Decoration of dishes is very important, it gives personality to specific meal and final touch to your delicious story. In the world of culinary art is well known that the appearance of food is one of the most important factors that will attract or reject. It is the specific way how food is placed on the plate.
There are so many ways how one meal can be served and presented. Learn the basic rules about serving and food presentation. How to use an unusual techniques for food presentation with simple plates, and how can create interesting food presentation just with use of unusual kitchen utensils.
There are certain rules that you need to follow, so you could be able to master some advanced techniques for food presentation.
- Plate should not never be overloaded with food.
- It is always necessary to leave blank the outer part of the plate along the edge.
- You need to create color contrast on the plate.
- Mix large and small, soft and crunchy, bright and dark colors.
- Keep uniformity when it comes to portion size.
- Do not overdo with sauces, rather served them separately.
Today we can also see that food garnishing go one step furthered and chefs are freely using ingredients like edible flowers for decoration.
Surprise your guests!!
How would you respond if you get sauce served in a test tube instead of the usual bowl? I’m sure that you would be pleasantly surprised. Free your mind and present food in the alternative crockery and cutlery.
Why don’t you go one step further and use the service and dishes made from natural materials. Everything natural and organic is more popular each day, so why you should not use plates and spoons made from wood or stone? Stones or slates in use as shown in the picture above.
Lets do a simple easy preparation and presentation on coconut and raw mango chutney which is one of the favourite of Kerala. The name ‘Kerala’ was derived from the Malayalam (the language of Kerala) word ‘Kera’. Kera means coconut. As the state is rich with the thick cultivation of Coconut trees, it naturally got the name ‘Kerala’. In fact, Kerala got its extreme charm because of this largest concentration of Coconut trees on her soil. Her land was one of the wealthiest places in the Planet, attracting explorers and merchants from all over the world for many millennia. The riches came from her land and what it gave in the form of pepper, cardamom, coconut and numerous other crops.
Chutney/ Chammanthi/ is a simple and tasty South Indian side dish with fresh coconut and spices. We can prepare Chutney/ Chammanthi in different ways and texture. Here we are doing coconut and raw mango chutney. It is mild spicy and usually served with idly, dosa and vada as a dipper or with rice. Here is the easy recipe.
Coconut and raw mango chutney/ chammanthi
Preparation time -10 mins
Cooking time – 5 mins
Total time – 15 mins
Serves – 4
Ingredients
Coconut – ½ cup shredded
Raw mango – 1 medium size, chopped into cubes
Shallots ( small Indian onion) – 8 nos
Chilly – 4 to 5 (adjust spice as need)
Curry leaves – few ( optional)
Salt – to taste
Method
- Peel the skin and chop the raw mango into cubes
- Remove the skin of shallots, and cut in to two halves.
- Take a jar, add all the ingredients. Add salt to taste. Grind into a paste ( not very sooth)
- Do not add water, because from raw mango it oozes water, if at all it required just a tsp of water is enough.
- serve it with idli, dosa or rice.
Notes
Curry leaves are optional but 4 to 5 leaves enough which helps in a better flavour for chutney/ chammanthi.
Beautiful art work !
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Thanks for the compliments!! Liked your style Lina😊
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My usual friday dinner back in India! The manga chammanthi and kanji. Good old days! 🙂
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Nostalgic!! Those memories still stuck on our taste buds:) Nice one Shilpa
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So cute!! 🙂
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Thank you Marylin:)
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Great plating tips, I’m taking notes !
And the chutney sounds yummy, I also have some diced mango on hand.. A quick stop for shredded coconut and some shallots are in order.. Thanks !
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That flavour will stick in your taste buds for hours, I bet!! Pan you will enjoy it. And easy to make as well. Your feed back will be highly appreciated😉 thanks for your comment pan.
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I will.. I’m actually hoping to do this tomorrow or Tuesday 😊
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Fabulous creativity Sumith!
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Thank you Johanne for your kind words.
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Sumith the chutney was good.
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Thank you for your feed back veena:)
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Nice..will try..
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Try it!! You will live it:))
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Love it. I know little ones will love it too. 🙂 Fun post!
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Thank you Ellie, Kids happiness is our happiness. I always entertain kids in making all these little things. Used to go to schools a well in teaching these😊
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Amazing!!!
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Thank you Lan:))
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YES! another delicious way to take advantage of mango season.
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Hi munchkin let’s take the full advantage of summer:))
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Great work!!!
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Thank you bruciacchio😊
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Great yummy post!!
The decoration awesome and for the dish I need to taste it first hehehe
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Thank you sunshine😊Try the dish first, you will love it!!
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Will surely do that and let you know 🙂 🙂
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Penguins are extra cute! 🙂
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Thank you Maja:))
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Excellent decoration, Sumith. I always lose my energy to decorate the dish ,properly, after preparing it 😞. When I see your deco, I decide will do that next time. But, can’t make it.
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Sayanti, decorating a dish is like wearing an ornament. If you do bit with a passion, it’s easy and the most enjoyable part of cooking.
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Thank you this I will definitely try.
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You will love it Veena!! Let me know once you made it:))
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It’s incredible!!!
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Thank you Fabi:))
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Lovely presentation Sumith!! Without a doubt you excel in your job 😉 Great going Sumith 🙂
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Lisa thank you. Your words make my day, still chasing that culinary dream 😭 “Variety is the spice in life”
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mouth watering chutney creation of yours, thank you for sharing. How long does this last in the refridgerator?
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Hi cornelia, thank you. You can keep up to 2 to 3 days in refrigerator, and even more if it’s in a freezer:))
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Thank you Sumith, where in India do you live>
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Hi Cornelia, I am from Kochi in Kerala.
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I love the penguin rice balls! I’m starting to see a theme.
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That’s a good idea, starting a theme for a food presentation is great!! Will make the story more interesting:))
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What a great recipe and great tips for plating! I can see that the cutie penguins ae made out of chutney, but what about the black parts – what do you use for that?
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Hi Dolly, thank you. They are the curry leaves😄
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Amazing!
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Another beautifully presented dish. The penguins are adorable and again, almost too cute to eat. Looks like a wonderful meal!
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Hi vanessa, thanks for your encouragement. It is easiest and the tastiest one. Try it you will love it!!
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Sumith, I have always loved chutneys, especially the coconut ones but hav enever seen such cute penguins made out of them. Great post! Loved reading it.
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Thank you for the compliment Sandhya:)) Get fed up seeing the same chutney and need a change😄 and thanks for the read:))
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Sent you a message on FB Sumith. Hope we can connect there as well.
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Ok I will check there.
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Wow, Another great art work.. It is a very informative read. Thanks for sharing all the tips 😀
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Thank you Ritz. Glad you enjoyed the read:))
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Hmm…Manga chammanthi!! tempting one….
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Yes its tempting!! Anu:))
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Awww they are so cute… As usual lovely presentation and great recipe 👍🏻👍🏻
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You are so kind. Thanks for the compliment Rateka:))
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Your penguins are adorable what a lovely and creative way to serve this chutney.
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You made my day Suzanne. Thanks for the compliment!!
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Very interesting presentation… never thought of presenting chammanthi in form of penguin…. I love this chammanthi( as any Malayali would)..
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Glad you like it Lathiya:)) Nostalgic chammanthi😊
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So cute, I love them!
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Thank you Izzie:))
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Tell me Submith, are the penguins made out of rice or tabs or thick thick coconut chutney? Whatever, they are cute 😀
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Hi Carina, it’s pure fresh coconut😊
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Wow Sumith! great work…very artistic:)
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Thank you very much Divya:))
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sumit.. it was a wonderful penguin chammanthi
or was it a chammanthi penguin..?
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Haha can see it in both ways!! Thank you Akhila:))
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my pleasure..
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Another piece of art by Sumit! Well-done my friend!Excellent .
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Thank you Payel😊
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very cute
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Thank you dish dessert:))
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Thank you for the tutorial on plating. I find it very helpful.
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You are welcome caliche😊
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Wow looks wonderful…I have never seen such a beautiful penguin made from chutney…awesome👌👌 lovely tips on plating..will keep in mind next time i serve something..m not soo creative when it comes to plating so my final presentation is always a mess..🙈🙈🙈so, nice tips for me..way to go..👏👏looking forward for more..
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Thank you Neethu. Plating is where I really enjoy in cooking. It’s all about small twists.. Try it, you can do it!!
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Great post. Everything you said was right on the money re presentation and preparation. Interesting facts about Kerala…I feel like I should have known that stuff already-I do now. Thanks!
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Thank you Sam😊It’s a beautiful tropical state in India.
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Welcome Sumith. Yes, so my relatives tell me. ;).
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