Why Chutney is more than a condiment?
Because a chutney has quiet superpowers
The word “chutney” comes from the Hindi word “chaatna,” which means to lick. To truly enjoy a chutney, swipe the plate/bowl with your finger and lick it clean, a sentiment aptly imbibed in the word’s meaning. Chutneys are condiments of Indian origin, usually prepared for immediate consumption, which makes them very different from the western notion of a chutney. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, lentils, seeds, anything is a fodder for chutney and in the immortal words of an aunt – you can make terrific chutney even out of grass (I will leave you with your thoughts for a sec).
Chutneys are hot, sweet, tangy, spicy, creamy or a delightful combination of all. By design they pack a flavor punch. As a result, they transform into dips, spreads, marinades, toppings and sauces effortlessly. So, in theory, even a smidgen of a chutney should be enough. But when is a smidgen of anything good, good enough? Never, in my book, because I can eat my weight in a chutney.
We have now established the baseline greatness of chutneys. Let’s peel another layer of their talent. Because of their very nature, chutneys are innately qualified to take a recipe by the horns and become the star flavor carrier. They are ready to lead and not just complement. Were you to turn a chutney into a sauce, it will infuse its pointed notes and offer an unusual bent to the dish that you have been making on autopilot (like the meals in today’s post). Were you to turn chutney into a spread, - hello Bombay Sandwich - it will do a jig with the rest of the ingredients and make the final dish greater than the sum of its parts. And were you to turn chutney into a topping, your guests will scrape the bottom of the plate in its search.
Today we explore how a chutney can become the flavor foundation of a dish. This post contains two chutney recipes and two meals to concoct out of them. Both the meals are familiar, but the addition of chutney gives them a twist – a touch of creativity within the formula.
Something happened last week that was straight serendipity. I wrote the first draft of this post and within two days I received a copy of Rick Martinez’s Salsa Daddy (thank you very much, Clarkson Potter and Felix Cruz). It’s a joyful book with 70 salsa recipes and 24 meals from salsas or that pair with salsas. Here are some salsa truths he reveals to us –
Prepare salsa first and then the meal
Anything can be turned into a salsa
Try salsa in anything and everything
In acknowledgement of their shared superpowers, chutney raises a toast to salsa “touché.”
RECIPE
CHUTNEY 1 - GRATED GRANNY SMITH APPLE CHUTNEY
I find Granny Smith Apple an absolute delight to work with; mouth-puckering tart with a hint of sweet, crunchy and ready to surrender to any flavors that come its way. Not unlike a raw green mango, which is the beating heart of Indian kitchens in summer months. Takku is a grated mango pickle cherished in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. I decided to give exactly the same treatment to this chutney.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 big Granny Smith Apple grated or about 1 cup
3 teaspoons red chile powder, preferably Kashmiri chile powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
For the tadka
4 teaspoons vegetable oil
¼ teaspoon black mustard seeds
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
Yield – A little more than a cup, lasts for a week in the fridge
Method
A mortar & pestle is the best way to grind mustard seeds. If you don’t have an m&p, put the seeds in a small Ziploc, seal the mouth, lay it on the counter and press a rolling pin over it. Coarse powder is fine.
Crushing 1 teaspoon mustard seeds results in 1.5 teaspoons powder.
Squeeze the liquid out of the grated green apple by pressing a handful between the palms of your hand. It’s not essential to extract the last drop of liquid. Drink the instant apple juice, it’s tasty.
Place the squeezed GS apple in a bowl. If you doodle around at this stage, the apple will start browning. Add 3 teaspoons red chile powder, ½ teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon mustard seeds powder and mix. Don’t sweat because the ingredients look disparate and unmixable. Tadka will swoop in for the rescue.
Heat the smallest saucepan in your kitchen or a tadka pot. (If you are on a journey to cook Indian food, I recommend buying a tadka pot.) Turn the heat to medium and pour 4 teaspoons vegetable oil.
After allowing 3 minutes for the oil to heat up, add ¼ teaspoon black mustard seeds. The seeds will pop, sizzle and dance. Add 1/8 teaspoon turmeric and turn the heat off.
Top the apple chutney mixture with hot tadka and mix well. It’s a revelation to see how the tadka brings all the ingredients together into a homogenous whole. Try the same recipe with grated radish, green mango, jicama or raw papaya.
RECIPE
MEAL 1 - GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH WITH GS APPLE CHUTNEY
Ingredients
4 slices multigrain, ciabatta or farm style bread
2 teaspoons salted or unsalted butter
4 tablespoons GS Apple chutney
4 slices Havarti or Colby Jack cheese
Butter for spreading outside
Yield - makes two sandwiches
Method
Butter two slices of multigrain, ciabatta or farm style bread with about 1 teaspoon per slice.
Place a slice of Havarti or Colby Jack cheese on the buttered side.
Drop 2 tablespoons of GS Apple chutney on the cheese and spread it out to form an even layer.
Cover the chutney with another slice of cheese and the other slice of bread on top.
Spread butter on the top side and grill in a panini-maker or on a cast iron skillet.
Grill till cheese melts and oozes out and grill marks are visible.
Cut in half diagonally and serve hot.
If you have the chutney ready, this sandwich will come together in minutes.
RECIPE
CHUTNEY 2 - RED BELL PEPPER CHUTNEY
This chutney is a glitzy blend of sweet, hot and sour flavor and has an incredible deep red color.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large or 1½ cups of red bell pepper diced into ½” pieces
2 dry red chile peppers stemmed (either arbol or guajillo)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon tamarind concentrate or ¼ teaspoon lime juice
Yield: Makes about ¾ cup, lasts for about a week in the fridge
Method
Place a thick bottomed pot on medium heat. Pour 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and combine in the 1.5 cups diced red bell peppers and the 2 dry red chile peppers. Sauté intermittently.
Diced Red Bell Pepper and whole dried red pepper Turn the heat off after 15 minutes. The chile peppers should have turned dark and the bell peppers should be shriveled up.
After this mixture has cooled, grind it fine with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon tamarind concentrate or ¼ teaspoon lime juice. You can add about a teaspoon of water, if needed, to facilitate blending.
Try to use tamarind concentrate as it results in a chutney with a superb balance of sweet, spicy and tangy flavors. It is available in Asian grocery stores. However, with lime juice, the tangy flavor dominates.
This chutney can be used in a variety of ways. Put a dollop over rice and beans, jazz up a fajita with a teaspoon or become a source of delight at the next potluck with this pasta salad.
RECIPE
MEAL 2 - PASTA SALAD WITH RED BELL PEPPER CHUTNEY
Ingredients
5-6 walnuts #
½ cup Penne or Gemelli pasta
½ cup roughly chopped arugula
¼ cup sundried tomatoes cut into thin strips
5 Castelvetrano olives cut into half
3 tablespoons red bell pepper chutney (more if you like a saucy pasta)
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
# Soaking strips the walnut off its dark exterior, like it’s got a clean scrub. And the taste shines as if a veil has been removed, the bitterness is gone and what you get is a nutty creaminess.
Method
Soak 5-6 walnuts in 1 cup water.
Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pasta package.
Half cup pasta results in about 1 cup cooked pasta. Set it aside and let the pasta cool.
Pour the pasta in a mixing bowl.
Combine in ½ cup chopped arugula, ¼ cup sundried tomatoes, 5 Castelvetrano olives, 3 tablespoons red bell pepper chutney, 1 tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper.
Mix everything well and eat at room temperature.
Since its inception, apart from Indian flavors, ChutneyLovers has presented the following chutneys and the memorable meals they produce -
Fataafat Chutney to accompany Savory Gluten-Free Mung Bean Pancakes
GS Apple Chutney - Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Red Bell Pepper Chutney - Pasta Salad
Can you see the cape flying?
The next meal of ChutneyLovers is Khichdi, another comfort food and a One Pot Meal of Rice, Lentils and Vegetables.
Don’t you just love the bowls and plates in the images? They are handmade by a potter friend, the one who does not want to be named. Thank you, my dear friend!
That's it - I am picking up mustard seeds and making a quick chutney sooner than later!!! I went to an Indian market in Bangkok for chole masala mix -- what do you think, Annada, what SE Asian fruit chutney to go with? mango? pineapple? dragonfruit? durian? hehe
I am going to try both of these chutneys. They look so yummy and easy to make.