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)
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.