GREEN CHUTNEY/CORIANDER CHUTNEY/CILANTRO CHUTNEY

Green chutney/Coriander chutney

From what i understand is, "Chutney" to Indians is something like "Pesto" to Italians. It can be used with appetizers as a perfect dipping sauce, slathered on bread to make sandwiches or  applied on chappatis to make chuntey-rolls for snacks - this reminds me of my childhood days :) Chutneys come in different varieties -  dry or wet, thick or thin, spicy or sweet etc. In fact, in India each region has their own version of chutney. Some of the chutneys which i know of are tamarind chutney, garlic chutney, coriander chutney, coconut chutney, coriander-mint chuntey, garlic-peanut chutney, garlic-peanut-coconut chutney and lot many versions. Well, today i am going to tell you about a very common chutney - the coriander chutney. Now coriander (this is what we call it in India, elsewhere it is called "cilantro") is an Old World herb with aromatic leaves and seeds resembling parsley. Dried coriander seeds can also be used whole or ground as spice in Indian food. This chuntey has a spreadable consistency. Store it in an airtight glass jar in the refrigerator. Stays fresh for about a week.

Ingredients :-

1 bunch coriander/cilantro leaves chopped (also use the tender stems)
4-5 small green chillies (If you are not a big fan of spicy food, reduce the amount of chillies)
1/4 tsp salt (or acc. to taste)
handful of (approx. 15) plain roasted peanuts
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
1 clove garlic
water (for thinning out the chutney)

Directions :-

Take all the above ingredients in a grinder, start grinding, add water to form a semi-liquid consistency. Grind everything to a fine paste. Taste and adjust accordingly, chutney should be spicy from the chillies and it will have a tangy-sweet taste from the lemon and sugar. 

Variations :-
 

1. You can add a sprig (8-10 leaves) of curry leaves (also called "sweet neem leaves") for a change in taste.

2. You can add 15-20 mint leaves to make the coriander-mint chutney. When you are making this chutney, skip the peanuts, lemon and cumin  from the above recipe. Adjust the quantity of salt.