GREEN CHUTNEY AND SWEET CHUTNEY FOR CHAAT - Two versions

I am a street food lover and my first choice would always be Chaat. Every alternate day would turn out to be a Chaat day and I have endless memories of Bhel Puri and Pani Puri outings with family, friends and colleagues as a spinster. Sometimes my mother prepared Chaat at home and I used to run small errands for her while she prepared Green Chutney and Sweet Chutney.

The frequency of Chaat eating has now gone down drastically owing to the distance between home and chaat outlets in Singapore (Reason 1) and my conscious effort about not gaining weight from junk food (Reason 2). Whatsoever, I love Chaats . These days I make chaat at home when I really feel like having and in a way its lot better to satiate my craving because it is homemade. All you need is to prepare and store few Chaat essentials at home and all that you will require is to assemble and mix them to a tasty treat. 

I am sharing Green Chutney and Sweet Chutney recipes here. These chutneys are very versatile, good keepers and can be used in many ways to make your meal tasty. You can use them as a Sandwich or Dosa spread or as a dip for any snack or a dash of it into sauteed vegetables for Pulao. The options are endless. I normally prepare and freeze these Chaat essentials into cubes, store and use them as needed. I am sharing two versions of this recipe. One is a bulk preparation for frequent Chaat eaters. Thanks to Shoba Manni( My cousin's wife) for the recipe measurement ( Version 2).

Preparation Time : 3 minutes
Spice Level: Spicy
Difficulty level: Easy
Cuisine: Indian    
Yields : 2 cups

GREEN CHUTNEY - Version 1
INGREDIENTS

• 2 Bunches ( Big)Mint Leaves
• 1 Bunch (Big)Coriander Leaves
• 3 to 4 ( Adjust to taste)Green Chillies
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• Salt ( See notes)
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 Lemon

METHOD

• Wash and clean the Mint and Coriander leaves. Pull out the Mint leaves from the sprigs. Roughly chop the coriander leaves.
• Add all the other ingredients mentioned in the ingredients table and grind it in a mixer adding little water to get a smooth paste.
• Squeeze lemon juice into the chutney. And we are done. Store it in a freezer safe container or freeze it in your ice tray. 
• Store the ice cubes in a ziploc cover.

VERSION - 2
INGREDIENTS

•  3 Bunches ( Big)Mint Leaves
• 2 Bunch (Big)Coriander Leaves
• 10- 12  Green Chillies ( Adjust to taste)
• 1 tbsp Cumin seeds
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• a fistful of roasted peanuts/ pine nuts/ roasted gram dhal
• Salt ( See notes)
• 3-4 deseeded dates
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 Lemon

METHOD

• Wash and clean the Mint and Coriander leaves. Pull out the Mint leaves from the sprigs. Roughly chop the coriander leaves.
• Add all the other ingredients mentioned in the ingredients table and grind it in a mixer adding little water to get a smooth paste.
• Squeeze lemon juice into the chutney. And we are done. Store it in a freezer safe container or freeze it in your ice tray. 
• Store the ice cubes in a ziploc cover.

Preparation time: 10 minutes           
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Spice Level: Spicy
Difficulty level: Easy
Cuisine: Indian                 
Makes: 1 cup
Source : Tickling Palates

SWEET CHUTNEY- Version 1
INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup Dates 
• 1/3 cup Tamarind 
• 1/2 cup Jaggery 
• 3 to 4 Red Chilies 
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds 
• 1/2 tsp Coriander seeds 
• 1/2 tsp Dry Ginger powder   ( Sukku, Chukku, Sonth)
• Black Salt( Kaala Namak)
• Water 

METHOD

• Soak Dates, Tamarind and Jaggery in water until it is soft. Ensure to remove seeds and fiber from tamarind before soaking. Transfer this to a thick bottomed vessel and cook simmered for say 10 mins. Remove and set aside to cool completely. 

• Dry roast Red chilies, Coriander seeds and Cumin seeds and make a coarse powder. 

• Grind the date and tamarind mixture to a smooth paste by adding little water. Then add the ground masala powder, black salt and dry ginger powder to it and pulse it  two to three times. Your chutney is done. 

• GO AHEAD AND ROCK THE CHAAT PARTY !!!

Preparation Time : 3 minutes
Cooking time: 15 min
Resting time overnight
Spice Level: Spicy/ medium
Difficulty level: Easy
Cuisine: Indian    
Yields : 800 gm

Version-2

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 kg good quality dates (deseeded)
• 1/2 kg Jaggery
• 200 gms tamarind
• 1 tbsp chillie powder
• 1 tbsp roasted cumin powder
• 1 tsp dry ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp Ajwain / Carom seeds
• Salt to taste
• 2 -3 cups water

METHOD

• Pressure cook Jaggery, Dates and Tamarind with 2-3 cups of water on medium flame up to 3 whistles.
• Switch off and leave it overnight.
• Next morning, mash the cooked mixture well and pass it through a metal sieve to extract the thick pulp. Roughly gives you something close to 1 kg.
• Add salt and all other powders mentioned in the ingredients table and mix well. Need not cook again. Let it sit for say 15 minutes for the flavours to sink in.
• Transfer to a clean glass bottle and refrigerate or transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze.
• Thaw the container for few minutes and scoop out required quantity and freeze the rest.
• Alternately, you can also divide into smaller portions and store in small Ziploc bags and freeze. 

NOTES

• Green Chutney keeps good for a maximum of one week. I have not stored it beyond that. Sweet chutney can be frozen and used for a maximum of 15 days. The taste slightly tends to change if stored for longer period.
• Update : Be careful while adding salt to the green chutney as all green leafy vegetables are naturally high in Sodium content. The same implies when you prepare other recipes with greens. Always add less than what you have measured. Taste it and then do the adjustment if required.