Brinjal & Tomato Chutney

Brinjal & Tomato chutney

Learnt this recipe from my mother. Those days, there were no Mixer / grinders. We had to grind the chutney in the stone pestle. That job was mostly mine. I watched my mother prepare the ingredients, the proportions etc. also what goes in which sequence. That is how I got the hang of chutnyes from a young age.

Ingredients:

Brinjals –250 gms.

Tomatoes – 250 gms.

Green chillies – 6 – 8 nos.

Rayi (mustard seeds) & Jeera (cumin seeds) – 2 tsp. each

Curry leaves -  a few

Salt – to taste

Oil – 4 tbs.

Garlic pods – 8 nos.

Tamarind – 1 lemon size

Method:

Chop tomatoes, brinjals, green chilies into 1 cm pieces. Soak tamarind in half a cup of water.

Heat 1 tbs. oil in a frying pan; add 1 tsp. each rayi, jeera, 4 garlic pods, green chillies. Fry then to a brown colour. Drain the oil and put into mixer. Add salt to it. Make a fine powder. Add tamarind and make a smooth paste.

Into the pan, put chopped tomato and cook until done. Let it cool.

Add the tomato to the mixer and blend to a smooth paste.

Into the pan put a tbs. of oil and fry the brinjal pieces and fry until almost cooked. When they are cooled, add them to the tomato chutney. Turn the knob just for half a min or 1 turn and switch off. Make sure brinjal remains small pieces and has not turned into a paste.

Heat 2 tbs. of oil, add remaining rayi, jeera, garlic pods, curry leaves. When they start spluttering, pout it over the chutney.

Tastes best with rice.