This is a sweet and sour chutney. Once made, it can last in the fridge for a good few months and freezes well. It can be served with various savoury snacks, chaats (spicy snacks), samosas, dahi vadas and pakoras, just like tomato sauce/HP Sauce are used in the West.
The word ‘chutney’ comes from original Hindi word ‘chatni’ and means 'a tangy and spicy sauce, which makes you smack you lips, makes your tongue and mouth come alive'! The word ‘chat’ or ‘chaat’ mean ‘lick’, ‘chatna’ means ‘to lick’ and 'chutney' means something you lick...you get the drift!
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Ingredients
| • | 400 gm. or 1 packet of dry tamarind pulp, with stones/skins intact. This gives better results than the ready-extracted tamarind juice/sauce in bottles***. |
| • | 1 litre hot water. The amount of water needed depends on the quality of tamarind. Some varieties have more pulp than others and need more water. |
| • | 1 tsp. cooking oil |
| • | 1 tsp. cumin seeds |
| • | A large pinch of asafoetida powder |
| • | 6-7 tsp. salt**. Try Kala Namak or black salt, which gives a much nicer flavour |
| • | 100 gm. jaggery or brown sugar or muscovado sugar** |
| • | 1 tsp. chilli powder** |
| • | 2 tsp. roasted cumin powder* |
| • | 1-2 tsp. Garam Masala |
| • | Optional |
| • | 5-6 Chuaraas or dry dates, de-stoned and thinly sliced |
| • | *Dry roast 1 tsp. cumin seeds on a griddle and grind them roughly, using a rolling pin or mortar and pestle. A cook blitz in the coffee grinder will also work. |
| • | **Quantity of these ingredients can be adjusted during cooking, according to taste. Tarter the tamarind, more salt and sugar it will need. |
| • | ***You can buy tamarind extract at some Indian and oriental shops which has only salt added. This works fine, but works out more expensive. |
Instructions
| 1. | Soak tamarind pulp in a large bowl, in hot water and leave for one hour or longer. If you have less time, heat it for a few minutes in a microwave on full or on stove. This will soften up the dry tamarind. It should be squishy. |
| 2. | Mash and squeeze the pulp out to separate seeds and skins. I do this with gloved hands as it is quite acidic. |
| 3. | Strain it through a large metal colander or sieve. Colander is stronger than a sieve and can withstand more pressing. After the first straining, add a little warm water to the remaining pulp and squeeze every last bit of pulp out. Now you should have a thick, smooth pulp. Discard stones and skins/husk/fibre. |
| 4. | Heat oil in a pan. |
| 5. | Add cumin seeds and asafoetida powder. When seeds splutter, add tamarind pulp and all other ingredients. Add chuaraas here, if used. |
| 6. | Allow it to boil briskly, stirring from time to time. |
| 7. | Add salt, Jaggery/sugar and chillies according to your taste. Tamarind varies in it’s sweetness/tartness and can be very sharp sometimes, when it may need a lot more extra sugar. Adjust by tasting it. |
| 8. | Add garam masala, stir and take it off the heat. |
| 9. | Allow to cool. |
| 10. | Pour in airtight bottles or jam jars. It lasts well in the fridge for a few months. Jars can also be kept in a freezer indefinitely. |
| 11. | Also see Imli Chutney with Ginger and Also Pickle and Chutney Selection. |
Notes
| • | Some Far-eastern tamarind is rather sweet and needs far less sugar and salt. |
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