I realised when I shared my recipe for chole that I have not yet shared this easy, piquant yet sweet Chutney. This is great when paired with fried food and also makes a great spread for sandwiches. It does take a while to make but is totally worth the effort.

I made this chutney along with my Green Coriander Chutney and Dried Red Chilli & Raisin Chutney when we hosted S’ colleagues for a Diwali open house.

Tamarind Dates Chutney

Ingredients:

• 1 cup tamarind
• 1 cup dates
• 2 tsp rock salt
• 1 tbsp red chilli powder
• 1 tbsp cumin powder
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Deseed the dates and the tamarind. Make sure there is no fibre also in the tamarind.
• Soak the dates and tamarind either separately or together in hot water for an hour or so.
• When the dates and tamarind have cooled off, blend them, along with the water they were strained into a fine paste.
• Strain this paste through a strainer into a large pot which you can put on the gas. You may need to blend and strain a few times so that you get all the paste in.
• When everything has been strained, put the pot on the gas and add the salt, rock salt, red chilli powder and cumin powder and let it come to a rolling boil. You can also check spices at this point and add more if needed.
• Once it comes to a rolling boil, reduce the flame and let it boil for around 5-10 mins. It will start thickening and once it is almost as thick as you require, switch off the flame. It will become thicker as it cools.
• When cool, remove to a clean container and refrigerate. It should stay well in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Notes:

• If you don’t have access to dates, you can substitute them with raisins. Or you can even do a combination of both dates and raisins. Just use the same quantity as above.