Tomato Chutney
Ingredients
- 6 medium tomatoes, chopped About 2 cups of whatever tomatoes you have. I had 2 medium red tomatoes and about 2 1/2 cups of yellow "cherry" tomatoes.
- 4 whole green chilies, seeded and cut lengthwise
- 1 T grated fresh ginger
- 2 T oil
- Pinch of asafetida (hing) Optional, add this first to the hot oil
- 2 whole bay leaves
- 1 tsp cumin seed
- 1 tsp black mustard seed Brown works, too.
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 2 - 3 T sugar Optional
- 2 T chopped cilantro Optional
Instructions
- Heat oil in a medium saucepan until the oil is hot and just shimmering.
- Add the pinch of asafetida if you are using, then add the 1 tsp cumin seed, 1 tsp black mustard seed, and let them pop for a second or two, then add the 2 bay leaves, the 1/2 tsp paprika, and 1/2 tsp turmeric.
- Stir a few times then add the tomatoes, green chilies, and ginger.
- Cover, let it come to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and let it cook for 5 - 10 minutes.
- Add the cornstarch if you want the sauce to be a little thicker.
- Add the sugar and cilantro if you are using.
- Eat as is, serve with rice, lentils, bread, over a salad. Its use is only limited by your imagination.
Notes
I used one fresh jalapeño and 3 frozen small green chilies from last year's garden. No need to thaw frozen garden chilies. Just put them in a ziplock baggie, date it, and use them as needed. They are easy to cut and or grate when frozen.
Usually, you mix cornstarch with a little water (use 2 tsp water for this recipe) and you add that slurry to hot but not boiling food. You then bring the food up to boil and let the cornstarch do its thing. In her video, she just tosses in the powdered the cornstarch and stirs it around in the tomato chutney that is already boiling. I tried it and it worked just fine. No clumps of undissolved cornstarch. I don't know why it worked.