Fresh Red Chilli Chutney-Ouch!!!

My recent trip to the farmers market drew me towards a vendor who sold brightly colored red chilies.They were fresh from the farm and were simply calling out to me..
As you are aware, I don’t prefer spicy food and yet I was attracted towards to it.

The vendor greeted me with a smile and handed me a small bag to pick out the chilies and I grabbed a handful and tossed it in and handed it over to be weighed. He smiled and said he would give them for free cos its very less [by weight] and he didn’t have the mind to charge for it. So I put in some[read-lots-around 300 grams] more and he charged for just 1 RMB!!!!!

It was only after I came home that I realized that I didn’t know what to do with it!! It sat in the fridge for a few days and I asked MIL if she would prepare ‘chili chutney’.She said it would taste best if prepared with shallots and dry red chillies and not with fresh ones like the one I had purchased. My heart sank but I was determined to try.

I came up with this recipe and it tasted as fiery and tasty as the ‘chili chutney’[That’s what hubby said!!]..I just tasted a wee bit and ‘Ouch..’ was it spicy!!My folks had it with Dosa.

I used:

Fresh red chilies- 6
Coconut grated – 2 tablespoons
Tamarind – a small piece
Urad dhal-2 teaspoons
Cumin seeds/jeera-1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Oil-2 tablespoons

To season:

Mustard-½ a teaspoon
Jeera- ½ a teaspoon
Curry leaves a few

This is what I did….

1. Heat pan with a little oil and put in cumin seeds and urad dhal and sauté till the dal turns brown.
2. Remove from fire and cool
3. Blend together roasted dhal, tamarind, chopped chilies , coconut , salt to a fine paste adding a little water
4. Transfer the contents to a bowl.
5. Heat the remaining oil in a pan and put in the seasonings.
6. When they splutter, put in the ground paste.
7. If it is too dry, add a little water.
8. Simmer and cook for 5 minutes .
9. Serve as a side-dish to any breakfast dish of your choice.

Note- If the chutney is way to spicy to your liking,mix it with a little sesame seed/sunflower seed oil while serving.This reduces the heat a little.

This piquant ‘Red chili chutney’ will join Lakshmi for her ‘Think spice –Think red chillies’ event,an event to appreciate the goodness of spices,started by Sunitha..