Chutneys

 I am planning to list all my favorite chutneys here - some are adapted from online recipes, others learnt from neighbors/friends. Thanks to everyone!!

Coconut Chutney

My all-time favorite chutney! There were 2 versions here, but I deleted the first version since I always use the II one now. But still want to mention that reading the previous version made me realize the ways in which my cooking has shifted in the last 1 year (in 2023). Ghee instead of oil, hing added wherever possible, roasted peanuts, tamarind. Also, this version is really very good.  

  • Put in mixer - 

  • roasted groundnuts (I usually have some in fridge)
  • roasted chana daal (optional)
  • ginger
  • green chillies
  • hara dhaniya (optional)
  • add tamarind water to liquefy

In bowl, pour mixer contents and add:

  • Grated fresh coconut
  • salt, bhuna jeera
  • more water if needed.

Tempering with 

  • ghee
  • rai
  • whole red chillies
  • hing
  • curry leaves

Nov 3, 2023

Today, I made a slightly different version with lots of fresh coriander added to it. It was amazing! Sticking to this if I have coriander handy.

Til Green Chutney

1 cup white sesame seeds or til

1 bunch coriander leaves

5 garlic cloves

3 green chillies

3 tbsp lemon juice, Salt

Dry roast the sesame seeds on a pan for five minutes, at a medium to low flame.

When cooled down, put the roasted sesame seeds to a mixie jar, along with the coriander leaves, garlic and green chillies.

Grind to a fine paste by gradually adding lemon juice. Taste for salt, and serve the chutney.

Allam pachadi or ginger chutney 

Perfect side for pesarattu or green mung crepes. 

Ginger: 1/4 cup (peeled and chopped)

Powdered jaggery: 1/4 cup

Tamarind paste: 1 Tbsp

Dry red chillies: 3-4 (according to spice tolerance)

Salt, Asafoetida: 1 pinch

-For tempering:

Oil: 1 tsp, Mustard seeds: 1 tsp, Curry leaves: 1 sprig, Methi daanaa: 1/2 tsp

-Soak dry red chillies in water for ten minutes.

Blend the peeled and chopped ginger along with the soaked red chillies, jaggery, tamarind paste, salt and asafoetida to make the chutney.

-Add tempering with oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves and fenugreek seeds.


Tomato Chutney

Oil: 1 tsp

Tomatoes: 2, Onion: 1

Curry leaves: 1-2 sprigs

Coriander leaves and stem

Dry red chillies: 2-3 (or, green chillies)

Frozen grated coconut: 2 Tbsp (Coconut cubes tend to spoil very fast, so I grate and freeze them as soon as they are delivered. Then use as needed,)

Salt: to taste

-For tempering:

Oil: 1 tsp, Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp, Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp, Urad dal: 1/2 tsp, Curry leaves

Asofoetida or hing: 1 pinch

To a pan, add oil, cubed tomatoes, onions, curry leaves and dry red chillies.

-Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. Once done, add grated coconut, coriander leaves and stems. Turn off the stove. Allow everything to cool down.

-Blend and add salt to the chutney.

-Add tempering 

23/10/2023

Tamil-style Pudina chutney, or, Pudina thogayal


Ingredients:
  • Oil: 1/2 Tbsp
  • Pudina: 1.5 cups
  • Urad dal: 3 Tbsp
  • Dry red chillies: 4-5
  • Tamarind: gooseberry sized ball
  • Salt
  • For tempering: Oil, Mustard seeds, Hing, Curry leaves

Heat oil, and add urad dal and dry red chillies. Add tamarind and allow everything to fry until the urad dal turns light brown.
Turn off the heat and add the rinsed pudina and mix well until it wilts.
Allow everything to cool, then transfer to a blender with some salt to taste. Make a coarse chutney by adding a little water(if needed).
Add tempering with oil, mustard seeds, hing and curry leaves. 

23/10/2023

Tomato ki khatti-meethi-teekhi chutney

I tried this chutney with besan chila yesterday - it was yum!

Ingredients:
    • Oil – 1 table spoon
    • Nigella seeds/kalonji – 1 tsp
    • Tomato  – 4 (250 gm) - This was in original recipe, I used 6 but the chutney was not enough! I think at least 8 tomatoes in future. 
    • Salt – 1 tsp
    • Jaggery (beaten) – 3 table spoon
    • Black Pepper (ground) – 1 tsp
    • Red Chilli powder – 1 tsp
    Update 25/10/2023: Had it with moong dosai today, OMG, so good!

    Tomato-Flaxseed chutney

    Found this version since I was looking for ways to increase flaxseed usage. It is a nuttier taste compared to the khatti-meethi tomato chutney, but Agni liked it better!

    • 3/4 tbsp urad dal split
    • 3/4 tbsp chana dal
    • 2 - 2 1/2 tbsp flax seeds
    • 5-6 long dry red chilies
    • 3-4 medium sized tomatoes finely chopped
    • salt
    • Optional - tadka of rai and heeng
    Heat oil in pan, roast daals, and then the flaxseeds. Add soaked red chillies, followed by tomatoes and salt. Let it cook until tomatoes are soft. Blend when cooled down. I also added some gur to balance the taste.


    Tomato-til chutney

    Another version of tomato chutney - uses a lot of til so i liked it
    • Tomatoes
    • Green chillies
    • Til
    • Garlic
    • Dhaniya
    • lemon
    Roast tomatoes and green chilli on open flame. Let it cool down and peel it - planning to use oven for this. 
    Roast sesame seeds for a few mins and then add dry red chilli and fry for another 2 minutes and let it cool down 
    In a mixer grinder add the roasted sesame, chilli and grind it with garlic and dhaniya 
    Add roasted tomatoes and chillies, salt to the grinder and make a fine paste 
    Add lemon juice at the end

    Imli khatti-meethi chutney (Saunth)

    • Imli/Tamarind - 1/4 cup
    • Palm jaggery (Or, any jaggery)
    • Saunth
    • Bhuna jeera
    • Black salt, red chilli powder
    • Dates - 1 cup (optional)
    Squeeze imli water after soaking imli for some time.
    Boil to reduce a little. Strain.
    Add palm jaggery water, saunth and bhuna jeera. Add some black salt and red chilli.
    One variation is to add 1 cup dates and boil it with the imli water. Blend when cooked.

    Healing amla curry leaves chutney

    Ingredients:
    • 3 fresh amlas chopped
    • 3-4 fat green chilies, the mild hot variety is better
    • 8-10 full grown springs of curry leaves
    • 3-4 garlic cloves
    • salt, pepper
    The original recipe calls for just blending all these ingredients. But I'd prefer to sauté the amla and curry leaves in a little ghee first.

    This sounds better to me, but is also more complicated, so I am doing a middle-ish version of the two.

    Coconut Sambal

    • Grated coconut - 1 cup 
    • Dried red chili – 8 to 12
    • Small onion / Shallots – 5 to 7
    • Lime – ½
    • Sugar – ¼ tsp
    • Salt
    Muddle everything together using mortar and pestle.



    Orange chutney

    @Jan 18, 2024
    Came across this recently on instagram chanbnel of @Keertida. Am planning to make it tomorrow. 

    3 oranges- peeled. Separate the slices- remove the inner white membrane, thin threads, seeds. The slices will naturally separate into 3-4 pieces in this process, collect everything in a bowl.
    Save the peel of 1/4-1/2 an orange and slice it into thin strips- the peel has fragrant oils, but is also bitter- start with less the first time you make it, add more as needed next time.
    Combine the peeled segment pieces and sliced peel in the bowl.

    Now in a Kadhai, temper
    • 1 Tbsp oil with
    • 1/8 tsp mustard seeds
    • A fat pinch of heeng (I love how she writes "a fat pinch")
    • 7-8 curry leaves, torn
    • 1-2 green chilies, sliced
    • 1/8 tsp turmeric powder
    • 2 tsp ginger, finely chopped
    Quickly tip in the orange and stir everything together. Add salt.

    Also add
    • 1.5 tsp sugar/ more if needed
    Let everything reduce and turn jammy- about 4-5 mins.
    Turn off the heat, add a generous squeeze of lime, mix well and transfer to a serving bowl.


    Update: I tried it but didn't turn out to be good. Maybe I did something wrong.

    Garlic Chutney

    @18 Feb 2024
    This is from Chef Kunal Kapur's page - Ref: https://www.chefkunalkapur.com/recipe/moringa-paratha

    Ingredients:
    • Oil – 4tbsp
    • Heeng – ½ tsp
    • Cumin 
    • Curry leaves
    • Garlic cloves – 15 
    • Kashmiri Dry Red Chilli (soaked) – 2-3 (the original recipe said 12!)
    • Water – ¾ cup
    • Gur – ¼ cup
    • Lemon – 1
    • Heat some oil in a pan and add heeng, cumin seeds and mustard leaves to it with garlic. 
    • Once toasted, add some soaked kashmiri red chillies to the pan along with some water, jaggery and lemon, salt. 
    • Reduce the water and allow it to cool before blending

    Tomato-Sesame seeds chutney

    Nowadays I am trying to add some seeds to every chutney that I make. So here goes a recipe:
    • 1 Tbsp oil 
    • fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds
    • 2 big garlic cloves, 3 green chillies
    • 2 Tbsp sesame seeds
    • 3 Cubed Tomatoes
    • Salt as needed
    Blend when cooled. Add:
    • 1 tsp jaggery
    • 1/4 Cup water
    For Tempering:
    • Oil - 1 Tbsp
    • mustard seeds, cumin seeds, 1 tsp urad dal, 1 dry red chilli, curry leaves


    Mango khatti-meethi chutney

    3 April, 2024
    Got some sour mangoes today which I didn't want to throw, so made this chutney. Came out absolutely amazing!

    • 1 mango - chopped into small-ish chunks
    • 1 tsp ghee
    • Add cinnamon piece
    • Add a little ginger paste
    • Add mangoes
    • Add some sugar, red chilli powder and salt
    • Cook for 3-4 minutes, and let it cool down. There should be a caramel-saucy liquid around the mango chunks. I think kalonji and heeng will also go well in this, will try next time.
    Update: tried with kalonji and heeng, and it was awesome!

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