Soon after I requested for healthy recipes, I received one from Chennai.  Don’t throw away the watermelon seeds after you eat the fruit.  Make chutney powder out of it – its nutritious and delicious, I’m sure.

Here’s the recipe contributed by Ms Smitha Suresh, Nutritionist, Chennai, India……

Watermelon Seed Chutney Pudi

Ingredients –
Watermelon seeds – 100 g
Pepper corns – 1 tsp
Jeera (cumin seeds) – 1 tsp
Peanuts – 2 tbsp
Tamarind – 1 inch piece
Red Chillies – 2-3 nos.
Salt – to taste
Garlic – 3 cloves (optional)

Method of preparation –
Toast all the ingredients together for 2- 3 mins, cool for a while and then dry grind roughly.   Sprinkle 1 tbsp  of this powder on steaming red rice, mix and enjoy the warm, earthy flavour!

You can add other ingredients which give their unique flavour like curry leaves, dried basil (tulsi) or neem. Substitute with other nuts and seeds.