Tomato Chutney

How about some tomato chutney Bengali style? It is fairly simple provided you have no objection to a little mustard oil. This particular chutney serves as an excellent accompaniment to any meal, though Bengalis normally do not have it as an accompaniment, a typical Bengali meal begins with something bitter like a karela dish, then comes some dal chawal which is accompanied with some fried stuff, followed by some vegetarian dishes, then come the non-vegetarian dishes. The meal normally ends with some papad, followed by chutney and finally  some mishti--- that is the Bengali
word for sweets. I guess it is needless to mention here that this is not what a Bengali will have every day, certain courses for instance the karela maybe skipped, some veggies maybe skipped when they are not in season. Now, I being a fourth generation migrant Bengali, I am used to having the chutney as an accompaniment and not at the end; in fact when I once visited some friends in Calcutta, I requested them to serve the chutney with the main course.

Bengalis make different types of chutney, I have already posted the Ber Chutney made by mom, this time it is the tomato chutney. The photo you see above is of the tomato chutney made by mom.

Ingredients:

• 3 big tomatoes
• A teaspoon of mustard oil
• A pinch or ¼ teaspoon of mustard seeds
• A pinch of salt
• A ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder
• A ¼ teaspoon of ginger paste or finely chopped ginger
• Sugar to taste, add enough sugar to make it nice and sweet.
• Few drops of lemon juice

Method:

Before I go on to the method, I would like to point out that barring the sugar you have to be careful with the quantity of all the other ingredients for the chutney just has to have a hint of the flavours of the other ingredients.

• Chop the tomatoes
• Heat very little mustard oil, just about a teaspoon, in a kadhai or wok.
• Add the mustard seeds
• Once the seeds begin to crackle add the chopped tomatoes
• Add turmeric powder
• Stir a bit and add a pinch of salt. The salt will not only help balance the flavours but also help soften tomatoes.
• Add the ginger
• Stir it a bit and then add the sugar
• Once again stir and then add some water. You have to use your judgement but it would be better not to add too much water for the chutney will become too watery.
• Now cover and cook till done, take care to stir intermittently.
• Add a few drops of lemon juice before you switch off the flame. The lemon juice not only helps to balance the flavours  but also acts as a preservative.

If you look closely at the photo of the tomato chutney you will notice that Ma had added a few pieces of raw mangoes to the chutney. The raw mangoes add a nice tangy flavour to the chutney,  if you do want to add raw mangoes then take care to immediately add the sugar soon after you have added the salt, for the salt can soften the mangoes thereby releasing its sour juices and you will soon find yourself adding tonnes of sugar to sweeten the chutney.

Finally I would like to add here that ten months after Ma’s demise I feel happy to once again post a recipe of a dish prepared by her.

Sending this to Healthy Morsels - Baby and Toddler Food