant looks so beautiful Sandhya. We used to have this but sadly its not growing offlate. Will have to try it again..the chutney sounds so yummy!
code2cook says
I love these chutneys when you cook before grind. That makes chutneys more creamy and smooth. Ajawain leaf chutney looking absolutely amazing. I am bookmarking this to try.
Sushma Pinjala says
Such a healthy chutney that is. I will definitely try this dish if I get those leaves.
harini says
I was thinking that the chutney would be very pungent but I can see how the use of onion and tomato can mask the pungent taste. Good share, Sandhya
Gayathri Kumar says
I made a similar chutney last week. I loaded it with onion and tomatoes and they helped in masking the strong flavour of these leaves. You version sound so yum. My daughter loves these leaves so much and she keeps asking me to make dishes out of it. Will try you version next time I pick some leaves off the plant.
Chef Mireille says
you are so lucky to be able to grow so much of your own stuff. This chutney must taste so awesome with the fresh produce.
Priya Suresh says
Seriously you are lucky to get those fresh ajwain leaves, excellent leaves with very interesting medicinal values na. Chutney looks simply fabulous.
Rafeeda - The Big Sweet Tooth says
I have heard these leaves are very good for cough and cold… the chutney looks so good…
Usha says
A healthy chutney. Use to eat these leaves for cold and cough when growing up. Chutney looks wonderful.
Subramanya Nayak says
I Made this Chutney and it turned out amazing thank you so much
The only other use of this leaf was for making bajjis/pakoda- so this was a far healthier option thank you so much again
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks for trying the recipe. I was very excited to use the leaves for the chutney as well as I feel it is a sustainable way to use it more often.
Srividhya Gopalakrishnan says
I need to see if I can get a cutting of the plant here. This is so good and healthy. Great share Sandhya.