Onion/Vengaya Chutney 5/5 (1)

Chutney is an accompaniment or side dish for the starters or for the south Indian tiffins and snacks. They are made of coconut or veggies or herbs as the base, ground 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.

This recipe is made predominantly with onion, as the name states. This chutney yields an assortment of flavours like sweetness from onion, sourness from tomato, spiciness from red chillies, tartness from tamarind, mildness from coconut. I assure you that it’ll become the most loved chutney amongst your family, especially your little ones.

When it comes to shelf life, it’s my favourite. As, it’s been sautéed before and after grinding, its shelf life has been increased. You can store it in the refrigerator for a week. Thus it’s handier for working people, as it can be prepared during weekends, and used during weekdays.

This chutney is so versatile it can be used as an accompaniment, spread, and dip as well. Check my kitchen secret down below the notes. Most of my recipes have Kitchen secrets, where I’ll reveal all my secrets, tricks, and nuances to manipulate with the leftover of that recipe, or variation or inclusion or different versions of the same. Don’t forget to check it out!!!

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Dice the onions roughly, chop the tomato, wash the curry leaves.  Heat oil in a kadai or pan, add red chilli whole, fry it till it turns darker (don’t burn it), transfer to a plate.

In the same oil, add roughly diced onions, sauté it well till it turns golden brown. 

Add the chopped tomato, sauté well.

Finally, add the grated coconut, with a small piece of tamarind just stir twice.

Switch off the flame, and transfer everything to the plate. Allow them to cool.

Then transfer them into the mixer jar, grind it with salt and little water to a smooth texture.

For tempering, heat the same pan with little oil, add mustard seeds.

Once it splutters, add chopped curry leaves.

Finally add the ground chutney.

Adjust the consistency, I prefer it to be thick, if u want it to be thin, then add some water accordingly. Close with a lid, and let it cook for another 5 minutes on low flame. 

Switch off the flame and stir it thoroughly, slightly it would have changed colour. Sautéing adds additional taste to it.

Transfer it to a bowl for serving. It’s an excellent accompaniment to idlis, dosa, upma.

Here I presented with Thinai Pongal…👌👌 

Recipe card

Preparation time – 6 minutes 

Cooking time – 10 minutes 

Cuisine – South Indian 

Category – Chutney 

Serves – 4 

Author – Manimala 

Ingredients:

For chutney:

Onions – 6(big size)

Tomato – 1 big 

Tamarind – a small ball

Kashmiri Red chilli whole – 6-8 

Red chilli whole – 

Grated coconut – 2 tbsp 

Asafoetida compound – 1 small piece 

Oil – 2-3 tbsp 

Salt – as required 

For tempering:

Oil – 1 tbsp 

Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp 

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Instructions:

1. Dice the onions roughly, chop the tomato, wash the curry leaves.  Heat oil in a kadai or pan, add red chilli whole, fry it till it turns darker (don’t burn it), transfer to a plate.
2. In the same oil, add roughly diced onions, sauté it well till it turns golden brown. 
3. Add the chopped tomato, sauté well.
4. Finally, add the grated coconut, with a small piece of tamarind just stir twice, switch off the flame, and transfer everything to the plate.
5. Allow them to cool, then transfer them into the mixer jar, grind it with salt and little water to a smooth texture.
6. For tempering, heat the same pan with little oil, add mustard seeds, once it splutters, add chopped curry leaves, then add the ground chutney.
7. Adjust the consistency, I prefer it to be thick, if u want it to be thin, then add some water accordingly. 
8. Close with a lid, and let it cook for another 5 minutes on low flame.  Switch off the flame and stir it thoroughly, slightly it would have changed colour. Sautéing adds additional taste to it.
9. Transfer it to a bowl for serving. It’s an excellent accompaniment to idlis, dosa, upma…here I presented with Thinai Pongal…👌👌 

Notes:

• Please stick to your quantity while adding chillies because the spiciness and vigour of chillies vary from place to place, so go with your number.
• I used a mix of normal red chillies and Kashmiri red chillies. As normal chillies give the required heat whereas Kashmiri chillies provide the required colour.
• You can roughly dice the onions as it’s going to be ground later.  Grated coconut is optional. You can skip it, but adding it will enhance the taste.
• You can store this in the refrigerator for a week as you are sautéing the ingredients before and after the grinding which helps to extend its life.
• Sautéing also improves the taste 😋😋😋
• Onion tends to impart sweetness to the chutney, so you can manipulate the number of chillies accordingly if you want it to be spicy. Here, I used asafoetida powder, you can replace it with a small bit of compound asafoetida as well.

Now time for my Kitchen secret. ..😉😍

I generally grind it in larger portions and preserve some for later and use it as a spread.

You can use this as a spread on bread while making sandwiches, also on rotis when you make Kathi rolls…kids just fall in love with this spread. ..don’t be surprised if their lunch box returns empty from school…👏👏😆