Forever delicious Chutneys

There are virtually limitless number of chutneys that can be made from almost any combination of vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices. Chutneys are usually grouped into either sweet or hot forms, both forms usually contain various spices but differ by their main flavours. I am sharing my version of some of them.

1. Coriander / Cilantro Chutney

Coriander chutney can be served with any dish. Its a flavory chutney with simple ingredients.

Ingredients :

1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro or coriander

2-3 chopped green chillies, adjust according to taste

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4th cup peanuts

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

salt to taste

For tempering

1 teaspoon oil

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon urad dal

Curry leaves

1/4 teaspoon asafoetida

Dry Roast the peanuts and finely crush them. Put Cilantro, chillies, ginger and process to a smooth paste. Add some water if required. Now add crushed peanuts and salt. Process to combine. Transfer to a bowl.

Place a small saute pan over medium heat and add oil. When small bubbles appear at the bottom of the pan, add mustard seeds. When they begin to sputter, add urad dal and saute until its lightly browned. Add asafoetida and curry leaves, and immediately pour the tempering over the chutney. Stir well and serve.

2. Mint and Coriander / Cilantro Chutney

Use the ingredients of the coriander/ cilantro chutney. Add 1/2 cup of mint leaves and 1 teaspoon of amchur powder. In mango season you can substitute lemon juice and amchur with raw mango slices.

3. Imli Ki Chutney / Tamarind Chutney 

This is a quick and easy version of tamarind chutney. 

Ingredients

1 cup Tamarind pulp

1 cup Jaggery

1 tsp Cumin powder  

Salt to taste

1 tsp black salt

1 tsp red chili powder

Add jaggery to the tamarind pulp. Mix well. Let the jaggery dissolve in the pulp. Add some water to get the desired consistency. Once the jaggery is dissolved well, add cummin powder, black salt and chili powder. Mix well. Taste it and add salt as per taste. Mix well and the chutney is ready to use. :)

In case you do not get tamarind pulp do not worry. Take some tamarind in a bowl and add 3/4th cup of luke warm water. Set them aside for half an hour. Now mash the tamarind removing seeds if any. Strain to remove any residue or seeds. Your tamarind pulp is ready. :)

4. Dates and Tamarind Chutney

This is really a flavourfull chutney, with less efforts.

Ingredients 

1 cup pitted dates

1/4th cup deseeded tamarind

1 large size tomato

1 tsp Cumin powder  

Salt to taste

1 tsp black salt

1 tsp red chili powder

In a pressure cooker, cook dates, tamarind and tomato upto two whistles and then turn off the heat. Allow it to cool. Remove the tomato skin. Make a smooth paste of dates, tamarind and tomatoes. Strain the paste using a strainer. Add cumin powder, black salt and chili powder. Add salt to taste.  Mix well and serve. Enjoy this khatti meethi chutney. :)

5. Chili Garlic Chutney 

This chutney is my dad's favorite. The best part of this is that it lasts long. No water is used. 

Ingredients

10-12 cloves of garlic

2 teaspoon Red chili powder

1 tablespoon grated Dried coconut

Lemon juice

salt to taste.

Put garlic, grated coconut, red chili powder, salt and lemon juice in a mixer. Add lemon juice enough to combine the chutney. If you do not wish to store the chutney for long, you can add some water.

6. Papaya Chutney

This chutney is made from Raw Papaya. Its an all time favourite Gujarati snack served as a side dish with Fafda.

Ingredients 

Grated Green Papaya - 1 cup

Salt to taste

Mustard seeds - 1/4th tsp

Lemon juice - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4th tsp

Chopped Green chilis- 1 tsp

Asafoetida - 1/8th tsp

Curry leaves

Red chili – ½

Grate the green papaya after removing its skin and seeds. Add salt to taste and 1 tsp lemon juice and keep it aside for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes squeeze out water from the grated papaya.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. When they start crackling, add asafoetida, red chili and curry leaves. Add green chilis, turmeric powder and the grated papaya. Mix well.  Add remaining 1 tsp of lemon juice, if required. Serve with fafda.