If you are someone who loves to eat Indian food in its true form….you will agree with me that the one thing we SO dig about Indian food is the rich taste….and the fact that no Indian meal is ever complete without dollops of mouth watering chutneys and/or pickles on the side! Any meal devoid of one of these delectable condiments would end up being a lack-lustre event….
A chutney is a way of urging someone to taste those tongue tingling ingredients, if only once more!…you will be amazed to see how people suck their breath in with anticipation of the tens of that burst upon his/her taste buds- a wicked combination of salty, sour, pungent and sweet….all at once!
Don’t be too amazed if these tiny side-shows often steal the lime light off of your main course and become the main act in itself!
Well for those of us who aren’t aware of this…let me tell you that the word “chutney” was initially the name given to a condiment that was made up of freshly ground ingredients, flavorings, herbs and spices.
Today, it includes the sweet, sour and spicy preserves like fresh relishes, murabbas and dry mixtures of ground spices and lentils, which usually accompany a snack or a cereal.
Here’s a recipe of the anytime…anywhere chutney!
Preparation Time: 15 Minutes
Spice Meter: II (Spicy)
Shelf Life: One (1) Week
Ingredients:
- Two (2) cups full of coriander leaves-chopped
- Four (4) teaspoons of oil (vegetable oil or olive oil)
- One (1) tablespoon of split black gram (also known as urad ki dal)
- Two (2) dried red chilies (also known as Kashmiri chilies or lal mirch)
- One (1) fresh green chili (also known as hari mirch)
- A pinch of asafoetida(also known as hing)
- One and a half (1 ½) tablespoons of tamarind pulp(also known as imli)
- Two (2) tablespoons of jaggery (also known as gur) – grated
- Half (1/2) a teaspoon of salt (non-iodized salt)
- One-fourth (1/4) teaspoon of mustard (also known as rai) seeds
Method:
- Heat three (3) tablespoons of oil in a pan. Now throw in the split black gram seeds, red chilies, green chili and asafoetida and sauté them.
- Once done, take the pan off the heat and then aside the pan aside to cool.
- In the meantime, take the coriander leaves and wash them thoroughly. Now roughly break the leaves and grind the coriander leaves in a grinder along with the fried spices, the tamarind pulp, jiggery and salt.
- Once the ingredients have been grinded well, spoon them out in a bowl.
- Now heat some oil and throw in the mustard seeds in hot oil. You will see that the mustard oil will start to splutter in the hot oil. When they splutter, remove from the heat and pour over the chutney.
