Spicy Tomato Almond Chutney is a simple, delicious & nutritious accompaniment to South Indian favorites like Idli, Dosa, Uttapams. Ready in just 15 minutes!
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What is a chutney
I have spoken many times about my association with South Indian food and how much I love it! Be it eating out or making it at home, I am all for it! I think my being a Tam Brahm has not much to do with me being a fan of South Indian food. I just love the simplicity and flavors of this cuisine. Most of the recipes in this cuisine heavily use rice, lentils, and coconut. Not just vegetarian but also non-vegetarian food is very popular. Talking about Indian cuisine in general, we love our chutneys and can make a chutney out of any ingredient. South Indian chutney also known sometimes as Thokku is famous too. What is a chutney? It is a creamy sauce/dip similar to pesto and is served as an accompaniment or side to any snack.
Traditionally pickles, chutney, and papadums were made at home. Today, many prefer to pick it up from the grocery store. The only drawback is that the store ones use lots of preservatives, and are high in sugar and vinegar content making them unhealthy for us in the long run. This is done to make these products safe for long-term consumption. I miss those days when my grandma used to make pickles and papadum in summer. Although I resort to buying pickles and papad from the store, I make my chutney at home.
It tastes so much better plus it hardly takes any time to make it! This particular chutney is my mom's and my recipe. She made Tomato chutney and I decided to add almonds to it! Tomato Almond Chutney is made in our homes mostly when we are having Idli, Dosa, or Uttapam. My mom would make the most delicious tomato chutney but I would only have it for idli/dosa if we ran out of Molagapudi! Crazy but it's true. I would always prefer molagapudi over any kind of chutney.
After being married to KR, I got to know that he loves chutney and would always insist I make it whenever we had a South Indian menu. He eventually got me hooked on a variety of chutneys and now I always make some chutney to go with idli/dosa besides molagapudi of course! I was making Rajgiri Potato Idli for lunch today and wanted to pair it with my mom's tomato chutney. I have only tweaked her recipe by adding almonds to it. Let me walk you through it.
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Heat oil
in a pan
, and saute onions, tomatoes, dried red chillies
, garlic, cloves
, and almonds
one after the other. Take it off the flame and let it cool. Then transfer it to a blender
, add salt and tamarind, and blitz to make a smooth chutney. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve as a side with any dish!
Some other condiments or side dishes that you can try are Coconut Chutney, Besan Chutney/Bombay Chutney Recipe, Coriander Mint Chutney, and Indian Green Chutney with Leftover Lettuce Leaves.
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Recipe 📖
Spicy Tomato Almond Chutney
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 5 cloves garlic
- 4 cloves
- 3 dried red chillies
- ⅓ cup almonds
- 1 cup roughly chopped onion
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 small ball tamarind or use 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
- salt
- 1 tablespoon cilantro
For tempering
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 tablespoon cilantro
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan, fry chopped garlic, cloves, almonds, and dried red chillies for 2 minutes on medium heat.
- Then add the roughly chopped onion. Saute the onions for 2-3 minutes.
- Now add the chopped tomatoes. Saute the tomatoes for 2-3 minutes.
- Transfer this to a plate and let it cool down completely.
- Then transfer to a blender jar. Add tamarind paste, salt and cilantro. Blend to make a smooth paste. There is no need to add water while grinding. Ensure there are no lumpy bits left behind. Grind it smooth.
- Transfer to a serving bowl. Prepare a tempering of mustard seeds and cilantro and pour this on top. Serve as a side with any dish!
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Reva says
Excellent recipe, very tasty!
Priya says
Thank you so much.
Sri says
This turned out so good. it definitely doesn't taste like a typical south indian chutney. It has a different flavor profile due to the addition of cloves I think. I really liked it. The only change that I made was to add soaked almonds.
Priya says
I am so glad you liked it. Thank you so much.
chandu says
Sadly, it does not taste anything South Indian.
Priya says
Oh why do you feel so?