Milagai Chutney | Spicy Red Chili Chutney

Many a times I have mentioned here that my husband loves spicy food stuffs. The kids and me are quite opposite though.He gets a real kick in eating the dishes that are super spicy!

We once visited my SIL’s place and they too share the love for spicy stuff and obviously this recipe is from my SIL’s kitchen.One morning for breakfast, SIL prepared Idlis and a couple of other dishes and made sambar, coconut chutney and this super spicy red chili chutney as side dishes.

Just looking at it made my eyes water but SIL assured that it would not be as spicy as I thought because it had gingelly oil / sesame oil to bring down the heat.

After much persuasion, I tried to taste a bit and it was really not as hot as I had expected but it was spicy nevertheless. It was like my tongue was on fire! I just had a teeny tiny portion and stopped with that. I saw everyone else [except the kids of course] enjoying the chutney.

Hubby asked me if I could get this recipe and make it for him at home and so to please my dear hubby, I made it at home as soon as we came back from the trip.

Its actually very simple and has a good shelf life due to the chili and the oil.But do take care while making it as the hands really burn while scraping the sides of the blender jar while grinding it. See the notes section for precautions…

I used:

Spicy variety red chilies- 10 – 12
Garlic cloves- 5
Salt to taste
Gingelly oil / sesame seed oil- 1/4 cup or more
Curry leaves – a few

Please read the notes before you prepare this…

Soak red chilies in hot water for at least half an hour. Drain and place in a blender jar along with garlic cloves,salt and grind to a smooth paste without adding water. If needed add a few teaspoons of the water used to soak the chilies.Remove the chutney into a large bowl.

Heat oil and once it gets smoking hot, add curry leaves and pour over the chutney. The oil will sort of ‘ cook up’ the chutney and sizzle. Once the sizzling dies down, mix well and serve / store.

Note:

While grinding the chutney, scape the sides of the blender jar and grind. Since the chilies are hot, your hands will start to have a burning sensation.To avoid this wear gloves / smear gingelly oil/ sesame oil on your hands.
Increase / decrease the quantity of garlic.
Don’t reduce the quantity of oil as it tones down the spiciness a bit. The chutney should have at least 1cm of oil over it. Oil also helps extend the shelf life.And since this is taken in small portions, using this much oil won’t hurt
This stays well at room temperature ,like about a week or more but longer if refrigerated.
It tastes better as it ages.

This was the chutney that I served with the Palak dhoklas a few months back..