Restaurant Style Tomato Red Chutney

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.

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After this small intro on Chutney, let me be more specific about this Restaurant style Tomato Red Chutney. When it comes to Tomato chutneys, there is a hell lot of variations, from every household to region. If you are a North Indian or other nationality, you would have come across this red chutney, along with the following combo-coconut chutney, coriander chutney, and sambar,

Almost it comes as a tiranga, combo of red (orangish red), white and green in the platter. Tomato chutneys are as essential as the name states are prepared with tomatoes, with little onion, along with spices and condiments, are ground into a coarse paste to serve as an excellent accompaniment to Idlis, Dosas, Pongal, Vadas, Upma, Adai, Rotis. It has an exciting combo of flavours, tanginess from Tomatoes, spiciness from red chillies, fresh herb flavours from coriander and curry leaves with little pungent flavor from the garlic. The red inviting colour of the chutney adds an extra partiality to the chutney platters. Another advantage of this chutney is its easy preparation and simple, easily available ingredients.

Though the ingredients and preps are simple, nothing weighs down it’s taste and flavour. It’s the best accompaniment for all South Indian tiffins and snacks. This chutney recipe has a huge fan base and those who haven’t tried it definitely will start making this chutney often for your breakfast and dinner after trying it. I’m firm that it’ll join your favourites list amongst chutneys.

When it comes to shelf life, it can be kept for a couple of days in the refrigerator, as, it’s been sautéed. Thus, it’s handier for working people, as it can be prepared during weekends, and used during weekdays.

This recipe contains a few optional ingredients but trust me including this chutney will take it a notch higher than your regular tomato chutney. I’ll share other versions of this tomato chutney in my future posts. You can also, check my other South Indian chutneys like coconut coriander chutney, onion chutney, ginger chutney. Also, you can check my North Indian chutney recipes like Green chutney , Garlic chutney, Sweet Dates Tamarind chutney.  Check all my chutneys by clicking this category, Chutneys.

Now let’s get into the recipe…👇

Firstly, deseed, wash and soak the Kashmiri red chillies in hot water. Close and keep it aside for 30 minutes (refer to notes).

In a pan or Kadai, add the gingelly oil, once heated, add tsp of channa dal and roast it for a minute or till it turns golden brown in medium flame (do not burn it).

Then add chopped ginger and garlic, sauté for a min or 2.

Now add turkey berry-sized tamarind and sauté for a minute.

Then add roughly chopped onion, sauté for a couple of minutes, till it becomes translucent.

Now add the chopped, ripened tomatoes, sauté for 2-3 minutes till it becomes completely soggy and deformed.

Finally, add the grated coconut, curry leaves, and fresh coriander leaves, mix well and switch off the flame.

Transfer the mixture to a plate and let it cool.

Meanwhile, take the soaked Kashmiri red chillies and grind them into a smooth paste, (add water if required).

Now, add the cooled tomato mixture into the chilli jar.

And add sugar.

Add salt and grind it into a coarse paste. Water may not be required as tomato and onion has enough moisture to grind.

Once ground,  transfer the chutney into a serving bowl.

Do the tempering, by heating a tbsp of gingelly oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds, once it pops up, add whole/split urad dal, curry leaves, switch off the flame, and finally add Asafoetida powder. Pour this tempering into the chutney.

Finger licking, tangy, bright red chutney is ready to serve with Idli, Dosa, Pongal, Adai, Upma, Vada, and snacks. Here, I served with healthy, nutrients packed Karuppu Kavuni Idlis. It’ll be such a divine combination when this subtle flavour of idli is dipped into this sharp, tangy chutney. You’ll be enchanted by it’s taste and gobble the soft idlis so swiftly that you’ll forget to keep count on it…😅😉.

You can also, check my other South Indian chutneys like coconut coriander chutney, onion chutney, ginger chutney. Also, you can check my North Indian chutney recipes like Green chutney , Garlic chutney, Sweet Dates Tamarind chutney.  Check all my chutneys by clicking this category, Chutneys.

Recipe card

Preparation time: 2 minutes

Cooking time: 6 minutes

Cuisine: South Indian

Category: Chutneys

Serves: 4

Author: Manimala

Ingredients:

Ripened Tomato – 1 cup chopped

Chopped Onion – ½ cup

Chopped ginger – ½ tsp

Chopped garlic – 1 tsp (heaped)

Kashmiri red chilli – 4 (big)

Gingelly oil – 1 tbsp

Channa dal – 1 tsp

Tamarind – ¼ tsp (turkey berry/sundakkai size)

Grated coconut – 1 tbsp

Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Sugar – ¼ tsp

Salt – as required

Instructions:

1. Firstly, deseed, wash and soak the Kashmiri red chillies in hot water. Close and keep it aside for 30 minutes (refer to notes).
2. In a pan or Kadai, add the gingelly oil, once heated, add tsp of channa dal and roast it for a minute or till it turns golden brown in medium flame (do not burn it).
3. Then add chopped ginger and garlic, sauté for a min or 2.
4. Now add turkey berry-sized tamarind and sauté for a minute.
5. Then add roughly chopped onion, sauté for a couple of minutes, till it becomes translucent.
6. Now add the chopped, ripened tomatoes, sauté for 2-3 minutes till it becomes completely soggy and deformed.
7. Finally, add the grated coconut, curry leaves, and fresh coriander leaves, mix well and switch off the flame.
8. Transfer the mixture to a plate and let it cool.
9. Meanwhile, take the soaked Kashmiri red chillies and grind them into a smooth paste, (add water if required).
10. Now, add the cooled tomato mixture into the chilli jar, add sugar and salt and grind it into a coarse paste. Water may not be required as tomato and onion has enough moisture to grind.
11. Once ground,  transfer the chutney into a serving bowl.
12. Do the tempering, by heating a tbsp of gingelly oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds, once it pops up, add whole/split urad dal, curry leaves, switch off the flame, and finally add Asafoetida powder.
13. Pour this tempering into the chutney.
14. Finger licking, tangy, bright red chutney is ready to serve with Idli, Dosa, Pongal, Adai, Upma, Vada, and snacks. Here, I served with healthy, nutrients packed Karuppu Kavuni Idlis. It’ll be such a divine combination when this subtle flavour of idli is dipped into this sharp, tangy chutney. You’ll be enchanted by it’s taste and gobble the soft idlis so swiftly that you’ll forget to keep count on it…😅😉.
15. You can also, check my other South Indian chutneys like coconut coriander chutney, onion chutney, ginger chutney. Also, you can check my North Indian chutney recipes like Green chutney , Garlic chutney, Sweet Dates Tamarind chutney.  Check all my chutneys by clicking this category, Chutneys.

Notes:

• I chose Kashmiri red chilli, as it’ll give intense colour to the chutney. Also, it’ll not increase the spice level too much.
• Though the chutney looks deep red, the spice was moderate. If you want your chutney to be more spiced up, add half of normal red chilli and half of Kashmiri chilli. This will solve both, the colour and the spice requirements in one go.
• Here, I deseeded the chilli, to get a more intense colour and reduce the heat as well.
• Rather than sautéing in oil, soaking aids the chillies to attain that required colour and to grind smoothly into a fine paste.
• First, grind the soaked chillies to a fine paste and then grind the tomato mixture as it has to be ground coarsely.
• Using gingelly oil adds flavour and aroma to the chutney, still, you can choose other oils as well.
• Tamarind should be added in very little quantity. If the tomatoes are sour enough, skip adding tamarind and keep it optional depending upon the tomatoes you choose.
• Adding curry leaves and coriander is optional too. But do not miss adding as it enhances and elevates the flavour as a whole.
• Try to keep other ingredients to the stated measurements, if you increase or decrease, it’ll alter the taste of the chutney. Tomatoes have to dominate the flavour profile more predominantly than any other ingredients.
• Do the tempering again in gingelly oil as for the reason stated early.
• Shelf life as mentioned before can be kept for a couple of days in the refrigerator.