Tamarind n Dates chutney

The week went by too quickly .....!! I love spring break, its a sneak peak of my favorite season - summer!! It was a great week - the best part being, no alarms to ruin the morning slumber - and the birds chirping happy songs. We had so many things on our to do  wish list, we could accomplish only a few, went and watched "hunger games", ate out, shopping and cooked some yumicious food, but the pix were a disaster. I was in so much of a hurry to take pix that I forgot to re-set the white balance and ended up a bluish hue on all the pix, yes all of them :( !! haste does make waste!! Well on the brighter side the next week will be a repeat - telecast of all the yumminess !!  I did manage to salvage this one. Thanks to Photoshop!! It is not the best :( sorry guys!!

 I always yes you read it right always have tamarind n dates chutney in the refrigerator. It is one of those chutneys that is so versatile, it is the back bone of chaat. Chaat is a staple in our household - almost every other weekend, so much so that I have friends who just walk in and expect chaat  if it is a Friday and I love  surprises and since chaat is such a quick snack, with so many variations it never gets boring. It has taken me many trials to perfect this chutney and this is the recipe I have been using for over 10yrs now.




2 cups of tamarind juice
4 tbsp of roasted and powdered cumin
handful of jaggery
8-10 pitted dates
1/2 cup of rasin
couple of inches of ginger root
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp red chili powder

For tamarind juice - soak a handful of tamarind in hot water, let it soak up all the water - about 20 min. remove the pulp and make sure it is free from tamarind seed or the inedible part of tamarind.

For roasted cumin -  Heat a pan and dry roast a handful of cumin, let it cool, powder fine and store in an air-tight container.

 Blend together half the raisin, pitted dates, ginger into a coarse paste. The key word is coarse here... I love to get a bit of ginger or dates when I chew my chaat.

In a saucepan heat the tamarind juice, when it begins to boil , add all the other ingredients and let it boil for a good 15 min, so the raw flavor of tamarind is gone and the chutney is nice and thick. I love the aroma in the house when this chutney is boiling on the stove top, the cumin and the dates - irresistible. Once it has cooled to room temperature you can store it in an air-tight container and refrigerate. It has a great shelf life and is good for 4 weeks.