Tomato-Dates Chutney /खजूर और टमाटर की चटनी

India is a country of chutney, spices, pickles and papads. Go to any part of country different variations of the same will be used as side dish in every and these will be available in every Indian kitchen. We Indians keep on innovating and making more variety of chutney all depending on taste and availability of different ingredients. This is my version of tomato-dates chutney, which has distinct garlic flavor because I am very fond of garlic flavor. I and love to eat with rice/ Roti/ Puri / Bread or with upma / poha ….. Why I like it so much? Well it has all ingredients as far as taste is concerned sour, sweet, spicy, and salt. Color is appealing, taste is superb and as healthy as it can get. It can be kept in fridge for 10-15 days minimum, and if little vinegar is added then for 1-2 months also. Should there be more reason for my liking this chutney.

Preparation Time: 15 min.

Cooking Time: 15 min

Servings: 10-15 small servings (One 200 gm. bottle full)

Ingredients Required For making Tomato-dates Chutney:

• 250 gm. Red Pulpy Tomatoes

• !00 gm. Seeds less Dates / 150 gm. Dates with seeds

• 10-15 Cloves of Garlic (Optional)

• 4-5 cm. Ginger piece

• 4-5 Whole Red Chilies

• 1 Tea spoon Cumin seeds

• 1 Tea spoon Mustard seeds

• 1 Tea spoon Red chili Powder (Optional)

• 100 gm. Tamarind
• 4 Table spoons of Apple cider 

• Salt to taste

• 1 ml / 1/2Tea spoon Olive oil / any cooking oil

Directions For Making Dates-Tomato Chutney:

• Wash and cut tomatoes to thin long slices.

• Cut the dates to long thin pieces. If the dates are with seeds then remove the seeds before cutting them.

• Cut garlic and ginger to small pieces.

• Break the whole red chilies and remove the seeds.

• Soak tamarind in 100 ml. water for 30 min. Mash the soaked tamarind and pass through a sieve to remove all solid particles. Collect the pulp in a bowl.

Tomatoes,Garlic,Ginger,Red chilies,Dates and Tamarind pulp for Chutney

• Heat oil in a wok and when the oil is smoking hot lower the flame and add

• Mustard seeds

• Cumin seeds

• Finely cut garlic and ginger

• Red chili pieces

• Cook till garlic starts becoming brown in color.

Spices for seasoning in hot oil

Seasoning Ready for dates to be added

• Add dates pieces and cook on low flame for 3-4 min. Dates will start drying.

Dates cooked and Now tomatoes to be added

• Add tomato slices and mix nicely.

• Cook for 4-5 min. on low flame without covering but with regular stirring.

• Add

• Tamarind paste

• Turmeric powder

• Salt

• Red chili powder

• Mix nicely. 

All ingredients added and cooking

• Cover and cook on low flame for 5 min with continuous stirring. Tomatoes will get cooked and the juice of tomato and tamarind pulp will mix.

• Remove the cover. Bring the flame to high and cook till the liquid of the mixture dries up and the mixture starts leaving the edges of the wok. 
• Add apple cider. Cook for a minute. Chutney is ready. 

Tomato-Dates Chutney Ready to be served

• Remove the chutney either grind it or just store in airtight container and allow to cool before closing the lid. Top with heated then cooled cooking oil. This can be saved for months. 

• This chutney can be kept in fridge for months if not topped with oil. 

• Enjoy healthy, tasty Tomato-dates chutney as side dish with any meal, have with Dosa / Paranthas or use it for making sandwiches.

Tomato-Dates Chutney

 Tips:

• Always check the red chili powder / whole red chili for its hot flavor before adding. Increase / decrease the amount according to the nature of the red chilies and your taste.

• Do not make paste of garlic and ginger. Garlic and ginger pieces taste good in this chutney. If paste is added it will not taste good.

Suggested Variations:

• 1 tea spoon Urd dal / Chana dal can be added along with mustard seeds and cumin seeds while making the seasoning.

• 1 Pinch of asafoetida can be added to the seasoning.

• 5-6 Curry leafs (Kadi patta) can be added to the seasoning.

• Crushed cashew nut or roasted and crushed ground nut can be added just before removing the chutney from the heat.

Healthy least oily Tomato Pickle

Tomato pickle

Pickles make regular appearance in the dining table and are most welcome guests. They have an intrinsic property to make a most dull platter of food look enticing and change the taste to mouthwatering. We Indians are blessed with different variety of food because of the diversity in weather, culture and eating habits of people of different part of our country. Tomato soup, ketchup, sauce etc. are well known as frequently used form of tomato but tomato pickle? It was a surprise to me in late seventies, when I had tomato pickle at my friends place while doing Ph.D. and wondered how the lady converted tomatoes to such innovative yum tasting pickle have. Later when I got married tips from my Andhrite friends and habit of experimenting in the kitchen resulted in this less oily healthy pickle.

 I love having it not only with rice and chapatti but love  using it for making sandwich also. My family loves having curd and rice with tangy spicy Tomato pickle.

Preparation Time: 15 min.

Cooking Time: 45 min

Servings  500 gm. pickle.

Materials Required for Making Tomato Pickle:

• 500 gm. Red Ripe Fleshy Tomatoes

• 100 gm. Tamarind

• 100 gm. Jaggery

• 50 gm. Salt

• 25 gm. Red chili powder

• 1 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder

• 1 tea spoon Chana dal

• 1 Tea spoon Dhuli Urd dal ( Urd dal without green / black cover)

• 15-20Whole Red chilies

Spices for seasoning

• 50 ml. Cooking oil (Ground nut oil / sesame oil / soya oil / olive oil/ Mustard oil)

• 1/4Teaspoon Asafoetida powder

• 5-10 Kadi Patta (Curry leaves)

• 4 Teaspoon Mustard seeds

• 10 ml. Vinegar

Directions For Masking Tomato Pickle:

• Wash and dry tomatoes nicely.

• Cut tomatoes thin long pieces.

Tomato pieces for Pickle

• Take thinly cut pieces of tomatoes in a glass / stainless steel container and mix 25 gm. salt and 1 tea spoon turmeric powder in the tomato.

• If the pickle is being made in hot weather / summers then cut and mix salt and turmeric in night cover and leave overnight but if pickle is being made in cold weather / winters then cut and mix salt and turmeric in morning cover and leave for 24 hrs.

After 24 hrs of soaking Juices squeezed from tomato pieces

• Sieve the juices and squeeze the tomato pieces by pressing between the palms.

• Mix the squeezed juice to the sieved juice.

• Keep the squeezed tomato pieces under the s8un for drying on a stainless plate / plastic sheet / glass plate for 4-5 hrs. when the temperature is high ( 40 ^o C or more), 7-8 hrs. in winters when the temperature is 30^o C – 35^oC.

Tomato pieces kept under the sun for drying after squeezing the juices

• Clean the tamarind of the seeds and soak cleaned tamarind and whole red chilies in the tomato juices for 5-6 hrs.  under the sun.

Tamarind and whole red chilli soaking in tomato juices under the sun

• Tomato pieces will become semi dry and the tamarind will soak the juices of tomato and become soft.

Tomato pieces drying under the sun

Dried Tomato Pieces

• Blend the soaked tamarind and chilies to pulp along with juices. Keep extra juices aside.

Juice from tomato pieces , chilies and Tamarind pulp

• Take oil in a thick bottom wok (I always cook in anodized / non-stick wok / pans) and heat on high flame.

• When the oil is smoking hot lower the flame and add mustard seeds. Mustard seeds will splutter immediately.

• Add chana dal and urd dal and cook on low flame till touch of pink starts coming on them.

• Add 4-5 whole red chilies and kadi patta.

• Cook for 30 seconds.

• 

Seasoning getting ready for pickle

Add Asafoetida and immediately add semi dried tomato pieces.

Ready for Tomato pieces to be added

• Stir and mix spices and tomato pieces nicely. Cook with continuous stirring for 3-4 minutes on low flame.

Tomato pieces added to the seasoning

• Add the mixture of tamarind pulp and tomato juices.

Tomato juice left after making pulp of the soaked tamarind added

After 10 min of cooking 

• Mix nicely and cook for 3-4 minutes.

• Add

• Salt red chili powder

• Jaggery

• Mix and cook with regular stirring till all juices are absorbed and the pickle starts leaving the edges of wok.

• Add vinegar and mix nicely.

• Cook again for one minute with continuous stirring.

• Switch off the gas and let the pickle cool without covering the wok.

Pickle ready for bottling

• Store the cooled tomato pickle in a dry glass bottle.

Tomato Pickle

• Enjoy the Tomato pickle with Dosa/ Pesarattu / Idli / da-chawal / mutton or chicken biryan / Stuffed paranthas.It goes well with all vegetarian and non- vegetarian foods.

Tips:

• Do not dry the tomato pieces so much that they become hard.

• Remove the seeds and hard cover of tamarind before soaking in tomato juices.

• Preferably used fruit based vinegar rather than synthetic vinegar because fruit based vinegar has nutritional values.

• Pound /cut the jaggery before adding to the pickle it will dissolve faster.

• Always break whole red chili before adding to oil otherwise it may burst and cause accident.

• Tomato taken for pickling should be fleshier. Lesser fleshy and more juicy the tomato will require more cooking time and hard work.

• Jaggery, salt and red chili powder can be increased or decreased according to the taste.

• Always add red chili powder in small amounts and check the taste for hotness before adding all  said amount of chili powder. The grade of hotness for chili powder differs from one chili powder brand to other and homemade chili powder may have altogether different degree of hotness.

Suggested Variations:

• Peeled whole or sliced garlic can be added to the pickle just before adding the vinegar.

Ready to be bottled

• Grated 4-5 cm. piece of ginger can be added to the oil after adding kadi patta and cooked till the foam due to the moisture of ginger stops coming from oil. Then the semi dried tomato pieces can be added.

• Sugar / brown sugar can be taken in the absence of jaggery.

Pesarattu( Pan cake of green Moong Dal)

Pesarattu with onions

Pesarattu with out onions

Pesarattu was my fathers favorite snack as well as break fast . At the drop of  hat he would demand pesarattu from my mom as if it would appear, if my ma would say Abra Ka Dabra :). But then my mom being a very good wife and house wife would keep the batter ready in the fridge and supply him Pesarattu as and when he wanted.Since it is made of Moong dal therefore is easy to digest and is rich in protein.
In north India this dish is known as moong dal ka chilada and in south India it is called Pesarattu.

Preparation Time: 10min.

Cooking Time: 20min.

Servings: Makes10 Pesarattu of medium size

Materials Required For Pesarattu :

• 200gm, Moong Dal.
• Salt to taste
• 1 Medium size onion
• 1 Medium size Tomato.
• Few leaves of coriander.
• 1 Green chili
• Cooking oil.
• Water to make batter.

      Directions For Making Pesarattu :

Moong Dal Batter

• Wash and soak moong dal in water for at least 3-4hrs.
• Drain the water .
• Grind the soaked dal to fine paste.
• Add water to make pourable batter.
• Add salt to taste.
• Cut onion, tomato, green chili,coriander leaves and mix them together in a bowl.
• Take a tawa (flat iron cooking plate) and heat it on gas.
• When hot grease it with few drops of oil.
• Pour some moong dal batter on it and spread to a round.

Pesarattu being cooked




• Spread the onion,tomato,green chili,coriander mixture on it and cover, and cook for 1min.
• Pour one tea spoon of oil from the edges in tawa and cook on medium flame for 2 min.
• Loosen the edges and flip the pesarattu upside down.
• Cook for another 2-3 min.

Pesarattu being cooked on other side

• Colorful and tasty Pesarattu is ready to be served with coconut/ ground nut chutney.

Pesarattu with onions

Coconut Chutney

Tip(s):

• Using Non stick tawa would reduce oil requirement to make the pesarattu very much less.

• Those who do not take Onions can omit onions.

Pesarattu without onions

• Pesarattu makes light yet very nutritive break fast, or even light snack!!!

Enjoy Pesarattu with Coconut / Coriander mint chutney  Chutney

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2011/10/green-coriander-and-mint-chutney.html

or pickles

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/tangy-mango-pickle-maharashra-style.html

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/mango-pickle-north-indian-style.html

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/spicy-mixed-vegetable-pickle-less-oily.html

Suggested Variation:

• Since children are very fond of cheese so one or two tea spoon of grated cottage cheese / Mozzarella cheese can be sread over pesarattu along with onions and tomatoes.