TOMATO DATE CHUTNEY

Chutneys are condiments, a sort of sweet endings to our meals. In general; Bengalis start a meal with fritters and lentil, ends with chutneys, of various types. Among us Chutneys are made with various ingredients like tomatoes, mangoes, raw papaya, ambarella [amra], Indian olives [jolpai], cranberry  [koromcha / karonda], elephant apple [chalta]. Of all these, Tomato chutney is the most common one.

Remembering the good old days of childhood, mom used to prepare chutneys, sweet n sour, to feed us few more morsels of rice. I remember, many a leisurely afternoons were made special with "achars" n chutneys. She would prepare "achars" / pickle and store in glass jars. During holidays, my favourite pastime would be to sit with those jars in  the balcony of our two-roomed rented house along with my favourite book. I had that ability to concentrate on both. She still prepares them, but I no more can savour them. Many years later, I played the same trick with my son when he was young. I made chutneys to make my son finish his food little earlier, who usually took 1-2 hours to finish a meal.

Our chutneys are usually sweet given the sweet tooth Bengalis have. We prepare sweet n sour ones too. Tomato-Date Chutney is the most common of all the ingredients we use for chutney. Let us proceed with the recipe which requires ripe tomatoes, dates, raisins, sugar and lemon juice.

INGREDIENTS :

Ripe Tomatoes : 4-5
Dates : 5-6
Raisins : 7-8
Lemon Juice : 2-3 tbsp
Sugar : 1/4 small cup
Panchphoron / Bengali Five Spices : 2-3 pinch
Salt : 2pinch
Oil : 1tsp

METHOD:

Wash, cut  the tomato pieces.

Deseed the dates and cut into halves. Wash both dates and raisins. Get the juice from the lemon.

Heat the oil in a wok. Temper with the Bengali Five Spices. Add the chopped tomatoes. Add 2 pinches of salt. Cover cook at lowest heat for 5-8 minutes stirring occasionally.

Remove the cover and add the sugar. Stir nicely. Cover cook for 7-10 minutes at low heat stirring every 2 minutes.

Uncover and add the dates and raisins and stir. Cover cook for 2 minutes or until the chutney turns a little sticky.

Add the lemon juice. Stir well and switch off. Its done.

Enjoy your meal on a sweeter note!!