Tag Archives: chutney

Tomato Chutney

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Whenever I make any kind of  bhajias or samosas  I like to serve them with this tomato chutney/dip.   It’s tangy and sweet to taste but can be made hot by adding chillies if you like hot chutneys.

Ingredients:

Time – 10-15 minutes

4 -5  ripe tomatoes
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon of tomato puree
1 tablespoon splenda or sugar
2-3 cloves of garlic
2-3 green really finely blended chillies (use less or none if you don’t like hot food)
½ teaspoon salt
Pinch of turmeric (optional)
½ teaspoon of cumin/coriander mixture (dhana jiru)
½ teaspoon basil

Method

1.  Make a small cross at the bottom of your tomato and boil it in just enough water to cover it for a minute or two.

2. Once boiled, remove from the hot water and dip the tomatoes in cold water.  This helps to remove the tomato skin quicker.

3. Chop the tomato into really small pieces.

4. Add the rest of your ingredients to the tomatoes and allow this to cook until the tomatoes have really softened.

5. Blend this mixture with a potato masher or electric blender.  You can allow the chutney to thicken more according to your preference.

6.  Taste and add salt or lemon as necessary

7.  Allow to cool.

8.  Sprinkle some basil before serving your tomato chutney.

9.  Any left over chutney should be fine for 2-3 days if kept in the fridge.

Tip: You can use tinned tomatoes if you haven’t got fresh tomatoes.

Date and Tamarind Chutney

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This chutney is often referred to as the sweet chutney or Imbli/Ambli Chutney. It’s made using dates which are sweet and tamarind which is sharp and sour so I would say that this is a sweet and sour chutney. No Indian snack is complete without this chutney and the green coriander and chillies chutney.

Ingredients for 2-3 cups of chutney:

12-14 fresh dates – washed and de-seeded and chopped
1-2 teaspoons of tamarind concentrate (you can use fresh tamarind or prepared tamarind blocks too. If using fresh tamarind, use only 3-4 pods of tamarind or just a inch square block of tamarind)
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp chilly powder
1 tsp ground cumin and coriander mixture
¼ inch of ginger
1 fresh green chilly – chopped in 4 pieces
1-2 tbls jaggery (or brown sugar)

Method:

1. Mix the chopped dates, tamarind and all the spices apart from jaggery into a deep microwave safe bowl and add 1 cup of water to the mixture. Cook on high for 3 minutes. Stir the mixture and feel to see if the dates (and is using fresh tamarind) have softened. Give it a further 2-3 minutes to allow the dates and tamarind to soften.

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2. Strain the mixture. If using fresh tamarind, you may find that it needs a lot more straining and you may have to add ½ cup of boiling water to the mixture to enable you to strain well.

 

3. Add the jaggery/brown sugar and cook for 2 minutes or until the jaggery or sugar have blended in. You may have to cook it for a minute or 2 longer  if you had to add water during the straining process.

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4. The chutney should not be as thick as tomato sauce but more like a dipping sauce kind of thickness. Taste the chutney and add ingredients to make the chutney to your taste.

5. Keep the chutney in the fridge to cool and serve with any Indian snacks.

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6. The chutney can be kept in the fridge for 3-4 weeks.

Yoghurt and Coconut Chutney/Dip

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Yoghurt and coconut chutney_2

Creamy and delicious spicy yoghurt and coconut chutney.

Preparation time- 10 minutes
Serves-4

Ingredient

170 grams (1 small  tub) Chobani Natural low fat Yoghurt ( or any Greek yoghurt)
30 grams  / 1 oz  dessicated coconut
1 green chilli finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt

For tempering:

6 curry leaves
1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 tablespoon sunflower oil
1/2 teaspoon urad dhal
1 red dried chilli

Method:

1. Put the yoghurt in a bowl, add to it the finely chopped chilli, dessicated coconut and the salt and mix well.
2. Transfer the yoghurt mix to a serving bowl.
3. Heat oil in a pan , when it is hot add the mustard seeds, dried chilli, urad dhal and curry leaves.
4. Wait for the tempering to splutter and immediately pour the tempering onto the yoghurt mixture.

Serve as a dip with some poppadoms, tortilla chips or potato crisps

Autumn Fruits Chutney

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Autumn fruits chutney 1b

Ingredients:
 
500 g cooking apples peeled and diced
500g tomatoes diced
250g plums stoned and diced
250g  red onions finely chopped
100g sultanas
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
350 ml white wine vinegar
250 g demerara sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
 1 teaspoon chilli flakes(optional)
1 stick cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground coriander
 
Method:
 
1. In a large pan add the chopped tomatoes, apples, onions, plums, sultanas, cinnamon stick and mustard seeds.
2. Cook the mixture on a low/ medium heat for about 30 minutes until all the fruit has softened and turned to pulp. Stir the mixture intermittently to avoid it sticking to the pan.
3.Add the vinegar, sugar, chilli flakes, ground coriander and salt and bring the mixture to a simmer. 
4. Reduce the heat and cook the mixture for a further 10 to 15 minutes until the mixture has thickened and when you draw a spoon through it no access liquid remains.
5. Remove from heat and leave to cool. 
6.Sterilise some glass jars and fill them with the chutney once it reaches room temperature.

Spicy Coriander & Mango Chutney

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A lot of Indian restaurants and take away places serve complimentary green chutney which is usually eaten as a dip with pakora, samosa, kachoris etc. Having worked in a restaurant and knowing the secrets of some their cooking, I never eat these chutneys as I am never too sure how fresh they would be.

My mum used to make this chutney fresh every single day by mixing all the ingredients in a mortar and pestle. This used to make the chutney full of lovely fresh-tasting flavours. The chutney used to have a lovely coarse texture too.

With the invention of the food processor and blenders, these chutneys are very easy to make but they look more like a dip or sauce.

Ingredients:

Preparation Time – 20 minutes

5 small cloves of peeled garlic
1-2 small piece of washed and scrapped fresh root ginger
1 dozen fresh chopped green chillies
1 small raw chopped mango
1 tablespoon salt
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 bunch of coriander washed and chopped roughly

 

Method:

1. Put the ginger, garlic, raw mangoes, chillies and fresh coriander in a food processor.

2. Add the lemon juice, salt and a quarter cup of cold water.

3. Blend everything using a slow speed for a couple of minutes.

4. The mixture doesn’t require any more water as long as you blend everything slowly. The salt and lemon juice will help produce the moisture required to blend all the ingredients.

5. Once you get the mixture very fine, the chutney is ready to serve. To make a dip or spread, you can transfer this mixture to a blender and give it a couple of swirls .

6. Save the chutney/dip in an airtight container in the fridge. Use a glass or a plastic container as the lemon juice may react with metal. This mixture will be fine for a week.

Additional Tips:

Tip 1 – The combination and amounts of ingredients used in the chutney can be varied to suit your taste.  You can even substitute coriander for fresh mint or use both if you like.

Tip 2 – As all the ingredients in this recipe are fresh, you can use this mixture to flavour your curries too.

Tip 3 - You can transfer the mixture to an ice cube tray and freeze it. Remove the frozen cubes the next day and save them in a zip lock bag in the freezer.  Again you can add a cube to flavour your curries and dalls.

Yoghurt, Coconut and Green Chilli Chutney

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Over the last few months, you will have seen my recipes for green chutney/dip and tomato chutney.  Both these chutneys are perfect to serve with potato bhajias, onion bhajias, pokoras etc.  This yoghurt, chilli and coconut chutney/dip is also perfect for serving with any Indian starter.  The sweet and sour yoghurt with the hot chillies helps give a real kick to any Indian dish without much effort.

Ingredients

1 cup Greek style yoghurt
3 tablespoons desiccated coconut
¼ teaspoon salt
Grated fresh coconut for garnishing (optional)
2 green chilles for garnishing
2 teaspoon of my green chutney (recipe here)

Method:

1. Mix the yoghurt with a fork.

2. Add the green chutney, dessicated coconut and salt and mix.

3. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish it with chopped green chillies and freshly grated coconut.

Left over chutney/dip should be stored in the fridge and eaten within a couple of days.