Category: Chutneys

Bengali Tomato Chutney Recipe: A Sweet and Tangy Delight

We Bengalis like to end a meal with a sweet chutney. On days like Sunday or holidays after a meal of Mangsho, or Fish curry and a few vegetables, a Chutney is a must, and definitely if you are serving a Full Course Bengali meal to a guest the last dish will be a Chutney. In the summer months raw mangoes are the most popular fruit to use for chutney, but a few other sour fruits like Aamra (called Spanish plum or Hog plum) Koromcha (Bengal currents) ,Chalte ( elephant apple), Kamranga ( star fruit) are also great for sweet and tangy Chutneys.

Since tomatoes are easily available throughout the year so Tomato Chutney is the easiest to make. Some tomatoes available in India are the ones with a thick skin, but another variety with thinner skin and are more juicy and tangy. The juicy ones are best for making the chutney, these are usually called DESI TOMATOES. In the US I used to use the canned plum tomatoes, which are already peeled, so all I had to do was chop them up. You could use the fresh lovely big red tomatoes that are available in the supermarkets for salads in the US if you want.

Tomato chutney has just Tomatoes, Sugar, Salt a little chopped ginger ( this too is optional). Few extras like Raisins , Dates, or Aam satto (sheets of dried mango pulp) and also a pinch of chili powder makes it more interesting. In this recipe I have used Dates, with the Tomatoes.

Ingredients

  • Tomatoes washed and chopped 3 cups
  • Sugar 1 cup to 1&1/2 cup
  • Paanch Phoron 1/2 teaspoon ( Five spice mix, consisting of Methi, Jeera, Saunf, Kaonji and Mustard seeds)
  • Haldi powder ( Turmeric powder) 1/2 tsp
  • Bhuna Jeera Powder ( roasted Cumin seeds powdered) 1/2 teaspoon ( 0ptional)
  • Salt 1 Tablespoon or less.
  • Dates 1/2 cup with seeds removed
  • Vegetable oil 2 tablespoons
  • Dry red chillies 1 ( optional)
TOMATOES CUT INTO SMALL PIECES

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE THIS CHUTNEY

How to make the Chutney

  • Heat a wok or a sauce pan, add the OIL and wait for it to heat up really well
  • Now add the dry red chillies if you want to use it, wait for a few seconds then add the Paanch Phoron.
  • Once the spices in the paanch phoron gets slightly brown, add the chopped tomatoes and stir well
  • To this add the salt and sugar and the haldi powder . Cover, lower the heat and let the tomatoes simmer for a while.
  • After about 5 minutes, open the lid and check it, the tomatoes will soften and lot of liquid should be released from the tomatoes. Add the Dates and then cover with a lid again and let it simmer.
  • After a couple of minutes open the lid and let it boil down if there is too much liquid. The consistency should be a little runny not as thick as Ketchup. Pourable consistency. Taste to check the seasoning. You could add more sugar if you prefer a sweeter chutney.
  • Your chutney is done, sprinkle the roasted Jeera powder and take it off the heat.
  • Cool it before putting it in the fridge. Serve cold.
  • You can keep it in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

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Challun (Bengali Shrimp Paste) | Traditional Chingri Pickle Recipe

Challun is a traditional Bengali shrimp paste made with tiny freshwater Shrimp, garlic, dried red chillies, and mustard oil. Popular in rural Bengal, it has been enjoyed for generations as a fiery accompaniment to hot steamed rice. Unlike the fermented shrimp pastes used in Southeast Asian cooking, Challun is freshly cooked and ground into a spicy paste that can be refrigerated or frozen for later use.

The story I have heard in my in-law’s place it that the fishermen would carry this Challun and some rice when they went fishing early in the morning, and they could happily finish a whole plate of rice with a little bit of Challun. Challun is a shrimp paste, but it is different from the Asian shrimp paste which is used in Asian cooking, that is fermented, and there are no chillies but Challun is more like a pickle, it can be kept in normal temperature for 3 or 4 days and in the fridge even longer. I usually freeze it, and since there is no water in it, I can take it out and eat it without defrosting.

We use the very small freshwater shrimps ( Kucho Chingri) in this recipe.They are available rather cheap and easily in the small towns and villages in Bengal, whereas in big cities like Delhi it is rare. The tiny tiny shrimp are difficult to clean as they are so small, plus it is a long and tedious process too, if you want to shell them. This recipe is the only way I have seen it being used.

First the shrimps are just washed very thoroughly to remove sand and other dirt. After the water drains out, it is fried in mustard oil with dry red chillies and garlic and then ground to a paste in a blender, or mixer. It turns out to be very hot due to the chillies.

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These are the tiny shrimp. I found a few other types of small fish mixed with the shrimp, but did not discard them used them too.

You can also use the smallest shrimps available to you. I have never used the frozen ones but it needs to defrost completely before frying, because there might be too much water and so make it difficult to fry.

These are the ingredients you will need.

First heat the oil and fry the garlic pods.

Then add the chillies and fry those too.

Keep these aside in a dish.

Then in the same oil fry the shrimp

It should look like this when fried.

The chillies, and garlic and shrimp are fried and now it needs to cool down

Once it cools down, transfer the fried shrimp, garlic and chillies to a grinder, add some salt and grind to a paste. Taste and adjust the salt.

This recipe is one of my favourites. It a very easy and in expensive to make, and is packed with flavour. It can be stored or frozen.

  • Refrigerator: up to one week.
  • Freezer: up to three months.
  • Use a clean, dry spoon every time.

Challun (Bengali Shrimp Paste) | Traditional Chingri Pickle Recipe

Challun is a traditional Bengali shrimp paste made with tiny shrimp, garlic, dried red chillies and mustard oil. This spicy family recipe is easy to prepare, freezer-friendly and delicious served with hot steamed rice.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course: pickles and chutneys
Cuisine: Bengali., Indian
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 200 grams Small shrimps
  • 3 Tablespoons Mustard oil
  • 10 Pieces Dry red chilies the hot variety ( you can make it less spicy by discarding the seeds)
  • 6 Pods Garlic the big variety. ( 12 of the small Indian garlic variety)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt ( adjust the salt quantity according to your taste)

Equipment

  • 1 Pan or Wok/ Kadai For frying
  • 1 Grinder or Traditional grinding stone

Method
 

PREPPING
  1. Wash the shrimp thoroughly. Put them in a colander and wash under running water so that there is no sand in it. Also sort out any twigs.
  2. Peel the garlic.
  3. If you want to make the Challun little less hot, remove the seeds from the dry chillies before frying them. I have kept the seeds, you can see the seeds in the photo because they didn’t grind in the grinder.
HOW TO MAKE THE CHALLUN
  1. Heat the mustard oil in a kadai ( wok) or pan
  2. Fry the garlic first till they are a little brown at the edges
  3. Add the chillies and fry them too, till a bit brown.
  4. Remove the garlic and the chillies from the pan with a slotted spoon and keep aside.
  5. In the oil that it left in the kadai fry the Shrimp till they are pink and crisp
  6. Once the shrimp and garlic and chillies and cool, put them in a strong electric grinder, add some of the salt and also if there is any oil left in the kadai.
  7. Grind to a paste. It may not grind smoothly in one go so you will have to remove the lid of the grinder and stir the mixture. You can add a little more oil if necessary.
  8. Taste to see if the salt is enough before taking the challun out of the grinder and serving.
  9. It is best eaten with cooked/steamed rice.

Notes

  • Wash the shrimp several times to remove all sand.
  • Don’t burn the garlic.
  • Let everything cool before grinding.
  • Add a little mustard oil if the paste is too dry.
  • Freeze in small portions.

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Mango Chutney (Aamer Tok)

In the early summer months we get a lot of raw mangoes in the market. There are many varieties too, some are more sour than the others.

Mango Chutney can be various kinds, some are made with only sugar and some spices, no water added to it at all and this type can be stored and eaten for months, but that is a different recipe. This recipe is for a chutney that we have on hot summer days at the end of a meal. It is very refreshing and we drink the soupy part, and of course eat the mangoes. This chutney is best served cold and leftovers can be kept in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

To make this chutney, we peel the mangoes and then just cook it with sugar, salt and little turmeric powder and water. Let it boil till the mangoes get soft and cooked. Then we transfer it to a bowl and let it cool down before putting it in the fridge. It is very easy.

Ingredients

Mustard seeds and red chilli is for seasoning the oil, which is called Phoron or Tarka.

These are the only spices used. Sugar for giving a sweet and sour taste, and salt to cut the sourness of the mangoes a bit and a little bit of turmeric to give a beautiful golden yellow colour.

Ingredients

  • Mangoes (measured after peeling and slicing) 350g
  • Sugar 1&1/2 cups
  • Salt 1 teaspoon
  • Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
  • Mustard seeds 1/4 teaspoon
  • Oil 2 tablespoons
  • Dry red chilli 1 piece

How to make the chutney

  • Wash the raw mangoes well. then with a peeler peel off the green skin. Then cut it into pieces, if you find a stone in the middle then cut around it. You can add the stone with the bit of mango on it to the chutney or you can discard it.
  • Next heat a wok or a saucepan and add the oil. It can be any vegetable oil, I like to use mustard oil.
  • When the oil starts smoking a bit reduce the flame slightly and add the Red chilli and the Mustard seeds to the saucepan. It will splutter a little.
  • Once the spluttering stops then add the mango slices into the saucepan and stir well.
  • Add the Sugar, Salt, Turmeric powder and again stir.
  • Add 1/2 cup of water, and bring it to a boil.
  • Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat, cover the pan and let it simmer till the mangoes are soft. Taste the liquid to see if it needs more sugar, because some varieties of mangoes can be very sour.
  • Take it off the stove and pour it in a big bowl and let it cool before putting in the fridge.
  • Serve in small bowls, 1 or 2 slices of mangoes and some liquid ( jhol).

Aamer Tok is usually eaten at the end of the meal, we sip the liquid and of course eat the mangoes.

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