Date and Tamarind Chutney

Date and Tamarind Chutney

Its great having a day off without the kids running riot in the house, I can get so much done!

As its my day off today I told the husband I would make him his favourite Indian snack, Chakri.  These are usually made on Diwali but as a special treat for him I made some, well, quite a lot so I'm hoping it will last him for a few weeks at least.  You might say I am just too good to him, making it on my day off when I should be relaxing but I love cooking!

The recipe for these will follow in a few weeks.  What I really wanted to blog about today was Chutneys, they are a staple in every Indian household and who doesn't love a good chutney?!

I usually made a Date and Tamarind Chutney or a Spicy Tomato Chutney to go with Bhajjiya or any meal!  When I was younger I used to have green chutney (made with coriander and chillies) in a cheese sandwich, some people might think this is a strange combination but it tastes so good!

The texture of chutneys vary from course, wet or fine, they are used in a variety of ways in Indian cuisine, and I suppose the best translation I can think of them is its kind of like a relish and a great accompaniment to any meal, not just Indian cuisine.  Back in the old days when the existence of blenders and food processors weren't around, you would make chutneys using a pestle and mortar, usually you would ground all the spices and add oil or tomatoes to make the chutney, but now with good old technology in our kitchens a chutney is extremely easy to make.

I've recently made two different chutneys, date and tamarind and a spicy tomato chutney (the latter will be in the next blog)

The recipe for the date and tamarind chutney is:

Ingredients

250g tightly packed pitted dates, broken up into small pieces

1.5 cups of water

1 tsp coriander and cumin powder (Dhana Jeeru)

1 tsp salt

0.5 tsp red chilli powder

4 tbsp jaggery (Gor)

2 tsp tamarind paste (or you could use fresh tamarind, approx 100g)

Additional water may be needed for a consistency to suit your taste

Method

Boil the water and dates in a saucepan until it comes to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer.

Add the coriander and cumin powder, salt, chilli powder and jaggery and cook until the dates are softened

The mixture will thicken, so make sure you mix it regularly and add a little extra water if the consistency doesn't appear right or if it starts to stick to the pan.  This process will take approx 15 minutes.  The dates have to be softened.

Leave to cool for about 1 hour and then transfer to a blender and grind the mixture until its smooth, again you may need to add a little bit of water, depending on the texture that you like.

Once the chutney is smooth, sieve it through a strainer and add the tamarind paste (if using fresh tamarind then you don't need to add).

Once cooled you can keep the chutney in the freezer and defrost as and when you want to have it! - For ease I put these into ice cube trays so you can defrost how much you want.

Spicy mashed potato bhajjiya

I have used this chutney as an accompaniment to so many different meals, the sweet/sour taste of this chutney will just about go with anything! My daughter even has it with chips!

Stuffed parathas

Potato patties