bonellilou

          Some of you might not like Sweet Chutney with chats or samosas, but at home, we all like both the green chutney and sweet chutney with our chats. We use soft dates ( I had some imported ones ) and tamarind for making this chutney and it's an easy recipe. It's a must for most chat dishes and can be served with cutlets, samosas and savory rolls too and keeps well in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks or can be stored in the freezer for a couple of months..

Need To Have

• Seeded Dates - about 8 big ones
• Tamarind - lime sized ball
• Black Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
• Roasted Cumin Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Jaggery - 1 teaspoon

Method


          Pressure cook the dates and tamarind along with a cup of water for a whistle or two, the dates should have become soft. Cool the dates mixture and strain the water.


          Then grind the dates and tamarind into a smooth paste. Add the water to the paste and strain the mixture.


          Place the strained mixture on the stove, add the black salt, cumin powder, coriander powder, chilly powder and jaggery. Mix and cook for 8 to 10 minutes on medium heat, keep stirring in between. Remove the chutney, cool and store.


Note
Soft dates will be good for this chutney, the chutney should taste sweet, with a slight hint of spice.
The chutney should have a thin jam/jelly like consistency.

          I had first tasted Vada Pav in the US only, the vada was served between the bun with some sweet chutney and spicy green chutney. Only later, did I come to know that it's served traditionally with this dry garlic chutney and fried green chilly. Now in Bangalore, I see so many versions of the Vada Pav, but I still prefer the classic one, with just the garlic chutney and green chilly, of course I don't mind the sweet chutney and spicy green chutney, but the garlic chutney is a must. So when I made Vada Pav ( will be posting it soon ) at home, I made this Dry Garlic Chutney, it's very easy to make, the main ingredients are garlic, coconut and peanuts and it gives a wonderful flavor and taste to the Vada Pav..

Need To Have
Chopped Garlic - 3 tablespoons
Raw Peanuts - 2 teaspoons
Grated Coconut - 1 tablespoon
Coriander Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Kashmiri Chilly Powder - 3/4 teaspoon
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon

Original recipe from here.

Method


          Dry roast the peanuts, cool, remove the skin and keep. Next, dry roast the grated coconut till it becomes dry, remove and keep.


          Heat some oil, add the chopped garlic, saute till it turns golden, then add the peanuts, coconut, coriander seeds and saute for 2 more minutes. Then add the chilly powder and salt, mix and remove.


          Using a mortar and pestle, pound it till you get a coarse mixture.


Note
You can use dry dessicated coconut, since I didn't have it, I used fresh coconut but toasted it till dry.

          As I had mentioned in my last post, today's dish is the simple and tasty Paruppu Thogayal or Lentil Chutney. When I say Paruppu/Lentils, I mean tuvar dal or arhar dal or split pigeon pea and the thogayal needs just 3 more ingredients along with the dal. An easy and flavorful chutney that makes a perfect combination with the Sundakkai Vathal kuzhambu, serve it with some hot white rice, drizzled with ghee or sesame oil and some sutta appalam ( pappads ) for a simple and delicious lunch..

Need To Have

• Tuvar Dal/Split Pigeon Pea - 1/4 cup
• Dried Red Chillies - 2
• Grated Coconut - 1 tablespoon
• Asafoetida - 1/8 teaspoon
• Salt to taste

Method


          Heat a little oil ( about 1/2 teaspoon ), add the tuvar dal and red chillies and roast them till the dal turns golden. Remove, cool and grind it with the coconut, asafoetida and salt, adding as little water as possible. Remove and serve.


Note
Thogayal should be thick and slightly coarse, not a smooth paste.

          As I had mentioned in my previous post ' Vendiya Paniyarams ', this is the chutney that I served them with. Those paniyarams would go well even with coconut chutney, but I personally felt that this chutney was the best combination with them. As we add some tamarind to the chutney, it's more tangy and the coriander and cumin seeds give a nice flavor too and of course, this chutney would go well with idlis and dosas too..


Need To Have

• Onion - 1 big, chopped
• Tomato - 1 big, chopped
• Tamarind - 1 small grape size
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Coriander Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/8 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 15
• Salt to taste

Method


          Chop the onion and tomato, grind them along with the tamarind, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and salt and keep, you can add some water while grinding.


          Heat some oil, add the mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering add the asafoetida and curry leaves followed by the ground tomato mixture. Saute this on medium-low heat for about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove and serve it with idlis, dosas or with the Vendiya Paniyarams.


Note
The ground mixture need not be too smooth, just see that it does not not have big chunks.
The final consistency is like a thokku or jam.

          It's almost every other day or at least 3 times a week that I make some kind of chutney at home, mostly to go with idlis, dosas and adais and sometimes, to be mixed with plain rice. Since the tomato onion chutney is the family's favorite, I make it more times than the other chutneys. Today's post is Peanut Tomato Chutney, already, I have a simple peanut chutney in my blog using just peanuts and a little tamarind, but this one, as the name itself says, has peanuts, tomatoes, onions and garlic. It's kind of a mixture of peanut and tomato chutney and it goes very well with all the South Indian tiffin varieties (idlis, dosas, adais, vadais)..

Need To Have

• Dried Raw Peanuts - 4 tablespoons
• Dried Red Chillies - 2
• Onion - 1 medium, chopped
• Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
• Garlic - 6 cloves
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Husked Urad Dal/Black Gram - 1 tablespoon
• Curry Leaves - 6 - 8
• Salt to taste

Method


          Roast the peanuts, cool, remove the skin and keep. Slightly roast the red chillies in a little oil, remove and keep.


           Heat some oil, add the onions and 3 cloves garlic ( chopped ) and saute till the onions turn pink and translucent, then add the tomatoes and saute till the tomatoes turn soft, remove and cool.


          Grind the onion-tomato mixture along with the peanuts, red chillies and salt and remove into a bowl.


          Heat some oil, add the mustard seeds and urad dal, when it starts spluttering, add the remaining 3 cloves garlic ( chopped ) and curry leaves, saute for a minute, till the garlic pieces turn golden, add to the chutney, mix and serve.


Note
Don't grind the chutney into a smooth paste, it should have a slight coarse texture.
If you grind everything very coarsely into a thick thogayal/chutney, it can be had with rice too.