Indian Chutneys

[geonerd20]

Thought it would be interesting to come up with a collection of Indian chutneys. I'll get the ball rolling with a coconut chutney:

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - Roasted, unsalted peanuts
½-Cup - Grated Coconut – fresh or frozen (thawed), NOT dry
3 or 4 - Green chilies
2 Tbl Spoons - Peanut or vegetable oil
1 Tsp Spoon - Urad Dal
1 Tsp Spoon - Mustard seeds
¼-Tps Spoon - Asofoetida or Heeng/Hing
1-inch Ball - Tamarind
5 or 6 - Curry leaves (optional)
Salt to taste


METHOD

Place the tamarind in about 1 cup of water and nuke in the microwave on high for about 1 minute. Remove and allow to soak. When the water is sufficiently cool, use your fingers to gently knead the tamarind in the water. Remove and discard the solids, and retain the “tamarind liquid”.
Slightly roast the peanuts until they release their flavor. Make sure that they are not burnt.
Place the coconut, green chilies, and peanuts in a blender or food processor. Add half the tamarind extract. Add just enough water to get the mass moving, and process to a medium smooth paste.

Remove from the blender. Add salt to taste, and add more tamarind extract if you want it a bit more sour.

In a small fry pan, heat the peanut or vegetable oil on medium high. Add the urad dal and mustard seeds. Heat until the urad dal turns golden and the mustard seeds start to sputter. Add the asofoetida, and immediately add the curry leaves. CAUTION: The hot oil will splash when you add the curry leaves.

Add the oil mixture to the peanut coconut paste. Mix thoroughly. Allow to stand for an hour before serving.

[geonerd20]

Ginger Tamarind Chutney

INGREDIENTS

1½-inch ball
Seedless raw tamarind (Indian/Asian grocery store)
3-inch piece
Fresh ginger, chopped fine.
3 Nos
Dried red chilies
1 tspn
Mustard seeds
1 tspn
Urad dal (Indian/Asian grocery store)
1½-inch cube
Jaggery (raw sugar, Indian/Asian grocery store)
¼-tspn
Asofoetida
1 tblspn
Peanut oil
1 tspn
Fenugreek seeds
½-tspn
Turmeric powder
Salt to taste


METHOD

Place 2 cups of water in a sauce pan and heat over medium high heat. Add the tamarind ball, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Use a fork or spoon to carefully break down the tamarind ball. Cool, and strain to remove the solids, retaining liquid extract. Discard the solids.
Clean the sauce pan and wipe dry.
Place the sauce pan on medium-high heat. Add peanut oil.
Add urad dal, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, and dried red chilies. Fry till the dal turns light brown/golden. Make sure not to burn!
Add asofoetida, and then immediately add the tamarind liquid extract.
Add fresh ginger, turmeric and half the jaggery. Boil over low to medium heat for 15 minutes. Taste and add more jaggery if needed.
Turn off heat and allow to cool. Grind to a medium to fine paste in a blender or food processor.
Add salt to taste. Mix well and serve with dosas or other Indian snacks.

[geonerd20]

COCONUT CHUTNEY # 2

This is my version of coconut chutney that works really well with dosas, but would probably work well with other Indian snacks like idlis as well. So here goes:

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbl Spoons
Channa Dal
2 Tbl Spoons
Toor Dal
1 Tbl Spoon
Urad Dal
1 Cup
Grated Coconut – fresh or frozen (thawed), NOT dry
¼-Tps Spoon
Asofoetida or Heeng/Hing
1-inch Ball
Tamarind
3 to 6
Dried red chilies

METHOD

• Place the tamarind in about 1 cup of water and nuke in the microwave on high for about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove and allow to soak. When the water is sufficiently cool, use your fingers to gently knead the tamarind in the water. Remove and discard the solids, and retain the “tamarind liquid”.
• Roast the channa dal, toor dal, and urad dal to golden brown. I prefer to roast them individually, but you can probably roast them all together too. Make sure not to burn them.
• Roast the red chilies without burning. Use between 3 and 6, based on the hotness of chilies and your tolerance for fire.
• Grind the three dals and the roasted chilies in a small spice grinder, along with ¼-teaspoon of heeng. Grind to a find powder.
• Add the ground mixture, the grated coconut and half the “tamarind liquid” to a blender and blend to a smooth paste. Add a little of water if needed.
• Taste periodically and add salt and more tamarind liquid if needed.
• Remove from the blender and serve.

[toni1948]

Nice chutneys!!

[smoothseas]

I got the recipe from an old Cubana aubelita, so it's not strictly Indian, but does go well with a chicken and sweet potato curry I make.

Mango Chutney

1 Mango - seeded, skined and diced
1/4 cup peach perserves
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2-3 tablespoons of fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon chopped Serrano pepper (aubelita Lorente seeded 'em first)
1 teaspoon chopped FRESH mint (my addition)

Combine all ingredients an microwave till all the liquid has evaporated - about 5 minutes or so in my mic.

Stir in mint.

Can be served warm or chilled.