• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

1½ cups wine vinegar

1-pound 12-ounce can whole tomatoes (or 2 pounds fresh tomatoes prepared as suggested above)

1½ cups granulated sugar

1½ teaspoons salt

⅛–½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons golden raisins

2 tablespoons blanched slivered almonds

Put the chopped garlic, ginger, and ½ cup of the vinegar into the container of an electric blender and blend at high speed until smooth. In a 4-quart heavy-bottomed pot with nonmetallic finish, place the tomatoes and juice from the can, the rest of the vinegar, the sugar, salt, and cayenne pepper (or, if you prefer, add the cayenne at the end, a little at a time, stirring and tasting as you do so). Bring to a boil. Add purée from the blender. Lower heat and simmer gently, uncovered, for about 1½ to 2 hours or until chutney becomes thick. (A film should cling to a spoon dipped in it.) Stir occasionally at first, and more frequently later as it thickens. You may need to lower the heat as the liquid diminishes. You should end up with about 2½ cups of chutney, and it should be at least as thick as honey after it cools. If the canned tomatoes you use have a lot of liquid in them, a longer cooking time may be required, resulting in a little less chutney.

Add the almonds and raisins. Simmer, stirring, another 5 minutes. Turn heat off and allow to cool. Bottle. Keep refrigerated.

To serve: Since this is one of my favorite sweet chutneys, I always spoon out a small bowl of it for all my dinner parties. It goes with almost all foods and is very popular. Store, bottled, in the refrigerator. It keeps for months.

Fresh green chutney with Chinese parsley and yogurt

SERVES 6

This chutney needs to be made the day it is eaten. It can be served in a small bowl as a relish, or it can be served over meat, cooked fish, or vegetables. If pressed to classify it, I would call this a “sour” chutney.

1 packed cup chopped Chinese parsley (coriander greens or cilantro)

1 fresh hot green chili, sliced, or ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (optional)

8 ounces (1 container) plain yogurt

½ teaspoon salt (add more if you need it; the sourness of yogurt can vary with its age)

⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

½ teaspoon roasted, ground cumin seeds

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Put the parsley and chili in the container of an electric blender with 3 tablespoons of water and blend until you have a smooth paste (you may need to push the parsley down a couple of times).

In a nonmetallic bowl, combine the yogurt, salt, pepper, cumin, lemon juice, and paste from the blender. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

To serve: Bring the cooled bowl to the table. You could serve it with almost any Indian meal. People should take just a tablespoon at a time.

Fresh mint chutney with fruit

SERVES 6

⅛–½ well-packed cup washed fresh mint leaves

4 tablespoons lemon juice

2 fresh hot green chilies (use less or more as desired; as substitute, use ½ green pepper plus ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper)

1 medium-sized tart apple, peeled, cored, and diced just before blending

1 orange, peeled, seeded, and cubed

1 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in the container of an electric blender. Blend at high speed until you have a smooth paste.

This chutney goes with most Indian foods. It is especially good with broiled Seekh Kabab, Tandoori Chicken, and Vegetable Pakoris.

Tamarind chutney with bananas

SERVES 4-6

This is another sweet and sour chutney made with tamarind pulp. The addition of roasted cumin and slices of ripe bananas is, I think, very particular to Delhi dwellers. My mother’s family often added raisins as well. I have not included them in my recipe, but if you wish to do so, soak a tablespoon of golden raisins in hot water for 2 hours. Then remove them from the water and add them to the tamarind pulp at the same time that you add the bananas.

Even though this chutney can be made a day in advance, it is best to add the banana slices just before serving. Banana slices that have spent a night in the refrigerator look very