Tuesday, January 15, 2013

DRY GARLIC CHUTNEY/ KORDI LASUN CHUTNEY



Spicy hot garlic chutney

"CHUTNEY" refers to a wide-ranging family of condiments from Indian cuisine that usually contain some mixture of spice(s) and vegetable(s) and/or fruit(s). There are many varieties of chutneys. Chutneys may be either wet or dry, and they can have a coarse to a fine texture. Spices are added and ground, usually in a particular order - the wet/dry paste thus made is sauteed in vegetable oil or peanut (groundnut) oil. Sometimes vinegar or citrus juice are added as natural preservatives. 

In the past, chutneys were ground with a mortar and pestle made of stone.  In the present era, electric blenders or food processors can be used as labor-saving alternatives to the traditional stone grinding.


Today we are preparing a dry garlic chutney, this particular recipe has its origin - I believe in the state of Maharashtra - western part of India. Garlic chutney can be consumed in a variety of ways.  



Kordi lasun chutney

This chutney tastes best by itself and can be eaten as a side with lunch or dinner.
  •  I also like to spread it on chapati with a drizzle of peanut oil, roll it and you got yourself a delicious mid-afternoon snack. 
  • Also it goes best with "Vada-pao" - a popular vegetarian fast food from Mumbai.

Let's have a look at the ingredients.


INGREDIENTS :-

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5 heads of garlic, peeled and halved

4 tbsp dried coconut powder
1 tbsp cumin seeds/ jeera
Salt to season
1 1/2 tbsp red chilli pwd. (adjust to your taste)
Small ball of tamarind (about the size of a sugar cube)
2 handfuls of plain roasted peanuts
1 tbsp oil


DIRECTIONS :-

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1. Ground the above ingredients (except the oil) in a chopper/grinder. The final mixture should be coarse.



Ingredients ready to grind

2. Add a tbsp of oil, mix well and store it in an airtight glass jar. 

3. This chutney has a shelf life of 10-15 days and can be preserved more by refrigerating it. 


Dry Garlic Chutney