Talking about the Indian cuisine in general, we love our chutneys and can make a chutney out of any ingredient. South Indian chutney also known sometimes as Thokku is famous too. What is a chutney? It is a creamy sauce/dip similar to pesto and is served as an accompaniment or side to any snack. Traditionally pickles, chutney and papadums were made at home. Today, many prefer to pick it up from the grocery store. The only drawback is that the store ones use lots of preservatives, are high in sugar and vinegar content making it unhealthy for us in the long run. This is done to make these products safe for long-term consumption.
# Tomato Almond Chutney
Ingredients
1 onion
2-3 tomatoes
3 dried red chillies
5 cloves garlic
4 cloves
1/3 cup almonds
1 small ball tamarind or use 1 tbsp tamarind paste
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
salt as required
Method- Heat oil in a pan, saute onions, tomatoes, dried red chillies, garlic, cloves and almonds one after the other.
- Take it off the flame and let it cool.
- Then transfer it to a blender, add salt and tamarind and blitz to make a smooth chutney.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve as a side with any dish!
# Onion & Bell Pepper Chutney
Ingredients1 tsp oil
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
2 dried red chillies
1/3 cup desiccated coconut
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp chana dal
1 orange bell pepper
1 tbsp tamarind paste
salt to taste
Method- In a pan add oil and once its hot, roast roughly chopped onion, cumin seeds, chana dal, garlic and dried red chillies for 2 minutes.
- Take it off the pan onto a plate. Then add desiccated coconut to the pan and roast it on medium flame for a minute.
- Be careful to not burn it. Take it out onto the plate and add roughly chopped bell pepper to the pan.
- Roast them till they get charred a bit. It could take 1-2 minutes.
- Transfer this to the plate and let the whole mixture cool down.
- Now transfer all of it to a blender, add little water, tamarind paste and salt, then blitz to a smooth paste.
- Transfer it to a serving bowl. Heat oil in a tadka pan. Once the oil is hot, temper mustard seeds.
- Once they crackle, add asafoetida/hing and pour this tadka over the chutney.
- You can serve this chutney as a side for dosa/idli/adai/savory pancakes/savory waffles/fried snack.
# Spinach & Peanut Chutney
Ingredients4 cups baby spinach
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
1 inch ginger
2 dried red chillies
1/2 cup peanuts
2 tbsp desiccated coconut
Salt as required
1/2 tsp oil to fry the peanuts
1/2 tsp oil for tadka
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp chana dal
1 dried red chilly
Method- First step is to blanch the spinach. You can either choose to roughly chop the spinach or use baby spinach for the recipe. Boil water and take it off the flame.
- Now add the spinach and leave it in hot water for a minute. Take it out in a plate and let it cool.
- This step is what will give this chutney that beautiful deep color.
- Now take a pan and add oil. Once its hot, add peanuts and roast it for 30-35 seconds.
- It should release an aroma and turn brown. Transfer it to the spinach plate.
- Next, dry roast chopped onion, dried red chillies, garlic and ginger for a minute.
- Transfer it onto the plate and then dry roast desiccated coconut for 15 seconds.
- Add this to the plate and let all of it cool down before transferring it to the blender. Blitz to a smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl and add salt.
- Last step is to give tadka. In the same that you used before, add oil.
- Once its hot, temper mustard seeds and once they begin crackle add the urad dal, chana dal and dried red chillies.
- When the lentils turn golden, take it off the flame and pour it over the chutney.
- Vegan Spinach & Peanut Chutney is ready! Serve it as a side with idli/dosa/any other dish.