Today’s recipe is a chutney frequently served with South Indian food at restaurants. I saw this recipe in a reel a few months back, so recently, when I made masala dosai, I decided to make this quick chutney, albeit with my own take. The chutney took less than 10 minutes to make, and this included the prep work, which was miniscule. 

(Almost) Instant Onion Chutney

Ingredients:

• 2-3 medium sized onions, roughly chopped
• 3-5 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1 tsp ginger, peel and chopped roughly
• 1 small ball of tamarind
• 3-4 dried red chillies, destalked
• 1-2 tsp jaggery powder
• Salt to taste

Method:

• In a blender, blend together all the ingredients into a smooth paste.
• Check for seasoning and add salt and jaggery powder as needed.
• Serve with Idlis and dosai or even chapati or bread.

Notes:

• My chutney turned brown/purple because I only had purple onions at home. If you use the white onions, it turns a nice red colour
• For some people, the taste of the onions may be strong, so in such cases, you can lightly sauté the onions and cool it before blending it.
• I used jaggery powder, but this can be substituted with rock jaggery or even sugar.
• As a South Indian, I always have tamarind fruit at home. This can be found in Indian stores, but as a substitute, you can also use 1 tsp tamarind paste or even lemon juice to amp up the tartness.
• Traditional South Indian chutneys typically have a tempering on top. I don’t like that, so either avoid it or do it before I blend. If you want the tempering, heat 1 tsp oil in a small pan and when the oil heats up, add in 1 tsp mustard seeds and let them pop. Then put in 2 dry red chillies, along with 1 tsp urad dal and once the urad dal starts to brown, remove from the flame and pour over the chutney.
• The untempered chutney is a great addition to sandwiches.