Sweet Date & Tamarind Chutney for Indian Chaats

One of my blog readers Varsee had asked me for a recipe for Sweet chutney for chaats. This has been a chutney that I always take the short route and buy from the store or a restaurant. But, just so I can show off my cooking skills to Varsee, I thought I'd make this from scratch!

Varsee - here's the recipe for you. And thank you so much for leaving your comments and for trying out dishes from the blog. That is the best compliment a blogger can get!

I got the basic recipe from Sanjeev Kapoor's Chaat book. Once I made it, I realized how easy it was to make this. This is a good recipe to make a lot and save it in the fridge for maybe a couple of weeks. That way, you can pop it out and mix it with anything and make a quick chaat!

To begin with, here are the things you would need -

Dates - about 2 cups
Tamarind Pulp - Take about a lemon sized tamarind, microwave with water for a min, squeeze out all the pulp and set aside. You will finally need 11/2 cups of pulp.
Jaggery - about 3/4 cup
Jeera - 2 tsps
Saunf ( fennel seeds) - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 2 tsps
Salt - to taste
Dry ginger powder - 1 tsp
Black salt or chaat masala - about 1 tsp
Red food color - few drops.

 

Dry roast the jeera and saunf till a nice smell comes out. Take it off the heat. When cooled, grind to a smooth powder and set aside.

  

Chop the dates into small pieces. Eat a few while doing this...you have to enjoy the process!

  

In a pan, add the tamarind pulp and cook it until a little of the raw smell goes away.

  

Now, add the chopped dates and jaggery. Cook for a min until they kind of combine well and the jaggery begins to melt. Then, add the red chilli powder, black salt or chaat masala, salt to taste and also the ground jeera-saunf powder. Mix well and add about 4 cups of water. 

  

  

  

Let all of it come to a good boil. Cook for about 10 mins.

  

At the end, add a few drops of red color. I would always wonder what the restaurants put that was red in color. I thought maybe they added beetroot or something. And then I read about it that it was nothing but red color! Duh!  I added a few drops - my chutney was not completely red but a nice shade of brunette! You can even skip this if you don't want the red color - you will then have a nice brown chutney.

  

See how that all came together. 

  

Cool down the mixture for a little bit and then move it all to a blender. Blend until you get a nice smooth creamy texture. Add a little water if the chutney is too thick. 

 

And tada...there you go - home made red chutney for chaats. Not to brag or anything, but this tasted realllllyy good. Thanks to Sanjeev Kapoor! My husband wanted it a little but more thin but I loved it like this. If you like it thinner, add extra spices and more water. 

  

One more obsession shot as always!

  

Enjoy. Peace Out!