Date and Raisin Chutney (Sweet n Sour)
Dates and tamarinds have long been favourites for a chutney; Yet recently I discovered this amazing variation which adds raisins and fennel seeds to these to make a wonderful sweet and sour sauce that has a unique flavour and aroma. This Date and Raisin Chutney can also be preserved for sometime. It looks as appetizing as it tastes, and even if the ingredients make you skeptical, I would urge all of you to definitely give it a try. It tastes great with parathas, snacks or as a spread!
Ingredients
1 cup pitted dates - chopped
1 cup raisins (dried grapes)
1/2 cup tamarind paste
2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 cup jaggery (or to taste)
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2-3 slit green chillies - slit and cut into 2-3 pieces
Method
Take a pan and dry roast the fennel seeds and mustard seeds over low flame until you can smell the aroma. Grind it to a fine powder using a spice grinder or stone and mortar. Now add this to tamarind, dates, raisins, chilly powder and jaggery and green chillies. Now heat oil in a saucepan, add the mixture to it and cook for 5-7 mins until it becomes soggy and thick. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 40-50 mins so that it is entirely cooked and sticks a little (yet can fall off) from a spoon. Remove from heat and let it cool entirely.
At this point, you can choose to blend/churn this chutney in a mixer if you like it smooth. I prefer it thick with the date and raisin pieces barely visible. Take a sterilized jar (washed in boiling water and dried in sun) and store in a cool dry place. Referigerate after first use, and you can easily preserve it for a month. Relish it in place of pickles or as fresh chutney/sauce with snacks. You could even spread it on a slice of bread!
I'm sending this over the Asha's RCI-Karnataka Event and also to Swapna's AFAM-Grape Roundup!!
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25 comments :
It's a beautiful color that you acheived. Looks delicious, what do you use it on?
Thanks kelly:)
You can eat this as a side dish or dipping sauce with a lot of snacks found under my /Snacks-Entrees section like pakodas, batata vadas and even milk breads...
oh my! missed lot of posts!! you have started putting a lil bigger and clear pics. that looks good.
yummy looking chutney. have to try it.
OMG, that looks amazing dear...I loce date chutney specially when taken with chaats...loved the recipe
Great looking chutney,I bet it tastes great with Toast too:)
Great looking chutney! now where are teh samosas :-D.
Hey Sharmi, welcome back!!!:)and yes, u have a lot of catching up to do:) hope u r done with your kids' exams..
musical:)(I solove your name!!) ek plate garam samosa coming right up memsa'ab!! ramu ko bola hai laane ke liye:)
Hi Mansi, thanks for visiting my blog and for your kind comment. I loive your blog. Will try some of the dishes as i like trying new stuff and make up my own.
My computer skills are at the kindergarten level though.
Wow. That's interesting and delicious. Me too waiting for the garam samosas:)
lovely! :)
It is a beautiful combo. I venever tried raisin chutney, but I mean why not, raisins are a perfect thickening agent.... thanx
Nice try! I am sure would have tasted good too!
Hi,
Good collection of recipes. Yummy Looking chutney!!! Thanks for sharing,
I've never been a big sweet and sour fan but I like this combo and will store the recipe for experiementation.
I do watch VOI and its really shocking that Toshi is out, but I have heard that he might come with the new wild card entry, I hope that is not a gossip!
wow Mansi...nice post....new,hip and colorful :-)
wow Mansi, color itself is so tempting, nice recipe with fennel & mustard seeds.
Thanks to the vetarans and welcome to the new-comers! I'm glad this chutney is liked by so many ppl...its simple and tastes great! proof how some experiments turn out into nice recipes:)
Had heard of date & tamarind but never about this combo. Am sure it is as good as it looks.
I make pear chutney from my own pears, and I love the smell of chutney cooking on the stove -- something about the vinegar getting in the air, mixed with the spices, that's entirely pleasing.
wonderfully exotic.. i haven't had tamarind since i lived in mexico - son't tell anyone, it's almost 20 years!!! i bet this taste just great with cheese as well - some parmesan, for example. thanks for taking part in WTSIM!
i love chutneys, love to give them away as presents. I myself am hosting an event that is dedicated to giving food as a present. I would love you to have a look and maybe you could come up with something? http://www.burntmouth.com/2007/10/spoonful-of-christmas.html
oooh this sounds so good, and I want to try it , but, what is jaggery? am I being English here, I have never heard of it!
Hey Bev n Ollie - welcome to Fun and Food, and I'm s glad you lied it!! "Jaggery" is basically raw unrefined sugar...It's available in lunmp form, and is a little less sweeter than refined sugar. And I'm happy you were frank enouh to ask what it means! Hope this link here helps you know more about it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaggery
Thanks for the info and you comment x
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