Chutneys: Tamarind and Coriander

Its a mess- don't judge me.

I have a confession...  I am a cook book hoarder.  I have SO many... like close to 200.  And actually that would not be a bad thing if I used them.  But rarely I do.  I have about five that I refer to often but my main source is the internet.  And actually, other than Epicurious and Allrecipes and Cooking Light, I mainly look at blogs.  I do also make up recipes, which that is perfectly acceptable.  It's all about the visuals for me.  Eye candy. Some of my cookbooks have no visuals.. pishaw!  I have seen people make commitments to use their cookbooks and think, "I need to do that too."  And then.  I don't.  But now I am openly admitting my cookbook addiction and I vow to use them at least once a month.  Maybe even once a week.

That said, these recipes are adapted from various sources on the internet.  Shameful.

These are the sauces I made for the Indian meal we had last Sunday. And if you are Indian you will say these are probably common to you.  For us, they were like a revelation.  A taste revelation- an explosion of wonderful flavor in our mouths.  I can see many applications for these sauces and have already used the cilantro one in my black bean soup.

Tamarind Chutney


1/4 cup tamarind paste
2/3 cup dates, pitted
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups water
1/2 teaspon cayenne
1/ teaspoon crushed cumin seeds
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup palm sugar, grated


In a sauce pot combine tamarind paste, sugar, pal sugar, dates and water.  Place over heat and bring to a boil.  Turn down heat to simmer the mixture for about 10 minutes with the cover on.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool, cover off.


Once it is cool puree the mixture in a blender.  In a small frying pan roast the cumin seeds. Place them in a spice grinder.  Add the salt cayenne and ground cumin to the tamarind mixture.  Stir to combine.

Coriander Chutney


1/4 cup lemon juice 
1/4 cup water
1/4 pound cilantro leaves and stems
1/2 cup onion, chopped coarsely
1 jalapeno, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt


Puree the whole mixture in a blender.  Adjust sugar, salt and heat according to your taste.