mirchi ka kutta | मिर्ची का कुट्टा | pounded green chilli relish

Mirchi ka kutta is not a recipe I grew up eating but I had tasted it once in a while cooked by a friend's mother. Back then I was not so enamored by chilies, anything made with just chillies had to be in small servings and it was used just like a spot of heat on the platter. The kind of relish that was put to use only when the food was bland otherwise.

And then I tasted this mirchi ka kutta that blew my mind away. I loved that it was made from the less hot Rajasthani chillies and that it had loads of methi (fenugreek) seeds. I know the picture that comes to mind is a bitter and hot relish but this mirchi ka kutta is far from that.

As I mentioned in the last post about Kiradu temple complex, the sattvic meal we enjoyed there had this mirchi ka kutta as a side dish and I loved it so much that I took 3 helpings and the last time I asked for a bigger serving so I can enjoy it without worrying for refills. It was really that good.

I called Chef Megh Singh Rathore immediately and asked for the recipe. He rattled a simple recipe and I memorized while polishing the last bits of mirchi ka kutta with soft pooris.

Apart from loads of methi, this mirchi ka kutta has some sounf (fennel seeds) and some rai (small mustard seeds), some crushed garlic and a little lashing of hing (asafoetida). All this is balanced off with a sprinkling of amchoor powder.

The only similar recipe that I am reminded from my home is a mirch ki kalonji that my grandmother used to make in bulk and refrigerate for the whole week. One mirch ki kalonji used to land up on everyone's plate at meal time. I need to recreate that too very soon. Let it be mirchi ka kutta till then.

ingredients for mirchi ka kutta (मिर्ची का कुट्टा )
(makes enough to fill a 350 ml jar)

15 large Rajasthani chillies or any large green chillies that are not too hot
4 smaller hot green chillies 
6-8 fat cloves of garlic peeled
2 tbsp methi (fenugreek) seeds
1 tsp sounf (fennel) seeds
1 tsp rai (small mustard seeds)
a generous pinch of hing (asafoetida)
2 tbsp mustard oil
2 tsp amchoor powder
1 tsp salt or to taste 
1/2 cup water

procedure

Pound the garlic and chillies separately. It helps if you chop the chillies before pounding them in a mortar and pestle. Be careful of any seeds that may decide to fly and land in your eyes while pounding.

Heat the oil and tip in the hing first. Let it sizzle and then add the methi seeds followed by sounf and rai. Add the garlic when the seeds start getting aromatic. Mix and cook for a couple of seconds.

Add the chillies, salt and mix well. Cook for a minute and add the water. Cook covered on low for 10 minutes. Add the amchoor powder and cook again for a couple of minutes, adding a little more water if required.

The mirchi ka kutta will be moist enough so that the methi seeds swell up after soaking the juices.

Empty the contents into a clean jar or container and refrigerate immediately. It keeps well for a week easily.

This mirchi ka kutta goes really well with poori and paratha but I love it with khichdi and dal chawal meals too. You can serve it with practically everything, all kind of Indian meals.

It is an interesting amalgamation of flavours ranging from bitterness from methi, aromatic sweetness from fennel, sharp punch of garlic and the flavourful heat of green chillies, everything wrapped up by the tartness of amchoor powder. All strong flavours meld so well you crave for more.

mango chhunda

This is the most uncomplicated recipe of a finger licking preserve made of raw mangoes. Tart raw mango slivers preserved in sugar syrup is what we know as aam ka chhunda or kasse aam ka khatta meetha achar.

Small quantity of mango chhunda can be made in a microwave within minutes, including chopping/grating and cleaning the utensils. yes it is so uncomplicated.

It has been almost 2 months since I made this aam ka chhunda and the mango loaf, both paired so well together that now I will always think of these two recipes together.

I actually serve aam ka chhunda with everything and anything, from parathas to matthis, with multigrain breads or sandwiched between two digestive biscuits. You go by your imagination and you will never fail with mango chhunda. Even a plain aatte ka meetha cheela tastes really good with aam ka chhunda.

To make it more versatile I keep the preserve mildly spiced. One can always add spices like saffron and cardamom or crushed fennel seeds, or a mixture of fenugreek, fennel and red chillies in the last stage of cooking when a stronger spice level is desired.

I prefer flavoring the mango chhunda when needed accordingly, just sprinkle a pinch of required spices with a dash of water and microwave the quantity you need to use immediately, or cook in a small pan over gas stove, even the tadka pan works well. This way you can get any flavor as per choice or serve it plain with some strongly flavored dish. Like you can top the dhaniye wali matthi with a tbsp of plain chhunda.

The preparation is simple s I mentioned, just grate the raw mangoes in a box grater or chop into thin slivers.

Now throw in sugar into the chopped or grated mangoes, let it rest for a couple of hours and cook on very low flame till the mixture starts looking translucent. You can add a little water if you want the chhunda to be a little syrupy.  y

You need about 800 gm of sugar or jaggery for a kilo of mangoes and 100 ml of water to start with.

Mix it all well and wait for half an hour, till the mango slivers exude most of their water.

Now heat this mixture on low flame and keep stirring. It takes about 40 minutes or more to get cooked.

To know whether the chhunda is done, you have to lift the spatula above the cooking mixture, the same spatula you are using for stirring. When the sugar syrup falls in two thin streams, (a third stream is good to get if you want the preserve to be almost dry) it means your chhunda is ready. This is essential for its long term preservation (this is called do taar or teen taar ki chashni in Hindi).

When you are making a small quantity to be consumed within a few days or to be kept in the fridge, the sugar syrup should fall in a single thin stream, your chhunda would be syrupy and thin.

You know you can make the consistency as you like it.

The light colored mango chhunda on the left is made with sugar, the peeled raw mango is chopped thinly in julienne and there is no spice used to flavor it.The dark colored mango chhunda on the right is made with jaggery, lightly spiced with a hint of red chilli and garam masala, the raw mangoes grated to make it a little homogeneous. Both the variants taste great and can be used differently.

Gujratis call this relish as keri no chhundo and serve it with their bhakhris and theplas.

Here is the mango chhunda, made with sugar and without any spice, with my mango loaf...

Kachhe aam ka chhunda is an essential relish to be stocked for the whole year in many families. My mom used to make it when we were kids, obviously because it was in high demand. She doesn't make the chhunda anymore as all of us siblings have started making it and sharing our pickles and preserves too.

Make the aam ka chhunda and see how it flies off the pickle shelf.