South Indian Tomato Chutney

©ashashenoyfineart

This is a spicy tasty chutney that goes with idli/dosa/vada/phulka/chapathi or with a plate of steaming rice topped with ladles of ghee! You can make and preserve it in the fridge for up to a week, don't keep the container out of the fridge every day, but transfer how much ever you need for the day to a bowl and return the chutney container to the fridge!

You need red ripe tomatoes, fresh coriander leaves for this preparation.

Ingredients:

Ripe red tomatoes: 1/2 kg  ( remove the stalk area by scooping and chop into 4 to 6 pieces)

Urad/udid dal: 2 heaped Tbsp

Mustard: 1 tsp

Methi seeds: 8 to 10 (fenugreek)

Asafoetida/Hing: 1 large pinch   ( I mean LG Hing powder)

Dried red chillies: 6 ( to taste)

Green chillies: 2 or 3

Garlic: 2 to 3 pods

Chopped fresh coriander leaves (cilantro) : 2 Tbsp

Refined oil: 5 to 6 Tbsp ( or a little more, don't cringe on oil usage plz)

Salt to taste

Process:

Pour the oil into a thick deep pan. (Not the flat non-stick types) and keep on the stove.

When oil is hot drop the mustard seeds, reduce to medium flame, when these splutter add udid dal and wait for a few seconds, till the dal turns light brown. Now drop the methi seeds and the dry red chillies and toss til udid dal turns golden brown. Immediately add hing powder, it will give a nice aroma in oil, keep stirring. Next, add the garlic pods, green chillies and the chopped tomatoes into the pan and add salt. Finally, add coriander leaves and stir well and let it fry well till oil comes slightly on the sides.

💥DO NOT ADD WATER at any stage.💥

Let this cool completely.

Transfer to a mixie jar and blend till done but the paste should not be too smooth. The dal should be seen in the chutney. Transfer to a dry airtight jar. 

💥Do not use water while grinding or transferring to the dry jar. 💥

Yummy chutney is ready. 

You can use cleaned peels of ridge gourd instead of tomatoes in this recipe. For this, first, peel the hard ridges on the gourd. Wash the gourds thoroughly and wipe dry. Now peel the skin off the gourd and in the above recipe use it instead of the chopped tomatoes. This will be another chutney treat to relish with hot rice, yummy!😋😋