When it comes to South Indian tiffin, the dining plate should be filled with accompaniments which we term chutneys. A tiffin without chutney is considered a sin or it can be considered as sacrilege for any South Indians. Though it sounds so intense it’s the fact. It proclaims how chutneys are quintessential in our life.
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After boasting so much about Chutney, it needs no introduction to any Indian households. If you are from another nation, I’ll give it to you.
The term “chutney” is most prevalent across India. Though it takes various forms, tastes, and textures, it’s commonly used as a dip or sauce in all cuisines. It’s basically an accompaniment or side dish for the starters, rotis, or for the South Indian tiffins and snacks. They are made with coconut, veggies, or herbs as the base, ground along with spices and salt, then tempered with condiments. Tadka/tempering is optional. The shelf life of a few chutneys is long while a few are short depending upon the ingredients and processes involved.
Garlic chilli chutney, as promised by me last week as an accompaniment, with Kaattuyaanam Mysore Dosa, rolls out to be this week’s recipe.
As the name indicates, garlic and chilli are the protagonists of this dish. If you are a fervent garlic lover, this chutney is your realm. I’m sure you’ll be blown away by its simplicity and of course its taste and flavour.
I made 2 versions of this chutney, one is no-cook, instant, raw style chutney, while the other is sautéed chutney. Both have the same ingredients except the shallots which are added in the sautéed chutney only.
Other ingredients which pair with these duo protagonists are tomato, tamarind, jaggery, and salt. The genre of this chutney, I would say it’s piquant due to the pungent garlic and chillies in it. Other supporting characters like tomato, tamarind, shallots, jaggery, though they play a subtle role, still try to establish their character sharply. Here, I prepared 2 methods,
Raw-for who can handle the strong pungency of garlic,
Sautéed– for who cannot handle the raw flavour.
Both chutneys have their unique flavor and essence. I would highly recommend trying both to experience the variation.
It serves as an excellent accompaniment to Idlis, Dosas, Pongal, Upma, Adai, Rotis. It has an exciting combo of flavours, pungency from garlic, tanginess from Tomatoes and tamarind, spiciness from red chillies, with little sweet flavor from the jaggery. The red inviting colour of the chutney adds an extra partiality to the chutney spread. The best part of this chutney is its easy preparation and simple, easily available ingredients.
Another added advantage is its shelf life. If stored in the refrigerator, sautéed chutney is good for a month too. While raw can be stored for a max of 10 days.
Now with no delay will move to the recipe…😋👇.
Chutney 1 – Raw
Deseed both the red chillies and soak in hot water for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Meanwhile, peel the garlic cloves, chop the tomatoes. Once the chillies are soaked well, add them to a mixer jar, then keep adding 1/3 cup of peeled, garlic cloves,
Then add 1 big tomato chopped, 1/8 tsp of tamarind 1 tsp of jaggery, and ½ tsp of salt.
Dry run the mixer grinder for a while. Then sprinkle some water if required and ground it as a semi coarse paste.
Transfer the chutney to a serving bowl.
Do the tempering in a small saucepan or Kadai by heating 1 ½ tbsp of gingelly oil, then add ¼ tsp mustard seeds, wait till it crackles, then add ¼ tsp of whole urad dal, a sprig of curry leaves. Switch off the flame, then add a pinch of Asafoetida powder.
Add this tempering to the chutney bowl.
Instant, no-cook, raw Garlic chilli chutney is ready to serve with Karuppu kavuni idli, Ragi Idli, Rava idli, Kaattuyaanam dosa, instant ragi Rava dosa, Thinai Pongal, instant Wheat Naan, palak puri, jeera rice, and turmeric rice. This chutney can be consumed in small quantities due to its strong, raw flavour.
Chutney 2 – Sautéed
Deseed both the red chillies and soak in hot water for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Meanwhile, peel the garlic cloves and shallots, chop the tomato. Once the chillies are soaked well, add it to a mixer jar.
Then keep adding 1/3 cup of peeled, garlic cloves, 1 big tomato chopped, 3 shallots,
Later add 1/8 tsp of tamarind 1 tsp of jaggery, and ¾ tsp of salt.
Dry run the mixer grinder for a while. Then sprinkle some water if required and ground it as a semi coarse paste.
Now do the tempering in a small saucepan or Kadai by heating 3 tbsp of gingelly oil, then add ¼ tsp mustard seeds, wait till it crackles, then add ¼ tsp of whole urad dal, a sprig of curry leaves. Sauté well.
Transfer the chutney to the pan. Stir well to combine with tempered ingredients.
Lower the flame, close, and cook for roughly 8 minutes.
Then open and cook in the same flame for another 2 minutes.
Now add 1 tbsp of gingelly oil, stir well and switch off the flame.
Finally, add a pinch of Asafoetida powder. Mix it.
Sautéed Garlic chilli chutney is ready to serve with Karuppu kavuni idli, Ragi Idli, Rava idli, Kaattuyaanam dosa, instant ragi Rava dosa, Thinai Pongal, instant Wheat Naan, palak puri, jeera rice, and turmeric rice. This piquant, robust flavoured chutney is not to miss accompaniment which is an excellent pair for tiffins made with traditional rice.
Recipe card
Chutney 1 – Raw
Preparation time: 2 minutes
Cooking time: 0 minute
Cuisine: South Indian
Category: Chutneys
Serves: 4
Author: Manimala
Ingredients:
Garlic – 1/3 cup (50 g)
Tomato – 1 big
Kashmiri red chillies – 4
Regular red chillies – 4
Tamarind – 1/8 tsp
Jaggery – 1 tsp
Salt – ½ tsp
For tempering:
Gingelly oil – 1 ½ tbsp
Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
Whole Urad dal – ¼ tsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Asafoetida – a pinch
Instructions:
- Deseed both the red chillies and soak in hot water for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, peel the garlic cloves, chop the tomatoes.
- Once the chillies are soaked well, add them to a mixer jar, then keep adding 1/3 cup of peeled, garlic cloves, 1 big tomato chopped, 1/8 tsp of tamarind 1 tsp of jaggery, and ½ tsp of salt.
- Dry run the mixer grinder for a while. Then sprinkle some water if required and ground it as a semi coarse paste.
- Transfer the chutney to a serving bowl.
- Do the tempering in a small saucepan or Kadai by heating 1 ½ tbsp of gingelly oil, then add ¼ tsp mustard seeds, wait till it crackles, then add ¼ tsp of whole urad dal, a sprig of curry leaves. Switch off the flame, then add a pinch of Asafoetida powder. Add this tempering to the chutney bowl.
- Instant, no-cook, raw Garlic chilli chutney is ready to serve with Karuppu kavuni idli, Ragi Idli, Rava idli, Kaattuyaanam dosa, instant ragi Rava dosa, Thinai Pongal, instant Wheat Naan, palak puri, jeera rice, and turmeric rice. This chutney can be consumed in small quantities due to its strong, raw flavour.
Chutney 2 – Sautéed
Recipe card
Preparation time: 2 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Cuisine: South Indian
Category: Chutneys
Serves: 4
Author: Manimala
Ingredients:
Garlic – 1/3 cup (50 g)
Tomato – 1 big
Shallots – 3
Kashmiri red chillies – 5
Regular red chillies – 5
Tamarind – 1/8 tsp
Jaggery – 1 tsp
Salt – ¾ tsp
For tempering:
Gingelly oil –3+1 tbsp
Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
Whole Urad dal – ¼ tsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Asafoetida – a pinch
Instructions:
- Deseed both the red chillies and soak in hot water for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, peel the garlic cloves and shallots, chop the tomato.
- Once the chillies are soaked well, add it to a mixer jar, then keep adding 1/3 cup of peeled, garlic cloves, 1 big tomato chopped, 3 shallots, 1/8 tsp of tamarind 1 tsp of jaggery, and ¾ tsp of salt.
- Dry run the mixer grinder for a while. Then sprinkle some water if required and ground it as a semi coarse paste.
- Now do the tempering in a small saucepan or Kadai by heating 3 tbsp of gingelly oil, then add ¼ tsp mustard seeds, wait till it crackles, then add ¼ tsp of whole urad dal, a sprig of curry leaves. Sauté well.
- Transfer the chutney to the pan. Stir well to combine with tempered ingredients.
- Lower the flame, close, and cook for roughly 8 minutes.
- Then open and cook in the same flame for another 2 minutes.
- Now add 1 tbsp of gingelly oil, stir well and switch off the flame. Finally, add a pinch of Asafoetida powder. Mix it.
- Sautéed Garlic chilli chutney is ready to serve with Karuppu kavuni idli, Ragi Idli, Rava idli, Kaattuyaanam dosa, instant ragi Rava dosa, Thinai Pongal, instant Wheat Naan, palak puri, jeera rice, and turmeric rice. This piquant, robust flavoured chutney is not to miss accompaniment which is an excellent pair for tiffins made with traditional rice.
Notes:
- Soaking of red chillies helps to reduce the heat and enhances the colour of the chutney as well.
- Here, I used both Kashmiri and regular chillies, one for colour and the other for heat.
- Increase or decrease the number of chilies as per your spice requirements.
- Tamarind can be kept optional if the tomatoes are sour enough.
- I used shallots only in sautéed method. I restricted onion in the uncooked method as it will amplify the rawness. Already with the garlic, it’s too raw to handle.
- Jaggery somehow balances the flavour, so don’t skip it.
- Gingelly oil is ideal for this chutney as it well complements the garlic flavour. Also, it reduces the pungent and spicy flavour of the chutney.
- Both the chutneys can be stored in a refrigerator for extended life. The sautéed chutney is best to carry when you travel due to its shelf life.
- Tips for my kitchen secret–
- This chutney is so handy it has versatile usage-
- Can be used as a spread on sandwiches, Kathi rolls.
- It can be spread on dosas, to turn it into spicy masala dosa.
- Alternatively, you can turn regular fried rice into instant Szechwan fried rice by adding this garlic chutney.