Chutney Week: Part 1 , Tomato Chutneys
The call was simple…
Mona Malik : “Make a mean Chutney? We want it!! Calling all the Chutney Freaks at Indian Food Freak…declaring Chutney week on IFF…desi, videshi, old, new, sweet, sour, spicy, experimental, family recipe…post them and be a part of the great Chutney Hall of Fame”
…and IFFians came through…presenting the first installment of Chutney recipes from the first ever “week” on IFF Facebook Group…collection of Tomato Chutneys…stay tuned for more coming soon
Mala Ray Chatterjee: Tomato Dates Raisins Chutney
Ingredients:
1kg Tomatoes, each made into 8 pieces
2 inch Ginger, grated or julienned
250 gms Dates, deseeded
1 cup Raisins
2-3 whole Red chilies
1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp, Paanch Phoron
1 tsp, fennel
½ tsp, Turmeric
¼ tsp Salt
1 big cup Sugar or crushed Jaggery
1 big lemon sized ball Tamarind, if it is clean i don’t take out the seeds (it is fun to eat with the seeds), or else extract thick juice. You may substitute tamarind with juice of 2 lemons.
Method:
Pour oil in wok. Add paanch phoron, fennel, red chilies, ginger, tomatoes, dates, raisins, turmeric and salt. Let it boil for 4-5 mins. Add sugar and then tamarind. Take off the gas when chutney gets thick.
Anita Tikoo: Tamatar ki Chutney
Ingredients:
Plump tomatoes, cut into eighths, enough to make 4 cups
¾ cup white vinegar
1-2 dozen whole dry red chilies (to taste)
½ tsp refined peanut oil
½ (level) tsp kalonji (nigella seeds)
Gur (jaggery) broken into 1-2″ chunks, enough to make 1cup
Salt, to taste
Method:
Soak the red chilies in white vinegar for 3-4 hours. Heat oil in a heavy bottom non-reactive pan. Add kalonji. Shake around till fragrant. Add the chopped tomatoes and salt. Cook on medium heat till soft, stirring occasionally. Add the vinegar with the chilies. Cook another 5-8 min. Add the jaggery and simmer. Adjust the sweetness and the salt. Simmer another 10 min. Cool and store in clean jars. It will thicken some as it cools. Store in the refrigerator indefinitely! But, my guess is, it is not going to be sitting there for long. The recipe can easily be halved or doubled.
Ruchira Ramanujam: Tomato Thokku from Southern India. Part pickle, part chutney, this tangy concoction stays well in a bottle or jar for 2-3 days without refrigeration, so it’s perfect to pack up for a long road trip.
Ingredients:
8 Medium Tomatoes
6-8 Dried red chilies
1 tbsp sized piece of tamarind
¼ cup Sesame/Gingelly/Til oil
1 tsp Mustard seeds
Large pinch Asafoetida/Hing
¼ tsp Turmeric
1 sprig curry leaves
Dry Powder –
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp fenugreek/methi seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp black gram/urad dal
Method:
Soak the red chilies and tamarind in half a cup or less of hot water. Use less water to reduce the total cooking time. Roast the dals/spices together on a hot tava/skillet until lightly browned. Cool and grind them to a powder.
Once the soaked chilies and tamarind are soft, remove the chilies, and extract the tamarind pulp. Purée the tomatoes and chilies in a blender. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed and high-sided saucepan. Add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Sprinkle in the asafoetida, then add curry leaves. After a few seconds, add the turmeric powder and then pour in the tomato-chili mixture and the tamarind. Cook for a while, stirring occasionally, keeping the pan partially covered if it is splattering too much. Once it reduces to a thick paste, add the powdered spices. Cook, stirring often for 2-3 minutes. Cool and store in a clean glass jar. Refrigerate and use over a week.
Namita Tickare: Tangy Green Tomato Chutney
Ingredients:
¼ Cup Peanuts
7-8 Garlic cloves
5-6 Curry leaves
5-6 Green chilies
4-5 Green tomatoes sliced
1-2 Onions Sliced
Salt to taste
3 tsp oil
Method:
Dry roast the peanuts for 5-10 mins and keep aside to cool. Then remove the outer covering of the peanuts.
Heat oil in a pan. Fry the green chilies, cloves and curry leaves for about 2 mins. Remove and keep aside to cool.
Fry the sliced onions in the same pan till they are softened– approximately for 10 mins. Remove and keep aside to cool.
Fry the sliced Tomatoes in the pan till they turn brown – approximately for 10-15 mins. Remove and keep aside to cool.
After all the ingredients are cooled blend it in a mixer with salt to make a paste consistency.
Use a non stick pan for the frying so that the tomatoes will not stick to the bottom of the pan.
Don’t use water in the chutney.
You can store the chutney in refrigerator in an air tight container and use as and when required.
Natasha Ramarathnam: Spicy Tomato Chutney
Ingredients:
1/2 tsp Saunf/ Fennel seeds
1” Cinnamon
1 Cardamom
3 Cloves
1 tsp Oil
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1 (or 2) Red chilies
Curry leaves (optional)
1 finely chopped Green Chili
Handful of shallots (or 1 medium sized onion chopped),
4 Tomatoes finely chopped
Red chili powder, to taste
Salt to taste
Water, if reqd.
Method:
Dry roast saunf, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves on low flame till they are well roasted. Let it cool before pounding it to a coarse powder.
Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, broken red chilies, and curry leaves. After mustard starts to splutter, add green chili, and fry for about a minute.
Add shallots (or chopped onion), and fry till transparent.
Add the ground spice powder and stir it well. Add tomatoes, and cook till it releases water.
Add red chili powder and salt to taste and cook for 5 minutes (if it is too dry, you might want to add a little bit of water while adding chili powder and salt).
Can be stored in the fridge for up to a week.
Vandana Msb: Jhatpat Chutney came about when we returned from a vacation and there was nothing at home except onion, tomatoes & green chilies. I had frozen paranthas in freezer so thought let me make pyaaz tamatar ki chutney that my MIL makes very often. It got done in a jiffy and kids loved it. (My kids are not fluent in Hindi). Big Val asked me how to say ‘quick’ in Hindi and I said “Jhatpat”…so the given name.
Ingredients: (qty of onion & tomatoes specified for proportion, rest of the ingredients to taste)
1 big Onion chopped
3 Tomatoes chopped
Green chilies
Oil
Asafoetida/Hing
Cumin seeds/Jeera,
Garlic
Ginger
About ½ cup Water
About ½ tsp Sugar
Lime juice
Coriander leaves to garnish
Method:
Heat oil in pan and add lots of hing and jeera.
Once it splutters add onions and green chili. Fry till onions go soft. Once onions are done, add tomatoes. Keep on cooking on low flame till it leaves oil. Add masalas of your choice and garlic/ginger if you like. Now add half cup water and let it cook on low flame till it is the consistency is of thick syrup.
Squeeze in some lime juice and half spoon sugar in the end. Garnish with coriander and it is ready to serve.
Sandhya Nag: Tomato and Til Pachadi 
Ingredients: (all quantities to taste)
Tomatoes (ripe or unripe)
Sesame/Til seeds
Green chilies
Coriander leaves
Garlic cloves
Mustard seeds
Urad dal
Asafoetida/Hing
Method:
Heat some oil in a pan. Add in the tomatoes, garlic cloves, coriander leaves and let the mix cook. Do not dry the ingredients – remove just when soft and blend in the mixer.
Take a pan; add oil, green chilies, sesame seeds, coriander, garlic. When slightly done, remove and blend in the mixer – just in one or two turns.
Add chili sesame mix to the tomato mix and add salt and turmeric.
For tempering: Heat oil, add mustard seeds, urad dal, sesame seeds, broken red chilies, curry leaves and hing. When mustard seeds start spluttering add to the tomato and chili mixture.