Thursday, March 01, 2007
Relish
My husband and I recently enjoyed a three-course East Indian meal at a friend’s house. She served three appetizers (spicy garbanzo beans, cabbage fritters with sweet tomato chutney, and cucumber salad), two main dishes (curried shrimp and coconut chicken) with two kinds of rice (steamed and curried) and a side (asparagus with mango dressing). For dessert we had a fruit bowl. I tried in vain to find some Indian beer and settled for Belgium—not really in keeping, but very good! Our hostess started cooking at 6:30 in the morning and didn’t finish until we arrived. What a wonderful evening we had swapping stories and relishing in good food. The fritters inspired the sweet potato pancakes from my last post. I had to get the recipe for the sweet tomato chutney, which besides the mango dressing, was my favorite part of the meal.
Sweet Tomatoe Chutney
(Tamatar Ki Chatni)
As written in Step-by-Step Indian Cooking by Sharda Gopal
1 lb tomatoes
2 oz sugar
1/2 tsp ground cardamon seeds
3 cloves
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
salt
4 curry leaves
Immerse the tomatoes in a bowl of boiling water for about 2 minutes, until the skins split, drain them, allow to cool, peel and chop.
Bring 1/4 pt of water to the boil in a small pan, add the sugar and tomato and cook for 5 minutes, stirring.
Add the cardamon, cloves and shilli and continue cooking, mashing the tomato under the back of a wooden spoon to make a thick paste. Remove the pan from the heat.
Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds and fry until they have all popped, then add to the tomato.
Stir in the vinegar, add salt to taste and sprinkle over the curry leaves.
Sweet Tomatoe Chutney
(Tamatar Ki Chatni)
As written in Step-by-Step Indian Cooking by Sharda Gopal
1 lb tomatoes
2 oz sugar
1/2 tsp ground cardamon seeds
3 cloves
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
salt
4 curry leaves
Immerse the tomatoes in a bowl of boiling water for about 2 minutes, until the skins split, drain them, allow to cool, peel and chop.
Bring 1/4 pt of water to the boil in a small pan, add the sugar and tomato and cook for 5 minutes, stirring.
Add the cardamon, cloves and shilli and continue cooking, mashing the tomato under the back of a wooden spoon to make a thick paste. Remove the pan from the heat.
Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds and fry until they have all popped, then add to the tomato.
Stir in the vinegar, add salt to taste and sprinkle over the curry leaves.
