Imli ki chutney (Tamarind Chutney)

Imli ki chutney is such one of the greatest creations by mankind. Haha, okay maybe I am exaggerating this a bit, okay a lot! But, I love the person who first invented this great tangy, sour, and sweet condiment. It is a perfect companion to Indian chaats and street food. I absolutely love it.

You can eat Imli ki chutney with pakoras, Dahi Bhallas, Chat Papdi, Gol Gappe, Aloo Tikki and what not. The list if unending and I am literally salivating while writing this post and Imly Chutney recipe.  I hope you give it a try and love this too.

I make this recipe from scratch though there are various shortcuts available. For instance, these days you can get preserved tamarind pulp in the market as well, but it has preservatives and I avoid using those. I do use deseeded and clean tamarind to save time, but you can always take the original ones too. It will just take slightly longer to open the shell and remove the stones.

PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes
COOKING TIME: 15 – 20  minutes
SERVINGS: 1 Jar
DIFFICULTY SCALE: Medium

INGREDIENTS: 

1. Tamarind/Imli pods – 1 cup, deseeded
2. Jaggery/Gur – 1.5 cups
3. Black Salt – 2 teaspoons
4. Roasted Cumin Powder – 1.5 tablespoons
5. Red Chilli Powder – 1 teaspoon

RECIPE:

1. Soak the tamarind or Imli pods in hot water and cover the bowl. Let these sit for 20-30 minutes. This will ensure maximum flavor out of the pods.
2. Meanwhile, take a pan and dry roast cumin seeds and grind them. Using freshly ground spices helps in intensifying the flavor.
3. Now once the tamarind pods have been soaked for enough time, squeeze the pods with clean hands. Make sure you get as much pulp as possible from those pods.
4. Strain the pulp with a sieve so that its smooth and clean.
5. In a heavy bottom pan, add the tamarind pulp and keep it on high flame to come to a boil.
6. Lower the temperature and break the jaggery piece into a powder or smaller pieces and add it to the boiling tamarind pulp. Add a small amount of water if the pulp is too thick.
7. Keep stirring constantly.
8. Add a teaspoon of rock salt and red chili powder and mix well.
9. Allow the chutney to thicken up slightly.
10. Now carefully taste it and adjust the taste. You might need to add some more jaggery and salt depending on your taste and how sour the tamarind was.
11. Add roasted cumin powder and mix well.
12. Please make sure that the chutney is not very thick since it tends to thicken after cooling.
13. Remove from heat and allow it to cool before use.

VARIATIONS:

1. You could also use dry Mango powder/Amchur if you don’t have tamarind or don’t have time to soak the tamarind. Simply make a slurry out of Amchur powder and water and then follow the same steps.
2. You can also add regular sugar if you don’t have jaggery but I like adding jaggery since it’s healthier and gives the Imli chutney a nice and dark color. You could also add dates to give you the required sweetness and that makes it super healthy too.

Enjoy this with chaats, pakoras, or even with your sandwiches.