Date and ginger chutney with Tamarind | sonth imli ki chutney...

Sonth imli khajoor ki chutney to be precise. This is a sweet sticky gooey chutney that looks like jam or a fruit preserve. Packed with all the sweet and hot and a little savory and a lot of tangy flavors. All wrapped in one lick of the spoon.

 A complex flavor imparted by an earthy yet tingling kick of dry ginger powder, hot red chilly powder balanced by those juicy bits of dates and a slurry like tamarind jelly. This chutney is used as a condiment with meals or as a topping for many popular chaats. With Dahi vade, with dahi wale gol gappe or with samose..this chutney picks up any snack or meal to a new level.

Here is a dahi vada chaat with this chutney on top and some chopped coriander greens and a few crushed potato chips..It can't get any better.

The recipe is pretty simple and the chutney keeps well in the fridge for about six months. So it is a nice recipe to have in your repertoire. I am sure you have at least one recipe of a tamarind chutney with either dates, Aam papad or even Raisins or Apples. Or Pineapples.

The fruit can be of your choice and the consistency also keeps changing according to the main meal you want to serve it with.

This one is a traditional flavor from UP and goes well with all kinds of chaat.

ingredients...

tamarind 50 gm (seedless sticky tamarind)
Or same amount of tamarind paste from a packet
dates chopped finely 50 gm
jaggery 25 gm or to taste
red chilly powder 1 tsp
dry ginger powder (sonth) 1 tsp Or fresh ginger paste 1 tbsp
garam masala 1/2 tsp (I use this special garam masala, it can be a powder of Laung, Elaichi, Daalchini otherwise, including both kinds of cardamoms all in equal amounts)
salt to taste (1/2 tsp is enough as the chutney is not too salty, adjust salt after the chutney is done)

procedure...

Soak the tamarind in 100 ml water and boil or MW for 2 minutes. Let it cool and mash the pulp and strain the gel like pulp. Discard the solids. You may like to add 50 ml water again to the solids and repeat the process to extract some more thinner tamarind pulp from it. Mix both the filtrates together.

Add the chopped dates and all the other ingredients and boil or microwave the mixture together till it becomes a jelly like consistency. You might like it thinner so stop cooking when your kind of consistency is reached. Thicker chutney lasts longer.

Use as required and refrigerate in an airtight container.

Tamatar ki meethi chutney being an all time favorite, this one comes a close second. It is dangerously addictive as you would want to keep dipping the spoon and licking it.