"Tamarind Chutney" from Applesauce!

No chaat item is complete without having tamarind chutney with it.. I like to have this chutney in my fridge all the time to satisfy those sudden urges of eating bhel, pani puri or papdi chaat ;) It goes well with any appetizer too (like the bread rolls in my prev post).

I was spoiled in San Jose since there was no dearth of Indian stores and we used to readily get everything we needed including the chutney. My chachiji, who's been living in NJ for almost 30 yrs, had told me a method of making this chutney from Applebutter by simply adding some spices to it.. but I never tried it because I never needed to.. Since coming to Rotterdam, I'd been struggling to find a good chutney. I tried finding Applebutter too.. but couldn't find it or rather I got applesauce instead of applebutter. Finally, I found a recipe of making tamarind chutney using applesauce here and modified it a bit to use prunes and no tamarind at all!


You can see step-by-step pictures in the original post. Here's the slightly modified version of the recipe that I use.

Ingredients:
250 mL applesauce, unsweetened
1 1/2 c water
1/2 c sugar, either white or brown (packed)
10-12 Prunes
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black salt (kala namak), heaped
1/2 tsp red chili powder, heaped
1 tsp lemon juice or to taste
1 tsp coarsely ground roasted cumin seeds

Method
1. Place applesauce in microwavable bowl.
2. Break up the prunes and place them on top of the applesauce.
3. Add the sugar and spices on top also.
4. Add the water but do not mix.
5. Place this in the microwave for 1 minute at max power. Remove from microwave and stir.
6. Next microwave the mixture for 1 1/2 minutes and then stir well for 1 minute.
7. Microwave it again for 2 minutes and then stir
8. Next cook for 3 minutes but stop every minute or so and stir or it may boil over
9. Finally, remove the bowl and stir for a minute or two mashing up the prunes.
10. Cool it a bit and then blend using a hand blender to thicken the chutney
11. Finally add roasted cumin seeds and lemon juice to taste and mix well.
12. Cool completely and refrigerate.

This can easily be made on stove top too... just keep heating (on medium-low) and stirring the mixture till prunes are all mashed up. Then cool and blend with a handblender.

Now I have my fav "tamarind chutney" in fridge all the time! Thanks burekaboy for the original recipe.

This is my entry to Srivalli's MEC:Bottled event. My first entry to an MEC event :)