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Monday, February 25, 2013

Date -Tamarind Chutney / Khajur - Imli Chutney


When I planned to go with a "Sauce" recipe for the BM, my mind kept going towards  those that are used regularly in western cooking ranging from pesto sauce to chocolate based one. I however had to control myself as two of my refrigerator shelves are already filled with an assortment of condiments, bought by the other overzealous shopper at home. It would have been ridiculous to go with another sauce just for the sake of blogging and so kept wrecking my head until again my husband came to aid. He had gone out on some other work and as usual ended up in Indian grocery store and came home with a bag of samosas. Samosas led to this sweet chutney and the husband had rightly suggested that the Indian green chutney and sweet chutney are also sauces and I could go ahead with any one of those. And so, sweet and tangy date - tamarind chutney it is.

Nupur's date - tamarind chutney is the one I have been following in the recent years whenever I make chaats at home. I follow the recipe just as a basic guideline and prepare as my taste preferences. As she mentioned in her post, each time we end up with a unique chutney because the sweetness of the jaggery / dates or the sourness of the tamarind are never the same. The products vary with each batch / brand. Following your taste buds is the key for success here. :)

Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 cup soft pitted dates
1/4 cup tamarind
1/4 cup jaggery
Salt to taste
Cumin powder & coriander powder as preferred


Method:
* Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Press down on the tamarind and dates using the back of a ladle or a potato masher and extract as much of the pulp as possible. Stir well to dissolve all the ingredients. Taste and adjust tamarind / jaggery or salt to get the sweet/tangy/salty balance you like best. 
* Filter the mixture through a sieve to remove the fibers. Chutney that is too thick may be difficult to strain so dilute it with filtered water if necessary. 
* This can be served with most of the chaat items.

The above method was Nupur's. I go the easy way and zap the tamarind with little water in the microwave and squeeze out the pulp thereby removing the fibre directly. Then I grind the ingredients together and sieve the mixture just in case to avoid any fibre if still present. Then I taste, adjust the ingredients and simmer the mixture. Chutney can be refrigerated for little less than a week. I actually freeze the extra chutney as it doesn't store well for longer periods even after refrigeration. Also there was no chili powder in this chutney and I am not bothered because a spicy green chutney accompanies it usually at my home.

Check here to know what other marathoners of BM#25 are cooking.

Comments 

20 comments:

Ms.Chitchat said...

Love it with samosas as u have depicted. check my blog for the gorgeous cup cake with cream cheese frosting.

chitchat

Vimitha Durai said...

Love it on top of chaats. Nice one

Divya A said...

Looks perfect and super tangy dip for all chat items :)

Hari Chandana said...

Very beautiful pictures.. Looks great !!

Akila said...

I want to try this chutney for a very long time... Thanks for sharing... Bookmarking

Event: Dish name starts with Q till Feb 28th

Hamaree Rasoi said...

this chutney is so helpful for chats and kachoris...

Gayathri Kumar said...

I always have a box of this chutney in freezer. Looks delicious along with those samosas...

Srivalli said...

I know this is bad manners, but can I have those samosas too..:)..what a tempting picture..you are talking abt the chutney while all I can drool is what's next to it..anyway I love the combo too..:)

Nupur said...

Hi Suma! That looks just delicious. Thanks for trying the recipe. In recent months, I've been using tamarind paste as a short cut and skipping the straining step too.

Harini R said...

Sounds very easy. I should attempt this. I somehow never got to do this as my husband always gets it from the Indian Store even before the existing stock is over :)

Unknown said...

Would taste yumm.Adding dates will increase the taste.

Priya Suresh said...

I want that plate, who can resist to them, love this chutney with anything.

Anonymous said...

Hi. Do you know how to make the samosas that are in this picture? I have trouble making the shell look like the store bought samosas. Not sure if my dough is not right or if I'm not folding properly. Thanks!

Chef Mireille said...

funny...color looks just like ketchup...what a healthy and flavorful chutney...a good variation to tamarind

Nalini's Kitchen said...

Delicious and tangy chutney, perfectly made

Foodiliciousnan said...

there can be no better accompaniment to samosa. Just love this khatti-meeti chutney!

Rajani S said...

It pairs really well with all kind of chats and samosas! It looks really good, Suma :)

Pavani said...

This chutney has been on my to-make list. I recently tasted an amazing sweet chutney and wanted to recreate it ever since. Will use this recipe..
Thanks for sharing.

Sandhya Ramakrishnan said...

A must have chutney in the refrigerator! Looks delicious :)

Unknown said...

love the picture... would love to have them!!
Sowmya
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