CHUTNEY : A unique Bengali Relish

Traditional PLASTIC CHUTNEY without turmeric powder

CHUTNEY is one of the most important BENGALEE dishes generally served after the main course along with papad, but before the dessert. During Summer it is advisable, if not really pleasant :-) to have the chutney at the end of all meals. This is not only because of the chutney's food value but also it's fruit value ! Fruits after all are always good because they carry  lots of vitamins. Moreover in summer, we tend to lose a lot of fluids in profuse sweating and quite a bit of this is said to be replenished with chutney.

Unfortunately in this age of diet consciousness, a chutney is beyond doubt a HIGH CALORIE dish. But if you do not have bloodsugar and generally lead a reasonably active life, then you can safely have a modest portion of  chutney every alternate day at the end of your lunch without feeling too guilty about it !

All said and done, a chutney is a nice relish to end your meal with.

Basic Ingredients of CHUTNEY is SUGAR, SUGAR and SUGAR, (if you are diabetic, or counting calories you can use sugar-free of course), a little salt and something sour(like lemon juice or tamarind juice).

Making a chutney is simple. You first cook the fruit or vegetable in the sugar syrup. Then you can thicken the chutney at the end by adding cornflour or maida. Addition of  CHAUNK and turmeric powder is optional.

FRUITS that can be used to make chutney:

• Raw Mango
• Pineapple
• Apple
• Grapes
• Date Palm
• Raisins
• Amawat (Dehydrated Mango pulp)
• Pomegranate
• Alubakara ( Plum)
• Cherry
• Green Olive 
• Strawberry

VEGETABLES used in chutney

• Green Papaya
• Gourd 
• Tomato
• Corriandar leaves/Mint leaves

AAM anandAAM

The road that a mango follows from the tree to the plate and then the palate is paved with a lot of excitement and anticipation and especially so when it is the first such journey of the season. Very soon mangoes will flood the market in all their sweet glory but the wait for the fruit to ripen can seem to be very long. So for all of you impatient people, here is a mango chutney to kick off the mango season.

• 2 cups of raw (green )mango slices, without the skin being peeled. This helps retain the fibre as well as the vitamins.
• 1-1/2 cup sugar
• pinch of salt and turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon PanchPhoron - mixture of five spices, kalanji (kala jeera), saunf ( mouri), fenugreek seeds (methi), mustard (shorshe), cumin (jeera)
• 2 teaspoon mustard oil
• 1 tablespoon flour for thickening

• Soak the mango slices in cold water for half an hour and drain. Take a fresh pan of boiling water and place the mangoes for a couple of minutes and drain again. This will reduce the acidity of the raw mangoes.
• Add sugar, salt, turmeric powder into the bowl of boiled mangoes and put on heat. Cook for 15 minutes till the mango slices are tender. 
• In a separate bowl, take half a cup of water and stir in the flour. Add this into the boiling mango mixture and stir for another two or three minutes till it thickens.
• Heat the mustard oil in a skillet and add the PanchPhoron till it starts splattering (Chaunk !) 
• Pour the hot Chaunk into the boiling mango mixture.
• Cool before serving.
• Suggested garnishing : Ginger juliennes / Raisins